DOUBLE DIN HEAD UNIT GPS?

Hello, I'm curious how great the GPS is in a brand new head unit? kenwood, alpine, sony, clarion etc....

Are there aftermarket antennas needed?

Is software easy to upload?

Better than a IPad?

What are you using?

I'm very curious, because all my life I've seen the double din stereo GPS units to be pretty corny, and outdated fairly quick. but it is 2017, and i haven't done any stereo shopping in a very long time. so I'm curious if anyone here uses something they love, or has a friend with a great stereo that also navigates them from canada all the way to argentina on a dirt road!

please share your experiences with me....
 

kojackJKU

Autism Family Travellers!
They all have external antennas that need to be mounted. I am not sure they are better than ipads since ipads give you topo capabilities where as the name brand head units don't. Check out the various android head units available. You can use any android app on them so you get all kinds of extra functionality.
 

kojackJKU

Autism Family Travellers!
that's one...but there are more inexpensive models with the same spec as well...but that one is nice! how does it work for you?
 

pugslyyy

Expedition Vehicle Engineer Guy
I have a Pioneer AVIC-8200NEX in my E-350, it is a very slick, full featured unit. I especially like the OBD2 interfacing that allows it to show gauges, doors open, tire pressures, etc.

The GPS is adequate, but I still prefer the flexibility I get from a Garmin standalone (I load in all kinds of custom waypoints). I recently replaced my 2006-vintage Pioneer navigation system in the Fuso with a non-Nav system (Pioneer AVH-X7800BT). I use a Garmin Dezl 760 for navigation and like it a whole bunch more.
 

XJINTX

Explorer
Pugslyyy, I see that model can keep sterring wheel controls... does that mean it can keep using SYNQ? What about Sirius?
 

pugslyyy

Expedition Vehicle Engineer Guy
What is supported is vehicle specific, you need to look it up on the idatalink website. I don't have steering wheel controls other than cruise, so that part is of no benefit to me.

IMHO, anybody looking for a high-end double-din head should get one with idatalink maestro support - it really is a slick feature.
 
Awesome guys thank you for your input.

After reading around on here it seems like the android head units are the most capable for what I was thinking.

But then again I can score a iPad with 4g on Craigslist for about 50 bucks so that seems like the simplest and most efficient way to do things. Just like everyone else!
 

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