IPOD: Dension ICE vs Alpine 420i
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 2,006
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From: Torrance, CA 90509
IPOD: Dension ICE vs Alpine 420i
Has anyone tried this? I am looking for an alternative to the Alpine 420i. Does my Alpine CDA-9835 have MBUS on it?
http://www.densionusa.com/x/index.php?opti...=407&Itemid=109
I was thrilled with the Alpine 420i, but now maybe not so much. For example, I want my ipod on shuffle pretty much all the time. Well, the 420i doesn't remember that. Each and every time I start the car, I have to put it back into shuffle mode (a real pain when running errands on short trips) or it just goes on to play the rest of the album following the current song. Shuffle mode is a pain too - press the tiny function button on the 9835, then press the tiny mix button, 5-6 times (where it says MIX FOLDER over and over and over) until it gets to MIX DISC. Oh, and the IPOD has to BE in shuffle mode when you put it in the car, or it won't shuffle the whole library. And if you drill down to an artist or a playlist or anything, all you can shuffle is what you drilled down to. That is if you can figure out how to drill down, I know the buttons but I just can't seem to get where I want to go. Not to mention that it blanks out the IPOD interface while playing so you can't use that for control, and heck what you were playing before you connect it to the car is not necessarily what you play when you get into the car.
/rant mode on
ALPINE: This isn't rocket science! Ya know what I want? Exactly like I navigate through an MP3 CD. I want to use my DJ Qube interface joystick so that "to the right" drills down into the highlighted child folder, or if it is a song plays the song. I want "to the left" to take me to the parent folder. I want the up and down to scroll up and down through whatever folder or playlist I happen to be in.
Then Give me 4 direct buttons - "Folders" "Artists" "Playlists" and "Shuffle" - OK, maybe "Album Title" and "Song title" for other people. None of this press a tiny function button, press a tiny preset button, press a tiny files button, then press tiny up-down keys to find the song, all while trying to drive.
Shuffle whatever context I am in - if it is an album or the folder of an album, shuffle the album, an artist or the folder of an artist, shuffle the artist, playlist=playlist, top directory=shuffle frikken everything.
A few little things would be nice too - keep the ipod screen and interface active while in the car, play using the same settings the ipod was using when it went in, etc.
Seriously, I waited since July for this product, what took so frikken long? It sure wasn't the user interface... Unless they hired a team to make it as awkward as possible. Yeesh.
/rant mode off
-JD
http://www.densionusa.com/x/index.php?opti...=407&Itemid=109
I was thrilled with the Alpine 420i, but now maybe not so much. For example, I want my ipod on shuffle pretty much all the time. Well, the 420i doesn't remember that. Each and every time I start the car, I have to put it back into shuffle mode (a real pain when running errands on short trips) or it just goes on to play the rest of the album following the current song. Shuffle mode is a pain too - press the tiny function button on the 9835, then press the tiny mix button, 5-6 times (where it says MIX FOLDER over and over and over) until it gets to MIX DISC. Oh, and the IPOD has to BE in shuffle mode when you put it in the car, or it won't shuffle the whole library. And if you drill down to an artist or a playlist or anything, all you can shuffle is what you drilled down to. That is if you can figure out how to drill down, I know the buttons but I just can't seem to get where I want to go. Not to mention that it blanks out the IPOD interface while playing so you can't use that for control, and heck what you were playing before you connect it to the car is not necessarily what you play when you get into the car.
/rant mode on
ALPINE: This isn't rocket science! Ya know what I want? Exactly like I navigate through an MP3 CD. I want to use my DJ Qube interface joystick so that "to the right" drills down into the highlighted child folder, or if it is a song plays the song. I want "to the left" to take me to the parent folder. I want the up and down to scroll up and down through whatever folder or playlist I happen to be in.
Then Give me 4 direct buttons - "Folders" "Artists" "Playlists" and "Shuffle" - OK, maybe "Album Title" and "Song title" for other people. None of this press a tiny function button, press a tiny preset button, press a tiny files button, then press tiny up-down keys to find the song, all while trying to drive.
Shuffle whatever context I am in - if it is an album or the folder of an album, shuffle the album, an artist or the folder of an artist, shuffle the artist, playlist=playlist, top directory=shuffle frikken everything.
A few little things would be nice too - keep the ipod screen and interface active while in the car, play using the same settings the ipod was using when it went in, etc.
Seriously, I waited since July for this product, what took so frikken long? It sure wasn't the user interface... Unless they hired a team to make it as awkward as possible. Yeesh.
/rant mode off
-JD
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 66
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I almost got the alpine unit but I ended up getting the neo ion off of www.mp3yourcar.com It works with your stock stereo and it has more options then the alpine unit and bmw unit. It also costs less and was easy to install. I agree that alpine left out some key features.
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