Mount Nexus 7 in Dash?

[Will Rickards]

So I'm wondering whether it would be a good idea to mount a nexus 7 in dash to replace the radio.

I'm assuming I'll have wifi available via my actual phone.
And that they can link via bluetooth so I can do hands free calling.

- GPS will work with only wifi provided by tethered phone?
- Speaker output from the headphone jack is probably possible
- What about microphone input?
- Something to share the SMS messages?
- FM Radio that works? I assume like my ltevo, as long as headphones are attached it can get FM radio via an app.

Your thoughts?

I'm not sure how far I'll go with this as an actual project.
But I wanted to flesh out the details.

 

[timwhit]

So I'm wondering whether it would be a good idea to mount a nexus 7 in dash to replace the radio.

I'm assuming I'll have wifi available via my actual phone.
And that they can link via bluetooth so I can do hands free calling.

- GPS will work with only wifi provided by tethered phone?
- Speaker output from the headphone jack is probably possible
- What about microphone input?
- Something to share the SMS messages?
- FM Radio that works? I assume like my ltevo, as long as headphones are attached it can get FM radio via an app.

Your thoughts?

I'm not sure how far I'll go with this as an actual project.
But I wanted to flesh out the details.

Does your current head unit have an amplifier in it? If so, you'll need to add an amp.

 

[Stereodude]

How do you plan to control the volume?

 

[ddrueding]

I had this idea for a while, and finally decided to leave the head unit in place and wire in an Android device as an auxiliary input and mount it to the dash. This way most things still work just as they did (Bluetooth for calls, steering wheel controls, radio, cd player, etc).

 

[MaxBurn]

There are some in dash EQ units that have amplification built in you might use. Otherwise you will have to go with a regular 4 channel car stereo amplifier and rely on the volume control built in to the tablet and hope you can get that to an appropriate range then use the input level adjustment on the amp to adjust your fade.

Microphone: take apart one of the headphone cables with built in MIC?
http://www.amazon.com/Shure-CBL-M-K...8&qid=1348679692&sr=8-15&keywords=shure+cable
Heads up, there seems to be wiring differences between the android and iphone cables.

Some of the carfi forums have people putting in iPads, this is about the same I'd imagine.

 

[Will Rickards]

I saw a video where they used a separate little box for the equalizer and volume control.
I don't think I'd need that but would probably consider it.

I also don't know how I'd get the steering wheel controls to work.

I see the ease of just leaving the stock radio in there. But I think it sucks so bad I want to replace it. And I really want the gps screen right where the radio is in the dash. 2012 subaru impreza. There is no amp that I know if just the stock radio and speakers. It has built in bluetooth support and there are controls on the steering wheel.

 

[ddrueding]

The steering wheel controls were what finally convinced me to leave the radio.

Just to make sure we are talking about the same thing, it looks like this, no?

I mounted the Android in front of the radio, dremeled a hole in the frame, and wired directly into the back of the stereo. Not as clean as it could be, but maximum functionality.

 

[Will Rickards]

Yes it looks like that.

So you still make calls through the stock radio, did you address how to select contacts to dial?
I was hoping to use one of the various car dock apps to make dialing contacts easier. And possibly using the voice recognition in the nexus 7 rather than the head unit.

 

[Mercutio]

You might want to check laws in your state to make sure that you can in fact mount a computer screen in your car in the driver's field of view.
I really, really wish someone made a head unit that had functional controls for Android. I played with something with an Android logo on the box but it turns out that all it did was allow control of the stereo from an Android app.

Because I want to fuck with the touchscreen on my phone to run a CD player while I'm driving. Clearly, that's a good idea.

 

[MaxBurn]

I wasn't previously aware of this but if you search for "android car stereo double din" there are plenty of options for an android head unit. Yes all more expensive than a nexus but they are at least designed for the job. One even had an extra screen in the rearview mirror. Personally I am past my years of hacking up a dashboard but I might consider one of those.

Also stupid expensive but the impreza has factory stereos with a big screen and GPS.

I'm getting along fine with my note, a windshield mount and a bluetooth audio connection to the radio. It's a little more ugly than either of the above but I can take it to rental cars easily.

 

[ddrueding]

If you want a cleaner mount, I really like my ProClip.

Edit: Just checked, and they don't have as clean an option as I had, but they look decent enough if you are able to hide the power cable behind trim pieces.

 

[Mercutio]

A lot of those "Android Head Units" are like the one I was describing, where they have an app to interface with the head unit, not a head unit that can control stuff on the device. A few of the expensive ones essentially have a $50 tablet for an interface, but looking at the specs on those things (800x480, 1GHz, 512MB RAM, Android 2.1), someone could do better stapling an $80 knock off ICS tablet to a $100 Pioneer stereo.

 

[Stereodude]

Well, there is this.

 

[ddrueding]

Well, there is this.

That does look pretty cool. That it can't use steering wheel controls speaks to how difficult such integration must be.