Honda Odyssey Forum banner

Best solution for rear entertainment?

134K views 103 replies 50 participants last post by  JoshFink 
#1 ·
So I got the elite and wondering how flexible the rear entertainment console is?

- Does it play enough range of video formats that a USB stick with mp4/mkv movies will work fine?
- Does the head unit show what is on the rear screen at all? I am thinking about getting an android tv box to play vlc movie files, pictures, etc from USB, but worried I will have no way to control it (e.g see whats on the screen) from the front?
- Should I just get some crappy old tablet with HDMI out instead?
- Thought about a chromecast as well, but same issue as not being to see what the hell is playing.

I dont have blu-rays or dvd's to play, so its local videos or bust. Thoughts from the group?
 
#39 ·
I haven't had a chance to test mine out, but I would expect the built in system to get a better signal. One advantage of the Mobley is that it's portable. It's easy to pop out and put in another vehicle. It does stick out a bit under the dash. Not too bad in the Odyssey, but in my charger it's almost in the way of the emergency brake. I'm planning on picking up a low profile extension cable to tuck it in under the dash.
I wouldn't wait too long to purchase. I read that the $20 price was only until 7/17. The Honda deal will probably be available for longer. Research what other carriers are charging and you'll appreciate what a bargain this is.
 
#41 ·
Ok I have the Canadian version Touring-( Elite compared). Can I attach my iPad to the HDMI and it will mirror onto RES? Kind of annoying when I put in a DVD and my toddler who cannot read doesn't know how to respond to play, previews etc...

I don't have the time to set up the movie everytime. Takes 5 mins to set up for a 10 min ride and then it restarts after we start car again [emoji85]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#44 ·
Hi, sorry for the late reply.

I have the $199 shield. I thought the price was too expensive to upgrade to the pro version for what little you get. For the storage I am using an external USB HD. I believe it's a 4TB drive I had laying around but you could easily use a USB thumb drive or an SSD on a USB adapter.

I decided to use the Shield as the device is rock solid, runs a ton of apps and games (the kids love the games in the car as we're driving) and I haven't had great luck with the lower end devices (and I hate the interface of the Roku but that's personal preference).

After using it for a week I'm going to tweak my plex server configuration. I'm going to create a "Friend" user that I will just asign the "CarPlex" server and it's associated libraries. I found when using my main user that it would sometimes default to my home server and confuse the kids.
 
#47 ·
@mschmid4, I can check. My goal with using the shield vs. some kind of DLNA was that I wanted to avoid transcoding any video. (Maybe I'm wrong here and it doesn't need any transcoding but I think it might). Not sure how well as RPi would transcode though.

I'll see if I can check this out for you this weekend.
 
#48 ·
@JoshFink, I gave up on the media server idea - which had been hit-or-miss for me anyway - and went ahead and subscribed to the $20/month AT&T data plan. For now I have more than enough materials to stream via Chromecast so I am not going to bother with building my own library.
 
#50 ·
We are leaving for our first long trip today. Subscribed to the $20 unlimited plan and I have a bunch of stuff on a USB drive plugged into my Roku. Should make things a lot easier than switching DVDs in the old van. I am also going to try to hook up the Nintendo Switch for the first time, that should keep them occupied for a few hours.
 
#55 ·
Just took delivery on an EXL-RES, and I've found that a Roku 3 connected via HDMI has worked best so far for an easy to use and reliable media source for the RES. It can play local media (supports almost all file types) off a USB drive (no internet connection required) or connect to a mobile hotspot for streaming (YouTube, Netflix etc). The remote is RF so does not require a line of site like an IR remote - meaning you can tuck away the device and the remote will still work. I've got 5 year old boys and they can navigate the interface pretty easily.

I'd really recommend this solution. Only down side is it needs to use the 120V outlet in the front console - so I've had to run the power cable between the seat and the center console.

I'll let you know if I experience any hiccups with this setup - but so far so good.
 
#57 ·
I currently use a rooted Fire TV 1 hooked up to HDMI, the 110v power outlet, and connecting through the hotspot on my phone. With this setup I can run the usual streaming apps like Netflix and Hulu as well as run Kodi, Plex, and games. If you have Amazon Prime then this is great. I would prefer to use my Fire TV Stick 1 but I haven't rooted that yet.
 
