Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
I assume you are using the Infiniti controller or steering controller to operate iPod. Also can you control, play of Mp3s on iPod while vehicle is in motion like CDs or Mediabox?
The only cons I can think of are (a) to display video you must use the A/V cable connection (and the e-brake on in park), and (b) the interface doesn't have the "Shuffle Songs" command on the menu, but you just press the RPT button on the center console like normal and it works.
Alternatively, if you have a large pre-ripped MP3 collection that is not on an iPod, you can always copy them to CompactFlash and play them from there, although that does have some limitations (max files per card is 512, etc).
kc
Thanks Dave
dcurtis5426 @comcast.net
Jeff
The adapter piece looks like a connector from the back of a car radio and as such there might be another compatible connector out there from a car radio manufacturer (Clarion, etc).
Also, I have noticed that the iPod interface will drain the iPod battery down completely if left alone for a day. What happens is that when I turn the car off the iPod is paused (same thing if I just turn the audio off), and it just stays in that state until the battery drains out. The iPod doesn't turn off like normal, maybe because of the cable connection?? Anyone else experience this. I have an 80GB 5.5G iPod (video iPod).
kc
It doesn't bother me much, except for those few times when I want to use the iPod and it's dead because it's been in the car for a day or two. I could always disconnect it overnight but I'm lazy. It really seems like Infiniti envisioned us plugging in/out the iPod each time we drive the car; from the long cable to leaving the iPod paused so that we can resume play as soon as we are out of the car. Still, I do like the interface alot better than just plugging in the A/V jacks
kc
http://www.radtech.us/Products/CablesiPod.aspx
Various types on iPod connectors.
kc
Hope you find it.
This only applies to viewing video though, not when you are just playing music.
kc
The only time you need to worry about special Apple cables is with the iPod Touch.
I wanted video output and only found the special $50- Apple cable to work for me.
Video looks great and sound is perfect, and since the cable was a B-Day gift... all the better. :P
Using the iTouch Cable, it hooks into the larger flat dock connection port, and volume is not affected by the iPod's volume setting.
This depends on the cable being used.
Is there a way to allow search while driving like this?
I'll use the Steering Wheel trick (hold the button downwards for 3-4 seconds) for one or two jumps, but if going from B - R, it's quicker to zip through the alphabetical list with the tuning knob.
I've seen some folks talking about replacing them with larger capacities, but the issues found are based on compatibility and not the hands-on how to's.
What I'm trying to say is that, if this does go, replacement is fairly easy and not very expensive... about the cost of any other drive.
Finding a 100GB drive with the same specs as the OEM is what's difficult.
I'm still a little leary about hard drive reliability but at least they are trying to make it tougher.
Do you need to remove a lot of dash to access the drive or is it relatively easy? If a drive failed, I would assume an Infiniti replacement part (drive) would be needed since a blank drive wouldn't have an image on it (data). This is starting to remind me of modding my TiVo many years ago. At least TiVo added an eSATA port to the new units to make expansion easier. A USB port on a G35 would be nice (hard drive or flash).
If I can replace the drive myself, I wouldn't be quite as concerned although I would probably need to buy an overpriced Infiniti drive if a failure occurred after warranty.
I figure, I just ripped out my steering column and installed paddle shifters, so replacing a drive is a cake walk in comparison.
But, a bigger question comes to mind here.... why are we so worried about something as simple as a hard drive?
Is that your only concern with this car?
There ARE 5 different sources of music in this car, from ipod integration, cd, cd changer, compact flash drive and the hard drive. Wait!..8!!! with XM (or Sirius), FM and AM... if you're 75. LOL
Just bite the bullet and buy one. If the silly drive goes, I'll replace it for you!
The'yre pretty rugged and normal driving and most drive-away type accidents shouldn't be enough to upset it.
I believe the drive is 30 GB with 20 dedicated to Nav and 10 (9.5) to MP3s.
I was considering removing / cloning it just to have a backup, but decided, after researching, that it's just not worth it with a drive as tough as these. Now, if I intended to keep my car 10 years... well, long about 3 years 11 months, I'd probably clone it. Right now one of those drives will set you back about $130 US. Pretty cheap you just have to be savvy enough to plan ahead and have a little bit of mechanical skills to remove it and a few computer skills to clone it.
I just wanted to explore the hard drive reliability in case I end up having to get Nav to get the other color and options that I want (dealer availability). I do like the backup camera in the Nav package.
I appreciate the reliability feedback from adamr. It seems these drives aren't as fragile as I thought.
If you skip the nav you skip one of my favorite features (and remarkably useful even if I was unconvinced originally), the backup camera.
Of course, it's useful to me because I *always* back into parking spots, my garage, etc. so I use it three or more times a day. Perfect backwards parking, every time! The guide lines are more than just the distance markers, but instead they respond to the wheel being turned and show you where the rear bumper of the car is actually going to go! When I first saw the feature in my test drive, I took the car back out into the parking lot and played with it for 10 minutes. LOL
It's probalby not worth the cost of the Nav by itself, but adding in the rest... Still, in the end it's your call on what you want to pay for and don't want to pay for.
Together, it's well worth the price.
I also use my backup camera every single day and although we also have it in our MDX, the resolution, viewing angle and interactiveness of the guidelines makes this backup camera easier to work with.
I had to buy the additional Tech package to get mine.
Having the backup camera included in the Navi package is a great deal.
From what I understand, the voice recognition works without needing the nav package to control an iPod (assuming premium package which I definitely want). Voice commands used to control several things until the recent changes to the voice commands :mad: .
The jukebox feature doesn't seem that appealing since you have to load CDs to add files to the hard drive. I think an iPod is much easier and suports download music which the jukebox does not. The CompactFlash is a great idea but seems to be crippled at 512 files.
