Looks good Brian

I managed to source a new leather wheel with cruise, audio and satnav controls. Will it be possible to use the satnav controls on this Android tablet retrofit?

Many thanks, Duncan

Hi Duncan

I really doubt you'll be able to use your steering wheel buttons to control the tablet. there might be some kind of cable adapter / wire harness that can allow you some control but highly doubt it. not sure if anyone else might have some input.

i know that changing the standard head unit caused me to loose use of the volume and other buttons on the steering wheel but i believe there is a wire harness to allow me to use them with the after market head unit.

brianoneill wrote:

Hi there. just did my tablet install. thank you kabous for the help!! if anyone needs help fitting an after market double din head unit let me know! also had that done with a bit of problems that followed....but now i have 2 screens in the dash and can watch 2 movies at the same time! haha! not that i will, but it looks cool!

hey there

I bought a JVC KW-AV60BT. i also have 2 amplifiers and a sub woofer. the standard sound was ok but i enjoy my music and wanted to improve the quality and volume. i made sure everything i did could be undone and kept the standard radio unit etc. i also have infinity splits in the doors also connected to an amp.

basically you can install any double din unit into a freelander 2. i know there quite a few so i just looked around to find one that suited me. i didnt want one with satnav i just wanted it mainly for ipod connectivity and for the bluetooth as i dont have a blue tooth system in the landy. im very happy with the set up now. my ipod sits in the glove box and i connect to the system via blue tooth with my smart phone every time i turn the radio on so i can use my phone via the bluetooth. i can also stream music from my cell phone.

you just need to get a double din trim plate for your car so that the unit will sit nicely in the dash. you can find them on ebay. if you have it done go to someone that knows their stuff when it comes to sound installation. they have to be careful not to damage or unplug anything they shouldnt.

there a few things you must remember though when doing this.... firstly your controls for the radio on the steering wheel wont work. the cruise control buttons will work fine, just the volume and track skip buttons wont function... there ways around this but im not sure how. also your clock wont work as its connected to the standard head unit but like on my new unit it has a clock so thats not a problem for me... lastly your pdc and sat nat wont work either. if you do the tablet install that the Kobus showed us, then you will have sat nat on the tablet but the standard satnav system wont work...it seems alot of things connect to the standard head unit.

you have to kinda look at the pros and cons...you will have an awesome sound system and a very nice head unit with all the bells and whistles but at the cost of loosing a few features of the car... the biggest thing i miss is the pdc but you can connect a rear camera to most double din units so that will help in that department.

i know you can connect an amp and subs etc to the standard unit. maybe look at that option to but i dont regret doing the double din installation.

cheers

Just to update my install photos, had some trouble because when disconnecting old satnav screen radio stops working but I could manage to keep screen on behind the tablet install. Now everything is working fine: gps, isdb tv, videos, themes.

I've used the tactile button on the rubber just in the front of screen.

Kabous1 wrote:

Unfortunately the Freelander tablet does not have an "auto power on"/ "turn on when power detected" feature, however I am looking in to perhaps using a 555-timer circuit for this task.
-The timer will in a sence "keep the power button pressed" for 5 seconds at ignition-on
-And "keep the power button pressed" for 7 seconds at ignition-off

If you do find the rear aux connection details, please let me know.
It will be a lot easier to connect the aux-in directly to the back of the radio.

hi wilkie

Yeah, you could definitely piggy back off one of the fuses. Which ever power source is easiest to get to should work perfectly.

Never knew there is a 'stay awake' mode in the 'developer options'. Going to give that a try on mine, thanks!

Just wondering what tablets people are using.
I have seen some quad core 7" tablets going cheap but they all seem to be around 192mm long and was wondering if there was enough room for ones that size?

There is an app called auto sleeper , which i use it. powers my tablet down and puts it into standby mode when i turn off ignition. Tablet powers back up when ignition starts. at Reboots really quick .

What Satnav apps are people using.

Hi,
I'm looking for an Android tablet to replace my actual navigation system (a chinese WindowsCE-based).
It works fair, but it's slow, it has some software bugs and I can't add any new apps.
The best choice for me is the last Google Nexus 7, but as I've read in this thread the biggest problem will be the width: 200 mm as reported in the specs . The previous model's width is 198 mm and it's a good choice also.
I've looked to alternative choices, but there are a few 7 inch tablet that fit 188 mm at maximum and they have lacking technical features.
Maybe it's possible to remove the back shell from the tablet and cut a little the air vent to gain some space. What do you think about this solution?

@wilkie, the tablet in mine is 185mm and that was a tight fit. 192mm might be just too wide.

@kitchener, auto sleeper looks like a decent app. going to give it a try as well, thanks

@Trekker1972, the problem is you'll need to cut into the air vent tubes and the parts in the front bezel that support the air vent tubes.

Had previously fitted a Tom Tom sat nav , but had a mishap and cracked the screen so decided to replace with tablet. I looked everywhere for a 7 inch quad core tablet , there all too big , I made a template of max size and opening size on transparent sheet , and overlayed this on various tablets . The problem is all 7 inch screens vary in width and height , If your not careful the bezel will hide some of the screen. . Ended up with an Archos 70 xenon. its only dual core but I find it fast enough, Added a 64gig Sd so it now replaces my Ipod. fitted bluetooth adapter to Aux so audio comes through stereo. It tethers to my Iphone for internet access and Tune in radio app gives you 100s of stations. I had to mod tablet by reducing its width (188mm is max ) using multi tool. Also had to modify one of the vents for power out.

One more question: does the PD20 support the OTG USB?

I have found an alternative solution: [url] http://www.trevi.it/catalog/ENG/categoryar...-nero.html [/url]

Its dimensions are 188 x 108 x 9.8 mm, so it seems it can fit without modifications.
It has a little faster processor (1.3 Ghz) and a better screen resolution (1024*600 vs 800*480) than the PD20, but I'm only worried about the memory amount: 512 RAM and 4 GB internal memory are so lacking
Maybe it's possible to root the device and extend the internal space with a special partition in the SD, but nothing to do to improve the ram amount.

When I get round to doing this, I will use a tablet with SIM card so I can have live traffic, alerts etc. Waze is a brilliant 'community nav' app and I would miss it too much by going to a unconnected app. Equally I would miss the ability to stream digital radio stations, podcasts etc.

Downside is it may cost £10 - £15 a month in data charges! (Coming) 2016 RR Evoque td4 180 HSE Dynamc
(Going) 2013 TD4 GS Auto - Santorini Black with black leather. Cold Climate, UK Lighting & Armrest Packs. Privacy Glass. LR Rubber Mats. Full size spare.
60 000 miles averaging 35mpg

(Gone) 2010 TD4 Manual GS - Stornoway Grey. Sold at 3yrs old & 64k miles. Final average consumption 39.2mpg.