Which IPOD ??
 

I just got an Alpine 9874 headunit.
Which IPOD works best with it ?
Or are they all the same ?
Should I get a GEN 1 2 or 3 etc etc IPOD ?

thanks

im not sure about the difference in usage with a deck but the reason they came out with new ipods is to make better ipods... i dont have a brand new one i have what is now called the 30g iPod classic... the newest have better screens but if you are controlling from the deck that wouldnt matter... all i can say is the touch is a waste of money very little storage and a huge price tag. and get twice as much storage as you think you'll need... i was origionally going to get the smallest nano cause i didnt think id need room but when i went shopping for my ipod was right in the middle of the change over and i got a 30g for $250 at the time i think i had like 2gigs of music i now have over 8 so had i bought a 4gig ipod id be screwed hahaha

as Jo-Psyko said.
they release newer versions of the same ipod all the time, bigger hdd, bigger screen, some times smaller hdd but always more $$. which is what its all about for them! i also have a 30gig classic hooked up and it spends its life now sitting in the glove box. point being dont waste alot of $ on something ur not going to see too often, unless u want to carry it when not in the car! get the biggest ipod that fits most if not all of ur music and never worry about it again.. for me an 80gig would be perfect as my whole collection is just under 80gigs. as for the touch, dont waste ur time and money.. not much support for them even on newer HU.. what little support there is is very limited. most HU wont play movies off them. keep all this in mind when looking to buy.
oh one more thing, if u plan on having it solely for the car look to get one off ebay with a dead batt, they are way cheaper and as long as it plugged in either to the car or ur computer it will work with no issues at all.. save a ton of money.

GL

Best way to do this is find someone with a dead ipod, diagnose it as a faulty HDD, replace with a 320GiB (or similar) 3.5" HDD (build your own adaptor), have that sit in your glove box, and begin your quest for lots and lots of music =D.
-Mike

PS I tried this, and soldering 40 pins required for the IDE was SOOOO not worth the outcome... ONE out of 40 wires didn't check for continuity, and the adaptor didn't work. Wont be trying that again.

according to the Alpine manual, it can only be used with 4th gen or later models, not the shuffle, and not touch/click wheel units without dock connector.

Great ! I didnt bother reading the manual. Looks like I'll be getting an IPOD Classic newest model.

Try it before you get it.

When I was shopping for a ipod head unit, I went to the stores and tried my ipod before purchasing, and the alpine units would not recognize it which I found odd since the ipod mini they had in the stores would work. When I went home I did some reading and turns out there is a bug in the software, and if your ipod has over xxxx amount of songs it won't be recognized anymore.

After more research I went with a pioneer unit. If I were to do it again today I would go with a kenwood unit.