There are a variety of iPod car kits available on the market today, some good, some bad and some extremely poor. What are the best kits available and what features do they offer?

The Dension brand is a market leader when it comes to iPod Car interfaces. They have a range that has consistently out-performed its competitors for a while, and with the addition of continually updated downloadable firmware and additional devices that can improve the system, the Gateway range really is the best option when installing your iPod car solution.

Dension currently has three Gateway ranges: the Gateway 100, Gateway 300 and the Gateway 500, the Gateway 100 & 300 have the same compatibility and the gateway 500 is for fibre optic systems.

The Dension gateway 100 – Is the most popular Dension Kit by far. The Gateway 100 is an entry level kit that is compatible with most car manufactures (different units are required for each car manufacture). The gateway 100 is simply a iPod connection that allows the AAC file type to be converted to a readable signal that can be played through your stereo. It is a fully digital connection that is hardwired to the back of the headunit and replaces the CD Changer connection (the CD changer can be retained using the CD Retention kit).  The remaining kit is then routed to the front of the console and can either be installed with a Dock cable or an active cradle. The tracks can be controlled through the cars steering wheel controls.

The Dension Gateway 300 – Is virtually the same as the Gateway 100, however the 300 has additional USB functionality. This allows you access to an additional audio media source & potentially 1000’s of additional tracks. The USB function will only be compatible with Flash drives, so USB sticks that do not require any software to run (example when you connect to your pc, does it ask to install software?). The gateway 300 installs in exactly the same way as the gateway 100 and the additional USB Function can be found in the gateway menu.

The Dension Gateway 500 – Is more of a multimedia system, this enables a connection and control of media players (e.g. iPod), USB flash drives and other USB mass storage devices (e.g. Hard Drives) with FAT file system by emulating an external CD changer and connects directly to the car’s entertainment system . The Gateway 500 is only compatible with MOST or D2B Fibre optic systems

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008 at 12:23 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.