Foursprung: The best and cheapest car gadgets upgrades

Here is car-gadgeting for beginners.

What if you can't afford $50K for technology masterpieces such as the Infinit M or Acura RL? Here's some relatively inexpensive technology you can add to the car you have now. These prices assume you do it yourself; otherwise, add $50 to $100 for installation.
Under $3. Get a microfiber polishing cloth to wipe the dust off your LCD display, the face of your instrument panel, portable navigation device, cell phone's face, and sunglasses. Wash the cloth every month or so. Rubbing too hard scratches a plastic surface (captured grit does the scratching, not the cloth), but otherwise this does a miraculous job of de-dusting and de-greasing plastic and glass. You might even get one free if you ask nicely at your optician; otherwise, they're $2 or $3 at a computer store (around $20 for a pack of 10).

Under $10. The StickyPad from HandStands is a tacky pad (like a thin foam pad covered in PostIt stickum) that holds your cell phone, iPod, or other small device more or less in place while you're cornering, though not if it's aggressive cornering. You really shouldn't leave stuff on the dash that's going to slide around, but since you're doing it anyway, this helps. Conversely, add grippy rubberized strips called egrips to the device: either general-purpose strips or cutouts premade for popular cell phones and music players.

For $10, you can get a two- or three-way power adapter for your car's 12-volt power (nee cigarette-lighter) socket, so you can plug in lots of stuff. Also spend $2 for a spare pack of fuses, because odds are you'll plug in too much and blow a fuse.

Under $30. Get a good wired FM modulator (at $25 or $30) for better quality music playback through the car stereo. Disconnect your antenna from the back of the radio, plug in the modulator jack, plug the antenna back in, plug a line-out jack from your player to the modulator, and tune to an unused station. Check out Delphi, Harman Kardon, or Scosche. Sound quality is nearly as good as with other wired connections. Remember, the order of sound quality starting with the best, is a line-in jack, a wired FM modulator, a cassette adapter, a wireless FM modulator, and last, a really cheap wireless FM modulator.

Under $50. There's a thriving marketplace for accessories that let you plug your iPod into the car, charge it, encase it in neoprene or leather, suspend it from a stalk, and so forth--iPod up the wazoo. So many accessories exist because there's demand for the stuff, but also because the profit margins are incredible, so merchants love to stock them. One neat example is the Griffin iStalk. Wait, I made that up. It's actually the Griffin TuneFlex ($35 street, shown above), an iPod Nano connector on top of a flexible stalk with a power adapter plug on the bottom. Plug it into the power socket and twist it so you can see and manipulate your Nano while driving (right off the road, if you're not careful). A line-out jack lets you connect to the few car radios that have a separate line-in jack or an FM modulator or cassette adapter.

Under $60. Check out the Delphi XM Roady2. This satellite radio is tiny and simple to install. You'll be listening to music in less time than it takes the bleeding to stop from the cuts you got opening the blister pack. Sirius also makes a small unit, the visor-mount Sirius One.

Under $100. Get a line-in adapter from Blitzsafe, Soundgate, or PAC Audio for your portable music player. It plugs into the car radio CD-changer jack you don't use; who buys external changers these days? For this price, you can also find iPod line-in adapters that charge, but they don't display the iPod tunes on your radio faceplate. Also under $100 are black boxes for replacement radios that return control of your steering wheel buttons, meaning the buttons that adjusted volume or changed channels/tracks will do that again with your replacement radio.

Under $200. Consider the Harman Kardon drive+play iPod adapter. Despite the control knob that broke off on my first drive+play review unit, and a high-pitched hum (the installer's fault), this device still a treat and works with just about every car. Monster Cable makes a similar device, the Monster iCruze.

Under $250. Think about a new car stereo. If you want satellite radio or an iPod connection, it's probably cheaper to buy a new radio (any brand) for $200 to $250; the iPod adapter will be $100 max (Alpine's is $30), not $200.

Under $300. Backup video or backup sonar lets you see or hear where you're backing up to. Installing one of these systems is not for the casual do-it-yourselfer, though. Even if you know technology, it may be a hassle to run signal cables from the back bumper to your dashboard. You could install a small video display on the dash, but backup cameras make the most sense if you already have a replacement in-dash radio/DVD player with its own LCD (and an auxiliary video input jack).
Soundgate makes a video adapter for some car navigation systems that weren't designed for backup cameras, but the adapter adds about $200. Prices for backup sonar or video range from $100 to $500. Most people prefer video. You can have both; video plus sonar doesn't transmit the same kind of fashion-disaster message as wearing a belt and suspenders.

Under $400. For $600 (scroll down to the next item), you can find where you're going. For less than $400, you can keep going where you're going with a good radar warning receiver, the Valentine One. Yes, they're legal (except in Virginia and DC), but then, this is a nation with a long history of watching for armed authority out and about; think Paul Revere.
Critics say radar detectors let you commit illegal acts such as speeding and antisocial acts such as using more energy than you should. Supporters of radar detectors point out that speeding tickets are more about collecting money than about safety. Excessive speed is an factor in many accidents, but it takes a back seat to driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs as the main cause of accidents; and failure to wear seatbelts is the leading cause of death or serious injury.
As a practical matter, radar detectors don't provide blanket immunity from speeding tickets, but they do make the odds better. And they also receive safety alerts; most construction sites now send out signals that are picked up by radar detectors to warn you of congestion and slowdowns ahead.

Under $500. This is the entry point for reasonable portable navigation devices such as the Lowrance iWay 350C ($500 street). These provide most of the functionality of in-car devices that cost $1,500 to $2,000. Look for a touchscreen (which is easier to use than buttons and knobs) and battery portability for pedestrian use; the iWay 350 has both. Also consider upgrading to a new cell phone with GPS navigation capabilities; that's about $10 a month on top of your cellular service. Verizon uses the VZ Navigator service on phones such as the Motorola V325. Also consider the TeleNav GPS Navigator and the Motorola ViaMoto.

Under $1,000. Got kids? Good (or desperate) parents install DVD players in the backs of their cars. Prices used start at $1,000 and could hit $1,500; now you can find decent units for $500 to $1,000.
A single unit in the roof is cheapest and works best for three-row seating; LCDs in the backs of the two front headrests are easier on the driver's sightlines but cost more. No need to buy a dealer-installed unit; it may cost more and have a smaller display (7 inches, versus 9 or 10 inches), and there's no connection to the car other than power, since headsets are the proper way to listen to movies. If that's too rich for your blood, portable DVD players that cost $100 to $500 are fine and can be used in hotel rooms and on airplanes.

Related news: Foursprung, P4MR

Source: TechnoRide

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