ArtJ

Yep.....bluetooth is fine....you even still get the little bluetooth icon on the display. You just have to hit your Aux button as you would with the oem display.

BlackNsexy2010

o art..since you asked i forgot to answer..i've still yet to get the unit..got the shroud though.. got excited when i saw route 17 on devitocoke's screen.. thought he lived up here for a sec..

ArtJ

Good eyes....I didn't notice that....I spent 10 years of my life driving to work on Route 17....Midland Ave......glad that's over

devitocoke

I will try to change that goofy sound and let you know.

devitocoke

Yeah, after positioning the GPS antenna in a good spot, it recognize my location.

BTW, this morning drive to work, the NAVI worked awesome.

devitocoke

You guys have the MPH on your unit as well right? Awesome!

goodhed

So I have been missing from the forum for a few days but I completed installation of my unit last week and happy to share my observations from a 1500 mile road trip.

I had to order three units to get it right. The first two came from Amazon and both had issues, the first would not boot up and second one would hang whenever you tried using the GPS. I was able to get third one from Sonic Electronix for around $ 280 for a new one and this appears to be less buggy than the previous two units but still has the occasional hiccup. From my experience, the build quality seems a little patchy and I hope that this unit lasts atleast until I have the car. Soundstream, Farenheit and Powergenix seems to be different brands from the same company and they all share the not-so-helpful tech support. If you look at the paperwork that comes with the unit, self-installed units are only warrantied for 90 days from purchase date.

As for the installation, feedback from other users was of great help. There's literally no space for anything else to go behind the screen. I had to take off the control unit from the rear frame to make this unit fit. I took a little different approach for the internal speaker and wiring. The GPS is fitted in the space for center channel speaker, the speaker was relocated to driver side foot well since there's plenty of space and turn by turn directions are clearly audible even with music volume turned up to 12. I had removed the factory unit and there is a space underneath the foam piece to route most of the wiring behind the cubby hole. I had removed all the unnecessary cables but you can leave them on and still have plenty of room.

In terms of performance, the unit boots up quickly and is a visual treat compared to the non-nav OEM screen. All of the factory options are shown on a neat trip screen and small popup display while using any of the included apps. I use bluetooth streaming a lot and the only issue that I have encountered is that the screen doesn't shows the device or source name when you switch. In fact, mine still shows iPod as the source but plays audio from bluetooth device. The HDMI port on the back of the unit is locked down to use with Powergenix units plus there is not enough room to fit the cable. My screen mirroring setup has not yielded excellent results. I ended up using the DVD input in combination with a HDMI-AV converter box and Slimport cable for my Nexus 5. The resolution from this setup is very low. This could be caused due to a faulty converter box and I am working on getting a replacement. The supplied aux cable can be neatly routed to the armrest to fit the existing aux jack. There is also an A/V input on the control box which can be used for both audio and video but I have not been able to get stereo audio irrespective of the cable I tried. The input for backup camera switches automatically when it detects a video signal but I have not yet installed one.

The on-board GPS solution is useful but could do with better resolution and design. I have noticed that there is a slight lag between actual position and representation on the screen. But once you get used to it, you shouldn't miss a turn. I have not yet been able to find an unlock solution for this unit which would allow us to run other WinCE GPS programs like iGo (my personal favorite), Sygic, etc. I have tried replacing the utilities app with MioPocket but that hasn't helped. Any solution to remove the Ingenix branding and adding new GPS warez will make this the perfect system.

Overall, I must say that this unit is a nice addition to a base TSX and has certainly has changed my mind about upgrading to the Tech variant. Unfortunately, I had to complete the installation in a few hours to be ready for my road-trip and did not take any pictures. But it should be fairly straight forward for anyone (if you have big hands like me, be sure to keep some bandages at bay) to complete the installation. Using the Nav screen bezel helps you to retain the OEM look but the screen is a little far for touch inputs for my seat adjustment but you can use a touch screen pen easily. I was planning on fabricating my own bezel, like the one someone used for their TSX carputer project but I was able to obtain the Nav screen bezel with ArtJ's help. If anyone is interested, I may have accepted offers of $200 and $230 plus shipping on 2009,10 nav screens on ebay that I may no longer need and will have to cancel with the sellers.

I will try uploading a few pictures of the screen mirroring setup over the weekend and would love to see how other member's may evolve the use of this unit.

