Griffin RoadTrip FM Transmitter and Car Charger for iPod (Black)
by Griffin Technology
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List Price: Our Price: $12.00 You Save: $77.99 (87%) 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 RoadTrip FM Transmitter and Car Charger for iPod (Black)
Customer Review: Not bad, but there are probably better alternatives
Summary: 3 Stars
This was the first FM transmitter that I purchased. I liked that it had a sturdy platform to dock the iPod on. It made it easy to see the display and make adjustments while on the road. However, in order to get your iPod to mate with the Roadtrip, you had to use a special plastic clip to hold it in place. The box came with several clips for each type of iPod. I had to remove my nano from it's protective case in order to slide it into the Roadtrip clip (there isn't even enough room for a sheer case). It also didn't fit well and I had to fidget with it for a minute to get the iPod to connect properly. Also, no matter what station I chose, I had problems with static. Someone else mentions, and I agree, that the charger extension acts as a lever arm and causes your iPod to bounce all around. My charger kept vibrating out of the socket and I had to plug it back in.
I went out and bought the Belkin TuneFM (and charger). I like it MUCH better. It doesn't require a special docking clip and can even connect to an iPod that is in a protective case. Another feature that makes it better than the Roadtrip is that it has a 4 preset memory. This comes in handy if you need to use a different station in different places in order to avoid static.
Customer Review: okay
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought this item as I was tired of burning cds every time I had a decent song or piece of music that I wanted hear in my car. It worked great for most part..the only issue I have had with this product is its design. The way it is put together is that, there is a jack directly from the dock to the car charger, but this is placed so close to the dock that it is almost immpossible to directly insert it into the charger. Although a connector is also given, this worked fine for the first few days but then the screw in the connector loosened and eventually, against my every effort to keep it in place, it came off and I lost it. It was all downhill from there as the dock tries to move whenever there is movement in the car and the connector, not having the screw which would have allowed easy movement, kept moving and soon, the extremely fragile wire inside the connector wore off. So, I haven't been able to use my transmitter although my transmitter and my pod works great, just becasue of my connector. I feel that if they had only given a normal wire instead of an utterly cumbersome, fat connector, things would have been much easier and I wouldn't be in this problem.
Otherwise, the transmission is great..no complaints there.
Hope this helps.
Customer Review: After using three different FM transmitters, this is the best
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this years ago and it was a great product. I hardly ever had any radio interference, even on stations that had existing signals - as soon as I turned this on, the radio went totally silent and I could enjoy the music from my Ipod. Then one day I was being a bit of a clutz and leaned over my seat and cracked the adapter plug, which cut all the wiring inside it. Stupidly, I replaced it with a cheap Belkin transmitter from Wal-Mart. Bad move. I got interference everywhere, on any and every frequency. No matter where it was in my car.
Then I bought a Satechi 6-in-1 FM Transmitter. It worked better than the cheap Belkin one, but not quite as good as this Griffin RoadTrip one; furthermore, my 30 gig video Ipod weighed too much for it and it kept flopping over if I hit some bumps on the road. Satechi's trasmitters are not held by a firm plastic cradle like this one does, and even though you could screw the joint on the Satechi one really tight, it will eventually loosen up and fold over on you again. After multiple times of the Satechi brand flopping over on me, it broke completely.
Hindsight 20/20, I should have replaced my first Griffin RoadTrip with another one.
Customer Review: Works great - not original packaging
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased the RoadTrip as a cheap way to listen to my iPod (5G Video) in the car. The product works great, and the sound is clearer than other transmitters I have used before.
The only real issue I have is that the transmitter and all of the parts came in a plastic zipper bag, loose and dusty as though the parts had been sitting on a shelf somewhere for a while. It was not in the original packaging, so I closely looked over every part. Once I wiped off the dust, the parts looked fine and had no damage. The transmitter and accessories feel rather cheap - as though they were made with shoddy materials, and I was afraid they would fall apart once I plugged them in. I was pleasantly surprised, though, as the transmitter works just fine and is very easy to use. I've only had it for about a week, but it's holding up well. It was exactly what I was looking for - something cheap, easy, and simplistic. If you're looking for something with an auto-scanner or something that seems really high-end, I wouldn't purchase this.
Overall I'm really happy - my iPod fits in snugly with the attachment, and even if I brake hard, the transmitter stays put, as does my iPod.
Customer Review: Transmitter not so good with Nano 2G
Summary: 3 Stars
I don't know if it's just the Nano 2G, but the FM signal is not nearly loud enough with the RoadTrip. Going down the freeway, I have to turn the stereo all the way up just to get to a comfortable listening level. If I were to change stations to an actual FM station at that level, it would blow my ears out. So, every time I get out of the car and back in, when I first start up the car, I get an unholy loud blast of static until the RoadTrip transmitter is turned on. It does not automatically power up when your lighter socket does, you have to push a button and it takes a few seconds to come on. Also, as expected, there is static in certain areas.
So I had to give up on the FM portion of the RoadTrip. Fortunately, you can pull off the transmitter and hook it up to a cassette adapter, which is what I did.
Having said all that, I do really like the way it holds the iPod at nearly any angle you want, and that it provides power, which allows me to leave the iPod display in "always on" mode, something I couldn't do with a cassette adapter alone.
So I like the rest of the RoadTrip and will continue to use it, but the FM transmitter was useless to me.