I'm looking for a car dock/cradle I can use with the iphone 3GS. I am currently using a Dice Electronics dock/cradle for my regular ipod. The dock charges and has an aux output so there are no wires that plug directly into the ipod itself. My iPhone however will not output audio this way. The wire needs to be plugged directly into the iphone in order to hear audio in the car. The dock does charge though...I need a dock I can just place either the ipod or iphone into without having to swap aux out ports. I don't have the convenience package and use the mini's aux input for my ipod.

 

I use an Apple Universal Dock that sits on a platform in the cup holder. The Dock has snap-in adaptors for different iPods and iPhone. On the back of the Dock, it has the usual dock port, plus a 3.5mm auido out. The 3.5mm comes from the audio out in the dock port of the iPhone or iPod, so it has better sound quality for the AUX than using the headphone jack.

A 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable goes from the Dock to the AUX.

I use a Belkin or Griffin USB Car Charger for iPhone/iPod. It uses a USB to dock port cable that goes into the dock port on the Universal Dock.

 

I considered this option but I would prefer having it mounted next to the speedo (closer to eye level) like my Dice dock is now. I agree that using the docks aux output sounds better and you don't have to fiddle with the iphone/ipod volume, only the stereos volume.

 

This may be exactly what I need
http://www.amazon.com/Kensington-Liq...pr_product_top

I just hope it will be compatible with my dice dock/cradle. If not then I just need a new cradle. I'll post if it works when I get it.

 

Problem solved. I ended up getting the "Griffin Autopilot"
http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-Techno...8112406&sr=8-1

The 3.5mm cable plugs directly into the cig lighter charger then into your mini's aux in port so you dont have to use the iphone's headphone jack. When you first plug it in it will give the "not compatible" message but it charges and plays just fine! There were a lot of extra wires hanging around so I popped the panel off of the right pillar (next to the glove box) and stashed the wires underneath. Looks clean! You can also control your iphone/ipod with the controls on top of the lighter plug. I highly recommend this product.

 

I've tried this approach with my iPhone and the dock it came with. The Y-cable gets plugged into the back of the dock, but the iPhone is not recognized when plugged into the dock.

Any ideas?