Group Buy / EOI new generation DNS head units (RNS-510 alternative)

[kwalsh24]

True, and he is doing a good job at keeping us updated and I thank hum for that, however this would be the second or third delay due to software, makes one wonder if it will ever get finished without being replaced with another unit.

[benoz11]

Audiosources might have been highly optimistic about release date but at least they aren't trying to make good on their promises by shipping something before its ready.

[Mister Jim Lahey]

Audiosources might have been highly optimistic about release date but at least they aren't trying to make good on their promises by shipping something before its ready.

This Website isn't exactly putting their best foot forward:

Car dvd /Car gps/VW GPS/BMW GPS Professional manufacturer-Audiosources Electronic Technology (Shenzhen) Limited

[Mattlock]

Not being apologetic to Audiosources, if they really want to become a household name ala Kenwood/Pioneer etc, then they need to get their act together.

I came very close to buying a Pioneer App Radio but when I looked in to it they took 4 months to patch the software for the iPhone 5 and even then it wasn't a patch for the whole range. The amount of additional adaptor cables that were required as a part of the patch looked chaotic and was costly!

No manufacturer is immune from these problems. We are also buying the first release which is more likely to suffer these kinds of delays. If anyone joined this group buy expecting it to be perfect and on time was either kidding themselves or hasn't done this before!

[swong]

I sort of had a feeling this would happen... so I'm not entirely surprised. At least they didn't rush out an unfinished product. Still a bit disappointed though as I was looking forward to having an awesome satnav for my car.

Any chance of trying to negotiate a further discount? Especially given the fact that we'll essentially be the guinea pigs who will be testing the product for them while they iron out the bugs...

[fmflex]

Any chance of trying to negotiate a further discount? Especially given the fact that we'll essentially be the guinea pigs who will be testing the product for them while they iron out the bugs...

I highly doubt it. It going to cost them xxx amount to manufacture and being they've already applied a discount, it's very unlikely they'll be doing it again and cutting into their bottom line. Any discounts would probably just be Sandy bowing to pressure to keep us all happy and coming out of his pocket. End of the day, we're still getting the unit at a discounted rate, we should be happy with that.

[fox]

For those looking for an intermediate option while waiting for the DNS, i'd suggest possibly checking out the Eonon units (D5152/D5153). They're cheap (~ under $300), same generic chinese hardware, but much better software (though not OEM at all), the shipping is fast, and for the money, they're pretty damn good. I've got one in my Prado, and I must say i'm pretty impressed, again, especially for ~$250 that I paid for it. Magnitudes better than the ****ty generic chinese unit in my Golf (3 main things i've noticed, the screen on the Eonon unit is wwaaaayyyy better, it's significantly faster, and the software is significantly better). Not a longterm replacement for the DNS by any stretch, but still worth a look if you can't wait *shrugs*

I'll hold out for the DNS, though. As long as it comes before I leave for summer work in late November :p

I quickly had a look at the Eonon units and it says that it is for VW2009-2011 models. I have a quick question if it will fit in a 2008 model Golf TDI pacific which is MK5.

Thanks

[DkN]

Thanks for everyone's patience. To be clear the bugs here aren't major or difficult to fix from a technical point of view (I know because I have programming background), and all are software issues which can be fixed by updated firmware. I was up till early morning last night to capture all the bugs I can find in an annotated video with the new sample unit, and they have assigned a senior engineer back to ironing out these out so fingers crossed for a quick and thorough fix.

The point of these delays is so that you don't get unfinished glitchy units - I am on my second sample unit so believe me, I am the guinea pig, not you. I am pressing them to work as fast as they can but at the same time I made clear to the manager that I don't want a rushed and glitchy product - to make sure of that I am testing whatever new firmware they have to give to me.

In other news the new sample unit I have is a DNS-810, so you can take a look at how the new one looks compared to the ANS (minor differences in style and of course, factory FAKRA and CAN-Bus connections at the back):







The unit is in my car but in my frustration with testing it I have yet to hook up the reverse camera and put the trim back so it's a bit of a mess, I'd rather get photos when everything's a bit tidier.

You might notice in the first picture that the screen reflects a slight purple hue - this is part of the special anti-reflective coating and I can confirm it works very well - feels like you have a matte screen protector but everything is still crisp and there's no rainbow colour refraction of the pixels like the last matte screen protector I got for my phone. Reflections are either unnoticeable or reduced enough so that you can still see the screen clearly, except in the worst direct sunlight situations - nothing any screen can do about that. To be clear, that slight purple hue of the anti-reflective screen is only visible when the screen is off - can't see any of it at all when the screen is on.

[DkN]

For those looking for an intermediate option while waiting for the DNS, i'd suggest possibly checking out the Eonon units (D5152/D5153). They're cheap (~ under $300), same generic chinese hardware, but much better software (though not OEM at all), the shipping is fast, and for the money, they're pretty damn good. I've got one in my Prado, and I must say i'm pretty impressed, again, especially for ~$250 that I paid for it. Magnitudes better than the ****ty generic chinese unit in my Golf (3 main things i've noticed, the screen on the Eonon unit is wwaaaayyyy better, it's significantly faster, and the software is significantly better). Not a longterm replacement for the DNS by any stretch, but still worth a look if you can't wait *shrugs*

I'll hold out for the DNS, though. As long as it comes before I leave for summer work in late November :p

Eonon is no different than the swarm of other sub $400 units on eBay, and I would argue some of the newer such generic units are actually better. The Chinese units are improving pretty fast these days. If you are comparing with an old Chinese unit from a couple of years ago, seriously anything you can find in China these days will be much better than those. I've owned an old generic VW unit so I would know.

I have seen Eonon units in action and I've seriously never understood why it has done as well as it has. I can find many other factories with brands unknown to most people around here that can do better. Sure price is good but that comes from running a 500Mhz CPU with 128MB RAM, and these days I've seen much better software interfaces than Eonon's from Chinese factories. That Eonon interface seriously looks like something I made in high school.

Audiosources also sells a generic version of their units as its AS series (AS-7608 and AS-7609 being the generic equivalent of the 510 and 810). I'd go for these but if you want generic your options are wide open, take your pick from eBay or Aliexpress. I personally would steer clear of Eonon.

[DkN]

I would like to see a photo that demonstrates the DNS unit is in physically in Australia.

It could be a photo of the DNS in your car, or one out of the car next to an Australian newspaper or an Australian coin.

If that's "not possible" I'm sure you understand I would like to get a refund.

In the future I would suggest you hold off the last comment until after you know someone can't prove their case, that would be a bit better for both you and the person you're accusing

There you go:



















Ok seriously, here you go - even got a coin with the Aussie flag just for you:



As I was saying about the anti-reflective thing, notice how with the flash there is no reflection in the background, and how it contains the edges of the flash spot.

Compare with the old ANS series from an old photo but same flash from my phone (I angled this one so that I would not be reflected in it):



If you're very observant you'll see I now have a different climatronics unit, so before anyone thinks they're too clever, yes I upgraded to the Golf 6 climatronics and I've posted about this in the ANS thread if you care to go back and dig for it