Please Recommend: IPod through FM in Car

[bicker]

My wife would like to know what folks' best recommendations are regarding listening to her IPod through her FM radio, in her car. She would prefer this to her CDs, if it was a good alternative.

What should she buy (both in terms of the actual apparatus and in terms of whatever she might need to seat her IPod for the duration)?

What's the quality?

Anything else she should be asking?

 

[lovemygoofy]

I bought my car adapter thingy at Best Buy. Obviously Im not the most techie person around. I walked in and told them what I wanted. I paid I think $40 for mine. All I do is plug it into the cig lighter and have my radio station and the adapter station on the same number. I use something in the 88.0 whatever. I like my adapter because it also keeps my IPOD nano charged.

 

[RitaZ.]

Bicker, does your wife's car have a cassette player? If so, that's probably your best bet. They sell the cassette adapter which you insert into the cassette player and has a cord that you plug into the iPod. The FM transmitters don't always work well, don't ask me about my experience with iTrip.

 

[Shutterbug]

Also try here for options and reviews of products:

ilounge.com/

 

[Shutterbug]

Bicker, does your wife's car have a cassette player? If so, that's probably your best bet. They sell the cassette adapter which you insert into the cassette player and has a cord that you plug into the iPod. The FM transmitters don't always work well, don't ask me about my experience with iTrip.

I had the belkin tunecast II. It worked pretty well but the sound was well fm'ish. I installed a special adapter into the back of my radio so now I can use this: Flex Dock

 

[Syrreal]

I'll double the bad iTrip experience. It almost never worked because there really has to be absolutely nothing even remotely coming through the station. The quality is pretty bad too. We ended up getting rid of ours.

If you are able to plug it into the car radio it works well. My Dh had a radio with a place to plug in the ipod on the actual face of the radio. That worked spectacularly and came with the radio itself. I don't know if you want to spend all the money to get a new radio for the car but that is also an option for you. He can't do that now b/c he has a subaru outback and the radio is an odd size and embedded on the dash. It makes him very sad.

 

[diznygirl]

I love my iTrip. Don't know what happened with others.

It's all wireless - pop in onto the top of my iPod and then set the FM station, and then turn on the music and away we go. If the volume on the iPod is turned up too high, there will be static. Volume can be controlled through the radio, so you don't need the volume on the iPod up high anyway.

 

[dvcgirl]

Bicker, does your wife's car have a cassette player? If so, that's probably your best bet. They sell the cassette adapter which you insert into the cassette player and has a cord that you plug into the iPod. The FM transmitters don't always work well, don't ask me about my experience with iTrip.

This is the product that I have....the cassette player one. Works great.

 

[momof2inPA]

My DH thinks the sound quality is better with the flexdock than the tape deck adapter.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Both of my kids have the iTrip. My son bought it and my DD liked his so much that she wanted one. My son was having some feedback issues in the beginning until he figured out that the volume should be controlled partly via the iPod and the rest by the actual radio control. They use it in their rooms and in the car.

 

[caitycaity]

My wife would like to know what folks' best recommendations are regarding listening to her IPod through her FM radio, in her car.

i would advise that you not go that route. over the period of a year, i bought and tried every fm modulator that i know of on the market. none of them were acceptable to me. all of them had major static/cross signals. i think it is because i live in a major urban area where there really aren't any open radio frequencies. if you live in the middle of nowhere, maybe it would work for you -- all i know is that it didn't work for me.

 

[mickeyboat]

I love my iTrip. Don't know what happened with others.

It's all wireless - pop in onto the top of my iPod and then set the FM station, and then turn on the music and away we go. If the volume on the iPod is turned up too high, there will be static. Volume can be controlled through the radio, so you don't need the volume on the iPod up high anyway.

I have an iTrip, too and it works fine for me. My SIL says she can't get hers to work because of her car's navigation system. I wonder if some don't work well because you need a radio station which is complete static in order for it to work. If there are many radio frequencies being used in your area, you might not be able to find a clear enough one for it to work well.

Denae

 

[AMcaptured]

My daughter has an iTrip and it doesn't work well unless you put it on the right FM station. 87.9 is the one channel, nation wide, that isn't taken by a radio station. So whether you are in Portland, Maine or San Diego, CA and everywhere in between, it will come in good.

You also have to watch the volume's of both items, the car stereo and the iPod, otherwise they work great.

 

[chyam]

I bought my car adapter thingy at Best Buy. Obviously Im not the most techie person around. I walked in and told them what I wanted. I paid I think $40 for mine. All I do is plug it into the cig lighter and have my radio station and the adapter station on the same number. I use something in the 88.0 whatever. I like my adapter because it also keeps my IPOD nano charged.

Same here....it's great for traveling since you can always listen to your music and not have to bring a charger since this thing also charges the ipods, I got mine at Target, I think it is made by Belkin.