RishieB

the Dice unit he is talking about in this review will become available in about 10 to 15 days with new microcode. right now Dice is not shiping to international/europe. members of german LOC are trying to get a unit for testing with the european model. Guys, could you please advise out of the Sounlinq and Dice unit, which one provides superior sound quality? Also, has anyone heard of the POD RDS solution which is a bit like the Dice kit that plugs in to the aerial socket of the head unit? It is suppose to be Italian... Sound quality with the soundlinq from vaistech is excellent, no difference to the disc changer. A very important function of the soundliq is the USB microcode update. If you change over to a new iPod or do an iPod microcode update, sometimes you will experience an incompatibility between the old soundlinq and the new/updated iPod. With the USB microcode update you can easily upload the latest microcode revision to your soundlinq device and your system works as it is supposed to again. The new microcode will be send to you via e-mail from vaistech. You then connect your notebook via USB/iPod connector to your soundlinq and do the update. Last information from a member of the german user forum is that the DICE unit is still not available for the European RX (this info is about 2 month old). So if you go for the DICE please make sure that your unit will work with your European RX model. Lexus is selling an iPod interface as well. Maybe this is an alternative for you? Thanks williz! So would you say that the SOUNDLINQ is the best solution out there? Also, there are a few Dice kits available on ipodcardirect.co.uk but I dont know if they are the US or UK spec. The Lexus interface, I'm told by Lexus is not compatible with my 04 RX300 SEL (Whats the point of the interface then???) Also, could you please advise how can I have a hardwired bluetooth car kit installed in the RX300? There seems to be a massive problem with regards to a compatible harness! Well, I can not say which one is the best because I have only vaistech SLI experience. The DICE would be great if it would work in the European RX model. So if the Lexus Adapter is not working in your car, your only choice is in fact the SoundLinQ from vaistech and it works very well! I do not really understand why you would like to get a Bluetooth harness system. Would it be for charging the handset or do you like the aerial/antenna connection for better reception? There was (or is) a “Lexus Bluetooth Complementary Kit”. Question is if you will get a cradle for your Handy, most likely not I suppose. If I would be you I would call up this guys http://soarer.tv/ , they should be able to answer your questions, looks that they have the experience and knowledge you will need. Thanks again mate! The reason I need the harness is so I can have the bluetooth carkit hardwired in to the car audio system so the system mutes itself when there's a call. No I will not be using a cradle or charging my handset with the car kit. I know about soarer tv guys but the problem is that they are atleast 200 miles from where I am! Thanks again mate! Cheers!

the Dice unit he is talking about in this review will become available in about 10 to 15 days with new microcode. right now Dice is not shiping to international/europe. members of german LOC are trying to get a unit for testing with the european model. Guys, could you please advise out of the Sounlinq and Dice unit, which one provides superior sound quality? Also, has anyone heard of the POD RDS solution which is a bit like the Dice kit that plugs in to the aerial socket of the head unit? It is suppose to be Italian... Sound quality with the soundlinq from vaistech is excellent, no difference to the disc changer. A very important function of the soundliq is the USB microcode update. If you change over to a new iPod or do an iPod microcode update, sometimes you will experience an incompatibility between the old soundlinq and the new/updated iPod. With the USB microcode update you can easily upload the latest microcode revision to your soundlinq device and your system works as it is supposed to again. The new microcode will be send to you via e-mail from vaistech. You then connect your notebook via USB/iPod connector to your soundlinq and do the update. Last information from a member of the german user forum is that the DICE unit is still not available for the European RX (this info is about 2 month old). So if you go for the DICE please make sure that your unit will work with your European RX model. Lexus is selling an iPod interface as well. Maybe this is an alternative for you? Thanks williz! So would you say that the SOUNDLINQ is the best solution out there? Also, there are a few Dice kits available on ipodcardirect.co.uk but I dont know if they are the US or UK spec. The Lexus interface, I'm told by Lexus is not compatible with my 04 RX300 SEL (Whats the point of the interface then???) Also, could you please advise how can I have a hardwired bluetooth car kit installed in the RX300? There seems to be a massive problem with regards to a compatible harness!

the Dice unit he is talking about in this review will become available in about 10 to 15 days with new microcode. right now Dice is not shiping to international/europe. members of german LOC are trying to get a unit for testing with the european model. Guys, could you please advise out of the Sounlinq and Dice unit, which one provides superior sound quality? Also, has anyone heard of the POD RDS solution which is a bit like the Dice kit that plugs in to the aerial socket of the head unit? It is suppose to be Italian...

hi! you have 3 options. nbr. 1 is the IPod Integration Kit from lexus europe, part nbr. PZ420-00263-ME, price around 300,-EUR nbr. 2 is soundlink from vaistech (www.vaistech.com), sells for about 300,-USD, must be self imported from US nbr.3 is Dice iPod integration kit Dice kit, sells for about 150,-USD, self import. lexus integration kit and soundlink adapters are working fine, dice users have reported some troubles but latest versions should work fine. regards willi Hi Willi, 1. I spoke to lexus about their integration kit, and they said that the one with that part# is actually a cable worth £6. Would you be able to provide any more info on this? 2. Do you have any idea on how good the the soundlinq system is? Does it need professional installation? How much time is needed to install this? Willi I would really appriciate it if you could let me know this info. Thanks Rishi

Hi there, I just bought a RX-300 2003 SEL with built in Sat Nav and the Mark levinson upgrade. I had a few issues that I wanted help on: 1. How can I integrate my ipod with the sound system without using the FM Transmitter so that the sound comes through the car speakers. It would be fantastic if the ipod could interface with the sound system but I think that would be wishfull thinking?? 2. I also wanted to install a bluetooth handsfree car kit hardwired into the system so that the system mutes itself when there is an incoming call and the sound comes through the car speakers again. 3. Can I upgrade the software on my sat-nav? For example the current version does not take post codes, so Can I upgrade it to one that can and also receives traffic TMC updates? If there are after market solutions available, which would be the best one? I would really appreciate any help on these. Thanks Rishi