Girly Iphone Techy Question(s)!

[Ballydoyle]

Hi - sorry if this has been answered before but not sure and apologies if it has!

I have an iPhone 3GS OS4.1 16gb and am thinking of buying the tomtom app. I am based in the UK (London) and dont do many miles but I like to have something to let me know my ETA and route. (I do have an old/simple SatNat system - Looket G8 which is starting to die!)

However I have a very old (P 1997 reg) Volvo S40 which doesnt have a cd player (its the original radio) and I dont have a bluetooth kit of any description but I do have an FM tuner to listen to my tunes and a Pure Highway Digital radio.

Would the app work through either of these or is the only way to listen to it via purchasing the TomTom mount kit? If thats the case I would probably just go buy a stand alone SatNav system as the cost would be about equal - ?60 for the app and ?80 for the mount vs ?120 for a basic stand alone (John Lewis).

Again sorry if this is a repeat question but I noted that you always needed the car and radio details!

 

[mikealder]

The only hardware you will need is a powered iPhone holder as running the GPS applications hammer the battery and whilst you might get to your destination with guidance etc an flat battery in the iPhone isn't much good to you!

I use a Brodit active holder in my V70 and it works a treat:

You can see the various mounting solutions for most vehicles by having a look at the DSL or Brodit web sites to locate your make, model and year of car.



This will show you the various Pro-clip solutions for mounting Brodit products in your car, in my case there were 41 different options to choose from for the Pro-Clip alone. I opted for the location lower down to the left of the stereo for the phone mount.



Start by checking for any obstructions to the cars controls etc with the phone in its holder simply held in the position you intend to mount it. If it fouls the controls or possibly the gear lever, (check all gear lever positions including reverse), then you need to rethink what you are doing.

Assuming everything looks OK clean the trim in the area to be attached to with the alcohol based cleaning wipe supplied with the Pro-Clip. Insert the two spacer tools in to the trim to part the two portions which will form a gap to insert the clip in to.



Remove the backing tape from the Pro-Clip and push it in to the gap, once in place remove both spacer tools leaving the Pro-Clip securely in place.



To make it easier to fit a phone holder with the tilt/ swivel capability release the large center screw and the ball joint separates in to two parts, doing this makes the next step so much easier.



Attach the fixed portion of the swivel using the four supplied self tapping screws, you will need to exert some considerable force to the screws to get them in to the Pro-Clip. Consider doing this before you install the Pro-Clip to the vehicle as it lessens the chance of damage to the car trim if you were to slip with the screwdriver.
Only lightly tighten the mounting screws, if you apply too much force you will strip the threads and end up with an insecure phone holder.


Put the phone holder back in place and re-secure the center screw, do not over tighten this screw or the swivel housing will snap, it only needs to be tight enough to prevent the mount from moving around.



Plug the charger lead in to the car ciggy socket and insert the phone to the holder and away you go in the knowledge your ?500 phone isn?t going to fly around in the car the next time you hit the brakes.



The Brodit kit isn?t cheap with the phone holder costing nearly ?50 and the Pro-Clip a further ?15 but you get what you pay for which is a quality holder that looks like it was intended for the car.

By the way Brodit is Swedish so it doesn't devalue your car by fitting it.

As for the sound you can continue to use the iPhone for music and play the navigation instructions via an FM transmitter or consider a Bluetooth kit for the car which is my prefered method to get sound out of the iPhone to the the car system, the little unit to the lower right of the stereo is the iO-Play module which offers full Bluetooth connectivity and can be picked up on e-bay for under ?50 if you want to grab a bargain, I got one only three weeks ago for a mate that cost ?45 - Mike

 

[Ballydoyle]

Thanks for the reply but it sounds a lot more complicated and expensive than I was planning on! And I dont really want to have to take the car apart for what I thought was something realtively simple but like I said I'm a girl so perhaps I was thinking too simply! I probably only use the system once a month perhaps twice so the cost wouldnt be worth it.

I was looking at getting something like this and feeding the sound back through the car speakers:
Belkin TuneBase FM Transmitter with Hands-Free: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

If I connect the iPhone to the Pure Highway through the headphone jack which in turn transmits through the car speakers, would that work?
Highway - In-car Digital Radio with FM Transmitter.

Otherwise I will ask Santa to be very generous and just get me a stand alone system