Griffin iTrip Auto FM Transmitter and Auto Charger for iPod (Black)
by Griffin Technologies
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List Price: Our Price: $44.31 You Save: $25.68 (37%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Network Media Player See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Griffin iTrip Auto FM Transmitter and Auto Charger for iPod (Black)
Customer Review: It's Cute and Convenient, But...
Summary: 2 Stars
When it comes to electronics, I tend to wait a few months to leave a review because by that time, the "Ooooo SHINY!!" effect should have worn off. And so it has for the Griffin iTrip FM Transmitter/iPod Charger.
This was purchased as a replacement for the DLO Transpod (which was great, and *still* works some three years later) because of a new addition to my iPod family. Out of the box I was dismayed because it didn't allow me to set frequency 87.9, which is what I used before, and their instructions for altering this were nonexistent. It was another Amazon reviewer who offered a tip for circumventing this drawback.
From there, everything was smooth sailing...except that it stopped remembering my previous station. As one of the features touted, it would remember your last used station when you re-start the car. This feature worked for about two months, then stopped. Yes, just like that. Luckily I'd set 87.9 as a preset so I'd just need to push the button a time or two, but it was an annoyance always hearing blaring static for a few seconds while I find the transmitter and scramble to plug in the iPod.
Another feature, which turned out to be a detriment, was the automatic shut-off. After about a minute of not being used or receiving a signal from the iPod, it will turn itself off. This might not seem like a bad idea until you start messing around with your playlist while deciding what to listen to before pulling out of the driveway. For some people, this can take a few minutes. Or, if you pause a song (such as when you're at a drive-through) for too long. When it turns off, the static comes back. And as far as I can tell, there was no way to disable this feature or prolong the time period.
Which brings me to the matter of the instructions. Tiny print on a tiny sheet of paper folded somewhere short of a billion times and said exactly nothing. OK, maybe a little more than nothing; it did tell you how to turn on the device and set your presets, but beyond that, nothing.
Despite these inconveniences, it did what it said it would: It allowed me to listen to my iPod in the car using an open FM frequency. The sound quality was sketchy which meant I had to turn up the volume quite a bit, but I also live in a major city; interference is a fact of life.
My iPod Video and 3rd Gen Nano played and charged (even while the music was playing or not) as advertised. The same couldn't be said for newer Apple i-products. My current 4th Gen Nano plays, but it does not charge, and always boots me back to the main menu, even if I'm on a playlist, once the iTrip turns on. In other words, 4th Gen Nano and iTrip do not play well together, but they do play. Which can't be said for the latest iPod Touch and iPhone. They won't even be acknowledged by the iTrip--no music, no power. And after a minute...it just shuts off.
Now, a year later, the iTrip is no more. One afternoon the side release button popped off. In case you're wondering, I did nothing out of the ordinary and I'm not in the habit of abusing my electronics, so this to me is a testament to its lack of durability under normal use.
So to sum up: This product has a great design--small and convenient--and, for the most part, does as it says, but has its drawbacks when it comes to flexibility with frequencies, non- or ill-functioning features, poor instructions, its range of i-product support*, and durability.
*In the product's defense, it does explicitly state which i-products it will support.
Customer Review: Missed it by that much...
Summary: 3 Stars
The Griffin iTrip Auto is car ipod charger with an FM transmitter built in. It allows you to listen to your iPod via the car radio while the iPod recharges.
I have been a great fan of Griffin's products. I believe that they are generally engineered well and the consumer gets a good quality product for a reasonable price. With that said, I was a bit disappointed with the iTrip Auto. I have been using a low-end FM transmitter (Belkin Tunecast II) for most of a year now, and use it as a baseline for comparison against Griffin's offering.
The Belkin product also plugs into a cigarette lighter for power, but does not charge the iPod. The Belkin gets signal via the headphone jack on the iPod. By contrast, the iTrip connects via an iPod dock connector and provides both power and signal connections simultaneously. The Belkin's power cable is an accessory and can derive power from two internal AAA batteries. The iTrip must be plugged into the car to work. The only benefit to the Belkin on this point is that my car's cigarette lighter is not powered when the engine is off or the key is on 'radio only'. The ignition must be at 'on'. The Belkin still provides FM transmitter function with the engine off. The AAA batteries also remember which station freq. is being used, when the unit is off. One of my first concerns about the iTrip was to reset the freq. every time I use it. Not so. It seems to have non-volitile memory for this. Once it was initially programmed, it seems to remember the station.
