The missus wants a FM transmitter thingy so she can use her iPod in the car. There seems to be a wide variation in prices, so I imagine some will work better than others. Any recommendations?
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First thing - what model of iPod?
Edited by rtj70 on 26/11/2008 at 21:52
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I have a cheap Griffin one that has a mini USB connector to allow the iPod to be charged. For me works fine when used (rarely). The problem is controlling and seeing the iPod in my car - have a cradle for the phone and have a TomTom. The latter also lets me use the radio for streaming music and I can plug in and control and iPod as well.
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Griffin itrip auto. Accent on the 'auto' as opposed to plain old trip. Been using mine for ages and absolutely perfect. A £1 sub on line to Which? gives 30 days access, and they tested these. Bought mine on their recommendation and v. pleased. Only about £20 from Amazon or similar. Be warned: if you live/travel in a built up area you have less chance of getting a good free signal, otherwise they're fine.
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Another vote for the iTrip Auto - we have two and they work very well. That said, the mazda has a tape deck and the tape adapter (3.5mm to tape) is brilliant - these are only about £4 from tescos.
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Unless it's an iPod Shuffle, then all iPods should have an iPod dock connector and therefore be compatible with these FM transmitter devices.
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I've had 3 and they are a bit of a waste of time. Nothing more than £12 admittedly but they work around the 87. mark which seemed to be interrupted by various stations both legal and pirate. Not only that but the sound quality seemed to be a lot poorer than using headphones.
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"Not only that but the sound quality seemed to be a lot poorer than using headphones. "
But you cannot legally use headphones whilst driving can you.
The OP has not said where they want to use it. I've found it fine but I know these can have problems in some areas.
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I was trying to explain that you shouldn't expect the same sort of sound out of it that you get when listening through headphones.
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I thought that Mr X. Apologies. I found mine good enough when I do use it to not buy the £120 Mazda cable to plug in and power the iPod in a Mazda6.
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I bought the Macally FM Cup find it really good. I think Auto express reviewed it highly back in January
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I have the basic clip-on Griffin iTrip, which came 'free' with my iPod last spring. For music it's not really good enough - the sound is bass-heavy and rather muffled - but for the recordings of speech radio programmes I listen to on the way to and from work, it's fine. You can even charge the 'Pod through it if you have a mini-USB cable and a 12V-USB converter.
One thing to check: the Griffin transmitters run all the way down to 87.9 MHz, which is very useful since it's below the frequencies used by Radio 2. I find I get a pretty well uninterrupted signal all the way down the M40 to Heathrow. (The annoying pirate station that used to cut in near High Wycombe now seems to have been closed down.) Other makers' transmitters seem to stop at 88.1 or 88.3.
So if you have a long regular journey like mine, and can find a frequency that works for you, the iTrip or one of its siblings should suit you. If your travels are more irregular, it's frankly a pain - in unknown country there's no way of knowing when you'll lose the signal and no way to retune safely on the move. These days, we do most of our long trips in our Toyota Verso, which has a full iPod interface cable in the glove compartment. That has its own annoyances, but does sound a lot better - feeble Toyota audio system permitting!
A couple of other points. (1) Check where your car's aerial is; my Volvo's is in the back bumper and the iTrip is sensitive to orientation and ideally likes to be on the back seat, not the front. A transmitter that's tethered to a socket might be harder to place satisfactorily. And (2) I find that when listening to mine on 87.9, I lose the traffic announcement facility I get on normal FM stations. I don't know enough about the EON system to explain this, but it's a mild inconvenience, especially now the M40's into its autumn accident season.
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I had a cheap one off ebay HK, and my girlfriend had an iGriffin, both had rubbish audio quality and picked up mobile phone interference, that boop beee booop beeeeeeeeep thump thump sound every 30 seconds or so which would make it irritating. If an SMS or call came in, it would nearly blow the speakers up.
Edited by Hamsafar on 27/11/2008 at 20:56
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Tried the Belkin version that plugs into the headphone output with my Creative Zen.
Complete failure, even in the Berlingo where I could get it within a foot of the roof aerial it was plagued by hiss and distortion.
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I had a Belkin I think, and it was rubbish. Because of where you have to put it in the golf it stopped you changing gear properly, and I scratched my ipod getting it in and out of the holder thing. It hissed no matter what frequency you had, and it had to be retuned half way along my journey to work (only 15 miles).
That said, I had the VW lead fitted, and the sound is crystal clear, but it's flipping annoying not being able to see the track names and having to organise everything into six playlists.
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I rarely use my iTrip on long journeys. I also have some music on the TomTom which has a built in transmitter and displays track names etc. I can also plug it into the iPod and it accessess all the music on there including track names etc.
I did toy with the idea of the lead from Mazda especially as I worked out in the UK you ca plug it in without removing the radio and central console if you have smallish hands.
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Thanks for all the replies.
I've followed Pica's recommendation (and Auto Express) and ordered a Macally FM Cup. £25 + P&P from Intomusic.co.uk. It should arrive tomorrow.
Edited by Chris M on 28/11/2008 at 13:08
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I got an iTrip and big disappointment.
First was I made the stupid mistake of pointing it at the radio, when in fact it needs to be pointed at the aerial ( on the back of the roof) .So the iTrip then needs to be on or near the back seat-not very practical.
other was that my RDS/EON radio kept rejecting the signal as too weak and spending 5 mins going up and down wavebands looking for replacement.
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