Todd Biske: Outside the Box

A break from the enterprise IT posts with this one. Since I did quite a bit of googling on it prior to Christmas without great results, I wanted to make sure I posted an entry about my new car stereo, the Pioneer DEH-P4000UB. It comes with a USB port (accessible via a cable that’s threaded into your glove compartment), and is iPod-compatible. Even better, it’s also iPhone 3G compatible, although your iPhone will initially report that the connected device may not supported and will ask you if you want to go into airplane mode. Answer no. From there, you can now play and charge your iPhone 3G through the car stereo with far better quality than an FM transmitter or a cassette adapter. You can control playback either through the stereo controls, the remote control for the car stereo, or the iPhone. I’ve been very, very pleased with the unit. My only complaint is that the “universal controller” knob on the stereo is very non-intuitive, so you’ll need to read the owner’s manual to figure out how to preset radio stations, etc. I found the iPod/iPhone integration to be easier to navigate when using the remote control than using the universal controller, but I tend to just use the iPhone’s controls to choose a podcast.

So, if you’re out there looking for a new head unit for your car and want to be able to charge your iPhone from it, and playback your music or podcasts, take a look at the Pioneer DEH-P4000UB. There’s a video review on Crutchfield, and you can buy it at Best Buy or Amazon.com. This head unit does not include bluetooth capabilities, but I’m pretty sure that Pioneer sells a bluetooth add-on for it. I can’t comment on that, since I didn’t get it. Hopefully, however, this review will help others that are looking for a car stereo that will work natively with the iPhone 3G as I was.