ArtJ

Wow goodhed you worked fast man! Nice summary too. I can attest to requiring multiple band aids...that dashboard area contains an entire menu of hazards. Sorry to hear about the hdmi lockout problem as I know that kinda puts the brakes on some of your plans....it would be nice to encourage a software weenie to hack this thing so we can modify as necessary.
I've experienced the minor navigation delay you described but honestly my TomTom unit is even worse so I've always considered it "normal" by my own standards. I also like your suggestion for using a stylus to reach the display. If you want to get rid of the "IPOD" display just hit the Aux button one more time and I think it goes away if memory serves right.
Can't wait to see the photos!

bagwell

iTrader: (1)

damn...check this out....(NOT MINE)

ArtJ

Hey that looks like your idea.......is that a P81 on top?

bagwell

iTrader: (1)

I think its a chinese unit...? not the P81. P81 indicates ac temps tho right? no reason to do this?

ArtJ

Oh yeah...that makes sense.....firebrand said the Chinese units don't display hvac so you would need to relocate the stock screen.....the P81 route is easier.

devitocoke

Is there a part number for the shroud?

firebrand13

I have to admit, I am lagging big time. I am having major trouble getting the unit to fit with the box it has on the back. I unacrewed it and even lengthened the wiring and still no dice. I am super stoked that multiple people have succeeded! Makes me proud!! Any of the Chinese units would require a relocation of your stock screen, same thing with the Rosenthal units for accords (which would require the same modification we are doing).

I need to break down and hit this for more than an hour lunch break!!

ArtJ

Hi firebrand......to make the fitup a bit easier I unwound the tape that holds the screen connector and the airbag connector together (just a few turns).....that gave me some additional play to get the trip box out of the way......as I recall I was able to get the tripbox to lay horizontally so that it kind of slides into the empty space below the dash speaker area....it's gonna be tight any way you do it so its just a matter of finding the sweet spot...we're talking millimeters...it took me about an hour to seat the assembly and I have no intention of removing it now unless it burns up

firebrand13

that is where I was headed when my last lunch break ended. I had begun to separate the two so I could stash it. it fits perfectly without the box, so I know that is it. I haven't installed the rear view, so maybe I shouldn't focus on installing the shroud just yet. I just want to be done already! :-)


I will focus more on the path you suggested, Art. I also need to focus on which wires I can flat our remove, as I haven't done that yet either.

ArtJ

Sounds good firebrand...you're very close..I was getting very impatient as well so before I was able to get the backup camera job completed I installed a short male to male video cable from the P81 down to the glove box area....that way I was able to button up the dashboard and move on...I had a professional installer run the cable for me to the back of the wagon and he connected the two runs with a double female RCA....voila!

ArtJ

If there is I never saw one embossed on the shroud.....mystery part.

kape

I'm sure most of you guys know that the TSX wagon is not available in Canada. But what you probably didn't know is that you can not buy the Tech package with standard transmission. The highest package you can get with standard transmission is the Premium package. I really wanted both but driving standard is so much fun that I had to give up the navigation. That's been bothering me ever since I bought the car. I've been looking for after market solutions and just couldn't pull the trigger on the Chinese ones. Not having HVAC info is a deal breaker and relocating the stock info screen just doesn't look stock, so until now, I thought I had to live with no navigation.

The P-81 looks really good. It's more work than I was hoping to do, but as long as the outcome is OEM-look, I'm happy. Now that the weather if finally warming up in Toronto, I can finally contemplate starting this project.

Now, I was reading some posts on the Accord site, and it wasn't clear to me whether the turn-by-turn instructions could come through the car speakers or not. Some said that you could wire it to the AUX but then in order to get the turn-by-turn would you have to switch to AUX? Similarly, some were saying that the external speaker is used for phone calls too, is that the case in the TSX too or that's through the car speakers?

kape

Forgot, on the Honda Accord site, people also mentioned that the P-81 didn't dim when the headlights turned on but they got around it by programming the brightness by time of day. So in the TSX, does the P-81 dim when the lights come on?

PyroDave

where in jersey are you guys? im on 17 pretty much daily. anywhere from 46 to ramsey lmfao, been so happy since they opened up that wawa on essex st. we have another guy here in jersey who has i think a chinese unit, but he did a bunch of work and it works well i think. his name is tobwac

BlackNsexy2010

im actually in NY. .just close by the border.. and yeah i saw his posts..looks damn sexy...

ArtJ

Gotta head to the dealer this week for a warranty repair....I opened the sunroof yesterday for the first time since last summer and it sounded like the entire mechanism ate itself alive above the headliner...now it won't close..I also lost a tpms sensor after a tire swap out last week....I've had a number of these incidents already on this wagon....first model-year bugs perhaps

BlackNsexy2010

hope they don't blame your new headunit.. and new tires already? and atleast the weather is decent..would suck if it was bad out and you couldn't close it

ArtJ

I looked up inside the sunroof and there's just pieces of metal and plastic everywhere....the thing shredded itself....yeah, must have been the P81 that did it
The car came with Michelins which I absolutely detest....never owned a set I liked and they're already dry-rotting on the side walls...oh well, enough of my ranting...let's get back on topic!

