iPod / iPhone USB port: ProClip mount alternative

Hi everybody,

These are wonderful and very helpful forums!!

This is my first posting here -- I just bought my new winter grey 2010 Prius IV with solar roof, and it is amazing!! I love it!!

The Bluetooth integration with my iPhone is great! And I was even thrilled that it had a USB port to plug my iPod or iPhone into. However, I soon became disappointed that the Prius user interface for interacting with the iPod and iPhone through the USB port is not very well-implemented.

For example:
- While the Prius' phone address book lets you jump from letter to letter in the alphabet, the USB iPod interface does NOT let you jump from letter to letter for songs/artists/playlists/etc. So, for me to scroll through all 817 artists that I have or the 113 playlists that I have takes a very long time.
- While a song is playing and you are browsing other artists/playlists/songs, the Prius will stop playing whatever you're currently listening to and try to play whatever you're browsing... even if you're simply browsing and haven't made a selection yet.
- There is no "shuffle songs" button. A workaround is that you can choose the playlist that represents your entire iPod and play that and then press the "random" button, but it always starts with the same song every single time.
- The Prius doesn't support the iPod's Sound Check system, so your songs all play at varying sound levels... some too quiet to hear, and some too loud.
- You can't give star ratings to songs -- I love rating my songs, particularly the bad ones so I can delete them later at home when I get back to iTunes.

There's other disappointments too, but those are my main ones.

So, I decided that I'm just going to forget about the USB port in this Prius and plug my iPod into the auxiliary jack instead. The bad news is that I will no longer be able to see the name of my currently-playing song on the navigation screen, but at least I can fix all of the problems above by navigating my iPod directly from the iPod itself.

So I'm going to buy 2 ProClips for my car from proclipusa.com... I've used their vehicle mounting systems in the past and I've been very pleased with them. I'm going to buy the ProClip Angled Mount for my iPod so it's close to the auxiliary jack, but that leaves me with the question of where to mount my iPhone. I'm trying to decide between the ProClip Center Mount and the ProClip Left Mount.

(I can't post the links to those 2 mounts because I'm a new member, but you can search for Toyota Prius 2010 on the proclipusa website to see these vehicle mounts.)

I think the ProClip Center Mount is better, because it's close enough to that A/C charger on the Prius floor that I can probably run Apple's short USB cable down there to recharge... but I'm concerned about the iPhone being in front of those vents at all times. Living here in the hot temperatures of Southern California (which quickly can become cold at night), I will almost always have those vents either blowing cold A/C air or hot heated air... this can't possibly be good for the iPhone to constantly be in the way of cold/hot air blowing at it at all times, can it?? I'm concerned about the iPhone being in front of those vents.

So my other option is the ProClip Left mount, which keeps the iPhone out of the way of the vents... but then I would have to get a long USB extension cable just to keep the iPhone charged... on top of running the cable all the way over (or under) my steering wheel onto the floor below. This seems like it would be a major eyesore.

Does anybody have any suggestions or advice on my entire dilemma?

Thank you so much!

Scott

 

A-ha... that's a very interesting idea and possibly the solution I've been looking for! I didn't even know those existed until you mentioned it! I just looked it up online, and macally.com makes one called the mCup. MacAlly typically makes pretty good products... I like them.

Of course, the question then becomes -- where does the passenger put their drink when we're driving? I guess they could squeeze a small plastic water bottle on the bottom of the passenger side door, but they couldn't put any sort of an "open top" beverage in there, like a coffee from Starbucks or a soft drink from a fast food place.

Thanks,
Scott

 

i asked ProClipUSA about what they think about putting my iPhone DIRECTLY in front of the A/C vents, and this is what they wrote back with:

"We have a lot of options that are designed to sit directly over the air vents. All of our parts are made out of high-grade ABS plastic, which is heat and cold resistant. This provides additional protection for the phone. On top of that, the iPhone’s case is designed to prevent damage from heat and cold as well. There really will not be a problem with having the iPhone mounted in front of the vents. The center mounts have always been our most popular option for vehicle mounts and all devices."

 

Yeah, I agree... that would've made more sense. Plus, it's blocking the vents from getting cold & hot air to US!

I may just deal with the limitations of the USB connection for the iPod, and not worry about getting a 2nd mount after all for the iPhone... just use the ProClip Angled Mount for the iPhone instead.