Ordered the Dension ice>Link

After several weeks of scouring numerous forums and the web, I finally decided to go with the Dension ice>Linklus for iPod to stock head unit integration. As far as I can tell, it does everything the VAIS unit does but for a lot less.

I ordered at http://www.enfigcarstereo.com/ . Sent them an email regarding the availibility of the unit and got an answer back a couple hours later. They have an AIM address, on which I asked a million questions and in the end I felt at ease ordering from the website.

The best part is that the unit is only $159.99 on the website. The Dension online store lists it for $199.00 (+S/H?). That made it a pretty easy decision. Enfig will be receiving their stock on Wednesday, so I should be getting mine on Thursday.

There is a free shipping option, and no tax (outside of NJ I believe). So $160 for the complete order. I'll post again when I receive the ice>Link.

Hope this helps some of you out. Btw, it's for a 2005 Prius stock stereo/no navigation/no 6 disc changer. And no, I don't have any affliation with this store.


Any current users of the ice>Link, please post your reviews/comments!!

Let us know how it goes. I live in an FM poor area and have a large MP3 collection that I wouldn't mind being able to listen to.

If it works as well as it reads online, It might be what makes me dump my current MP3 player for an iPod.

I assume you will be installing it yourself? If so, let us know how simple the installation is.

Looking at the site, you have to select the dock style you want. Either just the cable, or the full dock.

Best of luck, and keep us posted.

I'm interested to see how it works. Please take pictures.

Bob

Unfortunately, I got an email this morning from the retailer notifying me that the one of the components of the Dension ice>Link is back ordered for several weeks.

Not sure if I will wait it out with Enfig or order direct from Dension. Spoke with Dension yesterday and found out that the earliest ship date would be Monday (12/19) albeit $40 more than Enfig.

With the Dension ice>Link, there are two options: cradle or cable. I want the cable link which is back ordered. I believe the cradle option is not. Go to http://www.densionusa.com for more information about the ice>Link.

I will install the ice>Link myself and will post pictures when I actually get the unit.

You can walk right into Best Buy and buy one off the shelf. $199 + tax, but no shipping cost and no wait.

Hrm.. their website doesn't list the Toyota model as being available.


Maybe a few stores have it. It would only be worth buying it there, if it qualified for one of their 'free' installation deals (which have cost me upto $30 in the past).

Bummer about the back order... I think I'd rather have the cable and just keep the unit in either the upper glovebox, or the storage compartment under the radio. Though you could mount the cradle inside the center console....

Correct, their web site does not list it, but at least my local Best Buy had two, and I bought one for my wife's car. I won't be installing it, however, until December 25th.

I imagine you can pay their install department to install it, but it was not really located in their "Car Audio" department. I found them in two places in the store. One was kind of near their car audio department, but was out in the regular display racks along with iPod2Car and various XM radios such as the Delphi Roady. The other location I found it was with the iPod accessories, clear on the other side of the store.

Although the DensionUSA web site shows a variety of conection cables, such as the universal docking cradle with a iPod Mini insert, an iPod mini only cradle, and a cradleless docking cable, the box only came with the universal cradle with the iPod Mini insert.

I would think that you would want to mount the cradle in a visible place, since in order to get to all of your playlists beyond the first 5, and to get to certain features, you need to be able to see the iPod screen.

Marlin,

I was actually browsing on BestBuy.com but couldn't find the ice>Link for Toyota vehicles. I didn't even think to go check one of the actual brick and mortar stores.

Did both kits contain the cradle, or did one of them have the docking cable? As for the different choices, I believe that regardless of where you buy the kit, you will only receive one connector, ie the cradle OR the 'cradle-less' docking cable.

I plan on keeping the iPod in the one of the glove compartments at all times except when updating the music on it.

Both boxes looked identical, as near as I could tell, and the one I bought had the standard cradle and an iPod Mini insert.

It seems to me that you wouldn't want to stuff the iPod in the glove compartment. If you do that, you will only be able to access the first 5 playlists as discs 1 thru 5 on the CD-Changer interface.

