Acer a100 tablet as a head unit Options

[b22ri22an]

earlier i attempted to make a custom phone dock to replace my stereo head unit, but my fabrication skills were lacking. I wanted something cleaner and a little bigger screen size. I bought a acer a100 7" tablet and permantly installed in my dash and so far I love it.



first order of business was using a razor blade to remove plastic ribs and the 2 clips that were preventing the tablet from sitting flush



checking the fit to make sure I could get the whole screen visible within the double din opening

the using some double sided mounting tape around the edges of the inside bezel I pressed the tablet into place, hooked up the charger and the headphone jack to the factory amp




finished product, I should have been a little more careful with the mounting tape, was too close to the edge and is visible, tomorrow I will pull it back out and have the mounting tape a little further from the edge so that it isn't seen

better pic in daylight with toyota wallpaper


Update to include parts list
1x Acer A100 Tablet
1x Acer A100 Vehicle Charger
1x 12V Accessory Socket
1x 90 degree 3.5mm to RCA jacks
2x Male to Female RCA 2 way splitter
1x Wiring Harness Adapter for 6 speaker stock amp
1x Volume Control
1x 3M double sided automotive mounting tape

This post has been edited by b22ri22an: May 19, 2012 - 4:24 AM

[jordisonjr]

So this is just taped into place?
Whats the advantages of using this over a touch screen double din?

[b22ri22an]

its automotive mounting tape like used on exterior trim, very strong bonding. advantages over a double din is that this was $189 for a 1ghz tegra dual core cpu with 1gb of ram w/android 4.0 capacitive multitouch 1024x600 as opposed to $900 for an 800mhz single core cpu 512mb of ram in a double din w/ android 2.3 resistive single touch 800x480, maybe one day the double dins will catch up with tablets as far as power goes, but for right now this year old tablet kicks the crap out of a brand new android double din and saved me over $700

This post has been edited by b22ri22an: Apr 30, 2012 - 3:03 AM

[Tigawoods]

............ this is

iwas never into the double din look, mainly because of the price...but this...

[Culpable04]

interesting, can you download one of those equalizer apps for it to have more control over the sound ? I guess in my case I would need to get a amp first, as my speakers get all their power of the headunit.

really cool idea.

EDIT. what about stealing the internet of my iphone so I can have GPS everywhere I go ? and Pandora ? now that would send me to the store right after work.

This post has been edited by Culpable04: Apr 30, 2012 - 6:44 AM

[rave2n]

interesting, can you download one of those equalizer apps for it to have more control over the sound ? I guess in my case I would need to get a amp first, as my speakers get all their power of the headunit.

really cool idea.

EDIT. what about stealing the internet of my iphone so I can have GPS everywhere I go ? and Pandora ? now that would send me to the store right after work.

All possible =P

Have fun, can do just about anything on them

http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1324

This post has been edited by rave2n: Apr 30, 2012 - 7:34 AM

[Culpable04]

damm it, now I'm looking more and more at this,

planning to take it apart to remove the rear camera and mount it somewhere else useful ( driving vidoes ? rear camera ? front bumper camera for moving clips ? ) need to jailbreak my iphone so I can use my phone's internet on this so I can enable GPS, video calling and Pandora. I think this is a great idea, the only thing left to cinfirm is if this has HD sound or not.

[b22ri22an]

some needed apps for the install
Volume control app.. This app puts a volume up down and mute control in the notification window so you dont have to hard wire a gain control if you don't want to
Android FTP server.. allows for wireless access to your tablets internal memory and SD card to manage your music collection and movies
Sound EQ tweak your sound till you get it where you want it
OBD2 app.. connect via bluetooth to have real time diagnostics (have to buy the bluetooth scanner receptacle seperatly
Automate It. sets automatic triggered actions, I use it to turn display sleep off while power is connected the to turn sleep to 5 seconds when power is disconnected

then on your mobile phone if you dont already have mobile hotspot FoxFi will allow you to mobile hotspot or pan bluetooth tether

This post has been edited by b22ri22an: Apr 30, 2012 - 11:45 AM

[rave2n]

This is a very nice option I may consider.

It is lacking slightly in all things I wanted to accomplish with my ITX mini PC build to a screen about the same size as the tablet.

If I can figure the means to program it to read rs232 data and vice versa from a PLC then we'll be in business for a fraction of the cost.

Only other concern would be space limitations, but I'm sure it has a expandable port to attach a removable SDD. Or one can hope.

[Culpable04]

it takes SD up to 32 GB

[b22ri22an]

it also has a usb host that you can put any size drive you want in. Here's the 1TB drive I am installing on mine to host my music tv shows and movies, just need a microusb to usb a female converter i haven't sourced yet

This post has been edited by b22ri22an: Apr 30, 2012 - 11:53 AM

[rave2n]

it takes SD up to 32 GB

it also has a usb host that you can put any size drive you want in

Well then, with USB solves my RS232 and Storage...

I no longer have excuses =)

[spy00005]

hmmm this would be a real nice set up and i know android very well especially the developing side of it as i do have the hp tablet running ICS and can def do some real customizing on that table and get my droid phone to supply it wi-fi. only thing is i would have to make it so its removable i wouldn't leave that in my car in the area im sometimes forced to park. maybe make like a custom mount and make it just sit in place w/ Velcro or something then detach when i leave the car. but its def a nice way to use a tablet.

This post has been edited by spy00005: Apr 30, 2012 - 12:04 PM

[b22ri22an]

Car Charger This is a must as this tablet does not charge via usb

[rave2n]

Car Charger This is a must as this tablet does not charge via usb

Did you plug that in the front of the 12v socket, or did you cut the connection off and splice it into the lines of the 12v socket behind it? Would be a bit cleaner, and should keep it on fine.

[smkr3w]

I often thought about this after a friend of mine molded his iPad into the dash of his blazer..

Very nice

[Xander_X]

This is awesome. But it lacks one thing for me ... I need a CD player or iPod hook up. I have over 1200 CD's that take up over 140 GB on my ipod

[b22ri22an]

Car Charger This is a must as this tablet does not charge via usb

Did you plug that in the front of the 12v socket, or did you cut the connection off and splice it into the lines of the 12v socket behind it? Would be a bit cleaner, and should keep it on fine.

i used the power and ground from where the head unit would have received power right behind the tablet

[stephen_lee]

i like

[njccmd2002]

awesome..