Hi Folks

Been a while since I managed to log on to here, for which I sincerley apologise for

I've been reading some of the threads relating to connecting an IPOD in the New Octavia but have become confused somewhat on what is actually best.

My car an Octavia VRs is registered March or April 2007 and has the Jumbo Box installed together with the AUX plug socket.

The salesman informed me that a cheap lead between £5 and £10 will allow me to connect the IPOD using the lead only and play the tracks but have no control of the tracks from the head unit and it will not charge the IPOD either.

The other option is to pay £99 from the dealer which allows the tracks to be selected from the head unit and charges the IPOD as well.

If I go for the latter am I right in thinking that this just isn't a lead though ? Does this £99 kit have to installed i.e. leads plugged into the back of the head unit as well as the lead from the AUX plug socket ?

If so does this £99 charge include the fitting of the thing or is that extra :eek:

I apologise if this has been covered previously (I've tried looking but couldn't see the answer I was looking for)

Thanks guys

i would personally go on fleabay and order a power lead for a few quid, a male 3.5mm to male 3.5mm lead (again a few quid) and stick with that. do you really want to spend £99 on a lead that you are only going to make full use of once in a blue moon? what im saying do you really need all the bells and whistles when you can just pres the button on the ipod and skip tracks that way?

Hi,

the £99 option is not just a lead. It's a little box of trick that plugs into the back of the HU and a lead comes out of that into the glove box. ``this means your iPod is effectively out of sight. You can control the iPod from the HU (and the multi function steering wheel if you have it. You also get the benefit that it charges the iPod at the same time, so it's good for a long run if you need it.

The downside is, you will lose the cd changer if you fit the basic (£99) model.

Although Skoda sell this unit as a Skoda part, it is in fact, made by a company called Denison, although the price is about the same. And Skoda will charge you extra to fit it (I think it's 1 hour's labour currently) Fitting is not that bad, It only took me about an hour, and it's easier on later models as the hole in the glovebox is already present.

I've got this unit and I must admit I prefer it to the aux socket route, as it puts less clutter around the car, you don't have to remember to hide it every time you get out of the car, and it's easier to change tracks/playlists from the HU than it is on the iPod dial.

Horses for courses really, but I think £99 is better than being pulled over for the new "Due care and attention" rule that they've sneaked in.

Martin

...

I've got this unit and I must admit I prefer it to the aux socket route, as it puts less clutter around the car, you don't have to remember to hide it every time you get out of the car, and it's easier to change tracks/playlists from the HU than it is on the iPod dial...

Martin

I'm curious as to what exactly you can control from the HU. I've got the "stand-alone" Dension ice-link that plugs into the back of my (non-Skoda) HU, and from what I can remember, you can only choose the playlist, plus forward/back.

That's why I use the iPod interface (and have the iPod in a cradle next to the steering wheel.) That way I can scroll through all the iPod menus, selecting by artist/album/whatever rather than be limited to just 5 playlists.

Admittedly, this is a two and half year old setup and maybe things have progressed, hence my quesiton just in case one day I change to a newer car.

Hi John,

you're right in that you can change playlist (up to 5, or play everything), and move up and down through the tracks with the usual buttons on the HU. You can't see the track/artist name, just the track number. I don't know if this is different on the Stream MP3 HU as I changed over to the MFD2 and this definitely doesn't do it. Again this may have changed on the MFD3/Trinax model, but I don't know anyone who's e tried this as yet.

Its more convenient to me as I'm not a fan of cradles. I know too many peeps who've suffered at the hands of the light fingered brigade to entertain them, even though you should be able to have these things without the worry. Bu hey, it's not a perfect world is it.

Hope this helps,

Martin

i use the existing socket myself and just have the lead and a chager in the cig socket. tbh i dont use the ipod allot, mainly stream music from my nokia n95 so i dont think the extra for a lead just for the ipod is really needed.

i would go down the cheaper route, if you use the ipod allot you will soon know if you need to get the extra 100 quid jobby, and then youve wasted a few quid at worst

i use the existing socket myself and just have the lead and a chager in the cig socket. tbh i dont use the ipod allot, mainly stream music from my nokia n95 so i dont think the extra for a lead just for the ipod is really needed.

i would go down the cheaper route, if you use the ipod allot you will soon know if you need to get the extra 100 quid jobby, and then youve wasted a few quid at worst

Thanks everyone. I think I'll do as suggested and go for the cheaper option to begin with and then buy the expensive lead if required

Hi Folks

Been a while since I managed to log on to here, for which I sincerley apologise for

I've been reading some of the threads relating to connecting an IPOD in the New Octavia but have become confused somewhat on what is actually best.

My car an Octavia VRs is registered March or April 2007 and has the Jumbo Box installed together with the AUX plug socket.

The salesman informed me that a cheap lead between £5 and £10 will allow me to connect the IPOD using the lead only and play the tracks but have no control of the tracks from the head unit and it will not charge the IPOD either.

The other option is to pay £99 from the dealer which allows the tracks to be selected from the head unit and charges the IPOD as well.

If I go for the latter am I right in thinking that this just isn't a lead though ? Does this £99 kit have to installed i.e. leads plugged into the back of the head unit as well as the lead from the AUX plug socket ?

If so does this £99 charge include the fitting of the thing or is that extra :eek:

I apologise if this has been covered previously (I've tried looking but couldn't see the answer I was looking for)

Thanks guys

I fail to see the point of connecting a external mp3 player to the headunit, when you can burn a number of mp3's to a cd. I wouldn't like something rattling around and the clutter of cables.

From my vRS Issues Thread:

Final point for info had the Parrot Car Kit fitted today and was going to have the Denison iPOD Kit fitted as well but for some reason the iPOD kit would not work with the new iPOD Classic The iPOD Video slightly older Series worked fine but not the new Classic. Where by it worked by playing Tracks from the iPOD and the display on the iPOD displayed the Denison info correctly none of the controls would work to step through the Playlists or skip tracks on the Stream MP3 Header Unit

I fail to see the point of connecting a external mp3 player to the headunit, when you can burn a number of mp3's to a cd. I wouldn't like something rattling around and the clutter of cables.

The mp3 player is more portable. To continue listening to music outside the car, personally I'd prefer a small mp3 player rather than having to take the head unit, speakers and battery out of the car to be able to continue listening to the cd.

If you only want to listen in the car, then you have a good point. The cds would be a cheaper option too.

Horses for courses really.

I have my iPod in teh car because its 30Gb's of music that cant get scratched as against 700Mb that can get scratched.

No content really

I have my iPod in teh car because its 30Gb's of music that cant get scratched as against 700Mb that can get scratched.

No content really

You have a point there

There's a belkin auto lead (note the word Auto) which plugs into the 12v socket. It charges your ipod via the dock connector. It also takes audio via the dock connector, pre-amps it, and then presents a 3.5mm socket. You can then use a 3.5mm jack-to-jack lead to connect to your aux input. This is the best 'cheap' option (about £15) because of the pre-amp in the power supply. I find the aux input 'raw' (i.e. direct from the Ipod) is a bit too quiet for quiet tracks (sat nav cuts in and blows the speakers out the door), and the belkin lead allows you to boost the input slightly.

You can see it here (from a previous life)

easypeasy!| How to mount an apple Ipod in the Saab 93 Sport Saloon | free guide article