Factory dvd option in the model X?

[BerTX]

I tend to keep vehicles for a long time. The fewer anchors to legacy entertainment systems a car has, the better, in my book (yes, intentional legacy entertainment system reference).

I have 3 vehicles with big, wasted holes in the dash with devices providing options inferior to anything a current $10 kids toy can provide. In a short time, your RES will look just like my cassette player...

 

[gregincal]

The 'Cheaper, more convenient, and easily upgradable’ comment you quoted is in reference to the incredibly over-priced built-in entertainment systems (usually well north of $1,000 US) which usually end up obsolete within a couple years.

Exactly. If you want to buy a portable DVD player instead of a tablet, go for it, but there is no way a built in entertainment system is cheaper than an tablet.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

I tend to keep vehicles for a long time. The fewer anchors to legacy entertainment systems a car has, the better, in my book (yes, intentional legacy entertainment system reference).

I have 3 vehicles with big, wasted holes in the dash with devices providing options inferior to anything a current $10 kids toy can provide. In a short time, your RES will look just like my cassette player...

My current vehicle still has a cassette player but I only use it with one of those cassette adapters to play music off my phone since there is no AUX input. :redface:

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Whats a "DVD"?

 

[FlasherZ]

Whats a "DVD"?

Fourth generation video disc device.

Magnetic videodisk -> laserdisc -> VCD/SVCD -> DVD -> Blu-Ray -> Ultra HD Blu-Ray

Always being helpful.

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My current vehicle still has a cassette player but I only use it with one of those cassette adapters to play music off my phone since there is no AUX input. :redface:

You mean you can't insert your iPod to play the music?

 

[mgboyes]

ROTFL at the idea of a Tesla with a DVD slot in it.

 

[Max*]

I got it! I got it! Just like the "Play song" feature of the Model S, the Model X will offer a "Play movie" feature! No DVD slot needed.

 

[mnx]

I agree having a DVD system is silly but, I think not putting a few video screens in the back of Model X is a miss. You could easily load videos/movies on a USB thumbdrive and then play them in the onboard system...

This is somewhat similar to the "Model S does not have a CD player" discussions that bubbled up a lot around 2-3 years ago and seem to have subsided.

In the Model S, Tesla installed the the absolutely most inexpensive audio source solutions they could - which is, two USB sockets (which you could say were already going to be included) and some software built into the car (that uses the definitely-already-included internet hardware). Pretty cheap! In fact you could say that the audio source solutions cost Tesla NOTHING on the assembly line. Only back in the software department.

I see no reason why they would deviate from this tactic in the Model X. I think they will still attempt to spend NOTHING during manufacture. The solution will be for you to bring your own movies into the car.

Streaming movies into the car would use massive amounts of the internet data Tesla that currently provides to us at no cost. (It would cost Tesla a fortune) If Tesla introduces a monthly internet data package, where we pay a monthly fee to stream any amount of data into the car via its LTE connection and offer it via wi-fi to devices brought into the car by occupants, that could be a solution.

I was thinking about this internet data package recently while pondering the long-talked-about SDK for the car. If you installed a 3rd-party app into your car that uses tons of internet data, Tesla won't want to be paying for that data!

 

[AnOutsider]

Toddlers (1 yr old to 3 yr old)?

The whole "screen addiction"-thing is becoming clearer to me, now.

Wow.

unsure if you meant it that way, but your post comes across as judgmental and condescending. Yes, our 3 year old watches videos while on long car rides, and when alone in the car, the only way my wife can keep our youngest from screaming his head off for the trip is to either get him to sleep beforehand or have some sort of entertainment going for him (she once duck-taped her phone with a video of her on loop to the headrest for him to watch).

So yes, 1-3 year olds.

Run, do not walk, away from the that CUV. My wife has the GMC version (Acadia) and, while the layout is good, the vehicle is underpowered, poorly geared, loud (road noise) and gets miserable gas milage. Seriously, it's worse than our Yukon XL Denali w/ 6.2 V8.

Oh there's zero desire to buy the vehicle, she was just impressed by it on a recent trip they took together.

I see a lot of "outdated" talk in this thread. I was unaware DVDs suddenly stopped working at the point when iPads came out

 

[vandacca]

I agree having a DVD system is silly but, I think not putting a few video screens in the back of Model X is a miss. You could easily load videos/movies on a USB thumbdrive and then play them in the onboard system...

mnx, what type of screens are you suggesting? Android or Apple (or Blackberry)? 1080p, Retina or 4k resolution? 60Hz or 120Hz refresh rate? Should it be 3D capable, if so, should they use polarized glasses or active glasses (or are you suggesting a no-glasses lenticular screen)?

I see a can on the table over there. There is a picture of worms on it. I hope someone doesn't try to open it. :wink:

 

[MorrisonHiker]

I agree having a DVD system is silly but, I think not putting a few video screens in the back of Model X is a miss. You could easily load videos/movies on a USB thumbdrive and then play them in the onboard system...

The problem with that is then the onboard system has to be able to play back various codecs. New codecs come out all the time and if the system can't decode the file, you can't play it.

