SexyLexy

I have the same Kenwood stereo, how did you get the Lexus emblem on there when you start it up?

alpine46

iTrader: (2)

"To change the startup screen, you insert a thumb drive into the USB port (make sure the picture is in the root).

Then press SRC + eject + reset.

Let go of the reset and wait until the on screen menu appears.

Choose OEM image and browse for the new picture on your thumb drive."

the pic file needs to be in the root folder of the usb drive. resolution must be 480height x 800width"

scottys209

CarPC's are cool and all, and yes they have tons of capabilities, but seriously, I'm halfway to work, or the store, or a friend's house before it boots up. Plus, you'll end up in that situation where you're trying to show off (which is why you put it in anyways) to some chick or one of your buddies when someone wants to listen to a song at a hangout somewhere, and by the time it's booted up, everyone has gone to another car that just has an aux input with an iPod, and suddenly that guy is the one who's saved the day. Trust me I'm a techno-geek as much as anyone else, I even work in IT, I can build some fast machines and tweak windows for a quick boot as good as anyone else, but I still won't do a CarPC, if I did it would be linux for speed, and I hate linux.

2BENVD

iTrader: (1)

^^didnt know that, thx for the heads up

nivek5sfe

agreed with 2 posts up. to me recent smart phones have eliminated the need for a car pc. you can just hook into your music collection at home though your phone and stream all of you music through an aux port. also you can just get a playlist on grooveshark, or a station on pandora mobile. you also get nav, movies etc. if anything id retrofit a tablet pc if i feel the need for a screen in the dash and run the audio through a relatively cheap headunit thats hidden for audio processing....just an idea ive been cooking up

SC YAA

This tread makes me want to get a new head unit

scottys209

+1 on the grooveshark. Maybe an android 7" pad fabbed into the dash then to a sound processor. No boot time at all since the battery would charge while he car is on, and sustain while the car is off.....Nice

sc4demon

iTrader: (2)

Blurr

AVIC D1 from ebay.

Relapser

*Rowan chimes in*

car PCs suck... call me old fashioned (ironic at 25) but i dont CARE if a car stereo has GPS satnav dvd tv avi divX bbq playback function.

to get to grass roots - i care about the following two things:
MUST BE easy to use while i'm driving. if i can't change the radio station / song whilst i'm turning a corner and talking on my mobile phone and cutting my fingernails whilst eating a cheeseburger at the same time??? then it's too difficult to use.

and it MUST be good sound quality. yep. car pc / android tab MAY play divX files etc. but.. fk i care?
i DRIVE my car. i dont wanna watch Madagascar escape2Africa while im driving. i want to listen to mobb deep at obnoxiously loud levels and make everyone else put their windows up in disgust when they hear the quiet storm bassline.
no WAY is an android tab going to have as good sound output as an Alpine 60x4 unit.

carputer. inDEED.

/rant

ps - no offence intended if you have a carputer. just saying it's not something im into

scottys209

Android tab for the grooveshark ability, not video playback that way I don't need ipods, etc. I think mobile video is useless unless you have kids.....and yes, if you run it to a sound processor, it will sound as good. It's just a line out, just like an ipod. Oh, and Alpine isn't really all that great, it's rather cold in sound. Yes I run alpine, I just recognize that it's really not all it used to be. The ecliplse units from 5-7 years ago were much better. Alpine started falling in quality when best buy picked them up, just as eclipse did when circuit picked them up. Speaking of sound quality though, most people who listen to music loud and obnoxiously for the purpose of disgusting / offending/ pissing people off don't know the first thing about actual SQ. No offense but you'll understand why doing that is stupid in a few years when you grow out of it and don't want to hear that crap when you've worked a long day, or when you don't want your 2-3 year old kids hearing it. 60x4 deck power equates to about 18x4 RMS, so running a tablet, or carpc, or even a basic deck to an actual amp then your speakers would have better sq that just running an alpine off deck power to speakers.

P.R.S.22

iTrader: (6)

I guess since I use my car for more long trips the carputer works for me. I get to use alot more of the features then say someone who is in and out of their car in less then 30 minutes. Mine is setup just like any new car touchscreen that comes stock these days. Its all touchscreen and very easy to use, but I definitely don't eat or drink or talk on the phone while I'm driving (believe me...I have already lost a few old friends of mine because of that....RIP).

Also since I had to upgrade my entire stereo system and basically had my good friend who is an engineer tweek it for over a month....I basically have 5.0 surround sound so it literally sounds like your hearing the music with the artist playing right next to you.

I know it's not everyone's taste but it definitely gets people's attention at the shows when they see it in action.

nivek5sfe

my thoughts exactly. a 7" android tablet is around 200 bucks plus the price of a decent unit for sound processing(about 200). the interface is all already touchscreen and the operating system is lightweight enough to be as good if not better than any car pc. it just ads up to be far cheaper than the 1k in dash setups. especially if youre up on technology and or have a smart phone with tethering and unlimited data.... i already have an old alpine before they went to **** i can use for the sound processing. it may be a project for the summer.

Relapser

Scottys209 and PRS22..

first of all you need to understand when someone is joking - i'm 25.. im a grown up i was kidding about listening to music obnoxiously loud.. and it's not physically possible to steer a car, and talk on a mobile phone, and cut your fingernails AND eat a cheeseburger at the same time.
cutting your fingernails requires both hands. think about it.

i'm actually mature i just have a sense of humour about it..


ANYWAY
SCOTTYS209
you seem to know your stuff then, because i haven't bought an alpine unit in years man..

what unit and model would you recommend for an alternative to the Alpine W407 ???

keep in mind i'm totally cool with going CDless. happy to ONLY use my iPod.

scottys209

Sorry man caught me In a bad mood.... The w407 Is a good unit for a double-din screen unit. Here's the thing about double-din touchscreen units, that's alot to be all-inclusive, they aren't built specifically for sq. In fact you will see alpine in the demo cars they build use a separate sound processor to achieve the sq they are looking for and just use tge screen unit basically as a pretty remote for an iPod. Screen units do a great job updating the look of cars, but sq decks will surpass the price of these for a reason, reference non-oem nakamichi decks go for $1k plus easy. Anyways, run good amps afterward and you can tune the coldness out, older xtant, Audison, older Diamond Audio amps can really turn a mediocre deck into a dream... Or buy an old pxa-h510 and run it off of the ai-net for a sound processor to some good amps.... And enjoy bliss!