My Dice experience

Since I did a lot of research on Priuschat before getting a DICE unit for our Prius, I thought I’d share my experience on how it worked. If anything, given some of the differing opinions I saw on the unit, it will help to have one more data point.

My wife and I have a 2005 Prius (I believe package 4) and a video iPod. We used a Monster FM transmitter for a few months, but it started cutting out on a regular basis. We went for the DICE over the Vais SLI for two reasons: 1) the cheaper price, and 2) the limitations on playlists. Even with the new limit of 999 songs, we’d go over.

We got the unit in the mail and first tried the right vent unit installation method (as outlined at http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=1...&hl=install). After some cramped maneuvering, we got the plug in the stereo, but didn’t hear the “pop†that indicated it was in securely. Worse, the audio level out the left speakers was close to nothing.

So, thinking the problem was an insecure plug, we tried the “take the whole dash apart†method (as outlined as http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=31653&hl=). The work was nowhere near as frightening as the photos indicated. In fact, except for a few problems with the MFD (I didn’t realize there were tabs as well as bolts holding it in), the whole process went much more easily than I expected. We got the stereo out, plugged the plug in, and got the “popâ€. Sadly, we still got next to nothing out the left speakers.

So, support time! We put in a support request to DICE the Thursday before Labor Day, got a response that Friday, and had them send out a replacement unit the next Tuesday. The next Thursday we got the unit, tried the right vent method, heard the “popâ€, and had actual Prius-iPod integration.

Given some of the concerns about resetting the DICE, I placed it in the glove compartment. I also have all dip switches up in order to see text. So far, we’ve had one incident where the iPod froze, but otherwise no major problems. I’ve had a few times where switching playlists appeared to not be working, but I believe that may be due to trying to switch the lists before the unit finished initialization. Since my wife and I love shuffle on the iPod, we’ve followed the suggestion of putting an audio file at the front of each playlist naming the list --- that’s made playlist identification much easier.

So, to date, we’re pretty happy with the unit. If that changes, I’ll update this to add to the knowledge base. Thanks to all who put up installation directions!

Mark

 

Since I did a lot of research on Priuschat before getting a DICE unit for our Prius, I thought I’d share my experience on how it worked. If anything, given some of the differing opinions I saw on the unit, it will help to have one more data point.

My wife and I have a 2005 Prius (I believe package 4) and a video iPod. We used a Monster FM transmitter for a few months, but it started cutting out on a regular basis. We went for the DICE over the Vais SLI for two reasons: 1) the cheaper price, and 2) the limitations on playlists. Even with the new limit of 999 songs, we’d go over.

We got the unit in the mail and first tried the right vent unit installation method (as outlined at http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=1...&hl=install). After some cramped maneuvering, we got the plug in the stereo, but didn’t hear the “pop†that indicated it was in securely. Worse, the audio level out the left speakers was close to nothing.

So, thinking the problem was an insecure plug, we tried the “take the whole dash apart†method (as outlined as http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=31653&hl=). The work was nowhere near as frightening as the photos indicated. In fact, except for a few problems with the MFD (I didn’t realize there were tabs as well as bolts holding it in), the whole process went much more easily than I expected. We got the stereo out, plugged the plug in, and got the “popâ€. Sadly, we still got next to nothing out the left speakers.

So, support time! We put in a support request to DICE the Thursday before Labor Day, got a response that Friday, and had them send out a replacement unit the next Tuesday. The next Thursday we got the unit, tried the right vent method, heard the “popâ€, and had actual Prius-iPod integration.

Given some of the concerns about resetting the DICE, I placed it in the glove compartment. I also have all dip switches up in order to see text. So far, we’ve had one incident where the iPod froze, but otherwise no major problems. I’ve had a few times where switching playlists appeared to not be working, but I believe that may be due to trying to switch the lists before the unit finished initialization. Since my wife and I love shuffle on the iPod, we’ve followed the suggestion of putting an audio file at the front of each playlist naming the list --- that’s made playlist identification much easier.

So, to date, we’re pretty happy with the unit. If that changes, I’ll update this to add to the knowledge base. Thanks to all who put up installation directions!

Mark