new in dash for the 3's

[biker10]

Keith I'm torn between the two units also. The draw to the DSS for me is 1. price and 2. it comes in silver which will match my interior better than black.

 

[CHICO2003]

To me, there's no question which is the better choice. Unless I'm missing something, the $1200 (marked down to the $1000) CA unit is by far the best. If I'm wrong, please correct me... cuz that's the one I'd be getting if I end up going this route.

 

[guy_incognito]

I guess the main reason to go with the DSS was because of the LCD function. DaBears2k dismissed the other (currently $1200) caradvanced unit because;

"That one is $900 lowest price. Not sure what quantity we would need to hit.

Bad news is that it is DEFINITELY for manual AC only. Meaning that if you have climate control (GT, all MS3's, etc) you will lose your LCD display above the radio."

The plus side of it is that it has better resolution and is better looking outside as well as a nicer looking GUI (both subjective).

The down sides include smaller screen (6.5" vs 7"), loss of LCD/trip computer function, and no silver trim option. I've completely forgotten when or where it was posted, but I remember a forum user that bought this unit and couldn't get the audio portion to work, so he ended up sending it back.

I was wrong about the Bose issue. According to caradvanced's website, they have a modification to make it work with Bose, which I presume is the same modification needed for the DSS.

What is still left to be determined is what price it would really cost if we could avoid a middle-man such as DaBears2k or caradvanced.

TPMS sounds cool, but certainly isn't worth spending that much money for. My car already tells me if it gets low (~30 psi), and it isn't that hard to check manually otherwise.

PS - we need a better name for this unit instead of having to use so many qualifiers. Fortunately the other one got codenamed 'DSS'. Any ideas?

 

[guy_incognito]

Ok, so I went back and skimmed through most of the 'In Dash touch screen replacement radio' thread on mazda 3 forums. I'd link, but, you know.

So it can retain most of the LCD display, just not the trip computer portion. It will display A/C settings, ambient temp, radio station, etc.

Someone found a .pdf for the user's manual; http://dump.sdamv.com/Mazda_OEM_Dash/mazda3_-_2_din_user_manual.pdf

 

[Keith H.]

Thanks guy that was an excellent summary. If the price went down to $900 on the "red stripe" aka " "MZ3D" aka the "car advanced" one I would def get that one for sure.

6.5" vs 7" screen to me isn't that big of deal, esp when you supposedly get better resolution with the digital.

What I don't get is why Car Advanced changed there price briefly from $1200 to $1000, then back. Im sure there are some folks that would pick it up for $925 shipped.

Heck I'm getting impatient as it is so I may break down and just get it form CarAdvaned..hahah mmmm lets see pay my mortgage or get DVD/NAV........

 

[BillTheCat]

FYI, I got an e-mail & a call from Tony this weekend. We're going to try & get the video done next weekend, April 3/4, and if I can manage to edit the video fast enough, maybe have it posted by Sunday or Monday. But I r teh video editz n00b, so please be patient. lol

And a reminder, Denise did say 10 units = $900 per unit. I did not ask if that included shipping, but I will. Could be interesting to see if their upcoming "special pricing" beats that, or maybe indicates that group pricing might improve soon, too.

 

[Keith H.]

Cool, can't wait to see the video. I'm pretty much sold on the Caradvanced unit. Just waiting....if nothing happens price wise in the next week or so then I may just have to order it anyways.

 

[guy_incognito]

Quick update. I contacted a source on Alibaba, and was told their price for this unit (CA with the red stripe) is $790, plus shipping, $62 to California.

 

[KenOnBass]

Quick update. I contacted a source on Alibaba, and was told their price for this unit (CA with the red stripe) is $790, plus shipping, $62 to California.

Is that for minimum order of 10?

 

[guy_incognito]

According to the Alibaba page, it said minimum order quantity was just 1. I just quickly caught the employee out of the office, so she said she would send me further info tomorrow.

