[MTCD Android Head Units General] skezza:
I sure do. It's a month old. Xtrons BMW E90 unit. WiFi, BT, GPS all working superbly..... touchwood and desperately don't want to tempt fate.

How long did you have your unit for before it failed? Just a thought, and I'm only playing devils advocate here..... is it possible you simply had a defective Xtrons and were unlucky with the DSP unit? I suspect the Xtrons was more likely defective (seeing as their reputation is pretty good), while the DSP unit is more likely still in early stages and needs the kinks ironing out.

Here's something I've learned from my many years of working with and in the field of electronics. There used be two terms, both incorrectly but loosely used to describe 'age related' electrical failures: 'burn-in' and 'burn-out'. Essentially it is a fairly accepted theory that most electronic components either fail very early (burn-in) or near the end of the expected lifetime of that component (burn-out). A burn-in failure can be a day, two days, four days, a week, probably up to about 2 or so months, I suspect, although maybe not that long. I couldn't give you an exact figure.

This crappy Wikipedia graph gives you an idea. If you look at the blue curve, this represents the entire dataset.

Now I suspect large manufacturers spend time burn-in testing their individual components, to sniff out any bad ones. However even large manufacturers have the odd one slip through the crack. I once had a Samsung Galaxy replaced under warranty because the NAND storage failed after only a few weeks of ownership.

However, I really doubt these small manufacturers are quite as diligent with their testing procedures. I suspect they probably test a single sample unit, put it through a few days of hell to ensure it complies with various EU directives etc, then from that testing assume that all further pieces will be fine. They will certainly be compliant, but there is no guarantee that a duff capacitor or resistor hasn't found its way onto the board.

I have owned a few of these Chinese Double DIN's going right back to the good old days of WinCE. The first I bought from the UK warehouse, and I sold in full working order after 2 very good years use. The second developed a fault really early (within about 2 weeks) and had to be returned for repair. It worked fine afterwards, but I sold it after 6 months as I couldn't really enjoy it as I felt the UI was horrendous compared to the previous one. Couldn't say whether it is still going.... and the third was not only second hand and 6 months old when I bought it, but I fitted to my previous car and it stayed installed for a good 4-5 years, was absolutely hammered (hot weather, cold weather, spilled a drink down the front, GPS running all the time etc) and is now installed in a friends car and continues to work to this day.

I suspect those that fail after a few months, fail due to inadequate heat dissipation which continues to be a thorn in the balls of most MTC* owners.

So, with that in mind, maybe it is worth taking another punt at an Xtrons or Eonon? Don't let one bad experience put you off. All manufacturers have bad runs, even the big ones. The only difference is the stigma that has followed these Chinese units around since the mid 2000's..... mostly perpetuated by people who happily spunk 100's on Alpine and Kenwood gear, just for the sticker.