The iTrip's controls are simple. Plug one end into your car; the other into the iPod. There is a +/- button and a Select button, and a lit LCD display showing frequency. Simple tune to a station that is not being used in your area, and hit 'play' on the iPod. It's that simple. Griffin's build quality is of the usual high standards. The front of the iTrip control is a glossy plastic that matches my black iPod. The back is rubberized. As far as fit-and-finish, my only complaint is that the keys rattle when the unit is shaken. It makes the unit feel cheap, but didn't effect functionality.
In use, I find the iTrip's sound to be a bit crisp and lacking in base as compared to the Belkin. And the iTrip seems to pick up static 'pop's' and ignition noise when I use certain accessories (e.g. - windshield wipers). I could blame this on poor shielding in my car's wiring, but the Belkin doesn't pick any of this noise up. Just the music. A plus that I noticed with the iTrip is that the iPod's volume control is disabled. It seems to transmit signal to my car radio at one pre-set level and I use the car deck's volume knob when adjusting level. By contrast, the belkin unit (being plugged into the ipod's headphone jack) IS susceptible to the iPod's volume settings and the iPod must be set nearly to max in order for the Belkin to 'know' that there is signal. The Belkin has auto-on when signal is detected and auto-off after 60 sec of inactivity (after which I hear blasting loud static from a car radio with no station playing). The iTrip broadcasts quiet dead-air as long as it's plugged in. Nice!
My overall impression? Really too bad about the sound quality. I like it over the Belkin in almost every other respect. I will continue to test it in other vehicles; but listening to your audio is the REASON for having an FM transmitter, so the lack of sound quality weighs heavily in my score.
Customer Review: Best Griffin FM transmitter to date
Summary: 4 Stars
Griffin has made a ton of these little FM transmitters for various generations of iPod, and this is the best one to date. It is still not perfect, though.
Using a FM transmitter is the method of last resort. If your car has a tape deck, use a cassette adapter! The very newest car stereos have Bluetooth or even a line-in jack, even better. Save yourself a lot of frustration by using a direct connection, if possible. If you're considering a FM transmitter for home use, perhaps to connect to your stereo, don't. You'll be much happier with a real docking station.
That said, Griffin has made 3 huge improvements over their previous FM transmitters:
1) Plugs into the dock connector! No more volume hassles! The dock connector has a constant line-out volume level, and isn't affected by the volume dial setting of your iPod.
2) Instant on when car started, and auto-pause of iPod when car stopped. Other Griffin adapters had the nasty problem of needing to "warm up" before they would start working, but it seems Griffin has finally solved the problem here. And, as a nice bonus, it automatically pauses your iPod when powered off, so it remembers your place for next time!
3) Charges your iPod while in use! Another advantage of the dock connector is that it can charge your iPod from the unit's cigarette lighter connection. A real disadvantage of earlier FM transmitters is that they drained your iPod's battery like crazy, but this is solved by using your car's power instead.
The flipside of this is that the connector is wired to the LCD unit and then to the cigarette lighter plug. It isn't a standalone wireless unit. If you like to set up your iPod somewhere in your car where wires would get in the way, this could be a problem.
Now, some disadvantages:
1) FM transmitter power is very, very weak. It's a game of inches. Griffin claims they are hamstrung by FCC regulations, but even legal Part 15 devices are allowed to transmit for a few dozen feet or so! Griffin really needs to crank up the power to the maximum allowed by law. Now that they are powered by cigarette lighter power, instead of iPod battery power, there's no excuse anymore to use an underpowered transmitter.
2) Transmitted volume is very, very soft. You have to crank up your car radio up all the way, causing hiss in the background, and blown speakers if you forget to turn it back down before changing the radio channel! Griffin doesn't modulate the FM signal enough. Compared to other stations on the FM dial, the iPod volume is much too low.
This is an especially bad double whammy: not only is the transmitted FM signal too weak, it's also too quiet!
Don't forget about the 87.9 frequency. Contrary to Griffin's belief, this is still a legal frequency in the USA, even though it's right on the edge of the dial. Griffin doesn't allow you to use this frequency, though, unless you put the unit in "International" mode! So, remember to do this first, before you throw away the manual and forget how to do it. 87.9 is clear in many areas that don't have a TV channel 6, so this is usually the best choice for these FM transmitters!
