So I bought my first deck,
http://www.retrevo.com/s/Sony-DSX-S100-Car-Receivers-review-manual/id/23652bh634/t/1-2/

...and I think I made a mistake. I basically bought it because it has a really unique idea of actually storing my ipod inside the unit itself.
HOWEVER, the controls to manouver through my ipod is sooooooo frustrating! I actually found it easier before to manually go through the ipod to search for things!

Am I crazy here? I thought a deck that controls the ipod would be great but I find it a pain! Furthermore, I am really not impressed with the sound quality. I knew I shouldn't have gone with Sony but was blinded by the tray you can keep your ipod in (which really is dumb, since when you take the faceplate off for security you can still see the ipod inside!!) WTF?!

Can someone help me - I really think I should have gone the way of Alpine.
Is there such a thing where you can plug the ipod into a deck re: aux slot but charges the ipod at the same time?

I am thinking of this deck:
http://www.crutchfield.ca/Alpine_CDA_105_CD_Receiver_p/500CDA105.htm

 

The alpine iDa-x305 is a nice deck. 24bit, attractive(in some eyes) and fairly easy to use. Nice sound quality. Comes with a rear USB out and a supplied iPod adaptor to USB. The 105 may have limited connectivity to iPod without buying an additional cable.

I have the iDa-x100, older version of the 305, and it sounds great. I like the interface and is somewhat customizable for iPod menu and background image.

 

I use the Pioneer MVH-8200 BT... it's a mechless unit with Bluetooth also... have one in each car... I like it a lot. Does everything you want and in both cases the head unit swap alone totally transformed the otherwise stock stereos.