Dension gateway - don't do it !!

[RobWithey]

Whilst we are one the subject of <removed> about Dension's appalling website, I believe we finally got to the bottom of my skipping issues.

The Gateway Indexer linked from http://www.dension.com/index.php?pageID=229 is over a year old. But that is the latest that Dension decide to give you from their site, and they make no hints about there being a newer one. As it happens this old Indexer appears to play very badly with the latest firmware (at least on Gateway 300) and although you think you've done the right thing by indexing your music with their utility, you haven't...!

As to why Dension feel the need to ship a really old indexer, I have no idea. I'm not sure if it is utter laziness, or sheer incompetence. Regardless, getting a newer indexer from them solved the skipping issue. I have suggested to their support that it would be a good idea to ship the latest and greatest, and whilst they agree with me in principal and say that they will try and refresh their site I will not hold my breath (if their support timeliness is anything to go by).

Unfortunately in the many weeks that they have been ignoring me I seem to have broken something to do with the menu and track name output to the highline display. Despite trying every I can I have been unable to revive this. Without the menus and album/track info this pretty much makes the Dension un-useable.

As such, the damage is done, the Dension is history for me. I'm going back to my old ways of building my own music jukeboxes as I have on a couple of previous occasions with Car PCs (only this time with a Beagleboard and modified VWCDPIC). Realistically I think it will be easier and quicker to get this working then to persist with this piece of crap that is the Dension Gateway 300.

But to anyone having skipping issues with a Dension after indexing with their indexer, hassle their support for the latest indexer. At the time of writing it is v1.0.1127.33. Their main link is for 1.0.0.0 (from 15th June 2009). I'm not going to post the link to their download page with all the right goodies. Dension can do that (if they want to).


Rob

[ChillOut]

As mentioned, the Dension online ticket system is not the way we work in the UK.

Dension is a worldwide brand and that ticket system is aimed at countries that do not have a dedicated team.

My team and I provide telephone support on the Dension brand AND as soon as you were in contact with me I was trying as hard as I could to rectify the situation. The issue here is not with our product, I my self drive a MK4 golf with Gamma head unit and have had to beef up the ground loop significantly.

As for DICE, DICE stands for "Dension In Car Electronics" and is the technology we were using 5 years ago, hence the price difference.


Take care guys.

Whatever it stands for (and I know there was some kind of split that created DICE, but I don't care about that), I bought one and it works out of the box first time, without having to beef up any grounding in my car.

If you've had to beef up your ground and think I should, it means that Dension are not fully compatible with VW's. The ground in VW's may (IYHO) be poor but knowing that you need a design that works with that. And DICE manage to make it work.

To anyone thinking of getting one - by all means give it a punt - if yours does not buzz I cannot fault the sound quality. But then the same goes for the cheaper DICE which does not buzz either!

[ChillOut]

As for DICE, DICE stands for "Dension In Car Electronics" and is the technology we were using 5 years ago, hence the price difference.

.

All I wanted was something that worked - whether its five years old technology or not makes no difference.