Check this upcoming solution out...I already pre-ordered mine.
IMHO, I don't feel anyone (especially "certified" after market installers) should tamper with the wiring and/or electronics in expensive luxury cars that have alot of gadgets.

I had a 2004 Infiniti G35 coupe which had the Bose system. Bose for autos sucks. I had it torn out and replaced with MB Quartz and Jl Audio this and that. Much sweeter sound but, electrical stuff started acting funny shortly thereafter.

Anyway here's the link to this upcoming solution for those who do not want to tamper with the GS delicate circuitry. Let me know what you think.

http://www.griffintechnology.com/pro...deck/index.php

 

Pretty clever solution indeed, though my past experiences with cassette adapters have never been particularly good. They all produced hissing noises of some sort. I doubt if this one will be any different.

Lexus should really offer an AUX input as most other luxury car makers already do, to save us from such inconvenience.

BTW, this should be better posted in the Lexus Audio, Video, Security & Electronics forum.

 

They offer this same type of product (different brand) at Target for $20.

 

isn't that kind of solution been out there in the industry for the longest time? my 10 yr old cd player had that.

anyway, i still don't like the wire, to me i think the FM module is the "best" easy solution

 

ehhhh not bad, not that great either. IMO an option to connect to an auxilary jack would be ideal too, but even that isn't all that being that you'd still be wired. What i feel is that they need to come up with a way to seamlessly connect the ipod to your deck to truly be considered "worth it." To me it's just a fancier cassette adapter nothing more.

 

Looks like a good idea to me considering you will be able to control the i-pod with the casette deck controls. As for a the one in Target for $20, most likely a simple casette adaptor with no aux control. As for being wired... give it some time someone will figure out how to shovel bluetooth wireless into the casette, which IMHO is not great loss leaving the adaptor in the deck seeing how as I dont have any tapes that I would want to listen to in the car.

 

ah my bad, i didn't see that. now that's not bad ideas

 

I was reading this article about the "rumored" iPod's with bluetooth. Do you think that it would be compatible with the bluetooth module in the new GS? For example, it would work just like a bluetooth phone, except music would be coming out!!! Now this feature would make me forgive Lexus for not putting an AUX input or some kind of iPod connector.

 

i doubt it would be compatible. the BT function is fantastic for allowing all brands of phones w/ BT to work with the car, but other than that, it's quite limited in what it can do. for instance, you can't do voice dialing, which would be a huge help since you can't input #'s while driving. my phone has voice dialing, and the GS has voice recognition, but of course those two don't work together.

also, i have the nokia 6230 which has mp3's on it. i was interested to see if the BT module could play the mp3's in the car, but it can't (or at i don't think it can!). that would be amazing though. i'm sure in a few more years the BT will have encompassed just about every possible gadget feature, but for now it's still pretty limited to basic phone functions. all in all, it's pretty nifty to be able to use your existing cell phone. my sister had a MB with the integrated phone (over $2k), she was forced to sign up with verizon and use the moto startac, and although it had the voice recognition wand, the fact that you had to plug in the phone each time you got in was dumb.

 

according to the new is350 specs it is coming with an aux output. I wonder if they will start adding this to all there models.

 

there are other ipod integration systems... considering that tape decks dont typically do too well.... there is the little radio broadcaster thing... u can set ur radio to that station and then play music off ur ipod... simple.. just plug it into ur cig lighter. but.. u do stilll have to use the buttons on the ipod.

 

i think it wil make sense for them to "upgrade" their ML system to allow that as well

 

and due to the very popular IPOD I expect it will come in all future model introductions. If you take a digital source and put the signal through an analog device it will distort the signal so the direct input is best. I went to my Sister in Law's wedding reception and everyone kept requesting their favorite old dance hits and then I noticed that it was all being played from an IPOD! The sound quality was excellent. Now Nokia has the MP3 Phone and everything is starting to converge. Bluetooth is still in its infancy and the next generation should come out next year. The other popular phone is the TREO 650 which is a Palm Operating System. It needs a downloaded patch to work effectively with the Lexus bluetooth system. Download it at PalmOne.com.

Rock

 

Yeah...the ultimate solution would be to use bluetooth to transmit the music directly to the sound system in digital format. Guess we're still at least several years away from that kind of next-gen system though.

 

i dont beleive bluetooth is fast enough at the moment but the most ideal thing would be some type of holder where you can control the ipod from the navagation system.