All y'all who hate tacked-on tablet infotainment screens will LOVE this new product category

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein) 08/12/2019 at 10:48 • Filed to: None

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Remember back in the 90s when car stereo companies made motorized LCD-display single-DIN car stereos where the screen retracted into the unit, or popped out and stuck out of the dash, like Brian Spilner’s green Eclipse?

Well, now the car stereo companies have dispensed with any of that attempt to elegantly integrate flipping screens into single-DIN stereos, and have instead created single-DIN stereos with big screens that just stick straight the fuck out the front of the things.

Alpine was first to market with their !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (a.k.a. ILX-F309) headunit, which in all the press photos is always shown from flattering angles, but this is the side of it. That exposed metal part is what goes into your dashboard’s DIN slot.

But Sony, not content to leave the aftermarket tacked-on tablet single-DIN headunit market to Alpine, has now jumped into the fray with the nickname-less !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

Now I’m going to sit back, relax, and wait for your collective heads to explode.

Ash78, voting early and often > Textured Soy Protein 08/12/2019 at 10:52

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All good, I didn’t need A/C vents or access to that useless “emergency flasher” button anyway.

But for a well-placed DIN slot on certain cars, this might work well. Mine is really low, so you’re never getting that “modern car” effect -- you’re just blocking the dash cubby hole . It’s more like having a laptop on the passenger seat. Like the last taxi I rode in. Dude was watching sitcoms while he drove.

Sovande > Textured Soy Protein 08/12/2019 at 10:59

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It would be an interesting concept if you could  customize the display. Maybe have it display gauges or something along with the normal display.

TysMagic > Textured Soy Protein 08/12/2019 at 11:01

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And it’ll mean more sales of these!

punkgoose17 > Ash78, voting early and often 08/12/2019 at 11:02

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You made me think t his may work well for the 80's economy cars with the radio at the bottom of the center consul . The cars on retro motorweek where they complain the radio is too low for easy use.

ttyymmnn > Textured Soy Protein 08/12/2019 at 11:02

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Touch screens suck. Just ask the Navy .

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > Textured Soy Protein 08/12/2019 at 11:03

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I’m actually okay with these. Only issue I’d run into on my Mk3s is a lack of usability of center vents, which really only come into play in the winter, when I don’t really plan on driving the Golf anyways...

That said, $300 for a single DIN head unit? Fuck right off with that, Sony, it’ll get stolen next week.

MrSnrub > Textured Soy Protein 08/12/2019 at 11:04

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Meh, as long as it doesn’t block the AC vents or other controls it’s a way to have a big touchscreen in a car that wasn’t designed for it. This is how I actually wish the OEM tablet-style screens worked. Have a universal port /slot that it can plug into, so when technology marches on you can swap it out for a newer unit. But of course, why do that when you can buy a whole new car instead?

punkgoose17 > Textured Soy Protein 08/12/2019 at 11:05

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I like the high mounted streamlined tablet screens like Mazda does.

I hate the high mounted screens wrapped in extra plastic to make it look like part of the dash board.

I really hate these nasty things.

Tripper > Ash78, voting early and often 08/12/2019 at 11:12

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“emergency flasher”

You talking about the park/drive wherever you want button?

functionoverfashion > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker 08/12/2019 at 11:13

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Fuck right off with that, Sony, it’ll get stolen next week.

They’ll probably make it detachable like the faceplates of old single-DIN head units, and you can put it in a nice plastic case with foam padding and carry it around with you wherever you go! How convenient! 

Ash78, voting early and often > Tripper 08/12/2019 at 11:13

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That’s the one! DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY

functionoverfashion > Textured Soy Protein 08/12/2019 at 11:16

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Just give me a bluetooth connection to the speakers and let me mount my phone somewhere I can reach it to use for navigation and music. Thank you. Because I’ll have a phone with me for the foreseeable future and it will always have a nicer screen and interface than whatever hardware Sony sticks into a $300 head unit. Apple play / android auto be damned, the screen you have to interact with isn’t going to be as nice as the one on your phone itself. 

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > functionoverfashion 08/12/2019 at 11:17

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-things I have never done

TBH I’ve never had a stereo stolen, but then again, I don’t live in the early 2000s anymore.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Textured Soy Protein 08/12/2019 at 11:23

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I wonder how safe these are with various paggenger  airbag systems  

jimz > Textured Soy Protein 08/12/2019 at 11:24

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I would actually get one of those, but in my Ranger it’d block the panel vents.

bleh. 

functionoverfashion > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker 08/12/2019 at 11:29

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Oh, clearly I’ve never done it either. I think if I ever detached a face plate, I just stuffed it under the seat. It’s a deterrent, right? I also wondered who would ever carry around a faceplate with them.

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > functionoverfashion 08/12/2019 at 11:32

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On the head unit that came installed in my Golf, the face plate was a little loose from repeated detachment and reattachment. Eventually it only worked if you pressed it down when you wanted it to work, which isn’t very conducive to driving. So I just replaced it and have never taken the new face plate off.

facw > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker 08/12/2019 at 11:42

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Back in the early 2000s a friend of mine had his stolen. They ripped out pretty much his entire dash of his old beater Corolla  to get it out, and also stole his ash tray because it had loose change in it. Maybe he should have removed the face plate?

M.T. Blake > Textured Soy Protein 08/12/2019 at 11:43

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That would work in my 1996 Dodge... too neo-modern for it though... I enjoy OEM+ type looks. Subtle. Clean.

NOT TACKED ON GARBAGE. 

user314 > Ash78, voting early and often 08/12/2019 at 13:04

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user314 > ttyymmnn 08/12/2019 at 13:06

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*facepalm*

Longtime Lurker > jimz 08/12/2019 at 14:47

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Hmm what if the DIN adapter was mounted upside down?

jimz > Longtime Lurker 08/12/2019 at 15:43

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blocks the HVAC controls. the old Ranger centerstack was not very spacious.

His Stigness > Textured Soy Protein 08/12/2019 at 16:59

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There was absolutely nothing wrong with the flip out screen that they did before EXCEPT people wouldn’t see the large screen as they walked by (except if you left it out the whole time).

I have the flip out screen on my Mercedes that the PO put in. It only blocks the AC controls which is good, because I screwed up the motor when my ring caught the back of the screen and broke the motor. 

Urambo Tauro > Ash78, voting early and often 08/12/2019 at 17:12

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a well-placed DIN slot on certain cars

I was just about to comment on how this probably doesn’t even exist, since there’s always a clock, buttons, HVAC controls, or a pair of vents above the radio. But then I remembered that this might actually work on an old Saab 900. The radio is in fact the top item on the dash there, and I’m pretty sure it’s a DIN-size slot.

shop-teacher > Textured Soy Protein 08/12/2019 at 20:29

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*barf*