I recently bought myself an iPod so I can have a very wide range of music playing while driving (as I do a fair bit of driving around these days) So for my daily driver (Rover 220 SDi) I have an OEM radio/cassette head unit, so I simply bought a £1.99 cassette adaptor for that, which works great and has the iPod on a bracket mounted from a suctioncup on the windscreen - nice and simple, but basic!

 

Now I would like something a little bit more intergrated for Eliza (once she is back on the road) so I've been looking at what is available on the market and have come across one of these......

 

 

It's a Harman Kardon Drive + Play.

A friend of mine has got one in his Jag, and it looks a nice little, un-obstrusive, accessory that delivers what it promises.

So what you've got is a connection to your iPod, which you can leave out of sight in the center consol/glovebox etc, a display screen which shows what your iPod screen would show normally, and a dial device to control your iPod.

If I do go for this I'm thinking of putting the iPod in the center consol with the display on top of the righthand (lights) pod and the controller inside the ash tray (I don't smoke!) :smash:

 

 

 

These retailed for £250 when they first came out, but have now been replaced by the Mk2 version, which has a full colour screen (can't see the point when you want to listen to music while driving!) so these older models are going for a song now.

 

Found this link on eBay, and it's only £29.99 with FREE delivery!!!!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=370227206932

 

And the guy's got 800 of them to sell :eek:

 

So I thought I'd give you guys n gals a heads-up, someone might find it usefull

 

Dave

Edited July 11, 200916 yr by Daves_Zed

Looks good...i suppose they only work for the ipod though.....would they work with an archos 5?

that is nuts have you got yours its not a con is it

Looks good...i suppose they only work for the ipod though.....would they work with an archos 5?

According to the specs on the Harman Kardon site it will accept other mp3 players, but I don't know how it would control them though :confused:

 

that is nuts have you got yours its not a con is it

 

Well he's a Powerseller with almost 30000 feedback at 100%, so I would assume not. No not got one yet, can't justify spending on that when Eliza needs fixing first ;) Hopefully though I'll keep an eye on it, and update it as the auctions expire, and with that quantity, I could be in for ideas for an xmas pressie!! :D

Oh yeah, the other thing is that I've seen them on another respected website selling at £39.95 = delivery, so I'd think the price is correct

That is awesome Dave - thanks a lot for the heads up I'll be making a purchase! :bow:

I remember seeing these when they came out! Cheers for the heads up!!

Yea looks good, iam in

Just purchased one so ill let you guys know how i get on.

Just purchased one so ill let you guys know how i get on.

 

same here :)

ourlass paid £30 for a device that plugs into her fag lighter and into the bottom of her ipod, it has a lcd display and and a tuning buton on it, you find a blank radio station on ya radio in ya car and then match it up with the ipod lcd display then it plays through her car radio, fancy bit of kit

Looks pretty good and a bargain price.

 

Although pretty much all modern Headunits these days come with ipod connectivity, so the headunit does everything this unit does without having to add any extra devices.

Here at £19.99 - was gonna buy one a while ago - use this site all the time for PC PArts etc....

http://www.bigpockets.co.uk/product.php?product=GRADEA145&title=Mp3+Harman%2FKardon+IPOD+Drive+%2B+Play+-+Refurbished

Here at £19.99 - was gonna buy one a while ago - use this site all the time for PC PArts etc....

http://www.bigpockets.co.uk/product.php?product=GRADEA145&title=Mp3+Harman%2FKardon+IPOD+Drive+%2B+Play+-+Refurbished

 

Yeah but that's 'Refurbished', and at £19.99 + £5.99 delivery = £25.98 you might aswell buy the one off eBay which is brand new delivered for £29.99!

ourlass paid £30 for a device that plugs into her fag lighter and into the bottom of her ipod, it has a lcd display and and a tuning buton on it, you find a blank radio station on ya radio in ya car and then match it up with the ipod lcd display then it plays through her car radio, fancy bit of kit

 

Yeah the iTrip, a very nice nifty little device but, you need to be as close as possible to the aerial for really good reception (Zeds are at the rear, so not fantastic) and you still have your iPod on display to potential thieves!

Same with the new type of headunit, where do you put the iPod and why pay out all that money for a new headunit when the old one works just as well in the first place?

Yeah the iTrip, a very nice nifty little device but, you need to be as close as possible to the aerial for really good reception (Zeds are at the rear, so not fantastic) and you still have your iPod on display to potential thieves!

Same with the new type of headunit, where do you put the iPod and why pay out all that money for a new headunit when the old one works just as well in the first place?

With a new headunit you would put the ipod whereever you want (glovebox, centre console), as you use the Headunit controls.

 

But agreed, no point replacing a good headunit, I meant if you were going to buy a new one then and wanted a truly integrated solution.

With a new headunit you would put the ipod whereever you want (glovebox, centre console), as you use the Headunit controls.

 

But agreed, no point replacing a good headunit, I meant if you were going to buy a new one then and wanted a truly integrated solution.

 

Well yeah, if you need a new one absolutely no point in buying two units if you can have one :D

 

Anyway I hope all those that have bought one let us know how they get on, as, like I've said already, I'll have to wait until xmas ;) so I hope they've still got some by then :rofl:

I have not got this kit, but i have purchashed from this company on e-bay. I bought a car amplifier and it was cheap, packaged well, fast delivery and everthing in the item description was correct. Good seller on e-bay imho.

 

Al.

Got mine today, next day delivery, i've installed it in my normal run around and it's a great bit of kit for £30, looks the dogs

So was this very good then? did anyone put it in a zed?