iPod MFD Integration Unit Group Buy

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dgstan @ May 26 2006, 10:03 AM) [snapback]261364[/snapback]</div>

Yes, it jumps back to the disc display. But then my Sirius jumps back to the channel listing when I start up as well so i'm guessing it's a toyota thing?

The "I agree" may be offered in the future.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dgstan @ May 26 2006, 01:03 PM) [snapback]261364[/snapback]</div>

I was asked not to post any Vais info on this thread, but since there are some questions I feel I should reply.

If you have a 06 Prius, one that can play MP3 Discs, the SLI is able to display all of the information on a single screen. When it emulates a CD or MD Changer, it is limited to one line and playlists.

All the pictures of the DICE show CD2. The CD2 is a feature of the radio in the 06 Prius. AFAIK the 04/05 Prius doesn't have this option. Does DICE work with an 04/05 Prius with a CD Changer?

 

AFAIK, all the testing was done using an '05 with Nav and 6 CD Changer. The picture of the dash shows 6 CD and Map buttons. They were looking for an '06 to test with at the time, so I'm 99.9% certain that is an '05.

I hopefully will get mine today and all will be right in my world.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(BobR @ May 26 2006, 10:18 AM) [snapback]261372[/snapback]</div>

Mine IS a 05. And yes, I have a CD changer with Navi. (and Sirius added in as well)

I believe your info you've been given of what is possible and what it can do is incorrect.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LurkAzusa @ May 26 2006, 02:20 PM) [snapback]261436[/snapback]</div>

I sure hope it works with an '05. Otherwise, the beta-testing period will be mighty short!

Seriously, I was hoping to put together a group buy for the Vais unit. I had been talking to Eugene since November. First, it was "wait until after Xmas", then it was "wait a few more weeks", then "we're putting it together soon", etc., etc. AFAIK, they're still in the "wait a few more weeks" mode. I tried to stress to Eugene that there were other products on the horizon. Of course, I was just interested in in the SLI that was compatible with the '05s. To Eugene's credit, he is trying to make a more universal unit. When DICE came along, I couldn't resist.

I too am hoping there's a package waiting for me when I get home from work. Then I'll have something to do this weekend.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vagabond @ May 26 2006, 05:14 PM) [snapback]261477[/snapback]</div>

Lets not make this personal.

I think it is great that there is competition in the Prius Market place. When I got my Prius there was only Coastal E Tech. The landscape has changed quite a bit in a little over a year.

Clearly DICE is doing something special because there have been a number of reports of people with CD Changers that couldn't use the iPod2Car because it conflicted with the built-in CD Changer.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vagabond @ May 26 2006, 05:14 PM) [snapback]261477[/snapback]</div>

Lets not make this personal.

I think it is great that there is competition in the Prius Market place. When I got my Prius there was only Coastal E Tech. The landscape has changed quite a bit in a little over a year.

Clearly DICE is doing something special because there have been a number of reports of people with CD Changers that couldn't use the iPod2Car because it conflicted with the built-in CD Changer.

 

I'm one of the beta testers. Got my unit today around noon. I've never had any parts of my dash apart before. I used the Vais instructions for installing theirs and things went pretty smoothly. I basically removed the lower dash, popped off the vent cover to the right of the MFD, and removed the screw holding the large white box with many wires. From there I was able to reach behind the radio and could see where you plug in the wire supplied by Dice. Since my car is a 2005 BC #6 with JBL and navigation I also needed to use the smaller plug adaptor supplied by Dice. I did use a little mirror and flashlight and could see where I needed to plug it in.

All of this probably took no more than a half hour. I plugged in my 3G iPod and it worked using CD2. The text button showed the artist and title. Using Disc 1 I could skip through my tracks one by one. As stated in the Dice instruction sheet, with only the 3G iPod, you can't Fast Forward or Rewind while listening to a track. Switching to Disc 2 I could switch from playlist to playlist.

I'm not going to say everything is perfect, I'm going to do a lot more testing tomorrow. I am leaving Sunday on vacation and won't be back for a week.

I did try the Dice unit with my grandson's Nano iPod. The Dice seemed to work very well. It would FF and RW while listening to tracks. He didn't have any playlists so I wasn't able to test that.

I also tried my daughter's new Video iPod and it didn't seem to display the artist and track text. I'll have to try and use it tomorrow for more testing.

All in all I'm initially very satisfied.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(silly @ May 26 2006, 05:15 PM) [snapback]261547[/snapback]</div>

On a video iPod it wouldn't show track info? o'rly since that's what I use. It shows up OK on the iPod still? I doubt it's a firmware on the iPod since I tested that - I loaded ver 1.0 and then the newest one (1.1?) with no problems. I wonder if the format the iPod is different, if they didn't use iTunes to load the songs...

