Hardwired with Integrated Power and Controls

This is what I use in my car today, and there are a few alternatives.

If you have a BMW, you can get their box and have a dealer install it (it involves removing the dash, and requires a special pin tool because it just gives you wires that need to tap into the head unit harness..) http://www.ipodyourbmw.com/. It's pricey and fairly limited, so even if you are installing it in a BMW, you should pass this one by.

For most other cars, there is the Monster iCruze. http://www.monstercable.com/icruze/

This one is also a bit pricey, but you can put it into most recent vehicles. It will work with head-unit or steering wheel controls, provides power to the iPod, and, if you want to spend a bit more, you can get a remote display so you can see what is playing in bright blue letters stuck somewhere on your dash. Everyone likes bright blue letters, no?

I haven't seen it installed, but looks like it would be a fairly nice product, and probably self-installer friendly. But again, it's a bit on the expensive side.

The one I have now is a Dension ice-Link Plus. http://www.densionusa.com/icelink_info.htm This one comes in a few different car specific models. They are 'about' to release a fibre version that will work with just about any recent higher-end vehicle. Apparently, folks like Porsche, Audi, Land Rover, Volvo, Mercedes, etc. have recently standardized on in-car fibre connections for audio, car info, and the like. My car doesn't have fibre, so I got the current product, an it works very well. It's fully integrated with the steering wheel controls, and it displays track info on the radio head unit. You can use either the iPod UI, or the radio controls and display. You can define playlists which map to the CD selector buttons on the radio, and you can also browse the whole iPod using either UI... should you not have everything in a playlist. Dension made the software upgradable, and upgrades are trivial. You put 'songs' on your iPod, plug it in, and play those tracks. A few minutes later you have an upgraded ice-Link. I've done it and it works very well.

The ice-Link is very small - smaller than a pack of Wrigley's gum. It came with a long cable which plugs into the CD changer jack in the car trunk, which I then ran up under the seats. You can select dock connectors - which you mount someplace on your dash, or a cable (what I use) that lets you pass the iPod around - and which is nice and easy to hide when you park. This install took me less than 10 minutes. In fact, I bought the ice-Link and took it with me when i went to take delivery of of my new car. I installed everything, even routed the cables under seats and all, before I ever drove the car out of the showroom. All the controls work well, and the text display on the dash is very useful (you see the title slightly ahead of the music starting, so you can skip/scan quickly if you want).

If you have a navigation system, their new software versions on the fibre product will display track art on the screen. You need track art to show how truly expensive your car/audio system is, you know.

This whole thing costs a bit less than $200, and is well worth it in context.

Summary

That's about it in terms of the current state of options. I would clearly recommend the Dension product if it works with your car, because it just works.

If not, or if you want portability, the Monster products also work well, but they're just not quite as slick.

And I still, though rarely, use my iTrip. Simply because I seem to be getting stuck with rentals with bad antenna placement these days.

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