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It doesn't matter what color it is displaying in the background, I'm talking about backlighting (and the lack of backlighting on OLED screens). The 7100 Pioneer, and pretty much every headunit with a screen ever, uses a typical side-lit LCD screen. Meaning that even when it is displaying all-black across the entire screen, the backlight is still on and is still shining through.

And you know this because you have one? Because I have one, and I know that it's perfectly fine.
 
However, none of us know of the future. If someone were to get a wireless carplay device today and the iPhone 7 included wireless charging... then it would be a perfect match. Sure you would still have to take your device out of your pocket, but if you have a wireless charging cradle then there are no cables to run or plug in/out.

yes exactly!

in my ideal world I would pair wireless carplay with my iphone 6s + stacked wireless charging case. stacked wireless will be releasing a car adapter this spring.

just jump in the car, attach the phone magnetically to charge, and connect wirelessly to carplay. and no wires to be seen.
 
And you know this because you have one? Because I have one, and I know that it's perfectly fine.

I know this because the online specs for it say that it has an LCD screen*, and I know very well how LCD screens work.

*And a resistive touch screen? Ewww... What is this, a 90's Palm Pilot? ... I'm kidding of course. I realize all cars use resistive touch screens because capacitive touch screens don't work with gloves that many people wear while driving, and they don't work too well in super cold conditions that many cars experience.
 
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am I the only carplay user that is underwhelmed by it? admittedly, I've only had it for a week, but I don't see what all the fuss is about. i've used it to play music via spotify, listen/send text messages, and used apple maps for navigation. i honestly don't see it as that much of an improvement over just the phone (via bluetooth). what am I missing?

Where I find value is mostly in the navigation. Road trips are great with maps on the dash vs using a phone laying on a console. If you have a calendar appointment tagged with an address the directions will already be loaded when the app opens. Maps will also load directions for the place it "thinks" you might be driving to based on history. You may know where you are driving, but having an ETA plus showing traffic delays at a glance is great.
 
I know this because the online specs for it say that it has an LCD screen*, and I know very well how LCD screens work.

*And a resistive touch screen? Ewww... What is this, a 90's Palm Pilot? ... I'm kidding of course. I realize all cars use resistive touch screens because capacitive touch screens don't work with gloves that many people wear while driving, and they don't work too well in super cold conditions that many cars experience.

I can read specs, too. I also know the difference between an OLED and and LCD screen, and what it means. But unlike you, apparently I also have experienced using the device in question and the fact that the pixels are backlit makes absolutely no difference at night.
 
Great, more carplay options for the 15 year old cars that still have traditional DIN mounts. Can they not make a carplay interface similar to the Harmon Kardon Drive+Play for the rest of us with non-replaceable built-in stereos?
 
am I the only carplay user that is underwhelmed by it? admittedly, I've only had it for a week, but I don't see what all the fuss is about. i've used it to play music via spotify, listen/send text messages, and used apple maps for navigation. i honestly don't see it as that much of an improvement over just the phone (via bluetooth). what am I missing?

Where I find value is mostly in the navigation. Road trips are great with maps on the dash vs using a phone laying on a console. If you have a calendar appointment tagged with an address the directions will already be loaded when the app opens. Maps will also load directions for the place it "thinks" you might be driving to based on history. You may know where you are driving, but having an ETA plus showing traffic delays at a glance is great.

I find it very useful for navigation, text conversations, and phone calls. Especially telling Siri where you want to go and having her find it and start directions, as opposed to the OEM nav systems that I find to be exceedingly difficult to use and frustrating. Plus, you information is on your phone, so you always have it with you. No worrying about synching your address book with the in car system, etc.

Once you've gotten used to having it you will likely find it invaluable. My first one was stolen out of my car back in August, and I didn't replace it until November. It was like having a hand cut off.
 
What really cheeses me off is that if you have a decent recent-model car (say, 2012 or 2013), your car doesn't have Carplay and never will, but the factory sound system is integrated such that you also can't upgrade it with one of these units.

I for example just bought a 2013 Volt, and despite technology galore, there's not only no Carplay, but not even Siri eyes-free (that is, a button that will activate Siri on a connected phone). Plus, the Bose "premium" sound system falls short of my previous 2003 vehicle that I stuck a half-decent used Pioneer deck and some modestly-priced Pioneer speakers in. And I could have upgraded that vehicle to Carplay if I'd wanted.