Hitman23

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rosen-Honda-...-/221413144067

this other unit would look sick if it would work the same as P81ACRD

kape

So can someone let me know if this unit dims when you turn on the lights and where the sounds comes from for navigation and phone calls? Is it through the car speakers or the provided speaker?

Also, I've decided to get it so am also looking for a cheap OEM navigation screen. The cheapest I found on eBay is $400+. Where did you guys get yours from?

ArtJ

The unit only dims according to time intervals you apply in the settings menu...it does not dim via headlight or parking light activation.
Navigation is piped through the supplied speaker although some people in the Accord forums report that you can also pipe it through Aux. Phone calls are handled as usual by the oem bluetooth system.

firebrand13

with the Rosen unit, you would also have to relocate the stock display. It would be more like the Chinese units, I think.

ArtJ

Firebrand.....how you doing with the install?

devitocoke

I took the plunge and purchase the shroud for $200 off ebay. I can't wait to finish up my install.

firebrand13

finally done (kind of)! it wouldn't have taken so long had I just given myself a good day... this touch and go crap has been annoying.


Now that I have it all back together, I need to pipe the aux wire better, it looks pinched and that won't be good long term. I didn't install the DVD player or the iPod cable. Honestly, I like the stock interface better than the PA interface for the ipod, so using it with the usb connection is fine with me! The DVD I might hook up later, but I have to really think where I want the player to go... I had originally thought of putting it on that useless shelf in the glovebox, but once I was in there, it occurred to me that it would need to be uninstalled every time my filter needed to be changed. Lame. I'm not really worried about the DVD part, since I can just put movies on a USB stick and play it through the PA unit itself. Would have been nice not to have to do that, but that's cool.


I also haven't hooked up the rear camera, but I will eventually. I am just happy to finally have my car back together (I had taken apart the entire center console in order to run the aux cable to the aux plug plus I put the nav speaker where the speaker holes are in the trim pieces.


now, I can put my kid's seat back in and actually drive my car again!! GAWD I miss that thing. I still think if one of us can hook up with an actual audio install place and have them fabricate something, it could easily be mass produced and be an easy install for everyone else that wanted to do this. This is, by far, the best option in my opinion... and I am glad I had the pieces already to see if it would work.


Thank you, guys, for deciding to take it to the next level and actually come up with a way to install it. (again, I use Quick Reply for this super long reply... sorry)

firebrand13

firebrand13

oh, and I can't remember if I mentioned it before or not... this unit comes in a couple different varieties: f-81acrd, n-81acrd, p-81acrd, and s-81acrd. Farenheit, Soundstream, Power Acoustik, and Nesa.


I only have experience with the f-81acrd and the p-81acrd, but they are all the same unit with different themes basically.

bagwell

iTrader: (1)

I wonder if this would work with the chinese units (for the temp display....) only $99

firebrand13

I think the plug would be different at least... But his did cross my mind. It is the set up the chinese units show in their "after" pics

devitocoke

ArtJ thanks for mentioning the Dremel tool, I bought one from Home Depot today and it was my first time using it. I put the P81 and the shroud together with Sticky Back velcro, it holds really tight, I didn't even use the screws. My next step is to install it in the car.
Here are some pictures:

ArtJ

Wow...that's a great idea....that'll hold it all together for sure especially with the tight fit into the dash...there just won't be any play at all so that's really all you need....nice!
I love the Dremel....I can't remember a time when I didn't have one in the shop....I also have the extension which lets you work like a dentist.....you can put a cutoff wheel or a bit at the end of a flexi-shaft so all you have in your hand is a thin flexible pipe...works great for delicate jobs. My TSX is laid up at the dealer until Tuesday...they're replacing the entire sunroof including the glass...glad it's all under warranty

devitocoke

I think i missed connecting a cable, I have no sound from the USB video.
Here is the almost finished look. I will be finish when i install the backup camera and fix the USB video audio.

kape

ArtJ, are all the shrouds interchangeable? That is, will a 2009 shroud fit a 2012 TSX?

Also, which would you recommend, the 2009 shroud like yours or 2010+. For the 2009 you have to cut the plexiglass while for the 2010+ you can simply remove it, however, then you have to figure out a way to cover the holes left behind. I have a plexiglass cutter, you think that would work on the 2009?

Finally, you think you can help me find a shroud too? I've been looking on eBay but there's nothing under $400.