$29.99 Griffin iTrip Auto FM Transmitter for iPod and iPhone

[bobma]

Listen to your iPhone and iPod on a stereo car FM radio.

www.ScoobyDeal.com

buy.com has the same price. I havent seen anything lower.

I have both an iPhone and iPod and Xmas is the time to buy one

 

[Gibson486]

They are actualy selling these at marshalls an TJ MAXX (both owned by TJX) for 19.99.

 

[secretanchitman]

WOW i just bought this for $50 a few weeks ago.

cant believe it dropped by 50%. be sure and use the international mode if you want the 87.7 and 87.9 frequencies!

 

[villageidiot111]

Deal Extreme

It may not be the most reputable site, but I've ordered from them multiple times without incident. Personally I have this transmitter and it works way better than my old Griffin ever did.

 

[KeypoX]

I got a belkin years ago for like 9.99 at walmart... never heard of griffin is it that much better?

 

[LOUISSSSS]

any of u guys use FM transmitters in NYC?
i heard its bad here, what do u guys think and what channel do u guys use?

 

[scootermaster]

Yeah, I live in LA, and for people in urban areas these might not work so hot. Any reviews?

 

[secretanchitman]

ill give you guys a quick review....

it basically charges every recent ipod, ipod touch, and iphone (including 3G). RDS (the name of the song that is playing will scroll across your car's fm screen, if it supports it) works nicely too, although it says iTrip - name of artist - name of song. it has 2 hidden/"international" frequencies which are 87.7 and 87.9, and unfortunately for me, the chicago area uses both of them so im out of luck. the transmitter also has "smartscan" which scans and puts in the 3 best clear radio stations. the length of the cord is very long, so long that even people in the backseat of your car will be able to reach and use it. handily, on the dc power plug itself, there are previous, play/pause, and next buttons on it, but for me, on my ipod touch 2G, they only worked when the ipod was on and not sleeping. also on the dc power plug, there is a circular light that changes colors to tell you how much battery life the ipod has. green = excellent, red = charging, etc.

overall, i think its a great transmitter. i just hate that it went down in price VERY quickly after finding it much cheaper than anywhere else (walmart). anything else you guys want to know about it?

 

[Gibson486]

With all transmitters, it is hit or miss. I lived in Boston and I had one that worked fine on 1 or two frequencies. That said, there were times where the fruency was over powered by something else. had one made by DLO if it matters. The trick is that you need to get one with out the preset frequecies (ie, you can pick from the whole radio spectrum).

Once major thing you need to worry about is if you car is grounded correctly for use with this. If not, you may have to buy a ground loop isolator. If you do not, the DC signal from the lighter outlet will be picked up and you will get this annoying hi pitched whining sound when you accelerate. Note this is a problem when using the aux jack.

 

[beergeek]

Originally posted by: Gibson486
They are actualy selling these at marshalls an TJ MAXX (both owned by TJX) for 19.99.

The one I found at TJ Maxx was not that model, but the older iTrip Auto which doesn't appear to power iPhones. OTOH, it was only $16.99...

 

[beergeek]

Originally posted by: secretanchitman
ill give you guys a quick review....

it basically charges every recent ipod, ipod touch, and iphone (including 3G). RDS (the name of the song that is playing will scroll across your car's fm screen, if it supports it) works nicely too, although it says iTrip - name of artist - name of song.

[etc.]

overall, i think its a great transmitter. i just hate that it went down in price VERY quickly after finding it much cheaper than anywhere else (walmart). anything else you guys want to know about it?

The model you are reviewing seems to be the iTrip Auto Pilot (model 4046), while the unit on sale was the iTrip Auto Smartscan (model 4045). The 4045 doesn't have the RDS support, the controls on the power plug, or apparently proper support for the iPhone - the last of these being the killer for me.

As far as price, cheapest I've seen for either is at buy.com (a buck or 2 cheaper than walmart) - they have the 4045 for $28, but the 4046 is $57, so I'm not sure that your concern that the price went down very fast is true

 

[unknown]

amazon has the non-iPhone one for $23

Griffin

 

[beergeek]

Originally posted by: unknown
amazon has the non-iPhone one for $23

Griffin

That's an even earlier model (the 9501) which doesn't include the auto-scan feature (though most reviewers don't seem very impressed with the autoscan feature ). That's the one I found at TJ Maxx for $17.

 

[unknown]

The Egg

Here is another one, not sure what model for $20 shipped.

 

[beergeek]

Originally posted by: unknown
The Egg

Here is another one, not sure what model for $20 shipped.

That's the 4031. Per Griffin, it does not support iPhone...

 

[unknown]

beergeek,

I am looking to get one for my nephew who doesn't have an iPhone...but lives in Boston.

is there a model that you'd suggest?

thanks,

 

[beergeek]

Originally posted by: unknown
beergeek,

I am looking to get one for my nephew who doesn't have an iPhone...but lives in Boston.

is there a model that you'd suggest?

thanks,

(Long and (unfortunately) not too helpful answer )

Well, I can't speak from personal experience with any of these models. I do know that Apple has changed the iPod port pinout at least once, probably twice, so it depends what model he has. The Griffin website shows for each iPod model what is supported. I'm even less sure of some competing brands, but I assume they have similar lists.

The basic problem with all of these (Griffin and competition) is that none of the FM transmitters work great - they all have quite limited power and only work acceptably on very open channels, which are probably hard to find in the Boston area (or any metropolitan area). In many areas, the best bet is 87.9, which is not a legal FM frequency in the US - unfortunately TV channel 6 sound is at 87.7, so if you have a local channel 6 (as I do), this won't work great either. Even if you have a clear channel, the sound quality is compromised by fact that the transmitters generally support a limited audio bandwidth. If you have an alternative, it almost certainly would be preferable - either an aux jack or a cassette interface will work better. Unfortunately, my car is too new to have a cassette deck, but not new enough to have an aux port, so (short of car audio surgery that I don't want to do), I'm stuck with one of these, and I'm still trying to find a (relatively) inexpensive one that will work in my area and with the iPhone...

Sorry I don't have better info for you...