Dension Gateway 500 and BTA1500 module for PCM2 reviews?
Discussion
hello all,
Ive just purchased my first porsche(997 C2S 2005) after many years of saving and cant stop smiling, what a car
!
As you'll all be aware when hunting down the right one that ticks all the boxes when everything seems to be an optional extra when new, it aint easy. I decided in the end to go for low miles 18k against all the toys, with it having no Satnav, Bose or telephone module. This is where the Dension question Comes into it, is their anyone here that has this kit fitted to their porsche and what like is it to use with the bluetooth iphone hands free and ipod control through the PCM and quality? this pic is the same PCM is mine but not sure if its 2 or 2.1, is it compatible? http://www.911chips.com/pcm2.jpg Any help would be much appriciated thanks.
Willie
Ive just purchased my first porsche(997 C2S 2005) after many years of saving and cant stop smiling, what a car
!As you'll all be aware when hunting down the right one that ticks all the boxes when everything seems to be an optional extra when new, it aint easy. I decided in the end to go for low miles 18k against all the toys, with it having no Satnav, Bose or telephone module. This is where the Dension question Comes into it, is their anyone here that has this kit fitted to their porsche and what like is it to use with the bluetooth iphone hands free and ipod control through the PCM and quality? this pic is the same PCM is mine but not sure if its 2 or 2.1, is it compatible? http://www.911chips.com/pcm2.jpg Any help would be much appriciated thanks.
Willie
Hi, have just fitted it to my cayenne. I guess its ok. Selecting tracks on the pcm isnt exactly intuitive nor is scrolling through contacts. I got it cheap, 60 quid for the BT and 65 for the Dension and wouldnt have wanted to pay anymore tbh. There is another system that they rave about on Rennlist which is supposed to be far better.
VonSenger said:
I have it in the cayenne, tried using it for about a week then gave up, biggest pile of s
t ive ever bought. Dont waste your money.
I didnt think it would be as bad as that, Would you recommend any others? Ive noticed Viseeo and M0bridge make MOST systems for porsche aswell. Thinking about maybe just fitting an alpine doubledin if there all that bad, pitty as would like it original as possible.t ive ever bought. Dont waste your money.Slighlty moronic post above. It's a good system but as it is essentially a hack that emmulates the cd changer, it's not as intuitive to use as an ipod. However if you actually take an hour to read the instructions and experiment rahter than trying to figure it out yourself it's very straightforward and logical. The phone functionality is identical to the built in Porsche phone system & it's completely straightforward to use. It does work best with the PCM screen. It requires the factory phone to be fitted to work but adds bluetooth. I'd recomend it as long as you are willing to read the instructions rather!
It's the cheapest & most integrated way of getting browsable music & bluetooth into your Porsche with PCM, if that's what you want
It's the cheapest & most integrated way of getting browsable music & bluetooth into your Porsche with PCM, if that's what you want
I agree with some of the positive comments here. It IS a hack to get the PCM to play your music. I use it not only to integrate the phone, which it does perfectly, but to play music from a USB stick. It's easy to navigate different albums & tracks and certainly beats having cables trailing all over your car to connect an iPod.
Yes, it's not perfect but it improves immensely on the functionality of the prehistoric PCM2.
Yes, it's not perfect but it improves immensely on the functionality of the prehistoric PCM2.
mankey said:
I agree with some of the positive comments here. It IS a hack to get the PCM to play your music. I use it not only to integrate the phone, which it does perfectly, but to play music from a USB stick. It's easy to navigate different albums & tracks and certainly beats having cables trailing all over your car to connect an iPod.
Yes, it's not perfect but it improves immensely on the functionality of the prehistoric PCM2.
Perfectly ?Yes, it's not perfect but it improves immensely on the functionality of the prehistoric PCM2.
What's all that about then when you go into your address book and before you can see names it has has submenus, chunking the names into A-C, D-F, G-I etc.. complete joke if you ask me and totally unecessary, just clogging up the interface and it mean more button twirling & fiddling before you can make an actual call. Personally, I would only use the phone while stationary because naviagting through all that junk whsilt driving is downright dangerous. Once you are in a certain letter group, the button presisng process to get you back up to the master list of alphabetical latters is also really nasty and completely non-intuitive.
