How to power ipod when using Aux jack: Tune Flex?

I've been down the Dice road, with two buggy Dice units and endless frustration. I know other similar units have limitations, like 99 tracks, which would not work for me (2000 track minimum).

In fact, none of the full integration systems give you the kind of control I'd want. The iPod itself has the best interface of all. Why not just use that? That's what I did before getting Dice. But I had to be careful about turning unit off every time I get out of car, or ipod battery runs down.

So all I really want is a good way to POWER the ipod while driving. What could be simpler? And I don't need transmitter, I have 2006 with Aux jack, which is becoming pretty standard in cars nowadays. But nearly all of the units designed to play ipod while driving run through a useless (to me) transmitter.

Now I just bought a slew of Ipod car "charging" units. But none of those are designed for OPERATING an iPod while driving. In particular, they have one big misfeature. They fail to turn the iPod OFF when the car is turned off. So you may have charged your ipod up while driving, but if you don't turn it off manually, you loose your place in the program (I listed to podcasts), and your ipod will eventually discharge.

It would be so simple to do this correctly. It turns out that all you need to do to make ipod stop when power is turned off is to connect two of the pins in the iPod connector. That's in effect what the Dice and other "full disintegration" units do.

So why can't anyone else do this correctly with a $15 unit simply designed to power iPod while driving? It could be identical to the "charging" units, except for wiring those two pins together. In fact, they could set it up to work either way with a mini switch. But I don't in fact see any good reason to have it the way they are now.

Now there is one unit that looks very promising so I'm planning to order it tonight. That's the "Griffin Tune Flex Aux." The problem with this solution is that it has a long stiff neck. It's designed for use with typical cigarette lighters on the dashboard, not in the center console. I'd much prefer a soft-wired solution, like one of the charging units. With a soft wire, I can pick ipod out of center console before driving and select playlist I want, then put it back into center console. But it doesn't look like there is any better option currently available.

There are a hundred different options, but not one seems to get it right.

Charles

 

OK, thanks to another thread about iPhone, I see what looks like the best solution to powering iPod in Prius with Aux jack:

The Belkin Auto Kit for iPod with Dock Connector. Comes in black or white:

F8V7058-APB (black)
F8V7058-APL (white)

According to reviews at Amazon, this shuts off iPod when car power shuts off. Also there is little or no noise, and volume level can be adjusted with the built-in amp.