 

[BillTheCat]

Set things up with Tony for Friday morning at 11 a.m. I've asked him if he would be patient enough to run thru similar detailed demos of the Finean, Route66, and Sygian GPS options.

If my n00blet video editing skillz are up to it, video coming over the weekend.

 

[biker10]

Set things up with Tony for Friday morning at 11 a.m. I've asked him if he would be patient enough to run thru similar detailed demos of the Finean, Route66, and Sygian GPS options.

If my n00blet video editing skillz are up to it, video coming over the weekend.

Sounds great Bill. Again thanks for all the work pulling this together. Question for you. One of the big reasons I've been looking at this is for the integrated Bluetooth. Have you played around with this yet? Don't need a video of it but does it support voice dialing and importing address book type functions like other bluetooth units?

Thanks!!

 

[Keith H.]

Can't wait to see a rundown of the features in action.

Thanks again Bill.

 

[BillTheCat]

Sounds great Bill. Again thanks for all the work pulling this together. Question for you. One of the big reasons I've been looking at this is for the integrated Bluetooth. Have you played around with this yet? Don't need a video of it but does it support voice dialing and importing address book type functions like other bluetooth units?

Thanks!!

Yep, it imports phone books from your phone & supports voice dialing. That's a big plus IMHO. I don't know if any other functions of the unit accept voice commands. I'll see if Tony can demo the voice commands as well.

And no sweat. Happy to help out.

 

[CHICO2003]

Am I the only one confused here? Until now, I thought the $1200 (red stripe) unit (which certainly looks a lot better than the other) was the better overall choice. I was just on the... other site... and they said that it's not only a 'royal piece of s***' but also doesn't keep the trip functionality like the other unit. This, apparently, was the basis for choosing the other for the GB.

On top of that, is it true we can pick these up from Alibaba for far less than CA? If so... that seems like a no-brainer.

Last thing I'll mention... for anyone with a piano black MS3... check this out

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123738153

the fact that it blends so well with the finish of the Pioneer unit makes this look a LOT better than it would on a non-piano black MS3. And since this unit is obviously far better than any of the ones discussed on this thread (not to mention a lot less expensive) this very well could be a better option. Hell, I'm even thinking about getting the necessary piano black piecces for my interior so that I can just get this unit. The cost of doign so my outweigh the financial benefit though...

 

[djm3]

I dont share the same opinion since the comment comes from a caradvanced competitor, and there is no proof of what he says. If you see the posts from crazyitalian, it doesnt mention to have ever had this screen. It actually tells dabears2k put it on the list for a black piano "Reply#186".
I dont believe it is right to descredit others and make negative comments with the solely purpose of selling more.
I have owned the caradvanced monitor for almost 6 months. i'm very happy with this unit and the quality is great!!

 

[guy_incognito]

I believe it is true that the trip computer is lost, but the other LCD functions are maintained. I've yet to hear any back-up to the report of it being a POS. Seems mighty suspicious that it comes from DaBears2k, and not from the actual source (crazyitalian)...

The extra resolution is nice on the red stripe unit, but the trip computer is maintained on the DSS unit, so it is up to you as to which one is better. The only other big difference is that the DSS can come in silver.

If you order the DSS through alibaba, there are actually quite a few more options. The basic unit is $396. Options include OBD for $50, GPS for $110, TPMS for $110, and rear camera for $55. I am a bit confused on the TV option. One place is says "if built-in TV, add 7usd", then as an option there is a TV box for $40. See the attachment for the excel spreadsheet from the company.

I briefly got in contact with an alibaba seller for the red stripe unit, and was quoted a price of $790 plus $62 shipping to CA.

 

[biker10]

I am a bit confused on the TV option. One place is says "if built-in TV, add 7usd", then as an option there is a TV box for $40. See the attachment for the excel spreadsheet from the company.

I believe the built in tv is for an analog tuner and the optional $40 box is for a digital tuner.

