Hualingan - long term reports?

garethdeb · Post by **garethdeb** » Thu May 03, 2012 2:27 pm

Hi guys
Tried fixing my satnav drive today, fitted new laser but still ejects the disc so feeling depressed I looked at the Hualingan again on the Car-Vision website.
I really need to justify the 500 sheets to the ball and chain so wondered if any of you who have fitted the 4th gen had any updates on the unit.
It seems the perfect solution for me having a dead mk3 satnav, analogue tv and no bluetooth as sorting these three issues on the Beemer fit would probably cost more than the Hualingan unit.
Anyway, look forward to hearing some feedback.
Cheers all
Gareth

jaynana · Post by **jaynana** » Thu May 03, 2012 3:04 pm

[quote=""garethdeb""]Hi guys
Tried fixing my satnav drive today, fitted new laser but still ejects the disc so feeling depressed I looked at the Hualingan again on the Car-Vision website.
I really need to justify the 500 sheets to the ball and chain so wondered if any of you who have fitted the 4th gen had any updates on the unit.
It seems the perfect solution for me having a dead mk3 satnav, analogue tv and no bluetooth as sorting these three issues on the Beemer fit would probably cost more than the Hualingan unit.
Anyway, look forward to hearing some feedback.
Cheers all
Gareth[/quote]

n1k85 u got one right? how's urs goin so far?

n1k85 · Post by **n1k85** » Thu May 03, 2012 6:55 pm

I do indeed, I use it daily with no problems! I even took my car into BMEuro (an Indy in Wolves) and the guys there were were interested to see the Hualingan in action.

I've only used the DVD a handful of times on long journeys and it's worked like a dream. I mostly use the iPod and SD card functions. I have 2 MicroSD cards in the car (16GB & 32GB) which is full of .avi format films. One of them has the complete seasons of Only Fools & Horses on! What more do you need!

The Radio works fine but it's a little confusing. I hardly ever use it so even now I'm not sure what all the buttons do...

The Bluetooth streaming works really well, especially if a passenger in your car wants to play a bit of music off their phones. For example on a recent road trip to Chester my mate was telling us about the Jim Jeffries podcasts he had been downloading, he just paired it up by Bluetooth and streamed away.

The phone works surprisingly well, I thought this would be the most ropey part of the whole kit (going off previous BMW BT systems where I've just had nothing but connectivity problems) but its never failed to connect or anything, I use it daily and I'm really impressed with it.

I've never once used the CD player for music, never had the need with SD cards/iPod/USB inputs etc. It just seems like old technology now! haha!

It also has a remote which is useful to pass to rear passengers, although its only been used once or twice. What I'd really like to do is get some headrest TVs hooked up and maybe a reverse camera to make full use of the unit which I will do in due course.

I can't comment on the TV by the way, I connected the antenna on my drive one day and it found the channels and seemed to work ok, but in the past I've had TV and never used it so to save me running all the antenna cable etc I just took it out and don't use the TV.

I use IGO-8 for the Nav and im happy with it, I haven't tried any other software to compare but I may do when it comes time to update the maps. The IGO nav is good as far as nav goes but it gets frustrating at times when your trying to listen to the stereo or whatever and it keeps relentlessly cutting the audio to give you instructions! At least you'll never get lost but the constant instructions do get a bit annoying! It will tell you to prepare to turn right about 3 or 4 times before you come to the junction "turn right in 500m....turn right in 300m...turn right in 200m" ! After the 3rd time you're like "ok!! I get it!! I have to turn right in 200meters!!" this may be changeable in the settings but I've never looked to be honest. I might try TomTom next time!

In general I'm really happy with the Headunit, at first the touchscreen took a bit of getting used to but now I'm a sniper on it. It has loads of other features that I'll never use (photos, e-book reader etc) but I would certainly recommend getting one!

Hope that helps

garethdeb · Post by **garethdeb** » Fri May 04, 2012 6:52 am

Fantastic, thank you very much for that. You've given me loads of selling points that should appeal to the ball n chain to convince her it's a good idea!
Looks like I'll be taking a trip up there in a couple of months then (after I've bought the trouble and strife a Boxter!)
Cheers
Gareth

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I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?woooek

Ubatoid · Post by **Ubatoid** » Fri May 04, 2012 9:31 pm

I have to say Im a little dissapointed with mine. The Ipod controls are almost impossible to use on the move, tha same for the DS card media player - which forgets the last track played 50 % of the time when switching off. The radio interface is garish and the station name is way too small. Blutooth phone and streaming are a couple of good points and the DVD player is just that. Sat nav, I use Igo Primo2 anawesome sytem only let down by the time it takes to load up.

On the whole - much better than the standard setup but I think it still needs a lot of work. Gtting some continuatity between the different players whould be nice and bigger controls for the touch screen is a must. I can only hope these things can adressed with a firmware upgrade.
Try before you buy and considere going a bit further and look at the Dynavin D99

kkodal78 · Post by **kkodal78** » Fri May 04, 2012 9:36 pm

i am pleased with my 4th gen hauligan. works well with rearview camera as well

n1k85 · Post by **n1k85** » Sat May 05, 2012 11:13 am

[quote=""Ubatoid""]I have to say Im a little dissapointed with mine. The Ipod controls are almost impossible to use on the move, tha same for the DS card media player - which forgets the last track played 50 % of the time when switching off. The radio interface is garish and the station name is way too small. Blutooth phone and streaming are a couple of good points and the DVD player is just that. Sat nav, I use Igo Primo2 anawesome sytem only let down by the time it takes to load up.

