Honda CRV 2007-2009 DVD/CD/GPS/Bluetooth Etc

[spacekey]

GPS is not high price any more!

[Son Gokou]

If i buy a unit from http://www.autodvdgps.com/, does the radio and GPS work in Australia?

[mark1974]

Afternoon All,
I too am looking at the idea of an aftermarket GPS in dash unit for my 2007 CRV,
I do have a few questions some have been answered that I hope some one on here can answer from their experience.
any photos of your install too would be helpful.

1- What model or at least a link to the model that you bought.
2- Did the unit come with all Australian maps loaded ?
3- Duty or customs issues ?
4- Installation issues , was the steering controls retained, and the back lighting is still blue like factory?
5- I have read on all of these units that they do not charge the iphone/ipod.? is this true?
6- Boot up time are they relatively quick?

i was going to get a quote from Honda but I would imagine that they are quite pricey.

Thanks in advance,

Mark.

[sunnyl]

I just got one of these head units installed in my 09 CRV about a week ago now.

1) http://cgi.ebay.com.au/7-HD-DVD-DVB-...-/260629708204
I specifically picked this model because it has a 533MHz processor and 128MB RAM. Most units on the market are 400MHz and 64MB RAM, which apparently struggles with TTS.

2) Yes, NZ as well. Not hard to find more maps if you want to. It comes with iGo8 on the SD card. The unit runs Win CE 5, so you should be able to run any other compatible navigation software you want.

3) No, the seller is in Queensland

4) From my couple of weeks of researching, that depends on the unit. The one I got does have steering controls. Its configurable in software, so basically you tell the software you're about to press a button, then press it, and it'll tie that button press with that particular function in the future. It looked like each button had a difference resistance on it and the unit just detects that. My unit is mostly white light, which pretty much the same as the backlight you get on the original buttons.

5) My unit charges and plays my iPhone/iPod fine (3GS and 5th gen Nano). The iPhone gives me a warning saying that the accessory may cause interference and asks whether I want to go into airplane mode. I never do and haven't had a problem.

6) Pretty quick. About <10 seconds for the shell software to show up, and maybe another 5 seconds to start iGo. But its not like your regular GPS units that sleep when you hit the power button (so they come back straight into navigating when you turn it back on). The unit completely powers down when you turn your car off so you have to wait for it to boot each time.

I was under the impression Honda doesn't have any GPS head units?

Other thoughts of mine:

1) Its not a 100% flush fit, but close enough

2) Its pretty much a drop in replacement. You unplug the original harness from the original head unit. The new unit has its own harness that plugs into the back on one then, and into the original harness on the other end.

3) This unit does NOT wire in the original AUX input (the 3.5mm jack in the centre console), so now its just disconnected. The new unit has its own AUX A/V in (for a reverse camera), but those are RCA inputs. I'd have to wire the original harness to the new unit's RCA plugs to get the 3.5mm jack working again. Not majorly bothered by it, seeing it has the iPhone/iPod line, which is what I used the 3.5mm jack for anyway.

4) I have the genuine Honda bluetooth module. I installed this myself and wanted to keep using it. The BT unit piggybacked onto the original harness - my guess was it redirected the speakers between the head unit and itself when a call came through since it automatically muted the head unit. But this is not the case with the new head unit. Either a) the new head unit doesn't understand a mute signal come from the BT unit, or b) theres some physical wiring missing that makes this happen. I haven't had time to look in the service manual to find out either. But not another major issue: the new unit has a mute button, which is something the original lacked.

5) You can have the GPS voice guidance on at the same time (it plays through the front two speakers) as the radio/iPod/TV, but it automatically turns down the volume of the background temporarily while the voice guidance plays, which I don't like. And theres no way to turn this off.

6) Leading from the above, the shell software isn't very configurable or professional looking.


Its not perfect, but overall I'm pretty happy with it.

[traumatized]

^ did you do the installation yourself?

If so..
- how hard was it to take out the original head unit?
- was there a GPS antenna and where did you install that?
- how good is the picture when watching tv? where did you mount the antenna?
- any other cables or antenna's you need to mount on your dash or else where?

Thanks.

[sunnyl]

did you do the installation yourself? how hard was it to take out the original head unit?

Yes I did. Its not that difficult to take out the original head unit, but I think like most modern cars now things are held together with plastic clips which might make things hard to take apart. The unit doesn't come with instructions - you need to know how to do it yourself (you can source out service manuals on some CRV forums). It basically involves:
1) Take out the HVAC controls (the fan/AC controls)
2) Take out the small panel behind the vents that is above the head unit
3) Remove the vents
4) 4 screws and a couple of clips and the head unit is out
Its easy on paper, but like I said its mostly held in with plastic clips so it can take some forcing to get out. I needed to get the original head unit out to install the Honda bluetooth unit once before, so I already knew what I was doing (<10 mins to get it out)

was there a GPS antenna and where did you install that?

Yes there was. Its one of those generic GPS antennas with a MMCX connector. I placed it under the panel above the vents. I just cable tied it to the plastic mounting that was under the panel. No reception problems whatsoever. The first GPS fix took a while, but after that its been perfect.

how good is the picture when watching tv? where did you mount the antenna?

Its pretty good, but I can only receive SBS where I am (metro Sydney). I suspect its the antenna because its absolutely tiny, but the reception is good when it has any. At least I could watch the world cup in my car though I put the antenna in the same place as the GPS antenna. I wasn't particularly fussed about the TV - I just got it because I could. Also, it doesn't do HD channels either (not suprisingly)

any other cables or antenna's you need to mount on your dash or else where?

No, I deliberately mounted the GPS and TV antenna out of sight underneath that panel - I didn't want anything mounted on the dash or the body. If you're confused about which panel, imagine looking at your head unit, above the head unit are the two air vents and the hazard lights switch, keep going up along the plastic and theres a small panel before you reach the windscreen. Underneath that panel its hollow. The US version of the CRV which has factory sat nav mounts the GPS antenna in there as well.

It does have a second harness which gives out RCA outputs for the speakers and AV in for the reverse camera, which I haven't done yet. The camera that comes with it is a cylindrical one thats probably supposed to sit in a hole in your bumper, and seeing I just installed the front/rear lower trims I'd rather not drill a hole in two bumpers!! I'm going to look for a different kind of camera that I can mount above the license plate before I do the wiring for that (and probably wire up the 3.5mm jack at the same time)

Sorry I don't have pics with me atm! Hope that helps!

[traumatized]

Thanks for the quick response, much appriecated. My parents just got a 2010 Sport and I wanted to get this unit for them as a gift so I want it to be decent enough to be a gift and not be dodgy.

So anymore information you can give me would be great. Also when you stated it does not sit flash how far form flash is it?

[JudyKayTee]

Honda has released a special DVD player for new Excelle, which would be quite exciting information for car lovers as well as the car market. Honda DVD players support TV, AM and FM playback so that you can watch TV and listen to the radios as well.