Thinking about an ipod for the Jeep, need some advice

[jk333]

I want to swap out my current stereo in my Jeep for one with an mp3 jack and Im looking at buying an ipod to plug into my new stereo, so that I will really eliminate the need to burn another CD. But, I really dont know very much, if anything about Ipods. So, im hoping some of you guys on here who are savvy with/about them can give me some advice on which Ipod to buy? (nano, etc.), Ideally, I would need a car charger, if they make them? Also, I remeber hearing about the different capcities of Ipods, but I dont know which model holds how many songs, etc. I would obviously be downloading music from my windows media player on my computer to the ipod, so I will need a cable from the computer to the ipod. Im sure im not the first person to think of/do this, so im just looking for the best setup out there before I go off and buy anything. Also, I will be trying to buy at least the Ipod used. Thanks. :music:

 

[tharlanjr]

If your going to buy a new stereo buy one that has an ipod plug.

I recommend Alpine. I love their radio's. A little more expensive, but higher quality. They you run the ipod cable into your glove box so no one can see it. Your Ipod will charge this way also.

I have the 8gb Ipod, had it for a few years now. I got my Fiance' the 16 GB Ipod for Christmas. They work great. The newer ones have video on them too.

I HATE the nano's. No screen brings the suck.

Depends on how much music you have for what size you want. My 8gb got full really fast. But I have a bit of music. I would get at least the 16gb Ipod...

Hope this helps.

 

[jk333]

Hmm, never thought about putting it in the glove box. good idea to consider. How many songs does your 8GB ipod hold? How about the 16GB one? I want to get an idea of the capacity, and I dont want to run out of room! haha.

 

[dashboardhero]

If you are lookin to use this solely for your vehicle I would (and I did) buy a referb one off of amazon. they have everything from 8gb g3 (3rd generation) nanos for like 100 bucks (which is what i use) to your more expensive options (just type in refurbished ipods). The previous post talked about the nano having no screen, but he was slightly mistaken. It is the shuffle that has no screen. He was however right on with the head unit. I own the CDA-9883 which allows you to control your tunes from the unit itself and charges your ipod with the optional cable (costs about 50 bucks extra for it but it's worth it). As far as the cable to transfer tunes to your ipod from the computer, the ipod will come with it's own cable. All you'll have to do is go to apple's site and download itunes and then import your files into the program. Itunes is a great program that lets you make playlists and such and pretty much organizes your music for you. Hope this helps. Feel free to ask if you got any questions.

 

[dashboardhero]

my 8gb nano holds about 2000 songs

 

[jk333]

thanks dashboardhero. Thanks for the tip about Itunes too. that should make it easier for me. Well, I guess that gives me a place for reference on song capacity as well. Edit: So, do they make this adapter cable, to control the ipod from the head unit, for other brands and/or models of head units? Or is this strictly an Alpine thing? Im Just Curious.

 

[XJCruiser]

Another alternative to buying the Apple iPod is the Sony Walkman MP3 players. They have an 8gb for around $70 and a 16gb for around $90. I have been using the 8gb for about a year now and absolutely love it aside from only holding around 2000 songs. If you do comparisons online you will see that the Sony is held as highly as the iPod at a much cheaper price. The Sony doesn't have as many colors as the iPod they come in red, black, and violet, depending on which one you buy and the newer ones have speakers built right into them. They require nothing more than aux. jack on your cd player to hook-up, and include the transfer cable from computer to player which also charges it. If its in your vehicle and needs charged all you need is a Motorola phone charger which I know can be an inconvenience having 2 extra cables floating around. I would love to buy an iPod but I had a very tight budget at the time and came across the Sony and absolutely love it so I thought I would throw it out there as an option for you. Good luck with your decision!

 

[RichP]

My suggestion, get a head unit that has bluetooth, the ipod 3.0 has it, you then just pair the unit and stream music from your ipod or iphone, no cables.
My JVC does it, I have it paired with my iphone [att], my Moto v750 and I stream off the Iphone or V750 and send and receive calls over the V750 and the iphone, my daughters W755 and my wifes V750 are also paired with it.
The advantage of a head unit with iphone cable is it usually has an iphone interface and it charges, charging being lacking in the BT no cable setup.

Be careful of the iphone charger and using it in the always on plug in the jeep, there have been quite a few fires from burned wires when it's left in there over nite, the charger always works even when there is no device plugged into it. There have been a couple here at www.bmja.org our local jeep club.

 

[jk333]

Another alternative to buying the Apple iPod is the Sony Walkman MP3 players. They have an 8gb for around $70 and a 16gb for around $90. I have been using the 8gb for about a year now and absolutely love it aside from only holding around 2000 songs. If you do comparisons online you will see that the Sony is held as highly as the iPod at a much cheaper price. The Sony doesn't have as many colors as the iPod they come in red, black, and violet, depending on which one you buy and the newer ones have speakers built right into them. They require nothing more than aux. jack on your cd player to hook-up, and include the transfer cable from computer to player which also charges it. If its in your vehicle and needs charged all you need is a Motorola phone charger which I know can be an inconvenience having 2 extra cables floating around. I would love to buy an iPod but I had a very tight budget at the time and came across the Sony and absolutely love it so I thought I would throw it out there as an option for you. Good luck with your decision!

