2005 ipod decks VS 2004

[robbiesullivan]

Hello,
I've been lurking on these forums for a while, reading all the great postings about the 2005 units (alpine, kenwood, and pioneer).

I almost bought a 2004 alpine unit last dec but descided to holf off a bit until the newer units came out.

Based on what I've read I havn't seen anything in the newer units that sets them appart from the 2004s. I'm trying to descid on the most flexible and cost effective purchase for getting ipod intergration in my car (and back over my itrip).

here are a few of my assumptions from my research of the 2005 units. If anything in my assumptions are wrong or if anyone has any comments please let me know.

- Glidebar is nice, but really not that much of a navigational improvement to warrent the $
- 255 artist limit is still on Alpine units (I am still not 100% clear if this limitiation is on the pineer or kenwood units).
- Browsing on pioneer and kenwoods is slower then alpines.
- Searching on Alpines is better then pioneer and kenwoods.

Based on the fact that the 2004 alpine units have gone down so much in price, I'm seriously considering picking up one of those. Is there anything is the 2005 units that I might miss if i go with a 2004 alpine.

Thanks for any comments or advice,
Rob

[TheBum]

The main improvements in the 2005 units are in the user interface, even on the models without GlideTouch. The 2004 models used rather obscure button combinations to control an iPod. If I recall correctly, to choose the search mode (playlist, artist, or album), you had to press the search button, press F/SETUP, and then remember to press preset button 1 for one mode (playlist?), button 2 for another mode (artist?), or button 3 for the third mode (album?). None of these modes was labeled. If those weren't the exact steps, the correct steps were equally complex.

The 2005 models are much more intuitive. To perform the same selection (at least on the 9851), all you have to do is press the search button repeatedly until the desired mode appears in the HU's display.

[THX]

With the GlideTouch you can skip 20 or so artists if you glide fast, or so says an owner at caraudio.com.

I'm using the setup with a '03 9813. No need to press function. Just press 1 to search playlist, 2 for artist, 3 for album. Once you select the album or playlist press the function button twice to search for the specific song.

The '05 sound nicer but just depends on how much you want to spend. The more intuitive controls don't really interest me, just the display of the 9855 and the GlideTouch.

[TheBum]

Thanks for the correction, THX.

As I understand it, yes, the GlideTouch can jump down the list pretty quickly, but it has also been reported that fine-grained control (i.e. single-stepping) is tricky.

[audioscience]

People say that the song/artist limit is still in effect on the 2005 models but I have seen no proof of this in my use, nor does it state anything in the users manual about it.

I personally have no limits when using MIX or search on my 1350 song library.

[robbiesullivan]

audioscience,
Have you been able to browse all of your artists?

[audioscience]

I have never really tried to "browse" through all of them. To go from A to Z would take for f***ing ever. But yes I do have access to them.

For example, for my favorite artists that are lower in the alphabet (White Stripes, Weezer, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) I have playlists made so I can go directly to their music without sitting there for half an hour trying to scroll through all of my artists.

Make sense?

[robbiesullivan]

yes it does make sense. I guess i just have to descide between the 2004 and 2005 units. Playing around with navigation of both in a store will be my next step. Thanks for the info everyone..

[GavinD]

Alpine really disappointed a lot of people IMO.

[TheBum]

Originally posted by GavinD
Alpine really disappointed a lot of people IMO.

Except for the 255 limitation that may or may not exist with the 2005 head units (I think it's still there based on my experience with my 9851), Alpine probably had little choice in the matter. I'm betting that limitations in the iPod Accessory Bus play a big part in the navigation difficulties.