1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

VAIS AIC 100i is Discontinued

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by jgelman, Oct 22, 2005.

  1. jgelman

    jgelman New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2005
    9
    0
    0
    Dear Priuschat,

    I recently posted about not finding dealers-installers for this unit you all highly recommend in the LA/OC area. I was unable to reach Eugene at VAIS yesterday but received an email from him today saying the following:

    "We are discontinuing current products and will release the new version in the middle of November, so please wait until that time and I will get you in contact with our dealers in California."

    I have no idea why this is being discontinued or how the new version will be different. I may have found someone in my area that has a unit to sell, but I will have to find out more about this change before buying it. I understand many of you are on a batch list to get the unit at a discount price...not sure what effect that has for you....just posting this FYI.

    Joel
     
  2. aka007ii

    aka007ii New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 27, 2005
    482
    0
    0
    Location:
    Santa Clarita, CA
    Not any different from buying a product from Apple Computers. I'm getting used to (and expect) buying obsolite electronics. Like my new iPod Photo that now has more storage, smaller and displays video for the same price I just paid.
     
  3. hdrygas

    hdrygas New Member

    Joined:
    May 22, 2004
    3,650
    6
    0
    Location:
    Olympia Wa
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Could this mean a photo, video compatible system? I can see it now a "young person driving down the street while talking on the phone, watching "Desperate House Wives" and doing mascara and painting toe nails".
     
  4. aka007ii

    aka007ii New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 27, 2005
    482
    0
    0
    Location:
    Santa Clarita, CA
    They watch TV in thier cars in Japan.
     
  5. mikepaul

    mikepaul Senior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 2, 2003
    1,763
    6
    0
    Location:
    Columbia, SC
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    I'm hoping a $99 price comes with the new version... :D
     
  6. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2004
    15,140
    611
    0
    Location:
    South Puget Sound, WA
    Vehicle:
    2013 Nissan LEAF
    Model:
    Persona
    whew!!

    when i saw the post title, i was thinking Great!!, killed another Prius vendor... first it was Coastal now, VAIS... but glad to hear that its just an upgrade.

    bummer... i bet its gonna come with something that will make me regret buying version 1.0...

    but it does tell me that a company always looking to improve their products is a company i want to do business with
     
  7. bookrats

    bookrats New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 12, 2004
    2,843
    2
    0
    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    I'd assume in a company of VAIS's size, the engineering resources and manufacturing resources tend to be shared.

    Thus, while coming up with the "next model", production tends to come to a halt.

    I don't know, of course -- that's just a guess -- but that explains a lot.

    (If I had a wish, there'd also be an "upgrade" option so that current AIC-100i owners could have their units upgraded to contain the features of the newer model. However, that's both unlikely and often difficult to do.)
     
  8. BobR

    BobR Member

    Joined:
    Jan 16, 2005
    336
    0
    0
    Eugene has said that he would do free firmware upgrades, of course you have to send him the AIC-100i.

    Bob
     
  9. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2004
    15,140
    611
    0
    Location:
    South Puget Sound, WA
    Vehicle:
    2013 Nissan LEAF
    Model:
    Persona
    geeus...even in its primitive state, i have come to love and depend on mine...dont know if i could give it up for any extended period of time.
     
  10. AndyTiedye

    AndyTiedye New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 11, 2005
    51
    0
    0
    So is the 2nd group purchase on or off then?

    Ride the Music

    AndyTiedye
     
  11. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2004
    15,140
    611
    0
    Location:
    South Puget Sound, WA
    Vehicle:
    2013 Nissan LEAF
    Model:
    Persona
    hmmm i thought the 2nd group buy was already a done deal...werent they working on #3...either way, i would guess that if you have not received dialogue from VAIS that something is on the way, i guess we will have to wait until AIC version 2 is released
     
  12. Jay105000

    Jay105000 New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 21, 2005
    71
    0
    0
    Do you know the benefits of this "upgrade" any details?? I rather wait to get mine when it gets upgraded.
     
  13. aka007ii

    aka007ii New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 27, 2005
    482
    0
    0
    Location:
    Santa Clarita, CA
    They were supposed to call the 2nd group after the 19th of Oct. I haven't recieved a call but I know they have meny calls to make. Has anyone been called yet?
     
  14. datavortex

    datavortex New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 21, 2005
    114
    0
    0
    Location:
    Atlanta, Georgia, USA
    It is still on, but it is going to require a good amount of your (and my) continued patience.

    I haven't gotten a call yet, either (and I assume I am first on his list), but I know Eugene is working on this for us.
     
  15. BobR

    BobR Member

    Joined:
    Jan 16, 2005
    336
    0
    0
    Short of what has been posted here, I don't know of any new version at all.
    I was the first to try the AIC-100i on my Prius. I have the firmware 3.3.1. I think the latest firmware is 3.4.5, someone correct me on the latest firmware.
    Mine has a max of 12 playlists, where the new version has 99 playlists. I'm OK with 12 right now, but Eugene will upgrade my firmware, for free, to the latest version if I send it back to him.


    Bob
     
  16. aka007ii

    aka007ii New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 27, 2005
    482
    0
    0
    Location:
    Santa Clarita, CA
    Would be nice to download a firmware upgrade and place it on the iPod so the next time it connects the upgrade auto installs. No modification needed to the hardware.
     
  17. jimofdg

    jimofdg New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 10, 2004
    533
    0
    0
    Location:
    DG, IL, US
    I respectfully disagree. I don't want to make it easy to mess with the software built into my Prius (or its interface). The AIC-100i sends data in one direction, and it is asking a lot to build a back door and leave it open.