About to place my order and can't decide between the USB port or the in-dash iPod connection.

Factory install the bluetooth/usb for $500 or dealer installed iPod for $570?

I'm not anticipating using the bluetooth features... but wanted to hear from some of you and see if there were pros or cons to one or the other. I've been reading the other threads on the topic, but hadn't seen a clear comparison between the two.

 

if the USB charges as well as play iPods, I'd go with that. Then you have the Bluetooth if you ever decide to go that route.

 

Somewhere there's a thread where someone noted that while an iPod is playing through USB, it does not charge. If it's not playing then it does charge.

 

The USB port will also play thumbdrives and other players that make music available as a mass storage device, as long as it's within the power requirements.

 

The iPod Integration would hide the iPod in the "secret compartment." So, less tempting to thieves. With the USB connection, you have to find a place to put the iPod.

 

Does the secret compartment one charge the ipod as well?

 

Yes.

 

Hey, hope I'm not too late, I have just the usb connection and I love it. I think it is way better, you can go by playlist, album artist genre, and it's really easy to navigate through each of them as you can just rotate the ****. I've got a 5G ipod and yes it does charge whether it's on or not. Definetely go with the USB. I'm not sure how much easier the ipod adapter interface is but I can't imagine it being much simpler than the USB

 

Remember if you go with the dealer installed iPod kit that mounts in the "secret compartment" then the Ipod connects into the radio as a cd changer.

No issues unless you have a lot of music and the Sat Nav system in which case the Sat Nav has only so much memory and you will not be able to see all of you music.

With the Comfort/ bluetooth USB solution you have no limitation to number of songs or playlist, as the iPod is playing the music and passing it through to the stereo.

 

After getting my car 3 weeks ago I was experimenting around with different sources. First of all (and this is for everyone)AN IPOD WILL NOT WORK WITH JUST USB. the only way you can actually play an ipod is with the cord that plugs into the ipod but then splits it into an audio jack and usb. so the usb is just for control, power(so it charges) and probably some other stuff. But the audio goes through the aux input. The best quality I've found so far is with a usb thumb drive. That's at 320kbs, so it is possible that becuase of the higher quality of usb audio lower bitrate songs might not sound as good becuase of the high fidelity. Anyways The bass with an ipod becomes muddy at higher volumes, but with a flash drive it is consistant and VERY balanced. Litteraly as I am typing this I'm bidding on a 32gb flash drive for 70 bucks. They usually run 150 bucks. So you just leave it plugged in all the time and don't have to worry about taking your ipod out. Hope this was helpful, It was a HUGE deal for me becuase, well....isn't music great!! (by the way a regular old external drive won't work at all with the usb, it says to not use one in the manual, I really don't know why it wouldn't work, maybe a different format would work, I'll test it out and see. I used FAT32 I'll try NTFS.

 

In a previous thread, someone who had iPod Integration added said that the audio through the integration was better than through the AUX. IIRC, he was using the dock to AUX connector.

The iPod Integration also lets you navigate through playlists, album, etc. Why do you think USB is better?

 

I think I may have said myself wrong, I will give the order of how good i think they are.

1. USB flash drive/ Ipod integration (yes I think these are on the same level) however I don't know exactly how the ipod connects to the stereo, most likely it plugs into just the cd changer and doesn't have the little aux audio jack plugged into the back where you wouldn't see it. Basically what I'm saying is that I didn't know the USB connection with an ipod only used the aux jack split from the usb. So I was dissapointed to find that even though it says it is usb, it really isn't, the usb is just for control and artist album etc. display. Even so, a flash drive is a little better I would say since you never have to take it out, well..only when you want to update your music on it.

2. Ipod with special usb cable ( this does adjust the volume on your ipod for the best quality which makes it sligtly better than just the aux input.

3. and the last and most poor is any mp3 player plugged into the aux input.

Edit: I hadn't tested it thoroughly when I made that post a few weeks ago, I only had my car a few days. In the long run, instead of paying 500 dollars for the ipod integration, (and I would have if I bought a pre 2008 without the usb option) just get the convenience package, and buy a flash drive, becuase pretty soon 64gb flash drives aren't going to be that expensive, heck, I just bought that 32gb flash drive for 75 bucks. Phew, Okay I'm done with my long rant on audio crap.