[b18c5rjdm]

So for thanksgiving the wife and I are taking a LONG ride to see family.
Anyone figure a way to hack the screen to watch movies through a cellphone? Cable, bluetooth?
Literally asking for my wife, I'm a huge advocate of 100% focus on driving and wish everyone would put them away while driving!
I was just thinking it would be easier than lugging the ole laptop around.

 

[supasta]

Get an iPad. She can watch movies, and you can keep your eyes on the road. And, it’s portable. You’ll find it far more useful.

 

[Sdcerreta]

Not easy to do on this HU. I was able to do it on my 09 Forester with navigation since it used standard input RCAs. Did a work around for tricking unit into thinking the car was in park.

However, this HU has a more complicated plug system. No way to do it on BT or standard methods. What you can do, is window mount or dash mount an iphone or ipad. Then connect it to the USB port. You can watch a movie on the phone/ipad and audio will come in through your car speakers. Movies sound great this way and no workarounds required.

 

[rdclark]

Definitely go with the iPad. Much higher resolution, better viewing angle, larger screen, and she can use headphones so you don't have to listen to whatever she's watching. Hard to find now, but I got a brand new 2018 9.7" iPad for $250 from Amazon back in September.

People don't often realize that car screens are usually only 800x480 resolution, which is not even HD.

 

[Quadraria10]

''People don't often realize that car screens are usually only 800x480 resolution, which is not even HD''
Which is a good point for anyone shopping for an aftermarket head unit, make sure to look at the screen resolution numbers and screen type. A larger screen at the same low resolution looks even worse. Most units today, even cheap no-name Chinese ones tend to have higher resolution screens.
I cannot remember exactly what I did the last time I installed one, but I think if you tap a constant power source rather than the parking brake wire, and possibly change a setting in the head unit, it will play DVDs the same as it would with the parking brake on. Of course, you are not supposed to do this, but I don't see much difference as compared to having back seat monitors and playing movies for the kids on a trip.

 

[rdclark]

...I don't see much difference as compared to having back seat monitors and playing movies for the kids on a trip.

The difference, IMO, is the distraction of having video playing in the driver’s peripheral vision, and the loss of use of the main screen for navigation.

 

[Quadraria10]

Well it's still easy to switch to nav mode, and god knows my wife already thinks I get too distracted by the nav program, so you do have a point. Always best to keep your eyes on the road.

 

[Nasarog]

Another vote for the iPAD.