Now, if only Griffin would boost their radio power, they'd have the perfect device....
Customer Review: Neat little gadget and very useful
Summary: 5 Stars
If it weren't for this product, I wouldn't have bought an iPod. I only use my iPod while driving and the stereo on my 2004 Scion xA has no aux plug or cassette player, ruling out the more favorable options.
The transmission is surprisingly effective. From all the reviews I've read of FM transmitters, it is usually very poor. I'm glad I bought this model because I have had no problems with hearing my iPod through my radio. I live in Seattle and use 88.1. Very clear. There is an occasional hiss from a real broadcast but it is very faint and passing. If you listen to loud music, you won't even notice it. Otherwise, 90% of the time, it is golden FM radio-quality. I have yet to try any other frequency. I use the stereo mode with no problems in the city. Apparently mono mode is even better in congested areas.
Surely if you have an aux input, don't buy this as a hardline connection will be superior in every way. Against a cassette adaptor, the quality will be the same but the cassette adaptor will be more stable. If you're stuck with a stereo like mine, this is your best bet. Other things to consider:
-It DOES charge your iPod.
-This product connects using the dock connector rather than the headphone jack. This could interfere with your current setup.
-With my iPod Classic, when you shut off power, it automatically pauses the iPod so you won't miss a note. Unfortunately, when you power it back on, it doesn't auto-play. I deliver pizzas and go through this cycle often so it's a little inconvenient having to push the play button everytime I start my car.
-You will ONLY get FM radio-quality at best, obviously. No digital quality and you can't really "turn it up" as the transmission will fuzz out the sound. It isn't clear as a bell but it's as clear as any radio broadcast can get.
-Very, very easy to use.
-Interesting to hear your music as if being played on the radio. I think fans of obscure, underground music will get a kick out of it.
-Seeing how the transmitter can ONLY be powered by the car plug, you won't be able to use this anywhere but the car. You can't use it with your home radio for whatever reason you may want to. I think Griffin makes this clear calling it an "Auto" transmitter.
-Durability is a question. I have yet to see how long this thing (or my iPod) will last. Everything feels sturdy and there's not much you can break besides the wire and dock connector.
-For best results, turn the volume on your iPod as high as possible as this will drown out interference and give the transmission max loudness.
Customer Review: Great Product if you know how to use it.
Summary: 5 Stars
Ok, first off, I had another ipod transmitter, which worked fine for my 1st gen iphone, but recently the wire broke and so I could use it anymore. I recently bought this one seeing how it was really cheap, and figured, why not. It works fine. Do I hear some noise, sure, but that's to be expected seeing how it transmits the music wirelessly. Of course direct connections will always have a better connection, since its not wireless (that's like why connecting your pc to your modem is better and faster that connecting thru your wireless router). Now, my 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo doesn't have any direct connections, and I wasn't going to spend $100 to get an AUX jack put it, seeing how I just use my car to get from point A to point B, which isn't that long, so I had to get a FM transmitter.
This does the job fine. I currently tested it with my 1st gen iphone, 2nd gen ipod nano (small thin ones, like the new ones, but smaller screen), and my 4 year old ipod mini, and they all work and charge. Why? Because they all can be charged via firewire. For those who didn't know, all the old ipods came with a small power brick that had a firewire connection, now all the new ones come with USB (to mainly save money, and its easier to find a USB rather than a firewire cable). If your ipod can charge via firewire, then this will also charge it, if not, then it won't, simple as that. How can you tell? See here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_iPod_models
Or to put it simply, the newest generations (4th gen Ipod Nano, 2nd gen Ipod Touch, or the Iphone 3G, WILL NOT CHARGE using this adapter). Of course it will still transmit the music signal, no problem there. As for the iphone, having it in airplane mode works the best, and not to sure on making/receiving calls because I always put my iphone in airplane mode.
As for the low bass, there's an option on pretty much all ipods that can adjust the ipod settings to the type of music. I set mine to bass booster and that helps with the low bass.
Only other issue (which is very minor) is the stupid pop up that comes on saying that's it isn't made for the iphone, and if I want to turn airplane mode on.
Would I recommend this product? Sure, especially for the price, just don't expect it to charge using the new ipods. Hopefully you read this before you purchase and blame the company for not reading.