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Anyone use anything like this?

I'm in the car about 75% of my week, and would love to listen while I'm on the road. I tried a Belkin device before (small and broadcast to an FM frequency), but it didn't work well - not sure if it was an early device and they've improved.

Any help is appreciated!

Gareth's picture

Hi,

This will depend on your location and type of stereo.

If your from the UK then pop down to Halfords, they have a massive range of all different types of ipod to car devices.

Get something that hardwires in to your car stereo for best quality.

juliahhavener's picture
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I have one that broadcasts to the radio. Whenever I've had a problem, changing the channel it uses has resolved it. I use mine all the time and the only complaint I have is that it seems to have a hard stop on volume at 38. That's not *quite* enough to hear Mark with the windows down, btw.

cincibuckeyenut's picture

I use my cassette deck and a cassette to ipod connection. Was about 10 bucks and works like a charm, as long as you still have a cassette in your car.

aspiringceo's picture

The range of FM transmitters available for the ipod is amazing but in my opinion ( having gone through 3 different types in the past 3 years) the best has got to be the griffin iTrip and of this brand try getting their 3in1 ie transmitter, cradle and charger. it costs about £35 or even cheaper on ebay.

Edmund

stewartlogan's picture

Thanks, folks!

Cincy, I found one of those today at Best Buy. Still haven't bought it, as I'm not sure it's the route I want to go. The only drawback I've found is that it doesn't act as a charger while playing.

Julia, I like a few of the models I looked at, but am unsure which works best. I had a Belkin, but it was crap (probably due to being battery operated it wasn't able to give off a strong signal). I found one that looks like it works well with a small antenna, and it hooks into the lighter.

Thanks again for the help!

juliahhavener's picture
Licensee Badge

I think mine is OIC (or something like that anyway). It plugs into the lighter in the car. If you have a shuffle, it plugs right into the top of the transmitter, if you have a larger ipod, there's a cable connector that I find very useful.

aspiringceo's picture

This is the one I have http://shop.ipodworld.co.uk/iPodWorldSite/product/all_iPods_FM%20Transmi.... I'm sure its widely available from different sources.

Edmund

cdodd's picture

If you are more technically minded and want a real solution, I would strongly suggest Harmon Kardon Drive + Play. It does have a wired in FM modulator option that has only once made me change frequencies. This is a very safe alternative to looking down at the small ipod screen while driving. The text is large on the screen and does not require squinting. CarToys and Best Buy install as well. It took me a couple hours to install myself and I am very slow. Charges while traveling, and you can put the dock wire into the console, so your ipod is not visible at all (great to avoid thefts). You plug it in and forget about it as the controller does all the work and the screen shows you where you are on your ipod. We have a trailblazer and I mounted the screen toward the left side of the dash toward the edge of the windshield..........works great. I am going to buy another for our second vehicle soon.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-YTsR8EML1BF/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?wm=fp&I=10...

theballdredge's picture

depending on the type of car you have there are several options.

For the best quality, you really want to get some sort of line level connection, and on many cars its very easy and there are several ways you can go about getting that interface. Im not an audiophile type, but static bugs me, and if you use those FM adapters you will experience static eventually. Also, those FM transmitters can interfere with the radios in cars near yours. In the DC area WAMU is on FM88.5 and LOTS of those FM adapters have that either as a default or somewhere in the range of settings. Line out is much friendlier to nearby drivers.

MANY newer cars have an dock connector as an option for the audio system in your car. Typically its pretty pricey, but in some cases it will display the track information on the head unit display, and in most cases it allows you to leave your ipod in the glove compartment. Almost all of these also charge the unit while it is connected.

If this isnt an option you can still get a direct connector for a lot of factory head units that plugs in where an external cd magazine would connect. Hondas are a prime example, and there exist after market connectors going back many years. Google is your friend in this case. Most cars that had optional magazine type cd players will have some kind of compatible connector.

Last chance would be if your car has a removable single or double sized head unit. Almost every head unit on the market today has some type of adapter kit you can pick up to do basically the same thing as the factory adapters. Pioneer, Kenwood, Apline, etc etc all have them.

Ive got a little older Pioneer 6400 with a line input adapter and a cigarette adapter that has line out from belkin (F8V7058-APL) that works fantastically.

If anyone needs help figuring out a solution feel free to PM me, anything I can do to keep those FM transmitters off the road is something worth doing.

stewartlogan's picture

I went cheap and old school, and I'm very pleased. Kudos to Cincy for recommending it as the way to go.

We have a 2001 Volvo, and it has a tape deck. Done deal, and it works great.

Next car we buy will have an integrated adaptor so I don't have to mess around with it like this.

pcahill's picture

Stewart,

I have a Kensington that plugs directly into the bottom of my Ipod. You can select the frequency and I usually leave it in the centre console.

No problerms at all for the past 12 months.

Peter

cruss's picture
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I got a new car stereo with a line in jack for $80 and a Belkin Auto Kit ($39). It works great and keeps my ipod charged while in the car. Then the sound comes out of the "Line out" feed from the Dock Connector and not the Headphone jack. If you are using a tape adapter I suggest the belkin for that also.

http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=149006

tvalleav10's picture

[quote="cincibuckeyenut"]I use my cassette deck and a cassette to ipod connection. Was about 10 bucks and works like a charm, as long as you still have a cassette in your car.[/quote]

I second the cassette option. This has worked great for me. Flawless audio quality 100% of the time.

sitbonzo's picture

hard wire it. It will cost a bit more but the quality is much better than FM transmitters which are forever catch interference.

terrih's picture

I like my Griffin iTrip. I haven't investigated any of the others; my brother included the iTrip when he gave me the iPod for Christmas.

Terri