On the whole - much better than the standard setup but I think it still needs a lot of work. Gtting some continuatity between the different players whould be nice and bigger controls for the touch screen is a must. I can only hope these things can adressed with a firmware upgrade.
Try before you buy and considere going a bit further and look at the Dynavin D99[/quote]

I found the same with the iPod controls at first but now even on the move I don't have a problem. Saying that; at some point I did go into the Touch Screen Configuration Menu and re-configured the touch screen so maybe that's why I had improvements?

Its one of those ones where you touch various 'X' marks on the screen to configure it properly. I guess once its been configured while you're sitting in the drivers seat in your usual driving position it helps rather than as default where it's set up in a factory sitting directly infront of the unit? Might be worth a try!

In the iPod menu once i'm in the Album/Playlist that I'm after though I generally use the steering wheel controls to skip tracks rather than the actual headunit. This would be improved if the one of the wheels (vol etc) could be used to scroll up/down.

I have only ever used the SD Card for videos, but this works great as far as i'm concerned. Even if I have a movie playing off the MicroSD in the car and leave it overnight, when I come back the next day and press 'SD Card' it just carries on from where it was.

As you say though a nice firmware upgrade would be great!

I'm not sure if the Dynavin has come down in price or anything as yet, but i still couldn't justify the extra Â£300+ on top of my unit for some slightly improved features.

I might try IGO Primo2 if you think its worth a go? But one of the good things about IGO 8 (that i'm using now) is the speed of it. In about 20 seconds from selecting the 'NAV' button you can be on the map screen with the route in progress! Its faster than the TomTom One I used to have!

n1k85 · Post by **n1k85** » Sat May 05, 2012 11:19 am

I just did a quick search to see about the possibility for a FW upgrade on the Hualingan and saw this post from a month ago:

I'm off out now but I will investigate this further later on and report back!

Ubatoid · Post by **Ubatoid** » Sat May 05, 2012 2:07 pm

Have you looked at the WolfNCU add on ? It runs over the top of the existing firmware and has some quite cool screens....

Not a firmware update but quite cool.

g60renshaw · Post by **g60renshaw** » Mon May 07, 2012 7:58 pm

Thinking about getting one of these units, but I have a question.
How do you get all the android apps etc.. If you don't have an android phone? I have an iphone 4S so would I have to get an android account?

Jay

kellyleekyle · Post by **kellyleekyle** » Wed May 09, 2012 3:53 pm

hi, Im having mine fitted tomorrow at car vision along with reverse camera.

[size=99px]n1k85[/size] how long did it take to fit yours? im booked in for 11am but its a 2 hour drive for me and need to be home for around 6pm
any news on the firmware update?

g60renshaw · Post by **g60renshaw** » Wed May 09, 2012 4:39 pm

Is there any reason people go for these over say an Alpine double din unit, given the apparently flakey reliability and lack of support...

Same kind of money...

Jay

n1k85 · Post by **n1k85** » Wed May 09, 2012 5:53 pm

[quote=""g60renshaw""]Thinking about getting one of these units, but I have a question.
How do you get all the android apps etc.. If you don't have an android phone? I have an iphone 4S so would I have to get an android account?

Jay[/quote]
I have no idea myself, I don't think anyone on here is running Android on their H/Us, unless someone has a new Dynavin.

[quote=""kellyleekyle""]hi, Im having mine fitted tomorrow at car vision along with reverse camera.

[size=99px]n1k85[/size] how long did it take to fit yours? im booked in for 11am but its a 2 hour drive for me and need to be home for around 6pm
any news on the firmware update?[/quote]

That should be more than enough time. I didn't have Nav before so the longest part was cutting out the plastic cage that used to hold the CD Player/MID Stereo. IIRC I was there around 2 hours in total, that included removing my Nokia car kit and having a few tea breaks.

No news on the Firmware yet, I will look into it asap, but maybe worth asking John at carvision, he might have more info!

[quote=""g60renshaw""]Is there any reason people go for these over say an Alpine double din unit, given the apparently flakey reliability and lack of support...

Same kind of money...

Jay[/quote]

I guess the main reason is that the Hualingan/Dynavin units look Factory fit. They will only fit in an E53 X5 and look like they were there from day one, where as with an Alpine/Pioneer double DIN, you have to get a plastic Fascia surround and no matter what you do, it's going to look like an aftermarket stereo. Not to mention that Joe Pikey might see your Alpine double DIN and fancy it for his Mondeo and you'll come back to your car to see wires hanging out and a broken fascia plate hole where your stereo once sat.

Double DIN:

Hualingan:

I don't know if the double DIN alternatives also do, but the Hualingan/Dynavin also fully utilise the existing steering wheel controls.

I'm sure the Alpine/Pioneer multimedia headunits are great but a pet hate of mine is an ugly Fascia plate and an stereo sticking out the dash that looks way out of place and is clearly an addon. (I hate it twice as much if its a Double Din slot with a single din stereo)

g60renshaw · Post by **g60renshaw** » Wed May 09, 2012 7:30 pm

I am swinging towards a hualingan for those reasons, but am nervous on the reliability aspect. Do carvision offer a guarantee?

Jay

Ubatoid · Post by **Ubatoid** » Wed May 09, 2012 8:47 pm

I got a 2 year warranty with mine, but not from Carvision. I got mine from Icebox auto.

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