If you select disc 6, then it activates a menu that is displayed only on the iPod screen that allows you to select any playlist on the iPod. (you still use the steering wheel controls to navigate the menu, but the menu itself is displayed on the iPod screen)

You can't do album or artist searches through the ice>Link interface, but using the disc 6 menu on the iPod, you can put it into "iPod UI Mode". If you then disconnect the iPod, wait several seconds, and then reconnect it, the ice>Link becomes basically an aux-in and you can fully use the iPod UI from the iPod and do anything you want on the iPod.

Of course, I haven't actually used it yet. I got this information from reading the manuals online.

How does this thing actually connect to the car? I was not aware of any input for audio on the '04/'05 Prius.

I have one of those things that transmit to the FM radio, but the quality is terrible. On my long drive from Fargo to Spokane, I just listened to the iPod through the earbud earphones. I guess you're not supposed to use headphones while driving, but I can hear outside noises while using the earbuds as well as with the radio or CD player on. I listened to audio books for the whole trip. 16 or 17 hours divided into three days.

I got one for Christmas but the wiring harness doens't match up to the radio/single CD changer in my 05 Prius

Has anyone else had any luck with this device?

I'm still looking for a good way to use my iPod in my Prius, any advice would be welcome.

Thanks,

Lori

It does work; the directions that come with it are very generic.
http://homepage.mac.com/brusso/PriusRadio/PhotoAlbum23.html

Read Craig's directions.

I actually meant the Dension Ice link, it was the one that didn't match up with my car. But thanks for the info.

Sorry, I was working at the same time I was reading posts and clearly misread it.
I can certainly recommend Vais Tech for use with your iPod and Prius.

After several weeks of waiting for the ice>Link due to back order, I finally received it yesterday. I plan to do the install today during my lunch break as the whole process does not look too involved. I originally planned to snap some photos during the installation, but unfortunately I didn't bring my camera with me.

Lori, how many sets of cables did you get? I got two different harnesses, and one cable to connect into the ice>Link module. I think it will be a trial and error process because I certainly do not plan on removing the entire head unit to plug in the harness. I will just have to figure out which harness to use. Are you doing a self-install or was a shop attempting the install?

FYI: '05/no navigation/non-JBL/single cd player/north east

I just installed one in my wife's car and it works fine. Did you get the Toyota version? It comes in about 5 different flavors for different car manufacturers and each kit has a different wiring harness.

I got mine at Best Buy.

I went ahead and pulled the entire dash apart, along with the MFD and the radio. I mounted the cradle on a ProClip mount that attaches above the air vent next to the MFD on the driver's side. I ran the cradle cable through the crack between the vent dash part and the MFD hood, so there's only about 4 inches of cable outside of the dash, and it's all hidden behind the mount and the cradle.

It's really not hard to take the dash all apart. I did it twice on Monday, once for my XM radio in my Prius, and once for the ice>Link in my wife's Prius. I then had to take my wife's apart again Wednesday night to fix a problem that I will describe below. It took me about a half hour to take everything apart and put it back together wednesday night since I knew how to do it. The most important part is to remember to put the varius radio/MFD bolts back before you snap all the plastic pieces on. I got ahead of myself and had to backtrack a couple of times when I discovered yet another bolt I fogot to put back. There's a very good PDF posted on this site somewhere that has very explicit instructions and pictures on how to take the dash apart.

TIP: Mount the ice>Link unit behind the rounded plastic cover that is over the floor hump (it's the one with the cigarette lighter power jack). This piece comes off without having to remove any other panels. The cables are long enough to feed behind the panel mounts near where the cigarette lighter power jack is located. You can use some velcro strips to attach it to a big black plastic cover that is inside that area.

The reason I suggest you attach it there is that somehow on Wednesday, my wife managed to confuse the ice>Link. She thinks she hit the steering wheel Mode button while going the the ice>Link menu. Anyhow, however she did it, the ice>Link stopped responding and the CD Changer screen would no longer appear.

