Vais Sli And Slx Installed

[BobR]

I thought people would like to see pictures of the VAIS Tech SLI (iPod Interface) and SLX (XMDirect Interface) installed.

http://homepage.mac.com/brusso/PriusRadio/PhotoAlbum45.html

They both work great at the same time.

Bob

[alexmw]

Hi Bob,

Im thinking of installing the vaistech ipod inteface (without xm) in my vehicle. Im curious to know the following:

1. Are you able to control the ipod using the touch screen?

2. Do you have to create lots of playlists in order to control the ipod? or...

3. Is there a way to scan through all Albums (discs) on the ipod and then choose songs from that album?

Thanks for any help you can give me,

Regards,

Alex.

[jainla]

That's good to know that they work well together. I know VAISTECH seems to be working on an iPod/XM combo unit (probably won't have an aux output though) but nobody knows when it will come out. They seem to be putting all their efforts into satisfying the demand for current units.

So do you have to page through 4 sets of MD/CD changers when switching between the ipod and XM? Can you disable the aux input on one of the units to reduce the number that you have to page through?

[SD-470]

I have the VAISTECH iPod only interface on my '03 LX-470. To answer questions from an earlier post:

1. Yes, you have limited control of the iPod from the touch screen. Per mp3 song, you can toggle between the name of the playlist, name of the artist and name of the song too. You can also do a few other things, like fast forward and rewind.

2. You do not have comlete access to all the songs on the iPod. You only have access to playlists. 99 playlists, and 99 songs per playlist. You can however, disconnect the iPod and manually modify/create playlists on the iPod itself, however I find myself using the iTunes application to manage my playlists in advance. Kind of like burning large r/w CD's in the past. I do this every weekend. If this is important, you could bring your laptop with you to organize using iTunes before plugging in. I put my iPod adaptor in the front glovebox for easy access.

3. There is no way to select and create a new playlist from the car controls. Until the s/w gets updated to allow this somehow, playlists are static and all you have access to.

Another good thing about the VAISTECH interface is the Aux input. I use that as an audio input for my rear DVD player and gaming console for really great sound. There is a way to toggle between iPod -> Front DVD -> iPod -> Aux Input (FM and AM too if you use the steering wheel). Sometimes this toggle gets confused and does not work if the factory DVD cassette is not inserted. My other gripe is that some of the controls, either on the Nav Screen or buttons/switches are not all that intuitive. So I find myself only using the up/down disc button to switches playlists and up/down track to change songs. These may be the only voice commands I use in the car too. Overall it is not perfect but the sound quality and convenience is great.

Hope this helps.

Bob