You started this thread asking about DD vs. touchscreen units and you got plenty of opinions. Now you're asking about tablets, but there's only a few who've experimented with them on their Zs who've posted on this board. My question is how many conveniences do you need? How many distractions can you handle while driving? To me, the Z33 remains a pure driving experience. While I enjoy music on a longer ride, and being able to answer the phone hands-free, they're not the priority when I'm in the Z. For the most part, if I need to do anything else, I just pull over and find a safe place to park to check out my phone. What do I need a cool looking tablet for, anyway?

 

hey and you're absolutely right. I'm just a guy that wants to hear the opinion of both sides. So far seems like double din is the right choice but nothing wrong w asking someones opinion from the other side. Some people love their Z because they want to drive it, want to drift it and want to feel the engine. However, some people just love it because its beautiful and not much of a racer. I'm only here to hear peoples opinion, that is all.

 

I get it. The tablet looks cool. It gives the Z a more modern look. The panel is sleek and flat as opposed to having ***** and buttons. I contemplated going the tablet route, but at the end of the day, I went with an aftermarket head unit from a reputable manufacturer. Here is part of my reasoning so maybe it will help you with your decision.

Mounting: you're going to need to custom fabricate some type of mounting bracket or trim plate in order to place the tablet in the open space where the OEM head unit used to be. Are you handy with molding plastic or custom fabricating parts using vacuum infusion?

Necessary components: the tablet on its own is not going to have enough power to push the sound signal to all your speakers. You're going to require a separate amplifier (4-channel at the minimum) in order to convert the tablet's output sound signal to the speakers. Are you knowledgeable about wiring? This is also going to require a fair amount of wiring in order to make it all work and come together. Also, what sound sources do you want? Would you like to keep the AM/FM radio? Are you hooking up satellite radio or do you just want it to play from your phone, BT, SD card, aux input, internet streaming service? Depending on what you want, this is going to require more components for the tablet to make everything work.

GPS: are you going it for GPS? Sure, you can mirror your phone's google maps or Waze to you tablet screen, but what if you don't have a cellular signal? It's not often where I'm out driving in an area where there is no cell phone service, but it does happen (i.e. Fontana Village, former host of ZdayZ). Direct GPS signals are more reliable than cellular coverage so if you want a GPS that is going to be useful regardless of cell phone service, then you'll need to find a way to connect a stand-alone GPS module to the tablet.

Longevity: tablets have dropped in price significantly as of lately, but what is their quality? They do not operate well in high or cold temperatures. The inside of your vehicle can exceed 120 degrees in the summertime. Is that going to destroy your tablet? What about a cold-start in freezing temperatures? You'll need to wait a while for it to warm up in order for it to function properly.

Price: at the end of the day, you may save a little bit by piecing together everything that is necessary in order to get what you want, but it would be much easier and faster to just get something where lots of R&D has gone into an aftermarket head unit that has been tested and proven to work in the environment of a car's interior.

 

I understand your wish to explore the options. But only a few have tried a tablet install and you'd probably be better off trying to PM them. Here's one thread to read:

Nexus 7 Custom Tablet Install (Factory Navi Look) - Page 4 - MY350Z.COM - Nissan 350Z and 370Z Forum Discussion

Notice that the OP hasn't checked in for almost four years, so perhaps all his effort didn't last for long.

 

There as also a different route altogether if you have an 06+interior, much more complex, would be neat.
Contemplated doing that before I added the nDash, but ultimately didn't feel like wasting more money so I kept my current HU.
Remote deck and screen, eliminate factory hole in dash, install screen in 06+ nav cubby.

 

Ok thanks everyone.