Thank you. Its good to hear about an economical option as well. Im always open to saving some money.

 

[RichP]

One other thing, there is a USB interface on the JVC, I plug in a usb memory stick and usually use that for my music, if it's a long trip I plug in a 80gb hard drive and use that. I bought super small 8gb memory sticks for 10.99, thats alot of mpg's.

 

[wolfpackjeeper]

My pioneer has the USB interface as well. At first I was just using it with a thumb drive to play music off the drive, an 8gb holds a lot as mentioned. Then I tried hooking the Ipod's USB cable to it one day and found out that it will control the Ipod as well. I flush mounted an extension into the cig lighter panel like so:

clicky for bigger




and now I just leave the ipod in mini console all the time.

This is the radio, I think it was the 6100 series. I wanted the nicest one for my DD, but I got the cheaper 3100 for my cherokee and it plays the Ipod and thumb drives too.

 

[FlexdXJ]

Alpine or Eclipse Head units are the way to go. I have the Eclipse CD3100 and be fore that had the CD3000. I am thinking about getting the CD5030 but I want bumpers more than I need a head unit! I was looking at crutchfield yesterday and they had some decent deals on many head units and they came with iPod cables/interfaces. They may be a little high but their customer service is awesome and they include everything you need to do an install for free! I haven't ran it in my new Jeep but I just ran the cable into my center console. It fits right through that hole where the latch is supposed to be but does anyone actually have that latch anymore?

 

[UNCC_99XJ]

Another vote for a radio with the iPod cable. I run mine into the center console and it works great. Most radio's now come with little remotes. At first I didn't like the idea but now I use it every time i'm in the Jeep, even when i'm listening to the regular radio. Makes it easy to change songs/stations and still pay attention to the road. Plus it makes it really nice when i'm listening to my iPod..just set it to shuffle and use the remote.

Most radio's will charge most iPod's. I had a 2nd gen Nano that finally gave up last summer, and it would charge when plugged into my JVC head unit. I bought a new Nano last summer (can't remember what gen they're up to now) and for some reason it will not charge on my radio...haven't been able to figure out why.

 

[camarors8992]

I love my Pioneer, I just used the Ipod cable that came with the ipod to plug it into the back of the head unit, and ran the other end to the Glove box where my ipod now resides.

I picked it up for about $200 and it came blue tooth ready, meaning, it comes with the mic and all, just sync your phone and you're good.

DEH 7000bt

 

[DrMoab]

I agree with everything here except the Alpine thing.

Every Alpine I have had and this includes the ten Kenworths we have that came with them have failed.

They sound good but they make shitty displays.

Been with Pioneer now for a couple of stereos and they work great.

 

[wolfpackjeeper]

Most radio's will charge most iPod's. I had a 2nd gen Nano that finally gave up last summer, and it would charge when plugged into my JVC head unit. I bought a new Nano last summer (can't remember what gen they're up to now) and for some reason it will not charge on my radio...haven't been able to figure out why.

My wifes did that with her nano in her blazer, then I inherited it and it did it at first in my jeep. It charges now, but I really dont know why. The only thing I can figure is that I started making sure that the little screen printed symbol on the Ipod end of the cable was facing the front of the Ipod from now on. The cable is ambi, but I think since USB only uses 4 wires it may only charge the power ports on one side or something.

 

[squidd]

Every Ipod comes with a link cable. You are going to be stuck using Itunes to interface if you go with the name brand Ipod. That being said, I have the latest gen Nano and for a music player it works very well.
Another option for use in the car, If you have a deck that has Aux in RCA inputs, you can buy a little cable that goes from a head phone jack to RCA outs and run the Ipod into the radio that way. You don't get control of the Ipod through the radio (you still have to use the controls on the ipod to change songs and such) but its is deffinitly a cheaper option if you have a radio with this to begin with.

 

[DrMoab]

Another option for use in the car, If you have a deck that has Aux in RCA inputs, you can buy a little cable that goes from a head phone jack to RCA outs and run the Ipod into the radio that way. You don't get control of the Ipod through the radio (you still have to use the controls on the ipod to change songs and such) but its is deffinitly a cheaper option if you have a radio with this to begin with.

You also lose the option to charge it.

 

[squidd]

Good point about the charging. sound quality through the USB type interface is a little better too but the RCA is a cheap option if you already have a deck with the input.

 

[RichP]

Don't understand why you want to bother with cables when you can stream directly with bluetooth, makes no sense to me other than charging.