iPhone 3G in-car solutions

Lead_Head · 14 Aug 2009 at 13:44

Hello all,

What options are out there that enables you to:

- take a phone call handsfree,
- charges iPhone 3G,
- plays music from my iPhone 3G.

This can be either a new headunit or an add on piece of kit to fit either a new headunit or the standard headunit in a Clio 172.

Cheers,

Siliconslave · 14 Aug 2009 at 14:28

i've got the parrot MKI9000 which is alright - but to be honest if it wasn't for the cost of changing the Audi stereo I'd probably get a new head unit...

also got a Brodit pass through cradle which is fantastic - totally worth the (rather large) outlay

jamoor · 14 Aug 2009 at 14:32

MKi9200

I have one and it's quite good although a bit buggy!

You can use SD cards and USB sticks too!

Cost me £200.

Siliconslave · 14 Aug 2009 at 14:39

do you find it loses the phone sometimes though? really annoying that

you can always get a charging cable from the lighter and use a bluetooth & a2pd now... probably cheaper than the ipod parrots...

Lead_Head · 14 Aug 2009 at 14:44

"a2pd now"

What is one of these?

Siliconslave · 14 Aug 2009 at 14:49

sorry - a2pd is audio over bluetooth - OS3 introduced it so you can now stream your tunes over bluetooth to a HU or handsfree that accepts it.

mattyprice4004 · 14 Aug 2009 at 21:00

Parrot MKi9200, you could say I'm rather experienced in the field

Amraam · 14 Aug 2009 at 23:55

What is you budget? Personally I would get something like this:

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/kenwood-kdc-bt8044u.html

^ Since OCUK doesn't sell ICE, I thought it would be fine to link elsewhere.

Bug One · 15 Aug 2009 at 00:04

Siliconslave said:
sorry - a2pd is audio over bluetooth - OS3 introduced it so you can now stream your tunes over bluetooth to a HU or handsfree that accepts it.

Really? How? Can't find that option anywhere on my iphone.

Siliconslave · 17 Aug 2009 at 09:57

Bug One said:
Really? How? Can't find that option anywhere on my iphone.

just enable bluetooth and connect to a headset / headunit that supports a2dp then start playing the music

Use it every other day at the gym and it works fine - video has a bit of lag to the audio though

Lead_Head · 17 Aug 2009 at 10:34

Amraam said:
What is you budget? Personally I would get something like this:

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/kenwood-kdc-bt8044u.html

^ Since OCUK doesn't sell ICE, I thought it would be fine to link elsewhere.

That looks nice, but the dash in my car is red

Bug One · 17 Aug 2009 at 10:37

Ah cool. I guess my bluetooth car kit doesn't support ad2p then.

What I'd really like is a cable that can go into the bottom of the iphone and at the other end splits into a 3.5mm audio out and a 12v car plug - as I have to trail a cable anyway to keep the iphone charged in the car and I have an aux input and power socket right next to each other so its not as though it will be cable free anyway.

Siliconslave · 17 Aug 2009 at 10:48

the Kensington LiquidAUX is supposed to be alright for that - pretty sure belkin do one as well iirc...

Rhyzz · 17 Aug 2009 at 14:08

Would any headunit be able to charge it? Doesn't iTunes need to be installed to do this or does it just run from a USB, period? Battery life on mine is rubbish, barely get a days use out of it

Siliconslave · 17 Aug 2009 at 14:25

Rhyzz said:
Would any headunit be able to charge it? Doesn't iTunes need to be installed to do this or does it just run from a USB, period? Battery life on mine is rubbish, barely get a days use out of it

you just need the right pins connected on the cable and enough power - there were historically two pins that could charge the ipods, but Apple stopped support for one of them so a load of the older (non oem) cables don't charge the iphone (or newer ipods).

There are adapters you can get however...

so to answer your question yes, they should charge your phone

Sime · 17 Aug 2009 at 14:25

I use Bluetooth to Audio on my headunit and its the best £60 ive ever spent. As soon as I turn on my car, my phone (Sony Erricson W880i) says

'Bluetooth Connected'

Just select a song on my phones mp3 libary and it automaticly sorts itself out! Brilliant! No more dangly wires!

BEN_UK · 17 Aug 2009 at 15:06

I went down the route for my iPhone 3GS in my punto.

Head head unit, £50 with front AUX input. (£25 in install aswell)

Brodit Fiat Punto mount £15

Brodit 3GS Holder £23

Works great, 16Gb's of music on my iPhone and plays really well though the head unit.

Just connect both iPhone and Head unit with a standard audio cable.

Can post a pic if u want ?

Thanks Ben

Jez · 17 Aug 2009 at 16:08

I just connect mine via a normal 3.5mm to RCA cable into my comand unit's RCA inputs. Works very well for both music and telephone calls. The mic on the iphone seems strong enough that it sounds fine to callers even sitting ~0.5m away) on my centre armrest charging as it usually does. (Charges via the standard USB cable).

pinkaardvark · 19 Aug 2009 at 02:50

I have a mki 9200 parrot and it sucks bad. The A2DP always drops off after a minute or so the first time you use it. Apple don't support the skip next or back buttons as it's only a2dp v1.0 I think. Lots of other issues with the parrot like speakers fading in or out, or the thing getting stuck on a feature. It works better if you use the ipod connector which also charges, but then you need to tuck phone away in glovebox or have dangly wire. I have navigon on my 3gs so glovebox is a no go.

Kappa · 19 Aug 2009 at 07:22

I use a Sony BT2600 or something like that head unit, was about £100, a2dp music, and the mic in the headunit is very good also, does everything you want, except charge it!