It does the same with mp3's as well, splits then up into different pages ! And also once you're on the right page and have selected your artist or album then having to press a load more buttons so you can flick through individual tracks in that album is also a bit of a joke.
The word 'clunky' is being kind IMO. I am with VS in that its basically pretty crap and if i'd shelved out 500 notes for it it would be going straight back to the shop. As it is, I've just stuck a nano permanently onto mine and have it in random play mode. I'll live with it till I upgrade to a 2011 cayenne.
Edited by jackal on Sunday 27th November 17:05
I just fitted a ViseeO unit to my car yesterday. Very similar to the Tooki. It works fine, and once set up works exactly like the standard phone module - same menus, etc. I got it second hand on eBay (£77), but if I had to pay full price (£300+) I would have stuck with diverts.
You are supposed to be able to stream music via A2DP Bluetooth, but I haven't tried it yet, and it isn't clear from the instructions what control you have over album/track selection.
You are supposed to be able to stream music via A2DP Bluetooth, but I haven't tried it yet, and it isn't clear from the instructions what control you have over album/track selection.
Richard Hamilton said:
I just fitted a ViseeO unit to my car yesterday. Very similar to the Tooki. It works fine, and once set up works exactly like the standard phone module - same menus, etc. I got it second hand on eBay (£77), but if I had to pay full price (£300+) I would have stuck with diverts.
You are supposed to be able to stream music via A2DP Bluetooth, but I haven't tried it yet, and it isn't clear from the instructions what control you have over album/track selection.
How does it compare to the mObridge, as I am not happy with mine.You are supposed to be able to stream music via A2DP Bluetooth, but I haven't tried it yet, and it isn't clear from the instructions what control you have over album/track selection.
I have been using the Dension 500 with BTA1500 for about a year and I think it is great, but as others here have said, it does depend on your expectations.
I use it to control a 160Gb iPod which has at least 10,000 tracks on it. The track selection isn't particularly intuitive (something like select CD list, select artist, select ABC search, select B, select Beatles), but is not too bad once you get used to it. I don't find it ever takes me more than 20 seconds to find any of those 10,000 tracks.
As others have said, the Dension is mimicking a CD changer, so it is actually quite impressive that the level of control that is available is even there!
The phone control is similar. I am not sure how the original Porsche phone module would have worked, but I would be surprised if it is much different. With the Dension, you have the obvious advantage of being able to use your own phone rather than having to stick a SIM into the PCM.
I very rarely make calls in the car, and I find receiving calls easy (one button press on the PCM) and the sound quality is good. When I do make calls, scrolling through the phonebook is a bit clunky but it works.
The best way to summarise the Dension is that it is a good bit of kit to bring a few modern features to a 2005 head unit, BUT it can only do that within the confines of what the head unit itself can do.
You'd get a much better user experience by ripping the PCM out and installing the latest Alpine double-DIN unit, but it would cost you a lot more money and you'd lose the original look of the interior.
I use it to control a 160Gb iPod which has at least 10,000 tracks on it. The track selection isn't particularly intuitive (something like select CD list, select artist, select ABC search, select B, select Beatles), but is not too bad once you get used to it. I don't find it ever takes me more than 20 seconds to find any of those 10,000 tracks.
As others have said, the Dension is mimicking a CD changer, so it is actually quite impressive that the level of control that is available is even there!
The phone control is similar. I am not sure how the original Porsche phone module would have worked, but I would be surprised if it is much different. With the Dension, you have the obvious advantage of being able to use your own phone rather than having to stick a SIM into the PCM.
I very rarely make calls in the car, and I find receiving calls easy (one button press on the PCM) and the sound quality is good. When I do make calls, scrolling through the phonebook is a bit clunky but it works.
The best way to summarise the Dension is that it is a good bit of kit to bring a few modern features to a 2005 head unit, BUT it can only do that within the confines of what the head unit itself can do.
You'd get a much better user experience by ripping the PCM out and installing the latest Alpine double-DIN unit, but it would cost you a lot more money and you'd lose the original look of the interior.
kingston12 said:
The best way to summarise the Dension is that it is a good bit of kit to bring a few modern features to a 2005 head unit, BUT it can only do that within the confines of what the head unit itself can do.