Basically, you pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars over base price for a vehicle that doesn't even have rudimentary software upgrades after it ships, no ability to adapt to future technological developments (like Carplay), and doesn't even sound all that good.

It's one thing to buy a $800 phone with a ~4 year usable lifespan that you can't upgrade (although you do get free software upgrades, so it actually does everything it can to keep up with modern devices); it's another entirely to buy a $35,000 vehicle with a 10+ year usable lifespan in which they made sure you can't install a new stereo, can't modify it to handle new technology, you don't get anything but absolutely-necessary bug fix software updates, and all you get in exchange is the ability for the car to adjust the volume based on speed and some steering wheel controls.

Ironic that cars 10 or more years older than current-model ones now can be upgraded with much better mobile connectivity than the fancy new cars ever will.
 
I can read specs, too. I also know the difference between an OLED and and LCD screen, and what it means. But unlike you, apparently I also have experienced using the device in question and the fact that the pixels are backlit makes absolutely no difference at night.

This just means that your tolerance to stray lights at night is higher than mine, or you otherwise care about it less, which fine. Good for you. Bad for me at the moment.

However, to say that it "makes absolutely no difference at night" is just factually wrong. With OLED screen, a totally black screen produces 0 light. With LCD screen, a totally black screen produces >0 light - and in most cases a very perceivable amount of light. Some LCD are better than others, but it doesn't change the fact that some light is always produced by a LCD screen which is on. When displaying something simple, like the time, an OLED screen produces only the exact amount of light necessary to light up those very specific pixels, and not one lumen more. An LCD screen produces more light than necessary by it's very nature because it has to light the entire screen no matter what is shown - thus it can't produce less light than an OLED. Indeed, the only time an LCD screen is not producing more light than an otherwise similar OLED screen is when the screens are fully white, when both screens produce equal light, in every other instance the OLED screen produces less light.

So maybe you disagree in that it doesn't bother you, which is fine. But it's silly to say I'm wrong because something that bothers me doesn't bother you, and it's factually wrong to say there is no difference because there is certainly an objective and measurable difference.
 
This just means that your tolerance to stray lights at night is higher than mine, or you otherwise care about it less, which fine. Good for you. Bad for me at the moment.

However, to say that it "makes absolutely no difference at night" is just factually wrong. With OLED screen, a totally black screen produces 0 light. With LCD screen, a totally black screen produces >0 light - and in most cases a very perceivable amount of light. Some LCD are better than others, but it doesn't change the fact that some light is always produced by a LCD screen which is on. When displaying something simple, like the time, an OLED screen produces only the exact amount of light necessary to light up those very specific pixels, and not one lumen more. An LCD screen produces more light than necessary by it's very nature because it has to light the entire screen no matter what is shown - thus it can't produce less light than an OLED. Indeed, the only time an LCD screen is not producing more light than an otherwise similar OLED screen is when the screens are fully white, when both screens produce equal light, in every other instance the OLED screen produces less light.

So maybe you disagree in that it doesn't bother you, which is fine. But it's silly to say I'm wrong because something that bothers me doesn't bother you, and it's factually wrong to say there is no difference because there is certainly an objective and measurable difference.

Thanks for the lecture, Professor Light. But as I have already said numerous times, and you apparently can't seem to comprehend it really makes no difference in reality.

Your argument might make some sense in a laboratory, but not in the real world. It might make a difference if you were driving down the road with a black LCD on, and no icons on the screen, or no navigation map displaying. But when the screen is otherwise being used, which is what I would assume anyone who has the unit installed in their car would be doing the fact that it's an LCD vs an OLED make no difference from a "stray light" standpoint. Zilch. Zip. Nada.
 
Great, more carplay options for the 15 year old cars that still have traditional DIN mounts. Can they not make a carplay interface similar to the Harmon Kardon Drive+Play for the rest of us with non-replaceable built-in stereos?

That's exactly what I was talking about in my first post, I forgot it was Harmon Kardon not JBL I liked that thing a lot. I think at some point I read that in the developer agreement it can't be an external device.
 
Great, more carplay options for the 15 year old cars that still have traditional DIN mounts. Can they not make a carplay interface similar to the Harmon Kardon Drive+Play for the rest of us with non-replaceable built-in stereos?

Or a model with a slide out screen. I can't find any that support CarPlay
 
Thanks for the lecture, Professor Light. But as I have already said numerous times, and you apparently can't seem to comprehend it really makes no difference in reality.

