Glenn Reynolds has given his readers an update on his experiences with his iPod, and he seems pretty happy. On the other hand, he's less satisfied with this wireless FM transmitter, which I've also owned for the last six months:
It's . . . okay. If you get into the car and just turn it on, it sounds pretty good. If you switch to it after either listening to the iPod on headphones or the CD player in the car, though, you can hear the difference. It's probably best to think of it as a car charger with additional wireless capabilities -- OK for occasional use, but not high fidelity. And though it's not cheap, it's not really very expensive, either.
As for my experience, it's been spotty at best. For short car rides in town, I don't even bother to bring it along. As crowded as the Washington-Baltimore radio dial is, there's simply too much interference to make it worthwhile. Instead, I find this device is far more useful on long trips -- especially when I make the drive from Washington to New York over the Holidays. Interference is still a problem, forcing me to change frequencies roughly every hour or so. Annoying? A little bit yes, but I found that I adjusted the frequency on the transmitter a lot less often than I did on my actual radio, where you're always playing hunt and find for local signals anyway.
So if you live in an area with a crowded radio dial, forget about it and wait for the inevitable upgrade that will allow you to jack your iPod directly into your car stereo. But if you make long trips in your car frequently enough (2 hours plus), or live in an area with a bit more distance between FM stations, it's a pretty good buy. If you're not sure what sort of area you live in, stop by your local Apple Store and ask. I've found they're generally pretty honest about this unit's capabilities.
i’m so glad you’ve been touching on the iPod craze…especially the auto integration. I’ve been searching for months and i’ve arrived at two options.
anyone have hands on knowledge of either?
those links no workie.
well, if anyone cares i was referring to the Griffin RoadTrip and the DLO TransPod
No worries, links have been fixed.
I’ve got the Belkin TuneCast II which works just fine. It eats through batteries rather quickly, though, so I’m thinking of ditching it in favor of the iTrip. Combined with the Belkin car charger, I think the two devices will work great.
From my experience with the iTrip, it’s a pain in the ass to sync to a new station while driving. The RoadTrip should prove better for that.
If you’d rather not go through the hassle of dealing with a transmitter, or you live in a crowded (frequency-wise) area, you have a few options:
* Use an AUX or LINE-IN port on your car stereo, if you have one.
* Use a cassette adapter if your stereo can take tapes.
* Talk to a car audio place about getting a mini (1/8″) cable wired in to your FM line on your stereo. Most audio places can do this inexpensively and feed the plug out through your glove box.
Each of those three options gives better sound quality than an FM transmitter.
I tried a Belkin version for a while, and found it pretty much worthless. There’s too much frequency overlap in southeastern Michigan. I’m presently using a cassette adaptor, and will look for a line-in option on a car stereo when I buy my next vehicle.
Rob:
Belkin’s first TuneCast was a small 4-channel transmitter that would be terrible in near any market. The newer one allows for any FM frequency in the 88.x-107.x range and has a better signal than its predecessor.
In fact, I parked next to a friend of mine with the TuneCast II going and the signal overpowered his Monster FM transmitter. The music was coming through as clearly on his radio as it did on mine.