2005 is being generous I think. I had an Alpine double-DIN headunit back in 2005 that made PCM look positively antiquated. My 2008 Cayman has PCM2.1, which is no better really. I shudder to think how bad PCM1 is.It's quite shocking how far behind the curve Porsche is with ICE. I've heard that the 991 PCM doesn't even have DAB. I had DAB on a loaner Mini recently.
That being said emulating iPod functionality via a CD changer is about the best you can hope for in terms of proper iPod control in a Porsche. Don't get me started on the FM transmitter option Porsche sell for several hundred quid, that still necessitates you changing tracks on the iPod while you're driving along!
Durzel said:
2005 is being generous I think. I had an Alpine double-DIN headunit back in 2005 that made PCM look positively antiquated. My 2008 Cayman has PCM2.1, which is no better really. I shudder to think how bad PCM1 is.
It's quite shocking how far behind the curve Porsche is with ICE. I've heard that the 991 PCM doesn't even have DAB. I had DAB on a loaner Mini recently.
Yep, it is bad. You only have to look at what Ford put into their cheap ranges - full voice control, decent bluetooth, DAB etc. All of that in a car a third of the price of a standard Boxster, let alone a 911.It's quite shocking how far behind the curve Porsche is with ICE. I've heard that the 991 PCM doesn't even have DAB. I had DAB on a loaner Mini recently.
jackal said:
Perfectly ?
What's all that about then when you go into your address book and before you can see names it has has submenus, chunking the names into A-C, D-F, G-I etc.. complete joke if you ask me and totally unecessary, just clogging up the interface and it mean more button twirling & fiddling before you can make an actual call. Personally, I would only use the phone while stationary because naviagting through all that junk whsilt driving is downright dangerous. Once you are in a certain letter group, the button presisng process to get you back up to the master list of alphabetical latters is also really nasty and completely non-intuitive.
It does the same with mp3's as well, splits then up into different pages ! And also once you're on the right page and have selected your artist or album then having to press a load more buttons so you can flick through individual tracks in that album is also a bit of a joke.
The word 'clunky' is being kind IMO. I am with VS in that its basically pretty crap and if i'd shelved out 500 notes for it it would be going straight back to the shop. As it is, I've just stuck a nano permanently onto mine and have it in random play mode. I'll live with it till I upgrade to a 2011 cayenne.
I believe it is the PCM system that groups the names together and not the dension system. As is the case with a lot of things, once you have used it a few times & understand how it works, it is faster and better - the alternative is scrolling the entire alphabet to call someone with a name starting with T or V etc. For example, it takes about 0.5 seconds to scroll so to hold the stick in the 'down' position to get to 'T' would take 10 seconds & that's very distracting if you're drivingWhat's all that about then when you go into your address book and before you can see names it has has submenus, chunking the names into A-C, D-F, G-I etc.. complete joke if you ask me and totally unecessary, just clogging up the interface and it mean more button twirling & fiddling before you can make an actual call. Personally, I would only use the phone while stationary because naviagting through all that junk whsilt driving is downright dangerous. Once you are in a certain letter group, the button presisng process to get you back up to the master list of alphabetical latters is also really nasty and completely non-intuitive.
It does the same with mp3's as well, splits then up into different pages ! And also once you're on the right page and have selected your artist or album then having to press a load more buttons so you can flick through individual tracks in that album is also a bit of a joke.
The word 'clunky' is being kind IMO. I am with VS in that its basically pretty crap and if i'd shelved out 500 notes for it it would be going straight back to the shop. As it is, I've just stuck a nano permanently onto mine and have it in random play mode. I'll live with it till I upgrade to a 2011 cayenne.
Edited by jackal on Sunday 27th November 17:05
The system is not intuitive but it is not hard to learn how it works. Once in, you can use a USB stick or portable hard drive to hold your entire music collection on, in the boot, so you don't need to constantly plug / unplug your ipod either or worry about leaving it in the car.
To MoBridge system is exactly the same as it works by emulating the CD changer, it just lack s USB support forcing you to use your iPod.
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