Also, check the dip switches on the DICE. Included with the unit there should be some instructions, check to see if it's in simple mode.

Here's the instructions as well. You may need to reset the iPod as well. I'd suggest if you're gonna do that, may as well update it at the same time.
http://support.diceelectronics.com/files/u...ual_rev_C01.pdf

and

http://www.apple.com/ipod/download/

 

I'll be picking up my unit at UPS in about an hour. I was just over at the Rockbox.org site and noticed someone posted that they were beta testing the DICE Icelink. If you are on this site, could you confirm if because the Video Ipod was rockboxed, it didn't show the text? It would be expected that it wouldn't. I had installed Rockbox on mine, but removed it to prepare for testing this unit. Hopefully, that won't screw up my testing.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LurkAzusa @ May 26 2006, 06:01 PM) [snapback]261567[/snapback]</div>

talk about overnight shipping.

And thanks for that. Never knew about this stuff. Reading that site now.

 

Ok, I got it! Installed in about 5 minutes. Some size specs for you:

All these measurements are not counting the connector ends themselves
Nav Unit adapter cable: about 6"
Cable from radio/adapter to electronics box: 22"
iPod connection cable: 37"
Electronic box: 8x6.5x3 cm or 3-3/16"x2-11/16"x1-3/16"

You can easily use the ipod controls (once you turn off the hold button, doh!)
The steering wheel controls work like the CD Changer controls. Long press toggles between track, playlist, album, chapter,aux control. Short press selects next/previous within the category. Fast forward and reverse worked.

The playlist and track features seem to work fine for a first quick look. Sound quality is excellent. I will refrain from further comments until I update my ipod firmware to 1.1.1 from 1.1 and methodically work thru various scenarios.

For a quick first look, I'm very happy with it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ May 26 2006, 06:55 PM) [snapback]261533[/snapback]</div>

But what happens after you turn off the car? I think you'll see it'll revert back to "disc" mode when you power back up. That's what I'm refering to.

BTW - I'm opening my UPS shipment as we speak...

 

OK, an hour and 15 minutes after opening the box:

The unit is installed and working flawlessly (so far).

- 10 minutes to gather tools and set up the workspace
- 15 minutes to read through the VAIS install documents and read the support.diceelectronics page
- 10 minutes to unload the back of the car and disconnect the battery (is this really necessary?)
- 5 minutes to remove the glove box/vent/wiring harness*
- 1 minute to plug the DICE unit into the head unit
- 5 minutes to reconnect the battery and get another Captain and Coke
- Remainder of time playing with the Ipod while running through the DICE

Notice there was no time spent trying to get it to work or troubleshooting the unit. The thing just worked as soon as I powered it up. Everything works as advertised. I couldn't be happier. Right now, I left it sitting in the glovebox in case there's any problems, but I haven't seen any yet. I tried the usual things like unplugging the Ipod while playing, etc. without incident.

Attached is a picture I took just before installing (it's tiny).

* Please note: I am familiar with tearing apart this section of the dash from my EV mode and Speed Sensor Defeat installations.

Thanks Danny, Vagabond, and everyone at DICE. Does anyone need a cassette adapter?



[attachmentid=3616]

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dgstan @ May 26 2006, 10:39 PM) [snapback]261665[/snapback]</div>

Oh christ. Mine's a damn BRICK compared to yours.

I'm totally amazed they got to everyone so fast. They only finalized everything on wednesday night.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(silly @ May 26 2006, 08:15 PM) [snapback]261547[/snapback]</div>

I tested the daughter's new Video iPod today and the artist and track text worked just fine. The reason it didn't work yesterday was because I was trying the different dip switch settings. You can have the Dice unit in either Dice Mode or Simple iPod Mode. When in Simple iPod Mode you don't get text displayed. This mode is really for radios that don't support text display. Once I put the box back in Dice Mode everything worked as expected.

I did more testing today and no more issues to report. Will do further tests later today.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Danny @ May 27 2006, 08:50 AM) [snapback]261745[/snapback]</div>

The only problem I'm seeing is that when you are in playlist mode (disc 2), it doesn't display the name of the playlist. It simply displays the word "PLAYLIST". With up to 999 different playlists supported, how are you supposed to know which one is currently selected?

Does everyone's behave this way? I would think it would be easy to get this info from the Ipod.


One other question: Shouldn't the group buy be announced over on Prius Online? I'm sure there's a bunch of people over there that would be interested. Not everyone follows both sites. The more people involved, the lower the price, right?