iPod Car Accessories
Home » iPod Car Accessory Kit, iPod Car Charger » Kensington LiquidAUX Auxiliary Car Kit with Remote for iPod; iPhone 1G, 3G

Kensington LiquidAUX Auxiliary Car Kit with Remote for iPod; iPhone 1G, 3G

admin 8 November 2009 iPod Car Accessory Kit, iPod Car Charger , , , , , ,

3 Responses to “Kensington LiquidAUX Auxiliary Car Kit with Remote for iPod; iPhone 1G, 3G”

  1. Mutia says:
    November 8, 2009 at 11:43 pm
    Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What’s this?)

    I have fallen in love with the Kensington LiquidAUX. It is ingeniously designed and is an inexpensive option for safely using your iPod while in the car. If you want the aesthetically most pleasing solution to integrate your iPod and iPod controls into your car stereo, this is not it. This device is specifically designed for the individual, like myself, who had their iPod sitting on the seat next to them or on the dashboard, connected to their stereo via an auxiliary input or cassette adapter. So contrary to some reviews, an aux-in on your car stereo is not mandatory for use, making this device usable in older cars with a tape deck and newer cars with the aux-in port.

    In my mind, the primary benefits of using the liquidAUX instead of simply manually controlling your iPod while in the car are two-fold: 1) Safety, 2) Ease of use.

    Safety: I consider myself a pretty competent multi-tasking driver, but even still anything that keeps my hands on the steering wheel and my eyes on the road has to keep me safer. My wife has pointed out that I swerve a little less and keep a more consistent speed – signs of not being distracted – since using this device.

    Ease of use: The liquidAUX wireless remote that is mounted on the steering wheel has four buttons: Play, back, forward, and shuffle. The first three are obvious and any remote would be lacking without it; but the fourth, shuffle, is my favorite. In the car, I love to use shuffle to listen to random songs from either my entire collection or one of my playlists. Often I find myself reminded of an album that I love or haven’t heard in a while. I wish I could take shuffle off and finish the album. To do that on the iPod, I would have to go into the settings menu, then take shuffle off (at least five seconds with my eyes on the iPod and not on the road). That’s what the shuffle button does with one click. If you get to an album you want to keep listening to, hit that button, and you will continue on that album or artist. Then when you’re sick of it and want the shuffling to continue, hit the button again, and off you continue on random again. All of this without even touching your iPod. So the LiquidAUX provides safety and convenience. Of course, you are still able to control your iPod the “old-fashioned way” while connected to the LiquidAUX…just make sure you do it at a red light ;-) .

    The box comes with a charger device that connects from the cigarette lighter (DC Power) to your compatible iPod (basically everything but a shuffle) or iPhone. There is a small wireless remote control (battery included) that mounts to your steering wheel for easy ability to control your iPod without being distracted from driving. Finally, the charger device has a 3.5mm output to connect to your cars auxiliary in (an extension is included in case your aux-in is further than a few inches from your cigarette lighter.

    My car does not have an aux-in so I was concerned that I would not be able to use this device. But the headphone jack on the iPod still outputs audio even while under the control of the LiquidAUX, so I am able to connect to my stereo using a cassette tape adapter. This does make for quite a few wires, however: 1) From charger to iPod, 2) charger to aux-in port, 3) iPod to cassette-adapter (only if you don’t have aux-in on stereo). This would be my number one foreseeable complaint. But these are also features that make the LiquidAUX not confined to a single car. Take it with you in a rental car on vacation, use it in a friend’s car on a road trip, or swap it between your vehicles. I could not be happier with the LiquidAUX; it is engineered excellently to do that for which it was designed.

  2. Zaila says:
    November 9, 2009 at 12:56 am

    If you have a Prius, this LiquidAUX by Kensington is the closest thing you will get to a perfect car-phone interface. No, you cannot control it from the Prius touchscreen, but the charger and aux input fit in the center console and you have enough lead to the dock connector to put your iPhone/iPod just about anywhere. Me, I have a Kuda leather mount on the dashboard, a Dice charger cradle, and the Kensington fits in the cradle dock perfectly. The iPhone is then right next to my touchscreen, and an easy reach to control the iPod or phone. I would like about a foot more of dock cable, but the 3 feet length is good enough.

    If you had the $15 Belkin cup holder/iPod holder it would work there and the cable coming out of the center console would be even more discreet. I love having my iPhone in easy sight while driving so I can read (NOT send) text messages or see caller ID. Phone calls go through the built-in Prius bluetooth and music plays though the aux line, and the phone switches flawlessly between them.

    The only drawback is that voicemails still don’t play through either bluetooth or the aux line. For that you have to switch to speakerphone. I think that is a bug within the iPhone, not this Kensington device.

    You will, however, need to get a ground loop isolator. You can get them on eBay or Amazon for $10-15. If you don’t, the sound gets staticky.

    I have gone thrugh about six different methods of linking/charging my iPhone 1G and 3G in my Prius, and short of getting a $250 kit and paying $150 to get it installed, this $55 kit is the absolute best option out there.

  3. Lindsey says:
    November 9, 2009 at 8:14 am

    Pros:
    1 cord to plug into your ipod (instead of Aux through headphone jack + charger)
    Cords are nicely wrapped – seem durable
    Smart charger – theoretically prevents overcharge
    Remote can be placed on left or right
    Includes shuffle feature, in addition to pause/play, forward, back
    Includes Aux cord extension
    Audio excellent

    Cons:
    Insanely long charger cord (is there no way to have an extension for this instead?)
    No cradle
    ipod must be powered off or disconnected before remote will work (e.g. remote stops working with it if I turn car off for 5 min, must disconnect charger and reconnect or turn ipod off to get it to recognize it)
    Velcro on remote strap oozed glue 1st time it got hot

    I have had two prior set-ups – a Kensington FM transmitter (miss the cradle, but not much else – STATIC!), and a simple cig charger + aux cable. I find the audio is much, much improved with this. Whereas there was some feedback/buzzing with the aux cable alone, there is none with this. Perhaps it has something to do with each car’s audio or previous reviewers are not turning volume on ipod up to 100% but are instead solely relying on car’s volume? (Just guessing) In any event, I am very, very sensitive to buzzing and static, and there is none in my car (late model Prius). However, I am really irritated with the long charger cord cluttering up my center console. I am also not completely impressed with remote set-up – the strap is bulky (remember, depending on where you place it, your hand may be over it). However, I am impressed with how well it holds in place, although I am concerned it may stretch over time.

    EDIT: I have now also tried it with the iphone 3G, and it works fine. It initially it came up with the screen – “this accessory was not designed for iphone – do you want to turn airplane mode on to reduce interference?” I selected “no” so I can still use the phone function. It works fine – even better than the others (I don’t have to turn my stereo on as high, go figure).

Leave a Reply




Powered by Yahoo! Answers