So, I had to take every thing apart to check it out. I thought maybe the connecters came loose, but everything was tight. The iPod would show the Dension ice>Link logo and acted like everything was there, but the CD Changer just wouldn't come up. It didn't work until I unpluged the ice>Link from the radio and reattached it. After I did that, it displayed it's message that is something like "Configuring for Toyota radio, please turn the radio off and on again to find the CD Changer". So, basically, I think the device is powered all the time, and disconnecting it "rebooted" it.

Anyhow, that's why when I put things back together, I mounted it behind that "hump panel". If it happens again, I won't have to take apart the entire dash.

It really is worth it to take the whole dash apart so you can mount the cradle over driver's side vent next to the MFD and not have a cable running outside of the dash. Once you get that far, removing the MFD and radio takes just another 5 minutes or less.

Here's the link to the very explicit dash removal instructions.
http://www.chrisdragon.com/downloads/Stere...us,%20v1.03.pdf

The ProClip mount can be found at proclipusa.com.

Oh and by the way, the only hard parts to remove are the left vent panel next to the drivers door, and the vent panel on the right of the MFD. Both of these have claw clips at the top and you need to push down on them and pull back. The PDF instructions suggested using a wooden paint stir stick, but I used a screw driver blade covered with masking tape. By pushing down between the top of the panel and the plastic dash cover, and then twisting the screwdriver a little bit while pulling, the claws disengage fairly easily.

The left vent panel next to the door is by far the hardest and is unfortunately the first one to remove. Once you get the top loose, you have to grab the bottom of the panel and just use finger friction to tug it loose. It takes a lot of effort the first time, because you aren't sure how to do it, but don't give up. The vent panel on the right of the MFD is easier because once you've done the other vent panel, you understand how to do it. All the other panels come off very easily.

The other thing is that the instructions suggest disconnecting the Park button from the vent panel to the left of the MFD, but I found that the cable was just long enough that with a litle twisting and manuvering, I could move it over the dangling panel beneath the steering wheel and get it out of the way enough to access the the radio bolts and screws.

If you are carefully reading the instructions while you remove the dash panels, it will probably take you an hour to an hour and a half to install the ice>Link, but like I said, having done it a couple of times now, I can remove everything and put it back in a half hour or less.

And even though all the dash parts are dangling, everything is still connected, so you can turn on the car and test the ice>Link out before you put everything back together.

It connects to a jack in the back of the radio. This jack is for connecting an XM radio or a CD Changer. The ice>Link looks like a six disc CD changer to the radio. I've read that you can't use it on a prius that has a factory installed CD Changer because the radio only supports one. However, the VAIS device will emulate either a CD changer or a MD changer (mini disc), and supposedly the Prius will accept both at the same time.

The ice>Link exposes your first 5 playlists as discs 1 through 5 on the MFD. The song titles appear on the MFD if you press the "Text" button on the MFD. If you press the MFD button for disc 6, it displays an ice>Link menu on the iPod screen that allows you to access all of your playlists on the iPod. You use the next/prev track buttons on the steering wheel to navigate the ice>Link menu and you use the ff/rewind buttons on the MFD to select menu items or enter/exit sub menus. It's kind of slow navigating the menu. Each press of the next/prev track button takes a good fraction of a second to take effect. So if you had lots and lots of play lists, it would take you a while to get to the one you wanted.

The iPod controls are normally disabled when you are connected the ice>Link. This is called the "Dension UI Mode". It allows you to access the playlists, but not do artist/album searches.

However, one of the items in the ice>Link menu is "iPod UI Mode". If you select this, then remove the iPod from the cradle and reinsert, the Dension UI is disabled and you can fully control the iPod from the iPod controls. You can do everything with the iPod that you would normally do when it's not connected to the cradle, and the sound still plays through the car stereo. No song titles appear on the MFD, but the next/prev track steering wheel buttons and the ff/rewind MFD buttons will perform those functions on the iPod. You exit the "iPod UI Mode" by pressing the disc 6 button on the MFD and waiting a couple of seconds for the ice>Link to reestablish control of the iPod.

I only got one harness. I bought mine from Best Buy and the boxes were all unsealed. I'll bet that answers the problem. I'll order one from the company that was recommended here.

Thanks everyone!