 

[BillTheCat]

I believe the built in tv is for an analog tuner and the optional $40 box is for a digital tuner.

And remember- here in the States, analog TV goes *poof* in a couple of months. It should be illegal to sell analog TV tuners at this point. I'm sure people are still buying the cheaper analog TV tuner cards for their computers, etc. and are going to regret it shortly.

By the way, everyone... I got with Tony on Friday. He was incredibly patient & accomodating with all of the requests for functions to be demonstrated, etc. I shot an hour of video, and have not yet gotten it edited. I was going to start this weekend, but after spending an hour locating my &%@$ing Firewire cable, I discovered that my old HP PC used 4-wire Firewire, and my new HP PC uses 6-pin Firewire (WTF, HP?!), so I had to go procure a new cable for the camcorder, which stopped me dead in my tracks due to my graveyard shift sleep schedule. It was 3 a.m. so I had to wait to get it.

Also, I mounted the camcorder on the passenger's seat using a Cruisecam mount. Because of the angle, there is a little glare from the head unit's screen in the video shot. Not horrible, but it might have worked better at dusk/evening. The positive tradeoff is that the camera stays pretty rock solid & still.. I previewed about 10-15 minutes of the video & I think the audio is decent for a camcorder.

Here are a few observations based on what I saw...

1. We could not demo the iPod controls on the touch screen, because Tony uses his aux input as an analog A/V input for multiple devices. If you want to dedicate that input to your iPod & use the appropriate cable, you can then control the iPod from the touch screen on the head unit. Tony still uses his iPod, but thru the AUX input. So he can still listen to music or watch videos, but has to control the iPod itself.

2. We could not demonstrate the TPMS system, as Tony does not have TPMS- his 3 is a 2006 model.

3. The LCD display will function with all 3's from 2006 on. It will work with some 2005 models, but not with 2004 or earlier. Of course, for the Speed3's, this is not an issue, but for others it may be. Tony explains this in the video.

4. We previewed Sygic, Finnean, and Route 66 GPS systems. All had strengths and weaknesses. Route 66 made the biggest impression, but for a combo of good & bad reasons. Menus were very easy to navigate, and it seemed to have a lot of options. AND, when entering a destination, rather than ask you for the state, then the city, then the street name, then the house number, it just gave a blank line to type on, and you can enter any part of an address, POI info, etc. and it will search. Rte 66 also made it easy to save your current location as a favorite, to log a route as you travel, etc. But with all of that functionality, the map graphics were incredibly low resolution. I'm not sure if that will be clear in the video. Sygic and Finnean were both fairly good. I forget which, but one of them had easier menus & such, and I think it was Finnean. And one of those 2 had voice prompts that were so quiet that they were all but useless. All 3 systems were quick to recalculate a route after a missed turn.

I like Tony's setup with the unit. He took a standard RCA A/V cable & plugged it into the unit, then ran the cable & mounted it on the side of the center console next to the passenger's seat, facing directly up. So he can plug in any A/V source right there via RCA connection and it will provide his AUX option.

For you SATRAD fans--- One of the things he did was to connect a Garmin GPS receiver with XM that resides under the passenger's seat to his A/V input. He has a remote control for the GPS unit itself. He can use it as a GPS unit, or as an XM receiver, all using the remote control. Not as efficient as the touch screen, perhaps, but a very slick solution, nonetheless.

In my honest opinion, there are only 2 reasons I am comfortable sticking with the stock unit instead of this one. First, and most importantly, I am saving my pennies for a down payment on a house and an overseas trip this Summer. Second, I would desperately want to use my iGuidance GPS software, and I have not yet been able to resolve whether or not iGuidance can work with this system. But that's a whole separate tech thread unto itself.

I have a busy week ahead, but I will do my best to get those videos edited & onto Youtube. Will post links here ASAP.

 

[Keith H.]

Sounds great man, thanks again.