(This is an update to How to charge your iPhone 3G in the car.)
I just got the Griffin AutoPilot yesterday. I can confirm that it works fine with the iPhone 3G, despite putting up the “Airplane Mode” warning. I’ve noticed a barely-perceptible electronic whine that fades in and out when the iPhone is silent. It seems to be caused by the LED light in the charger, which pulses until the iPhone’s battery is full. It’s very quiet, though, so it’s not a big issue.
I’ve also received this email from Kensington about the Kensington Car Charger Deluxe:
Dear Carl:
Thank you for contacting Kensington Technical Support.
In this regard, I am glad to inform you that the Car Charger Deluxe will work with iPhone 3G. If you need further assistance, please feel free to reply to this message or to call our toll-free Technical Support hotline (1800 535 4242).
Regards,
Srinivas Nakka
Kensington Technical Support
In retrospect, if I was doing it over again, I would probably order one of the Kensington chargers. I’m used to being able to read the names of songs on my stereo display, and it’s hard to read the small print on the iPhone when it’s sitting way down in the cupholder. Also, I’ve discovered that the phone does not automatically lock itself or dim the screen when it’s being charged by the AutoPilot, so the physical push buttons aren’t as important as I thought they might be.
That said, I’m quite happy with the AutoPilot, and being able to see the album art while songs play and choose songs from the iPhone interface is a nice change from the Scion’s built-in iPod interface.
3 responses so far ↓
1 John // Jul 31, 2008 at 11:57 pm
I was looking into the same thing, glad to know this device works fine, except for that pesky little warning about interference.
I see this has a line out port for what looks like a headphone jack sized port. Does it have any kind of volume control for the line out? I don’t want to change the volume with this feature, but level the audio so it isn’t clipping at a high volume, and not too low so that I hear the buzz of my car through the electronics.
I ask this because I don’t have an AUX-in on my head unit, so I use a tape adapter (I know, but with the noise reduction technologies, it is many times better than an FM transmitter) I worry that the signal may be too low and I will have to crank the audio up beyond what I am willing to do and still listen to music.
2 designbot // Aug 1, 2008 at 9:16 am
The adapter has a switch on the side to choose between high and low volume levels.
3 John // Aug 1, 2008 at 11:55 am
Thanks
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