iPodding the Celica, Part III

I decided today where I wanted to place the iPod. After a long night of thinking about the alternatives, I decided on the glove compartment.

There's a couple of reasons for this:

• Having it hooked up into the Pioneer iPod cable locks out the functionality for the Click Wheel controls.
• You really don't want the iPod baking in the front seat when your car sits out in the parking lot.
• Passing through a cable from the console to the glove compartment is easy. No messy holes, cutting or drilling.
• If it's good enough for BMW, it's good enough for me.

The Pioneer CD-IB100 iPod Adapter is a nice component to add if you already have a Pioneer head unit. However, there are other more economical alternatives, which I've already listed in Part I.

Features I like about the CD-IB100:

• It's small and compact, allowing you to install it anywhere.
• Installation is fairly easy and straightforward.
• Acts as an iPod charger.
• Allows iPod to be controlled through the stereo.
• Sound Quality is phenomenal.

Features that need improvement on the CD-IB100:

• Headunit compatibility an issue. For most Pioneer Players, it will act as an external unit and only display 8 characters.
• Documentation could be more in-depth.
• Headunit controls need a lot of work to be as fast and intuitive as the Apple iPod controls.
• Because Adapter acts like an external CD changer, one cannot browse the music list -- moving up or down songs will stop the playing of the music and go to the next track selected.
• iPod Click Wheel controls should not be locked while plugged in.
• Cost is an issue. At a retail price of $140, it really ought to do more.

If you can live with the problems of the Pioneer, and you already own a Pioneer headunit then it might be for you. If you can't, wait around for a better solution, because someone will design a better solution (if they haven't already).