While looking at new DVD Nav Head Units I see a lot of them have some sort of iPod interface. however the features are just confusing to me. I'm hoping someone can answer some questions. I'm specifically looking hard at the Pioneer D3, but I'd be interested in comments on other interfaces if they are better....

I want something with a dock connector, not just the plain minijack. I want to be able to control the iPod from the head unit, and not have to touch it after it's plugged in. Some of the reviews suggest that controlling a iPod from the head unit is "slow", can anyone qualify what that means? I want the iPod to charge from the cable. I'd like to be able to watch videos on a video iPod on the monitor. Do any of them allow you to do that?

Last but not least, most of the dock connectors seem to just be a cable, and people leave it dangling somewhere. Does anyone make an actual dock stand you can mount somewhere that holds the iPod?

Thanks!

 

I can't comment on watching the videos since I don't have a head unit with a monitor on it but my Pioneer has a cable that goes to my Ipod. I have it going into the glove box. It does charge, and I can control the Ipod from the head unit and it's not slow. It works just as fast as going through a CD or MP3 CD. Basically, once my Ipod is plugged in and the glove box is shut I don't touch it. I can view all the info I need on my head unit. The menu that appears is just about identical to what you see on the ipod.

I would assume that the newer head units would play video. Someone here will probably chime in on this one.

 

Bicknell
Get the Pioneer CD-IB10011 Ipod adapter . It works through Pioneer headunits IP-Bus cord . All the Ipod Info is on your headunits screen . I have the Pioneer AVH-P5700DVD HU . You never have to touch the Ipod (Mine is mounted in the center console), Plus the adapter has an IP-Bus output for adding a changer or Satellite radio tuner . The only down side is that you cannot watch video. Check out my install .https://www.f150online.com/galleries....cfm?num=12527

 

...wow. that is really awesome. where did you get that ipod holder? I'm interested in one.

 

I know this sounds like a broken record, but check the thread on Alpine W205 and look at my gallery, I have photos of my system with 2 ipods.

 

Same here, i have a Kenwood Head unit, my i pod connector is in the glove box, can control it from Head unit, works Great, even better than controlling it from the i pod itself. just plug it in and shut the glove box, charges and all of that. Forget the ipod holder, you don't need anything else taking up leg room in your truck. !!

 

Be sure that whichever you consider to get that you read some critical reviews first. Search out the bad reviews and see what they have in common, don't count on it being 100% like using an iPod. The iPod user interface is great and it's hard to accomplish the same ease of use when you have to use the head unit's controls. I recently installed the KCA-420i for Alpine HUs and I am somewhat disappointed. I am thinking of going with a normal interface that requires that I use the iPod for selecting music. My main beef with Alpine's implementation is that the scrolling does not speed up the faster that I turn the **** like it does when using the iPod scrolling. Also, the Alpine interfaces are slow to navigate when compared to the iPod. This is a problem for me because I am approaching 50 gigs of music on mine and it takes quite some time to find exactly what I am looking for. On the plus side, the Alpine interfaces have received great reviews for sound quality when compared to just using the normal docking cable and the iPod for navigation, but the slow interface is almost driving me mad. That is the biggest disadvantage that you read about with all of the Alpine interfaces. Maybe they have the navigation working better on the one that you are considering. The best benefit of the HU controlling it though it the clean install. I love a factory look and don't want a bunch of flashy gizmo's hanging on my dash, but I may have to sacrifice clean install for ease of use in this case. Good luck.

 

Good point. The "full speed" connection isn't exactly full speed but its faster than most.

I too am near your file size so the thing i have figured out is to have better play lists.

 

I have an alpine CDA 9856 w/ a KCE-422i ipod connector... and I love it. I also have it wired to the glove box. I only have a slight beef with the the unit so far... is that the song name takes 3 seconds to come up, instead of immediately when its on M.I.X. but that isn't really a problem.

One of my friends has a pioneer HU with an ipod cable in his mustang, also wired to the glove box, and it works great for him. Same idea.

Depending on the head unit, most of the time all you need is the cable, as long as you have an ipod. Personally, I hate Ipods and itunes, but I bought a 30 Gig ipod + cable to use with my truck instead of the aux cable connection + Line driver amplifier + mini jack cable for my truck, because i was tired of reaching around for my mp3 player (Iriver H10 20GB) when i wanted to change songs.

Just do a little research and you'll most likely find what you're looking for. For most of my purchases, i use www.crutchfield.com and have had a pretty good experience so far.

Also... anyone know where i can find a holder for my ipod so it won't jar around when its in my glove box?

 

I have the 420i and notice the same. Mine also says "Song Up" or "Song Down" for 1 - 1.5 secs. when skipping songs. Ughhh! No matter how fast I turn the scroll wheel I can't get it to scroll more than 1 item every 0.5 - 1.0 secs which is entirely too slow. I just counted my music library at work and I have 459 artists and another 10 or so at the house that I don't have at work yet! Many artists I have multiple albums for. I have about 30 Phish concerts. In all I easily have songs from over 750 unique albums and at 0.5 secs per item to scroll it would take me ~5 minutes to go through all of the albums. Forget about scrolling songs, that's just out of the question.

 

I dont really have that problem with scrolling. each little 'indent' on the rotary dial (a verrrrry small turn) is an item, and it scrolls quite quickly when i spin the wheel quicker. The song thing is the only problem i really have... it just shows the time of the song ticking until .002 or .003 and then the name comes up.