What new toys for my prius?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jimmy @ Apr 3 2007, 12:35 AM) [snapback]416917[/snapback]</div>

First of all the Coastal kit works ONLY with the 4th gen iPod. Not the video one.

They're very different. On Coastal Tech's thing you have to have their Ultimate Lockpick because their iPod thing replaces the usual video screen you see on the MFD. I believe you cannot control the iPod from the steering wheel or push buttons, or from the iPod itself. You have to use the touch screen. It makes navigating from the car's interface to the iPod one not-quite-as simple. There's an advantage to this setup, you can make the screen do anything you want because it simply puts the iPod into hard-drive mode and then uses it's own display screen. Crude, but very effective in most cases.

The DICE kit will allow you to keep your steering wheel controls, and you can control things from the iPod. DICE won't sell you the kit to tap a video input on the Navi screen (because we don't wanna get sued for contributing to an accident) so you'll need the Lockpick for that but you can use the video cradle that DICE sells to output the video from the iPod itself. I'll be posting a few pics of the DICE kit in use in a few days on a 07 Prius's screen.

 

With the Dice unit, the chances of seeing anything on the MFD from the Ipod ( Artists,Playlists,Titles ) are slim but you will be able to use the steering wheel controls.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Traffic @ Apr 3 2007, 06:38 AM) [snapback]416968[/snapback]</div>

As I said in the other post the kit is working in an 07 just fine - We're thinking we (DICE) sent out a bad batch. I'm testing each unit that goes out.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vagabond @ Apr 3 2007, 04:16 PM) [snapback]417248[/snapback]</div>

Vagabond: Can you tell me please, is the iPod integration/firmware/etc. the same on the DICE HD radio/iPod unit as it is on the iPod-only unit? I am seriously considering this and would much prefer the HD radio/iPod unit.

While I'm quite pleased with everything I've gotten from Coastal, I watched their video of their ILINK iPod interface, and although it was visual on-screen, it was controlled by a remote control unit. That ended my interest on that one. I just checked and the notice is still there that they are sold-out of their unit with no idea of when they will be back in-stock.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(AnOldHouse @ Apr 3 2007, 05:08 PM) [snapback]417317[/snapback]</div>

Yes, the firmware is the same. In fact, we haven't had a single Toyota HD kit with the text display complaint. It reports differently since it's both modules in one and the controller is tweaked to handle both. We were having a freezing issue with the HD kit, but that's been resolved. Once I talk to Danny and tell him DICE is ready to ship HD units to him, we'll see if he's interested in selling them through Priuschat.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vagabond @ Apr 3 2007, 08:12 PM) [snapback]417349[/snapback]</div>

Thanks. That would be great.