Car Solution for older car?

[UmichAg]

I'm trying to find an affordable solution to having my iPhone mounted (on dash or windshield so I can view navigation), charged, play audio through the speakers, and be able to answer/make calls.

What I have: iPhone 3Gs, CD/Casette/AM/FM radio, DC outlets. Also have a tape adapter and a DC charger.

I've seen combination mounts on Amazon (e.g., FlexPod) but they have terrible reviews.

I could buy & install a new Stereo (e.g., Pioneer) for $130 and purchase a Kensington car mount for $20 - but that's a pricey solution.

Any other ideas?

 

[-aggie-]

I would think the solution offered by Pioneer is your best option. Otherwise, you're doing all sorts of jerry rigging to make it work or you're buying the mount that you already thought was too expensive.

 

[Penguissimo]

Your absolute best option would be to get a new stereo (from Pioneer, JVC, or Kenwood) that connects to the iPod with a USB cable and lets you control it from the deck; you can stash the iPhone in the glove compartment or cupholder and not worry about it after that. You can even find models with Bluetooth speakerphones that let you make calls right from the deck.

But like you said, that's a pricey option; you can also get pretty good results with something like the Kensington LiquidAUX, which charges the iPod and has a line out (into which you could plug the tape adapter, with the addition of a $4 part from Radio Shack), but you'd need to buy a separate cradle for the iPhone. And the combination cradles are just as terrible as the reviews say; I had the DLO TransDock AUX, and it sounded great, but the thing doesn't fit securely enough in the power outlet to support the weight of an iPod, so it would twist around and fling my iPod across the car every time I made an even moderately sharp turn.

Alternately, you could get something like the SendStation PocketDock, but I don't think those can usually draw power from standard 12V car chargers.

Unfortunately this is pretty much your only set of choices; car solutions for the iPhone (and iPod) follow pretty closely along the path from "clunky" to "expensive". I can tell you that I messed around with a ton of different things before I finally settled on a new JVC stereo, and I wish I'd just started with that in the first place; everything else was just too much of a hassle.

P.S. Don't buy a RocketFish suction cup mount. I got one, thinking I could save some money over the Kensington, but it's garbage—the suction cup is weak, and the actual cradle part doesn't hold your device even slightly securely.

 

[sjdigital]

My solution was to use a USASpec adapter to connect my iPhone to my car audio system which had no aux in connections. I got it from www.discountcarstereo.com For mounting the iPhone where I can see it for navigation I use a Prodit mount. Ideally the audio connection would also handle phone calls but the iPhone doesn't output the phone audio through the dock connector so I have a separate bluetooth device to handle phone calls. It all works very well I have to say. I've been using the USASpec device for almost four years (it connected my iPod originally) and find it most satisfactory.

 

[thesmall]

i m looking for that too. can anyone help me with this..

 

[organsoup]

I use this with a vent mount. I have the vent mount attached directly to the dash of my jeep though, but I used to use the vent clips and it was pretty secure.

I use a tape adapter for audio and wrap the extra audio cord around the back of the cell phone mount so its not dangling around and i just have a short cord to plug into my phone. I can take pics later tonight if you want to see it.

Using that mount my iphone has never fallen out and I keep my cables managed good enough where they aren't just laying around to get tangled up in stuff.

I purchased that mount from Advance Auto Parts so you may be able to get it locally if you don't want to wait for an order.