iPod Car Adapters - Integrate Your iPod

A much more satisfactory solution is a digital interface such as the Pacific Accessory/Peripheral iPOD2CAR (pictured). This powers the iPod and allows you to control it through the head unit. One end plugs into the iPod, the other hooks up to your head unit's CD changer port via a 3-1/2-meter cable. With your head unit in CD mode, you'll then be able to chose Next track or Previous track, and hear it at maximum fidelity. The downside? You'll be missing the great jogwheel functionality of the iPod to dial-in the one song you want out of thousands. However, it does work on a lot of different trucks: all the Dodges and Jeeps with a Disc Up (Disc ^) preset, '96-'05 Silverado, '97-'04 F-Series, and others.

Then there are specific solutions for certain brands of head units. Alpine offers an iPod adapter called the KCA4201 that allows you to display some of the track info from the iPod on the head unit display, which is a definite aid to finding the song you want more quickly. Unfortunately, this is currently limited by the internal memory of the radio, which is set to CD capacity (700MB) - a tiny fraction of the iPod's hard drive capacity, but it's a step in the right direction.

By the time you read this, Clarion Corporation should have released its new VRX755VD in-dash DVD with a 7-inch touch screen, which will integrate with the iPod to display playlist, song, and artist, and will have an on-screen control pad. This might be the most full-featured iPod solution to date. Of course, it's going to cost you some dough, but the early adopter iPod fanatics will be all over it. Other head unit manufacturers like Pioneer are planning similar releases this year.

Recent consumer surveys show that the portable MP3 revolution is gaining momentum. Also, Megan Pollock of the Consumer Electronics Association says that sales of digital media players like the iPod and in-dash head units are "trending together," with MP3 players driving sales of head units that have a digital input. But, it's too soon to tell what the iPod's long-term impact will be on the way that people listen to music in their cars.