First example: A couple of years ago, I was on a flight From Frankfurt to Singapore and was happy to find the seat had a large LCD with a USB port. I had videos in a couple different formats on my phone, tablet, MicroSD with USB adapter, etc. and the system couldn't play any of them.
Second example: I had some videos that were encoded about 15 years ago. Once I upgraded to Windows 7, the videos would no longer play since the codecs weren't included with Windows. I spent days trying to find the right codec which would allow me to play the files but eventually gave up.

Basically, there are thousands of different file formats and codecs and they are always being upgraded. It's not as easy as just supporting old video formats via a Video In jack.

Now if they were to implement screen mirroring, it might be a lot easier to handle. When Chromecast first came out, it wouldn't work with WTV files but eventually apps came out which could transcode the files instantly into a format the Chromecast could handle. Something like this could work as it would allow the theoretical built-in screens to support screen mirroring/screen casting and then the device playing the video would just transcode it to a format that would play on the 'dumb' screen. Maybe instead of USB, we should be asking for HDMI ports! Then we'd be able to plug in our Chromecasts, etc. Of course if the screens/system supported DLNA or a similar means of sharing media, we wouldn't really need any additional ports.

 

[Lyon]

Oh there's zero desire to buy the vehicle, she was just impressed by it on a recent trip they took together.

I see a lot of "outdated" talk in this thread. I was unaware DVDs suddenly stopped working at the point when iPads came out

On the occasions we've used the system in the Yukon (which is a blu-ray/dvd system with screens for both the front and back row and headphones) it's been really convenient. The reality of small children is often hard to fathom for those who don't have one. DVD's though may look like poor quality on a 70" LCD TV, look just fine on a 9" screen in the car and they just work every time.

Like I said, i get why Tesla opted to not have them available. They would want to do something really slick with them (and I think they could) but that would take time and money. I also know that, if an RES were available on Model X, I would buy it in a heartbeat for lots of money. $2000 sounds like a lot of money until it makes the screaming from the back stop right away, then it seems really cheap.

 

[mnx]

You are right of course. I just meant that storing your files on a USB drive for example doesn't tie you to a particular format/medium. It's slightly more future proof in a car then putting in a DVD or even BluRay drive.

mnx, what type of screens are you suggesting? Android or Apple (or Blackberry)? 1080p, Retina or 4k resolution? 60Hz or 120Hz refresh rate? Should it be 3D capable, if so, should they use polarized glasses or active glasses (or are you suggesting a no-glasses lenticular screen)?

I see a can on the table over there. There is a picture of worms on it. I hope someone doesn't try to open it. :wink:

 

[FlasherZ]

Run, do not walk, away from the that CUV. My wife has the GMC version (Acadia) and, while the layout is good, the vehicle is underpowered, poorly geared, loud (road noise) and gets miserable gas milage. Seriously, it's worse than our Yukon XL Denali w/ 6.2 V8.

We have a 2010 Traverse. I concur. The 6-speed transmission is way too spongy, takes too long to respond, and I can get better than 18 MPG on a freakin' pickup truck.

(CVT's, 6/8/9-speed transmissions hold a particular hated place for me... there's just no responsiveness at all in those vehicles...)

 

[vandacca]

For Car Cassette Decks, Play Time Is Over By STEPHEN WILLIAMSFEB. 4, 2011

FOR all of you who were planning to pack up your oldies tapes and go shopping for a 2011 car, there is bad news: you’re too late. According to experts who monitor the automotive market, the last new car to be factory-equipped with a cassette deck in the dashboard was a 2010 Lexus.

How can this article be complete without even mentioning the most important advance CD had over cassettes? Random Play! No more listening to a tape from start to finish and having the song-order be burned into your memory. I hated hearing one of my taped songs on the radio, and feeling jarred when the next expected song didn't materialize.

 

[FlasherZ]

...especially on those less expensive decks that didn't have rewind capability, or when rewind was broken. Flip the tape over, fast forward to where you think you want to be, turn it back over and play it, only to find you were a bit short, then flip it again, fast-forward, turn it back over, and now you've blasted far past it.

 

[Lyon]

We have a 2010 Traverse. I concur. The 6-speed transmission is way too spongy, takes too long to respond, and I can get better than 18 MPG on a freakin' pickup truck.

(CVT's, 6/8/9-speed transmissions hold a particular hated place for me... there's just no responsiveness at all in those vehicles...)

Though this is lightyears away from topic... the 8-speed on our Yukon XL Denali is really lovely. Shifts quickly and has a gear for any situation.

CVTs are soul sucking but efficient.

None of it as as good as a single reduction get mated to a great honkin' electric motor!

 

[AnOutsider]

...so about those factory media options...

 

[FlasherZ]

...so about those factory media options...

Slacker/TuneIn/Bluetooth/XM/FM/AM, that's all you get. (US of course... YMMV elsewhere)

 

[Lyon]

...so about those factory media options...

No kidding. I'm assuming it's pretty much the same as Model S and I'm okay with that because it is, otherwise, the best CUV available by a large measure. Others will not be so accommodating and I understand that.

I'd like to have Apple's Car Play but I suppose that could be added later via software update.