I've had 4 hard drives fail in the past 2 years so that's why I am paranoid about hard drives. It's a pain to replace them, and I would rather avoid the headache. Flash is much better but is expensive for very large capacity.
The idea of cloning is a good idea after the warranty expires. I just wouldn't have to worry about it if I didn't get nav. Too bad the backup camera requires the nav package. At least it doesn't require the Tech package any more.
If you could download music from CompactFlash to the hard drive, it would be worth the hassle of the hard drive and likely make me want to upgrade the drive. Unfortunately, that's not the way it was designed.
Thanks for the ideas guys.
It sounds like you've had some pretty bad luck with drives.
I, on the other hand, have had no issues with hard drives, ever. I guess this is how the world stays balanced. :P
I work for a software company and I personally have more than 10 pcs in my arsenal and boy, do they see a lot of abuse. I've never had an issue with hard drive failure. At home, I have 3 pcs, 2 laptops and a new 24" iMac (my new love) and again... never had an issue. I guess with all these drives around me, if they were failing, I'd have concerns too.
I'm not 100% sure on the voice commands for the ipod integration, but I'm pretty sure on this. The Premium pack will give you the ipod integration. It will also give you hands-free telephone, but I don't think any voice commands are included.
To get voice commands, which cover navi, climate control and audio functions, you need to upgrade to the Navi package.
Check on this.... it sounds like you're hoping for the ipod integration to include voice commands, and I don't think it will without the addition of the Nav pack.
I hate the Bose Studio On Wheels audio system in my '07 G35X (although someone told me it is not the Bose speakers but the Clarion Head Unit - with GPS; Voice Activation; stereo, etc. Crutchfield has not 'reviewed' my car so they cannot help.
Has anyone upgraded this '07 G35X Studio on Wheels system to a better system (either head unit or speakers)? If yes, what did you do to make it sound better? Thank you.
Ken
kenengelman@hotmail.com
As for the hard drive failures, you are very fortunate to never have one fail. If you replace your equipment within 3-4 years you will probably avoid it. The worst problem I've had is with my wife's laptop. The hard drive only lasts about a year to 18 months. She's on her third. I really don't think she is abusing it especially on the second drive. I've switched brands each time so maybe there is something odd about the hard drive controller in that laptop.
I've also had two drives go out in my two TiVos. The series 2 died after about 7 years which is to be expected since it runs all of the time. My new series 3 died after 9 months and had to be sent back for warranty replacement. This one really made me nervous. It shouldn't have failed that early. Hopefully, it was just an odd occurrence.
I've had co-workers with laptop drive failures and seen servers with hard drive failures. Laptops seem to be the worst especially if someone is walking around with the drive running (asking for trouble).
When I take these experiences and then consider the bumpy back road that I use for part of my commute and about a 10 year ownership period, it makes me wonder. At least the automotive drives are ruggedized which I didn't understand before. How tough they really are, I don't know. They should be a lot better than a PC. Also, a car doesn't run all day long so the operation time will be less compared to a PC which should help. It would just be nice if it were flash memory instead, but then I'd have to pay even more for the nav package.
Ruggedized seems to be the key concept here. I'll just need to play with the features in person and see whether it's worth the extra money.
Well, I've been in the IT world professionally since 1988. I've seen dozens and dozens of hard drives go. Sometimes it just happens. Sometimes it's out of the box, sometimes you get to hear it or feel it coming for days or even weeks.
You're perfectly reasonable being skeptical of the hard drive longevity, especially in an environment like a car. There are also certain brands of drives that are known as likely failure drives. IBM had a line of HDDs called "Deskstar" that those of us in the biz called "Deathstar" because they always seemed to go bad inside the first year. Quantum had a line of high speed server drives called "Fireball" which, while being some of the very first 10,000 RPM drives, were aptly named not because of speed but because they'd routinely overheat and the bearings would go out. Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel. *shudder* I can still hear that noise. :P
As to the on/off issue, that's honestly a double edged sword. Ask most IT guys and you'll likely find that drives (especially server drives) tend to fail after there has been a power event or other reason to reboot / restart the hardware. I've seen it happen personally. In fact, I don't usually turn off my own PCs at home unless I have too.
So I'm not trying to go back on what I said earlier, but just trying to point out that there are always risks. Even NVRAM can go bad. A simple bit of static electricity and you can wipe the whole thing out or maybe someone shorts something in the audio system accidentally one day... Just don't worry too much, especially not since there's a relatively inexpensive backup to be had. It's further mitigated by the nature / style / warranty on the drives and the vehicle. As I said earlier as well, a relatively small investment ($130) and some free drive-cloning software from Sourceforge and you're protected in the post-warranty phase of ownership.
That's my $0.02 anyway.
I keep backups of everything just in case, cause it can happen. In fact, I'm due! (lol)
I guess my final thought on this is that the Navi package, especially now that it includes the backup camera, is worth the price, IMHO.
The car has a great warranty and even if the drive goes after the fact, it's a small financial smack to the wallet... nothing to cancel the kid's college dreams over.
Buy the car, get the Navi and hope for the best.
:shades:
kc
Then the annoying part starts.
There is a random folder titled "501" with nothing in it.
Then in some of my folders the songs have the song title and file but then there is a duplicate of the file with a wierd extension before it.
Any ideas?
Thanks
No mystery files or folders will appear unless you copy them yourself.
As far as what type of CF card? You don't need one of those Extreme IIIs. Those are camera cards designed for super-high performance for large format digital cameras (10+ megapixel). A newegg cheapy (I use have 4 of this one -> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211257 ) works just fine and costs 1/5th as much.