First off, I had a double din dash unit installed from near new but it died. Supplier has disappeared and I had to replace it. Considered a car PC and while it might do some things well there were some disadvantages too. I wanted all in one and to be able to run topographical mapping as well as street navigation.
Choices were top shelf such as Hema but it was a bit hard to justify $2500 and even the other units around $1500. Bottom end was EBay cheapies but the thought of warranty support ex China or Hong Kong really didn't appeal and I wanted something that was a bit better quality than the $300 specials. A little research pointed to a supplier called dig_options who has sold numerous units to members on newHilux and Pradopoint. There are probably 60 pages on these units between these two sites alone and I couldn't really find any complaints which pointed to inherent problems in the units themselves.
There were a lot of posts which praised this suppliers service and support. 100% positive EBay feedback was another plus. Australian supplier and warranty.
A bit more research on the net indicated that there a few factories in China making double din units but the factory making the ones supplied by dig_options is not the same as that which makes most of the cheapies on EBay.
Most of the units available through dig-options are vehicle specific (i.e. come with surrounds which only fit specific models) but they do have at least one which is standard double din (100 x 180mm) size. This is actually targetted at Nissan owners but will fit any vehicle with a standard double din slot (or, like the Triton, one that can be made double din size).
So, the choice of supplier and unit was pretty much decided. I bought this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... K:MEWNX:IT
Ordered on a Friday evening it was despatched Monday and arrived Tuesday lunchtime. In the meantime Matt from dig_options had responded to a question I had and changed the start-up logo from Nissan to Mitsubishi. Good start. Price was $580 delivered but there is a small discount available to members here - send them a message before payment and they'll give you details.
Photos are mobile phone because some kind person(s) decided that they needed our possessions more than we did and helped themselves after breaking into our house a few weeks ago.
New and old
The unit arrived well packaged and comes with a quick start guide and a User's Manual. The quick start guide is pretty good and the manual is generally understandable with instances of Chinglish not impossible to understand. There is no manual or any documentation at all for the street navigation program which is Polnav. Seems ok so far, found home at least. The manual is available online.
Wiring diagram is clearly marked on unit
Rear plug layout. Note that sockets are at the bottom of the unit. This is a plus for the Triton because the top must sit hard against demister ducting so as not to protrude too far.
This unit was supplied without a connecting plug which meant joining, soldering and heat shrinking every wire. I had previously used a Mitsubishi to DIN adaptor harness and kept this. It adds to the wiring but makes connecting up easier.
The GPS antenna cable connector is a side entry type. Saves valuable space at the back of the unit.
I mounted the GPS antenna here. Works well and is out of sight. Almost made for it, you'd think.
The shroud needed some more trimming to clear the lip around the edge of the unit. Trim a little, check, trim a little check...
There is an absolute rats nest of wiring but this can be tucked away under the unit behind the heater controls and off to each side. A side note here. There is a CANBUS attached to the back of the original trip computer screen. Don't disconnect this. I just detached and tucked away.
Brackets are supplied with the unit and take a bit of fiddling to get placed exactly right with the shroud on the unit has little room for error in placement.
Installed and shroud cover on. I'm not really happy with this cover and will order one from the MN GL-R which should give better shading from the sun and allow easier viewing in daylight.
Booting up shows the Mitsubishi logo. Looks almost factory.
I haven't connected a TV antenna yet but notice that there is a slightly odd connection of 2 x 3.5mm sockets. Will address that later.
Picture quality with 800 x 480 screen is very good. A huge improvement on the old one.
Sound quality is good, maybe not outstanding, but no horrible distortion even at quite high volumes (speakers are upgraded so help with this). Signal to noise is 80dB so not really flash, but good enough if the source is good quality (i.e. CD/DVD).
There is an IPod connector which leads down to beside the centre console. When I get an IPod I'll try it. On the front panel is a rubber cover over the microSD card (easy to lose these!) and USB port.
One thing I have been really impressed with is the speed with which the GPS acquires a signal and determines position. With the old one it could take 10 minutes so you could be halfway to your destination before it would start working. This one locates within 10-15 seconds.
GPS seems to be fairly accurate but I was surprised to find the speed reading was actually 1 km/h less than that on the speedo. With 265/70x16 tyres the speed reading on the old one was a couple of km/h less than the speedo. This might need some more checking out.
The unit connects to the instrument lamps circuit and the lighting behind the switch buttons is yellow. Doesn't really fit with the Triton's blue but I'll get used to it. The screen dims automatically when it gets dark and switches from day to night colour schemes. This is a big bonus.
Overall, quite happy so far and next step is to load OziExplorer for topo maps.
. I'm very interested to know how it performs over time too
