Magnadyne M4-LCD a Replacement

[conceptumator]

Quick survey; who out there has replaced their factory M4 system with something different and what did you replace it with? I'm considering adding a separate Garmin RV GPS and something to replace the M4 that will handle the cameras but have decently operation with an iPod. Also, has anyone looked into adding speakers in the cockpit area? Would be interested to know what and where these were installed. Thanks.

[captnrick3]

Originally Posted by conceptumator

Quick survey; who out there has replaced their factory M4 system with something different and what did you replace it with? I'm considering adding a separate Garmin RV GPS and something to replace the M4 that will handle the cameras but have decently operation with an iPod. Also, has anyone looked into adding speakers in the cockpit area? Would be interested to know what and where these were installed. Thanks.

If you put in a Garmin post pics, would love to see the install. All on our M4 is working fine now and we are not big on sound stuff so sticking with it for the moment. The GPS is not bad but have not had it working long enough to know if it's good or not. Love the Garmin RV unit.

[conceptumator]

I'll try to get some picks posted soon. I did go with the agar in RV unit and love it. Worked great on our trip last week - found all three parks we stayed in using search by name, provided excellent hands free for my iPhone, gave us weather and traffic alerts, etc. we even timed it to see how long it took to recalc our route if we decided to go a different direction. On average, I would say recalc occurred less than three seconds after leaving the specified route. I got the Garmin friction mount that just sort of "clings" to the top of the dash and doesn't move at all. It shapes itself to the dash and comes right off if you need it to. Mounted the unit on the edge of the dash directly over the MAG unit and put my TPMS monitor right next to it. We then bought a Bose Bluetooth portable speaker and set it on the front of the dash against the windshield. Our iPod connects to it wirelessly and controls selection and volume. Sound quality is very, very good! When we stop fir lunch, we stick it in its cradle to charge, but I also face a 12v cord for it as soon as I wire in another power point and route the cord up under the dash. Only use the MAG for the cameras - works great for that.

[captnrick3]

Originally Posted by conceptumator

I'll try to get some picks posted soon. I did go with the agar in RV unit and love it. Worked great on our trip last week - found all three parks we stayed in using search by name, provided excellent hands free for my iPhone, gave us weather and traffic alerts, etc. we even timed it to see how long it took to recalc our route if we decided to go a different direction. On average, I would say recalc occurred less than three seconds after leaving the specified route. I got the Garmin friction mount that just sort of "clings" to the top of the dash and doesn't move at all. It shapes itself to the dash and comes right off if you need it to. Mounted the unit on the edge of the dash directly over the MAG unit and put my TPMS monitor right next to it. We then bought a Bose Bluetooth portable speaker and set it on the front of the dash against the windshield. Our iPod connects to it wirelessly and controls selection and volume. Sound quality is very, very good! When we stop fir lunch, we stick it in its cradle to charge, but I also face a 12v cord for it as soon as I wire in another power point and route the cord up under the dash. Only use the MAG for the cameras - works great for that.

I love your idea of a bluetooth speaker for the Garmin. I may migrate in that direction later this summer. We just returned from a little two week jaunt. Used the MC4 (with a tablet as backup) and it worked "fair". Not only is the Garmin GPS better with far more features, there is no struggle with audio between all the myriad of functions.

[conceptumator]

Thanks. The speaker really does work even better than I expected. When reading about it, I found that Bose designs their speakers to be set against a wall and utilize sound coming from the rear of the speaker bouncing off the surface behind them to function the way they do. The windshield seems to provide a HUGE perfectly flat surface for this effect. I know these speakers are on sale right now for $179. We also bought the colored rubber sleeve to protect it ($30) and the 12V cord ($30) from Bose.