Your argument might make some sense in a laboratory, but not in the real world. It might make a difference if you were driving down the road with a black LCD on, and no icons on the screen, or no navigation map displaying. But when the screen is otherwise being used, which is what I would assume anyone who has the unit installed in their car would be doing the fact that it's an LCD vs an OLED make no difference from a "stray light" standpoint. Zilch. Zip. Nada.

I bought the Pioneer app radio 2 and hated the stray light driving at night. I don't need maps up as 95% of the time I know where i'm going and I don't need cheesy album art on my dash. Wound up taking it out and putting in an Alpine 9883 I bought in 2007. Not trying to aggravate the topic, I don't have experience with the 7100 but OLED would be an improvement over standard LCD's.
 
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iPad and iPad Mini ... there's your wireless system. Carplay is pretty much an iPad Mini, just about every feature can be done on an ipad

I bought an iPad mini a few years ago to make a custom setup in my 91 MR2 Turbo. The iPad mini fit almost perfectly in the Radio spot and and would have required very little modifications to mount.

But, shortly after I purchased the iPad mini, CarPlay was announced for aftermarket head units, and decided to wait for a double-din fit, instead of the mod.

I still have not purchased a CarPlay unit for that car yet, and since I bought my iPhone 6s plus, I been having thoughts of mounting the iPhone. The fit is smaller than double-din, so making a custom mount would be so much easier than the iPad mini.

I will probably end up going with the Alpine though.
 
I wish Apple would just make their own CarPlay mode for the iPad Mini. I'd just mount that in my car and it's less than half the cost for the Mini 2!
 
What really cheeses me off is that if you have a decent recent-model car (say, 2012 or 2013), your car doesn't have Carplay and never will, but the factory sound system is integrated such that you also can't upgrade it with one of these units.

I for example just bought a 2013 Volt, and despite technology galore, there's not only no Carplay, but not even Siri eyes-free (that is, a button that will activate Siri on a connected phone). Plus, the Bose "premium" sound system falls short of my previous 2003 vehicle that I stuck a half-decent used Pioneer deck and some modestly-priced Pioneer speakers in. And I could have upgraded that vehicle to Carplay if I'd wanted.

Basically, you pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars over base price for a vehicle that doesn't even have rudimentary software upgrades after it ships, no ability to adapt to future technological developments (like Carplay), and doesn't even sound all that good.

It's one thing to buy a $800 phone with a ~4 year usable lifespan that you can't upgrade (although you do get free software upgrades, so it actually does everything it can to keep up with modern devices); it's another entirely to buy a $35,000 vehicle with a 10+ year usable lifespan in which they made sure you can't install a new stereo, can't modify it to handle new technology, you don't get anything but absolutely-necessary bug fix software updates, and all you get in exchange is the ability for the car to adjust the volume based on speed and some steering wheel controls.

Ironic that cars 10 or more years older than current-model ones now can be upgraded with much better mobile connectivity than the fancy new cars ever will.

I replaced my factory radio (2012 Chevy Silverado) with a CarPlay unit last year. While cars 15 years ago were much easier to upgrade, modern vehicles are not that difficult. Project took a long afternoon, but most of that time was spent adding a backup camera and routing the wire back to the cabin. Integrated the factory steering wheel controls and reprogrammed the call button to activate Siri.
image.jpeg
 
I replaced my factory radio (2012 Chevy Silverado) with a CarPlay unit last year. While cars 15 years ago were much easier to upgrade, modern vehicles are not that difficult. Project took a long afternoon, but most of that time was spent adding a backup camera and routing the wire back to the cabin. Integrated the factory steering wheel controls and reprogrammed the call button to activate Siri.
View attachment 609366

Could you tell me what model you have? I have a 2012 Silverado that I would love that setup in. Also what did you buy to retain steering wheel controls?
 
$700-$1400 ??!! I'm in the wrong business...
It's called the MSRP, and they're always crazy high, but they're always less than that. Additionally, these are the high-end Pioneer units with all the bells and whistles, so if you want something cheaper and relatively the same things, check out their AppRadios
Wow, CarPlay is hideous compared to the other thing.
That's because Apple has yet to take CarPlay serious, it's the next AppleTV, and it's going to be in hobby project status for awhile.
 
I am looking at one of these for my car. I don't plan on buying a new car anytime soon as my current 2006 Crown Vic is just fine. Would rather spend $600 bucks than $40K.

