Re: Blackberry Playbook for Boxster/996 Porsche's

Hi All, Here is another project that I have been working on.

I noticed that my Playbook was the size of two din boxes. I removed my storage box and my cup holders???? and placed them gently into the trash can. This freed up two slots; the stereo and air controls were then moved to the upper spaces. This is easy to do as the wiring harness is sufficiently long enough; it just takes a few minutes. I had already removed my CD player and wired in two RCA jacks that have a headphone plug on the end. The only other modifications were to reshape the side bolsters 996-552-973-01. I peeled back the foam-backed vinyl covers, then reshaped the plastic and stretched the vinyl again. So, really the only pieces that are damaged are the side bolsters, which is great because I can get two new bolsters and I can be back to stock in five minutes.

Another bonus is the two storage spaces are still usable under the playbook, I would need to trim the thickness of the play book from the storage box , but it would still be usable. I also believe there is a storage box that fits the lowest din space. If so, after the thickness is trimmed, I will have two storage spaces. My Playbook has 600 songs on it, so far, and played through my Bose system it sounds great. The screen turns off after a few minutes so you don't have the glare, and comes alive if I swipe it. I have my Playbook bridged to my Berry Torch (or any newer Blackberry phone) so if my wife is taking too long at Bed, Bath and Beyond, I can surf with the Playbook in my lap.

On a trip back down the 401 last week, my wife Lynnie, surfed all the way home while the music played from the Playbook. Because the Playbook is bridged, there isn't a charge for a data plan. When I arrive home it connects to Wi-Fi and I use it as my lap top at home. You have probably noticed I did not talk about how to power the Playbook. I don't bother as it will play music all day easily on one charge. I guess a cigarette charger would work if it had enough amps. I really like being able to see the names of the upcoming songs with my distance glasses.

The Playbook has been bashed relentlessly by the US-based analysts, and when it came out it was a little buggy. The reason it was a bridged unit is because RIM could debug it without having to get every upgrade approved by the carriers. So now after three software upgrades that I downloaded, it's a really nice device.

I have a tool and die buddy who is building a piece to finish the lower trim to replace the stock piece, which is about !/4 inch to high. I would like to find a lower profile headphone jack as the one I have is a little too tall. I thought of using the Micro SD which is at the bottom of the unit, but I'm not sure it would work?

You can do it much easier with an old iPod. Alpine makes an adapter that shows song info on the radio display.

so what would look better the screen on the Radio or this?[

I can't believe how fast technology changes! I remember integrating my first ipod with my then BMW. The biggest hassle was connecting the device to switched 12vdc and getting the noise out of the system. It wasn't tough, its just that I ended up with an inline noise filter that I had to hide along with the wiring.

I'm still not up to date but like you, I find no reason to find a powered source for my itouch or shuffle as both devices will play for much long than I can drive!

dghii
2000 Boxster S 6speed 112k miles