#58 ·
Thanks all for all the input. Just thought I'd add my 2 cents. I tried 2 options tonight that worked relatively well:
1. Best, for me: HDMI input using screenbeam 2 - plugged the usb into the center console rear usb power outlets. I was able to cast whatever I wanted to it from my S7 and laptop, whatever you can miracast, it worked. The wifi to the vehicle had to be on the casting device just had to be able to find it. Haven't tried it with car's wifi hotspot off yet.

2. Media server (not great for me): I used BubblePNP from my phone which was recognized by the head unit but it took a couple minutes before the menus for the RES screen popped up while they popped up onto the front console soon after connecting. Selection from the front console to play was no problem but there was a big lag when using the remote control, almost 2-3 minutes just to get into the menus to display the items (thought the remote was broken), then to select the items as well. Further, playback of the video was very choppy.

Anyone know if you can add apps to the RES? Seems like you "should" be able to.
 
#59 ·
I bought my 2018 Odyssey "Touring" model a few weeks ago. After doing some research I bought a 32 GB thumb drive for $12. It was formatted in "FAT32" format which is what is necessary for the Odyssey to recognize it. Then loaded numerous movie files in mp4 format, also necessary for the Odyssey to recognize them. When I plug the thumb drive in and select it as the source all the movies appear and play fine. I should be able to get around 30 movies on one 32 GB drive. If that's not enough I can always get an additional thumb drives.
 
#64 ·
Hooked up the Firestick a few nights ago, worked like a charm as long as I plugged it into the standard outlet in the front. Kodi works perfect. The only thing is that I was running off the house wifi.

delm - are you powering it from the USB? Also, are you using the AT&T hotspot plan? I have yet to try it out since I just got my Odyssey last week.
 
#72 ·
As a follow up to my previous post on this. We've been using the $199 Nvidia Shield on every trip and the kids love it. I loaded up my movies on an portable USB drive (4TB) and run Kodi on the Shield and it works perfectly. Nothing needs to be transcoded, the kids have pretty much everything they need on the hard drive and if I want to add more videos to it I just unplug the hard drive, bring it inside and add more movies.

We've easily done ten 5+ hour trips with it and it's worked flawlessly every time.

I think next I'm going to look into tying the Shield plug directly rather than plugging it into the front outlet and then look into a very small UPS that would keep the Shield powered for when I get gas and such without the whole thing turning off.
 
#80 ·
An option that's worked well for us is a Raspberry Pi Zero running OSMC. We've loaded it with both video's & music.

What we like:
- Doesn't use any data
- The little people can use a remote control or more frequently we'll give them a choice of available content and start it using the Kodi Remote App on our mobile phone up front.
- We can see what's playing, build a queue / playlist, see the remaining time, etc. from an app on our phone.
- It's worked 100% of the time (so far)

I'd be happy to provide additional info if anyone needs it.
 
#83 ·
First thing I did when I pulled our new van into the garage off the lot was brainstorm uses for the HDMI port. Since my kids' entire movie collection is on Apple TV, I opted to go the Apple TV route. I mounted the box under the center console rear vents with 3M velcro strips (tip: the flattest surface is near the edge, so the Apple TV will stick out about 1/2" if you want the 3M strips to make good contact. Adjust the placement of the 3M strips back a little further and have the pull tabs face the rear so they don't show like mine do :) )

In addition to the purchased movies, we've also used Netflix and DirecTV Now via the vehicle AT&T hotspot with no issues. I find myself using the Siri voice commands to play whatever we are trying to play and then let my 3 year old tell me if it's on the menu screen and ready to play yet :)

View attachment 145827 View attachment 145825 View attachment 145829
 
#84 ·
I have the Microsoft Wireless Display adapter v2 and it is a miracast device. It works good with my note 8 without any accessories or additional wifi connection. It is basically mirroring device of my android phone or windows 10 laptop. So I can play anything locally or remotely and the same video and sound will be on the entertainment screen. If you have a spare android phone, you may use it for the purpose.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top