Any suggestions on which one would be the best bang for the buck? I'm actually hoping it will fit.
 
I replaced my factory radio (2012 Chevy Silverado) with a CarPlay unit last year. While cars 15 years ago were much easier to upgrade, modern vehicles are not that difficult. Project took a long afternoon, but most of that time was spent adding a backup camera and routing the wire back to the cabin. Integrated the factory steering wheel controls and reprogrammed the call button to activate Siri.
I could be mistaken, but isn't the 2012 Sliverado radio just a standard-sized one with a custom fascia? Or is it more integrated with the truck's electronics?

I replaced the custom-looking radio in a 2003 Acura with a standard 2-DIN unit plus a custom faceplate with the appropriate sized hole in it.

Contrast my 2013 Volt, which in addition to a console that contains 33 buttons, one toggle switch, and two dials (it's an ergonomic nightmare), the buttons control a single touchscreen that handles the radio/aux input, vehicle charging settings and parameters, vehicle configuration (what the locks do, how the lights work, etc), realtime and cumulative energy stats, backup camera, and the climate control.

Basically, to replace the audio head unit, you'd either need to have a screenless one that knows how to output its signal to the factory touchscreen and to tell the touchscreen that it's getting feedback from the head unit (which nobody makes that I'm aware of), or replace the screen and understand how to communicate with the car's computer to know what it's supposed to be displaying and to send touch signals back to the computer (which nobody makes that I'm aware of).

It's not a matter of just sticking a Pioneer head unit in when literally the entire car's interface is being run through the same screen and set of buttons on the faceplate. The best you could realistically hope for would be a custom faceplate that has a slot in the middle for a new head unit where the disc slot and audio controls used to be--which at best 1-DIN, so rules out all the Carplay options--and even that would lose the big-screen integration.

Unless there are products out there I'm completely unfamiliar with that can do a lot more integration than a traditional head unit, it's not a realistic modification to this car.
 
I am looking at one of these for my car. I don't plan on buying a new car anytime soon as my current 2006 Crown Vic is just fine. Would rather spend $600 bucks than $40K.

Any suggestions on which one would be the best bang for the buck? I'm actually hoping it will fit.

I got the Pioneer 4100NEX for $600 this week at Car Toys. Depending on what car it does add up for the dash kit and harness. I got mine set up by professionals so it costed me around $1,300 total with financing for my VW Jetta '14 TDI. I had to get it hooked up to my steering wheel controls etc. Factory backup cam was proprietary so I ordered one on ebay that works. Wasn't able to do this when I got the car more a year and a half ago because the Fender amp wasn't supported at the time. I'm sure it won't cost as much as what I paid for. Best to check a car install place to get a quote and info on what parts to get.

Been using it for a few days, I love it! I got rid of my suction cup phone mount on my window.
It has HD Radio. It also has satellite but I don't use that so I didn't pay to get it hooked up. You can hook up a usb stick with music on it and plays any format including lossless. Album artwork is displayed nicely on HD Radio. I think it's the best one to get. The other NEXs are more expensive because of the built in GPS stuff. Who needs GPS when you got a phone that constantly updates for free. I couldn't get Waze to work since Pioneer does support it. Might be a problem on Waze's end. Hope Apple Car play supports more than just radio apps when iOS 10 rolls around.
 
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And you know this because you have one? Because I have one, and I know that it's perfectly fine.
as do I, and I've owned lcd displays since they were a thing -- which is why I know they bleed light even on a black screen image. there is no such thing as black (absence of light) on a backlit device. LCD screens always emit some light.
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Thanks for the lecture, Professor Light. But as I have already said numerous times, and you apparently can't seem to comprehend it really makes no difference in reality.

Your argument might make some sense in a laboratory, but not in the real world. It might make a difference if you were driving down the road with a black LCD on, and no icons on the screen, or no navigation map displaying. But when the screen is otherwise being used, which is what I would assume anyone who has the unit installed in their car would be doing the fact that it's an LCD vs an OLED make no difference from a "stray light" standpoint. Zilch. Zip. Nada.

you're wrong. I own one too and have often thought that it was producing too much light as I sat in the car. sometimes it even caused me to find the menu option to turn off the display entirely.

that you're oblivious to how these screens work doesn't mean everyone is. OLED would be superior to LCD in this regard and you can't tap dance around that.
 
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