G Upgrades: What would you fit?
I've begun to amass a collection of accessories/upgrades for my G - practical parts to enhance its safety, usability and comfort.
My prime considerations are quality, strength and function. If a part is solid, good to look at and serves a purpose its a winner in my book. There won't be any chrome/wood faff on mine.
Things I am considering include:
Maglite Rechargeable torch £0-100
To be mounted in the internal rear pillar area. Basically a charger/holster unit for the bigger Maglite. Invaluable in breakdowns/emergencies. I think ORC supply these.
Sony MEX series Bluetooth/USB/Ipod head unit £0-200
Total connectivity. I use a BT4700 in another car and the handsfree Bluetooth is great. Use a memory card/Ipod and get rid of all those CD's. Even streams music from your mobile. Buy the BT5100 and it even stores your phone numbers. Better than a fine from the plod and very cool to boot.
Sonim XP series mobile phone £0-250
Waterproof, bashproof and generally rugged. Rubber padded with extra tough screen. Proven designs for durability and practical usage. Ideal for site/expedition use. (Land Rover/JCB versions available, if you want yellow branding or have a fetish for poorer 4wds LOL)
Hi-Lift farm jack, base, straps and clamps £0-200
Ideal for recovery work, ditched rides and general maintenance. buy clamps to mount it safely, a base for stability and the straps for wheel based lifting.
Hella halogen flexible map reading light £0-30
Great bright map reader/flexible viewing aid. Easy to fit on the dash.
VW/Audi/Mercedes first aid kit £0-20
Peanuts off Ebay, but well equipped for most basic emergencies. No reason to be without one.
I'll add more as I get to it but any suggestions are welcome.
Im fitting a full Solid State PC and touch screen in mine.
Running Centrafuse and full Memory Map Mapping.
Check out www.carcomputer.co.uk - Some really interesting products.
See what you think.
a fire extinguisher is always a sensible extra fitting, not the puny factory one either 2kg minimum.
On the mobile fone end of it
The sonim xp
i would stick with the samsung b2100 or b2700
they are less than half the cost with the same features
maybe 75% 80% of the ruggedness
And somin have no walk in service centers to walk into to get the phone repaired Postsal only
but again im sure you will have a small sledge /hammer in your G
prwales:
Like the fire extinguisher suggestion. Overlooked that!
Where is best to mount/store it?
foneman:
Used to have an old Nokia that was rubberised but I forget the model number. It was pretty indestructable.
Just checked the Samsung out. It complies to the IP specs (military ruggedness) so it looks a good buy. Trusted name too - never heard of Sonim.
I like the 'torch with dedicated button' facility.
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Any recommendations on a good GPS system? Something that can be used in/out of vehicle, charged in-car and rugged.
Rethe Mag lite - if your a fan of LED technology - there is an LED conversion kit avaiable.
Will try and post link later
Spider1V
Sony car audio is avarage. Lots of tricks and good looking but not much punch. Alpine Head units give the greatest sound output.
Looked at those a while ago for my Syncro but with them running Vista/XP I was put off. Probably much more suited with the cut-down 7. They seem to have advanced quite a bit from the cut-down desktops that guy began with.
My only wibble with them is that for me, part of any 'media system' needs to include GPS navigation and Bluetooth handsfree capability.
I'm sure there are PC versions of TomTom which are suited (like there are on HTC/Palm etc) but I am unsure on the Bluetooth streaming capability.
A complete solution like that would be awesome. In an under-seat or single DIN frame - even better.
The system I am fitting does everything you could want.
THe nav software that comes with centrafuse is ok but I prefer PC navigator 9 I am hardwiring a GPS reciever for this (and for memory map) but there are bluetooth GPS recievers available. The system does handsfree mobile phone connection (via bluetooth) email and web browsing via HSPA and full engine monitoring and diagnostics interface.
Check out the GUI at www.fluxmedia.net
I am fitting a complete system to a competition LR90 next week.
SpiderIV:
I would be very interested in the LED version. Looking forward to your post.
Ian:
I agree about the Sony units but the price is good for the feature level and reliability. TBH I fancy Blaupunkt/Becker units but getting a good spec at a decent price is the issue.
JMorris:
Sounds great. How much is that running to then?
prwales:
Like the fire extinguisher suggestion. Overlooked that!
Where is best to mount/store it?
foneman:
Used to have an old Nokia that was rubberised but I forget the model number. It was pretty indestructable.
Just checked the Samsung out. It complies to the IP specs (military ruggedness) so it looks a good buy. Trusted name too - never heard of Sonim.
I like the 'torch with dedicated button' facility.
------
Any recommendations on a good GPS system? Something that can be used in/out of vehicle, charged in-car and rugged.
Re the b2100 or 2700 a good rough use fone with toys and expandable memory
Dont get me wrong the sonim is a good enough fone but there aftersales is crap
SpiderIV:
I would be very interested in the LED version. Looking forward to your post.
Ian:
I agree about the Sony units but the price is good for the feature level and reliability. TBH I fancy Blaupunkt/Becker units but getting a good spec at a decent price is the issue.
JMorris:
Sounds great. How much is that running to then?
The Kit will come to about £800, a bit steep but it is the business
SpiderIV:
I would be very interested in the LED version. Looking forward to your post.
Hope this helps
Spider1V
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Looked at those a while ago for my Syncro but with them running Vista/XP I was put off. Probably much more suited with the cut-down 7. They seem to have advanced quite a bit from the cut-down desktops that guy began with.
My only wibble with them is that for me, part of any 'media system' needs to include GPS navigation and Bluetooth handsfree capability.
I'm sure there are PC versions of TomTom which are suited (like there are on HTC/Palm etc) but I am unsure on the Bluetooth streaming capability.
A complete solution like that would be awesome. In an under-seat or single DIN frame - even better.