Wayde

Hi

I currently have an Alpine CDA 9853 with an iPod cable. I believe I had to get a special box outside the head unit itself to make it iPod compatible. It still works great, it charges my iPod Classic and reads playlists etc.

I am looking at upgrading to something newer. I am curious if any of the newer Alpine decks still use 'whatever-it-is' that the CDA9853 used for iPod compatibility.

Are newer decks by other manufacturers’ iPod compatible right out of the box? Or do they all have an add-on you'd need to make them so?

I am considering something like the INA-W900, but before I even begin comparing I'd like to know if I'm 'married' to Alpine if I want iPod compatibility (which I need, I am addicted to podcasts and my iPod is my main music player in the car).

Thanks in advance for any responses.

sheptard

iTrader: (2)

From what I'm interpreting with what Alpine has published for the INA-W900 all the ipod communication is handled by the unit itself. You would no longer need the external module you have.

Be careful on those double din navigation units, some of them are notoriously slow.

Also the vast majority of the decks you see these days that are 'ipod ready' can be connected directly to your ipod without any need for an additional unit. So I believe if you wanted to get away from Alpine, you could without having to buy any extra parts.

Wayde

Thanks for the response sheptard.

I'm glad to hear that I'm probably free to pick any brand.

I am seeing a lot of descriptions that say "connect your iPod". I am leery of it being either just an aux jack that doesn't actually communicate with the iPod or keep it charged while driving.

Is 'true' iPod compatibility becoming a standard feature these days?

sheptard

iTrader: (2)

It all depends on the product. Both of my pioneer decks offer 'full' ipod connectivity. They both have a ipod dock connector that charges my ipod while I drive and I don't have to use a line in cable.

From what I've seen, if the deck is recent and has USB support, then you'll be using the ipod cable.

One issue I have is that in my Daily driver, my DEH-P600UB no longer supports the firmware on my iphone 3g properly (Thanks apple, you bunch of jackasses) So I frequently get errors when starting it and have to unplug/plug it back in multiple times before it'll work. In my track car, I've got a slightly newer and much, much crappier pioneer deck that supports my iPhone properly.

If you plan on sticking to ipod's exclusively though, you shouldn't have any issues as long as your deck is listed as being 'iPod compatible'. Just make sure your specific version of iPod (3G, 5G, etc) is listed as supported on the manuf. website.

cooldude117

I've got the W900 installed in my truck and it's not bad, but not perfect. One really nice thing that I just installed is the KCE-400BT bluetooth adapter. With my iPhone I can have it auto connect to bluetooth and if I was listening to bluetooth audio over A2DP it will automatically pick up where I left off. So I can get in, start the car and without plugging anything in, it will pick up where I left off. I think that's pretty cool. Also the W900 has an amazingly fast boot up time. I'm a little disappointed in the inconsistencies of the user interface, but the ipod integration is the best I've seen yet, and it sounds really nice too.