jasone36

Believe it or not, I am still shopping for my LS460.

I have a very specific trim I am looking for, and apparently it's hard to find.

I just recently lost a good LS460 to another buyer because I didn't put down a deposit fast enough.

R Z

Oh I didn't do the mod. I just watch movies when waiting in the parking lot while my wife is shopping. It's better than sitting in the lingerie section of Macy's.

Dr. Jekyll

iTrader: (1)

Sitting in Victoria's Secret > lingerie section in Macy's

jasone36

Now that I got my 2013 LS, I can confirm the video works while parked!

FatherTo1

Belated congratulations on your recent 2013 acquisition, jasone. Did you decide on with product to go with? I am in the same boat and still trying to decide. I am glad most options today don't have to fiddle with an extra switch.

FatherTo1

gs350, what is meant by this please? So with the Beat-Sonic and PS products, does the nav continue to route and interrupts the movie audio when you approach an upcoming turn (similar to turn-by-voice when you're listening to the radio)? I imagine the nav map is not visible when the movie is playing, so how does the nav chime in if it's still running in the background? Thank you.

comotiger

Hi Fto1, youtube is your friend. There are lots of videos there explaining some of these features.

You can also contact Eric Kwon and Sam Cho at Beatsonic. They are very helpful and will answer all your questions. Good luck!

FatherTo1

Thank you, comotiger! That helped a lot. I prefer my phone's navigation but still nice to have the car's nav as backup and be able to use it on the move. I'll look for some videos of the PS setup so I have something to compare against. Thanks again!

comotiger

Happy to help . I don't bother with the car's Nav system. First, my car's maps are 2014 vintage, focused on the east coast where the car was shipped, are hopelessly out of date, and it will cost $$$ to get them updated. Second, even with the Nav bypass, the above video shows that entering destinations into the system is a bxxxh. It may be better with voice command. But using Google maps is just so much faster and powerful, that Google wins hands down. And switching back and forth between Nav and DVD movie takes the same effort whether I use the car's Nav system or the iPhone mirroring with Google maps. If you watch movies using your smartphone, that's even easier to use with the mirroring set up. The major disadvantage of the mirroring is loss of display resolution since the mirroring converts video signal from digital to analog.

FatherTo1

I'm definitely intrigued by the Beat-Sonic mirroring kit. I'm curious if the mirroring kit also does the nav bypass/unlock. For the price, I would hope so (plus the mirroring kit still needs additional hardware, sold separately). I'll email Eric Kwon later with my questions.

Although the idea of streaming Amazon video and movies through my phone and displaying it on the car display would be very neat, doing so also means I won't be able to use GMaps on my phone while it is mirroring a movie. In a sense, the mirroring kit would be sort of limiting. At least with the nav bypass I can play a movie on the car display and still use my phone for GMaps or Waze. Maybe I'll just upgrade our tablet, lol. This isn't meant to put down the Beat-Sonic options. Far from it. I'm just thinking aloud to see what the best route would be for us. I do really like how Beat-Sonic sets up their website, much better laid out and clearer to follow than the Prestige Society site.

comotiger

Fto1, I have described the iPhone mirroring kit and the installation in detail on a new thread a while back. I figured you would have seen it.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...nt-camera.html

The Beatsonic mirroring kit includes the Nav bypass kit, so it's a great value.

I don't quite follow your logic about movies and Maps on smartphone versus movies on DVD and maps on smartphone using the mirroring kit. If you are watching a movie on a smartphone, Google maps or Waze can still be running in the background. It is so much faster to pause your movie in the Youtube App and switch over to the Maps app. It takes more steps to pause your DVD, and switch over to either the car navigation or to the Maps app on the smartphone. I know because I have done both. Unless of course, you are referring to Natelw's system, where he uses the Nav screen to play a DVD movie and his giant iPhone 7+ as his Google maps screen. I have a hard time paying attention to one screen; I doubt very much I could watch a movie AND understand Google maps instructions simultaneously. Then again, I am not a young whipper-snapper like many of you here .

FatherTo1

Hi comotiger, thank you for confirming what is included with the mirroring kit! I indeed did miss your write-up of the iPhone mirroring and will check it out after work for sure. My wife has an iPhone but I prefer Androids. I have a Note 5 with the 5.7" screen at the moment. I should have realized all other apps still run in the background, thank you for the reminder.

What I was envisioning is having a DVD play with 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound and then I can still use my phone for navigation and hear it through my BT headset so it doesn't interrupt the movie. Our Nexus 7 tablets have worked well in the past but the volume is pretty low on those devices too. I suppose I could have the tablet connect to a wireless BT speaker that we happen to have, I haven't tried that idea yet but then it's also another accessory to keep around and charge. I may have to give serious consideration to the mirroring kit, especially since it also includes all the bypass goodies. Is it quick and easy to turn off the mirroring? For me, I would need the Netgear wireless HDMI dongle. To allow the mirroring for my wife's iPhone I wonder if there will be a lightning cable sticking out from beneath the dash after the install. Apologies if all these questions are answered in your link, I'll definitely check it out later. Thanks for the help!

comotiger

If, for 5.1 sound, you plan to play a DVD movie for the kids to watch in the back seat, you still have to wire up the DVD unit to the screens in the back. This is something that Natelw is planning to do. I am not sure how you would use this method to display the movie on the tablet screens unless your tablets have HDMI or similar input. On a separate note, would your kids really care whether or not they had 5.1 surround sound for the movies on their tablets? Wired or BT headphones may resolve this issue more easily.

The Beatsonic mirroring kit is designed for iPhone, so if you want to use an Android instead, there would be some hardware changes such as the Netgear dongle you mentioned. You are correct that a lightning cable sticks out of the dash to plug in the iPhone (you will see it in my thread). However, if you want to use an Android and iPhone interchangeably with the mirroring kit, you have to have some switching hardware between the two. This is something to discuss with Beatsonic.

Natelw

Jasone36, here is my video of how to install the Beatsonic NDS6223EP for Nav/DVD bypass in a 2013+ LS460. It is a pretty simple install, hope it helps:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...60-2013-a.html

FatherTo1

Thank you for posting, Nate! I will definitely have to look at your link and comotiger's later this evening. I just got off the phone with a Beat-Sonic rep. It seems the mirroring kit is only Android or iPhone, but not both. There's only one channel reserved so I have to pick one. I have never installed an aftermarket HU before and so am not familiar with pulling out the dash and such. Hoping the linked videos will give me confidence to try it myself. Although inexperienced, I kind of believe I'm going to be more careful with my own car than some pro shop employees. Not trying to put down pro shops. Just that the expertise and quality of installation is not consistent across the board. If I do go the pro shop route for installation, I want to make sure they have installed the particular part, in the particular car before. I don't want my car to be their first or else I'll just do it myself.