Ok, I realize that these have been talked (nearly) to death, but I am looking for the definitive answer to my IPOD connectivity question -- which is best?

I believe that I am up to speed on most of the recent posts reporting problems associated with the various brands:

- DICE -- periodic connectivity issues
- USASpec -- skipping issues
- Peripheral -- ??

I would appreciate your feedback if you have experience with any of the above, especially the Peripheral.

Thanks!

 

I've read that the peripheral has some kind of lag issue.

 

I have the USA Spec and, generally speaking, I am very happy with its performance. It really is "plug-and-play" in the sense that once it's in, the system quickly recognizes its presence and my iPod Touch works well with it. It also responds to the steering wheel controls for skipping tracks, etc. However, unlike the Dice or the Peripheral, you don't have the option of getting rid of the text from XM in favor of text from the iPod. That was not a big issue for me given that the iPod Touch has a large screen that I can see the song information on and I wanted to maintain all of the XM functionality anyway.

Now, the bad part - I do have the skipping issue. Some people don't and there appears to be no identifiable pattern as to why some do and some don't. However, you need to understand that, on average, it maybe skips one time in an entire day and the "skip" only lasts about 5 seconds and then everything is back to normal. It's really more of a "roll your eyes" annoyance than a real issue that I can't stand to live with. In my opinion, the good far outweighs the bad.

Here's a thread with my installation: https://acurazine.com/forums/car-parts-sale-361/dreamcast-w-controllers-vmu-games-173870/

Best of luck on your decision making.

 

The new Dice sucks (Silverline), they lock out the Ipod now. Yes you get text, but I would much rather be able to control through the Ipod.
I ordered the USA Spec for that reason. I have not installed it yet. but i havnt heard many complaints about the skipping issue. if it only happens once through out the day, it can't be that bad. think of it like listening to the radio. you get crap through out most of the day anyways, i would rather have 5 seconds of silence than listening to hours of comercials and crap music from the radio.

Also ttribe, if you connect it through the Aux, would it still have this skipping issue??

 

i bought the USA Spec for the same reason, but i just need to install it. I am excited too, because i am going to wire the sound from my TomTom to it so i can hear the sound from the movies through the car stereo, instead of through the crappy GPS speakers.

 

yo know, i was looking at this topic forever and it seems that Peripheral has a new solution the "PXAMG" found here ---> http://www.peripheralelectronics.com/

It seems that you can keep your XM radio AND still get txt from ur ipod and keep the funtionality of the steering wheel controls not to mention you have an aux input as well. I think im gonna go with this one. I know another memeber on here has used it in his non-navi to navi conversion found here ----> https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...eripheral+ipod

Looks sweet and looks to be the best option of all the choices you listed thus far!!

 

DJ, as Douglar noted, the peripheral has been having lag issues with the TL Navi system... i guess if you don't have Navi then you shouldn't have a real problem...

But for me.. i'll wait it out on the peripheral to fix the lag issues before I make the leap..but i do want XM text and iPOD text when i switch back and forth :P

 

I'm not sure if I'm understanding the question correctly, but if you mean the Aux input that's in the '07's and '08's (down in the console), then you wouldn't need any kind of adapter since you'd have a direct line from the headphone jack on the iPod to into the sound system; however, you'd have no iPod control through the steering wheel. Since I have an '06 this isn't an option for me.

If you mean hooking the iPod to the Aux input on the USA Spec, I really don't know if this would help. I haven't tried that as a solution, but again I think you'd lose the iPod control from the steering wheel. Nevertheless, it seems the problem is somewhere in the module itself (i.e. the firmware or something similar), so I don't know if hooking up elsewhere would bypass the problem.

 

I assumed that "Jayv" has not had any problems with his install as he has not reported any. I have a navi unit so this interests me.

Douglar, how long/recent have these lag issues been occuring??

 

Check this thread https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...6&page=8&pp=40

I'm not fully up tp date on the issue, I bought the Dice so I've made my bed.

 

I have the Peripheral one I haven't had one issue with it at all.

 

Thanks for all of the information. I was unaware of the Peripheral lag issue -- some how completely missed that thread.

Well, it looks like I am down to the USASpec or the Peripheral. Maybe I'll wait a little to see if any of these glitches get worked out.

 

I have the Dice and I really like it...It does lock out my iPod video which sucks because that means I have to use the AUX with a seprate cable to watch videos. LAAAAAME. I'm thinking about trying the Peripheral PXAMG. You can get it at Best Buy too.

 

Ok I installed the USA Spec today and all I have to say is damn!, Why the hell didn't i do this sooner. I like how it shows the Track numbers and the time. also to change track from the steering wheel is awsome too. sound quality is like night and day compared to the cassette.

I really don't care if it has text because i already know whats on my ipod.

 

I picked up the Peripheral for my 05 TL Navi. I thought it was great at first. Then I realized that my phone wouldn't connect, the radio (AM/FM) wouldn't display the correct stations, the voice commands wouldn't work, and the disc, am/fm, xm buttons. It doesn't happen all the time and it isn't all of those problems at once, but it is very annoying so I uninstalled and I am going to return it.

Has anyone else had this problem with the Peripheral? I wonder if I got a defective one or is this is the lag issue that you're speaking of.

 

For Peripheral you need to have the updated firmware. Even with the periodic problems, P is SOOO much better than the other competitors that I can't imagine why this thread still exists? I mean, have you guys actually read anything about this stuff?

Anyway, there is a fix on another thread for people who have continual problems and P is soon coming out with a new version of the device.

 

It definately seems like it would be better. It is just everytime I turn the car on a different piece of the technology in the car doesn't work. What updated firmware are you speaking of? I returned mine, so I will probably just wait for the new version to come out. Do you know where the thread with the fix is?

 

There are more of these junk threads sprouting up around AZ. It's awful.

The good thread is here: https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...&page=10&pp=40
Scroll down and you can find the "hard reset" (or something similarly named).

If you read the instructions on the isimple/peripheral packaging, they explicitly tell you to do a firmware update. A linky to the site (in case googling peripheral electronics is too much) is also in the good thread.

 

I followed the instructions exactly. The iPod firmware was up to date like the instructions stated, however reading through that link you gave I'm not sure the Peripheral firmware. Thanks for posting to that thread. I couldn't find anything, but this one and one other.

 

So have they updated the peripheral yet? My brother works at best buy and he could get me a great deal on it but idk if the deal is worth all the issues. Also does this work in conjunction with Doms system?

 

I heard the Peripheral is sold at best buy under the name iSimple has anyone heard about this. If this is correct my brother works there and will get me a great deal on it but I need to know before i give him my list of items... Peripheral system, new amp, and the backup camera. I love his employee discount. I also am picking up doms system to finally have the video interface

 

if you buy the new i simple from best buy you will have absolutely zero problems. I am more than satisfied with the product and it works with the iphone 4

 

i have the dice and it works perfectly fine. i have never been locked out and ive been using a 1G ipod touch on it. Ive also hooked in an ipod video, ipod nano, ipod photo, iphone 3GS and the iphone 4 and all have worked fine.