Vaistech Vs. Scosche Vs. ?

[MBrown1003]

I'm doing some research for my father. He's getting a used 2005 LS430 -- Mark Levinson stereo + nav.

So far, I've read about the Scosche product at Crutchfield.com. Crutchfield also has the advantage of being able to pre-pay installation. I've also seen references to VAISTech here. The VAIStech unit is more expensive. Is it better? Does anybody know of pros and cons of the available units?

I have a factory iPod adapter in my (non-Lexus) car. I love the sound quality, the ability to display song info on the computer, and the ability to control it through the steering wheel controls. It impersonates a CD changer. I don't remember all the details, but it's something like CD1 for all songs, CD2 for playlists, CD3 for artists, CD4 for genres, CD5 for iPods, CD6 for albums. The one thing that's pretty maddening to me is the speed. It isn't too bad to load playlists, but it takes for-!Removed!-ever to load artists and albums. AND...it only loads a few hundred of them; I have hundreds more than that. (By artist, I think I only get to "L".)

I assume the Lexus implementations are similar -- true?

And the big question -- help me make a good choice here in terms of price, performance, and installation options. (I'm willing to part with some $$ to have somebody else do a first-rate install.)

What's the current best choice? Thanks, all.

=> MB

[SW03ES]

I can't comment on the other product, but I have the Vaistech unit and am very happy with it.

[05silverls430]

I can't comment on the other product, but I have the Vaistech unit and am very happy with it.

I second that. We have Vaistech units in both of our cars and I have been very happy with them.

[jainla]

I concur with previous comments; having the Vaistech unit in my LS430 has been fantastic.

Usually the limitation with ipod integration is that on older systems the system can't handle a virtual CD changer with more than 6 or 10 disks. The Vaistech unit emulates an MD changer; which turns the first 100 playlists into 'virtual' MDs. You can also see the track and artist information on the nav screen; and I think the limit is about 1000 songs per playlist.

I know that Dicelink/Denison has a new AVgateway product that supposedly works with the Mercedes fiber system and others (including Lexus) but it's very expensive and I haven't heard of anybody installing it.

Ironically enough Toyota has announced it's own implementation of an ipod adaptor; from what I can tell it works almost exactly like the Vaistech system.

Do you have the BMW system? I've heard it's really slow with a large ipod. The Mercedes system isn't much better; it works with the driver's instrument cluster mini-display screen only and steering wheel controls only.

Honestly though having 100 playlists has always been enough for me. I'm a flipper; so putting the songs on the playlists is easier than trying to thumb through albums and artists and the like. It's not like I need another distraction on the road.

However if you have a passenger the Vaistech unit can also be put into 'simple' mode where you can then manually select content from the screen and clickwheel.

[DClK]

not to make your choice any harder, but USASPEC also has lex/toyota ipod intergration units.

i decided not to take the intergration plunge (mostly due to cost) but my top two contenders were VAIS and USASPEC. it's been a while since i've looked at prices and features. i do know that USASPECs latest unit specifically for lex just hit the streets a few months ago and don't know of anyone who's purchased and installed it yet. as with most other similar units, it's probably a reverse engineered VAIS.

anyway, just wanted to put another option out there.

be cool,

[MBrown1003]

I concur with previous comments; having the Vaistech unit in my LS430 has been fantastic.

Usually the limitation with ipod integration is that on older systems the system can't handle a virtual CD changer with more than 6 or 10 disks. The Vaistech unit emulates an MD changer; which turns the first 100 playlists into 'virtual' MDs. You can also see the track and artist information on the nav screen; and I think the limit is about 1000 songs per playlist.

I know that Dicelink/Denison has a new AVgateway product that supposedly works with the Mercedes fiber system and others (including Lexus) but it's very expensive and I haven't heard of anybody installing it.

Ironically enough Toyota has announced it's own implementation of an ipod adaptor; from what I can tell it works almost exactly like the Vaistech system.

Do you have the BMW system? I've heard it's really slow with a large ipod. The Mercedes system isn't much better; it works with the driver's instrument cluster mini-display screen only and steering wheel controls only.

Honestly though having 100 playlists has always been enough for me. I'm a flipper; so putting the songs on the playlists is easier than trying to thumb through albums and artists and the like. It's not like I need another distraction on the road.

However if you have a passenger the Vaistech unit can also be put into 'simple' mode where you can then manually select content from the screen and clickwheel.

Thanks for the input, folks! I'll look into the VAISTech a little more closely now!

I have the BMW system, installed as a dealer option in January 2007. I've got about 2500 songs on my iPod. It's awesome to be able to see the artist & title info on the nav screen, and I like being able to access it using the iDrive controller.

(OBTW, getting used to iDrive takes all of about 30 seconds -- not sure why it takes such a beating in the press. And the positioning of the controller on the console beats the hell out of having to reach to a pad/panel/screen on the dash.)

On the BMW system, accessing the iPod by artist is SLOW and limited to about 250 entries. I have over 400, so it doesn't work well for me. Albums & songs are similar -- takes for-!Removed!-ever, and only gives you a partial list. The ways that work for me are playlists (including dynamic playlists I've created by artist name), and genre.