The Bottom Line: Don't expect it to work well in the car. Frequency changing is painful. If anything: buy the newer version with the LCD and station switcher knob.

This was about the 3rd experiment I tried with getting an FM transmitter to work in my car and it was a failure. I commute from one urban area across a bridge into another, and perhaps there are just too many radio stations around, but I can't get decent reception with this in the car. No matter what I try. So I have to give it 2 stars overall, because it doesn't do what the name promises: work on the road. The only reason I didn't give it 1 star is that it has turned out to be useful at home, a little bit. Keep reading, but bear in mind that there is a newer version which I recommend, in the end, that you buy.

The iTrip is a pretty well-designed product. It is extremely light and matches the width of the iPod exactly. You plug it into the top and your iPod still feels about the same weight, but it's a little taller. It has nice rubber grips on the sides for pulling it out of the iPod, and smooth rounded edges all over. It has a red light that comes on when it's transmitting, which is helpful when trying to figure out if you're using it properly. It draws power directly from the iPod and broadcasts wireless over FM, so it's truly not an encumbrance at all.

But Does it Work?

It works for me as long as it and the radio it's playing through are perfectly still. In the car, I found that just turning would cause static to pass in and out. If the iPod shifted on the seat next to me or jostled in the cup holder, it could lose the signal also. I spent way too much time adjusting the FM frequency and the positioning of the thing before I finally gave up.

I don't know what to say. Other people have had positive experiences in the car, but not me. Not at all. I tried it in my Ford Ranger and my Scion xB and had no luck either way.

However, at home I have found several uses for it. Me and my roommate keep a boombox in the living room for listening to tunes, and I find that the iTrip makes a decent interface to it. I just leave the iTrip-enabled iPod sitting on top of the stereo, tuned to 87.9, and it works passably well. The sound quality really is not excellent. It is a step down from a wired connection. For perspective, I have tried a wired cassette adapter in the same stereo and it sounds quite a bit better.

There is also a boombox in our bathroom for shower-tunes, and I use the iTrip there as well. Once again, as long as it and the radio are still, you can find a "zone" of good reception and stick with it. I place the iPod on the open windowsill where it can get fresh air and stay out of the shower-steam :)

One major complaint I have with the iTrip is that it's really hard to change stations. You need to be broadcasting on a frequency which is not in use already in your location. So from time to time you will have to pick a different frequency. The interface for doing this is painfully bad.

Here's how it works:

1) insert the iTrip CD into your computer
2) on it is a folder of MP3 files
3) if you play them, you will find they are each just a short series of high-pitched beeps
4) copy this folder of MP3s into iTunes, and label it "iTrip settings"
5) sync your iPod with your computer and pick up the MP3 files
6) then disconnect your iPod from the computer and connect the iTrip
7) Navigate to the iTrip settings folder on the iPod
8) You will see a list of the MP3 files. They are titled "87.9," "88.1," "88.3" and so on.
9) "Play" one of them with the iTrip connected
10) As it begins to play (you will hear some beeps) press the "pause" button.
11) The red light will flash 3 times to confirm success.
12) The iTrip will now broadcast on whatever frequency the track was titled. If you played the MP3 "88.1" then that's what you need to tune your radio to.

SIMPLE, ISN'T IT???? :P

Not only are the above steps a pain in the butt. Often they don't work. Your timing on hitting the button has to be just right or it won't take.

Worse, the next time you put your iPod on "shuffle songs" mode, you will realize that these MP3 files are going to come up and be played every so often. There you are, rocking out to your music, when suddenly a song ends and you are bombarded by high-pitched beeping noises. Annoying! There is no way to avoid this, sadly. Griffin's support page tells you to create a "smart playlist" in iTunes which contains all your music EXCEPT these tracks. HAHA yeah right like I'll go to all that trouble SIGH. Even if you do go to all that trouble, the "shuffle songs" command on your iPod will be useless, since it always plays all the music on your iPod, irrespective of playlists. LAME.

Since I always use the iTrip in the same physical location (my house) I did find a way around this. I set the iTrip to the frequency which worked (87.9) and then deleted all the iTrip settings MP3s from everywhere. I can't change the frequency now without reloading all of it. But I don't need to change it so it doesn't really matter.

Sometimes I forget what the frequency is. If my roommate has been listening to NPR in the living room, I have to retune the radio, and sometimes it has taken me a few minutes to remember 87.9.

Griffin's newest version of the iTrip solves these annoying problems. It has an LCD display which shows you what frequency it's on. And you can adjust that frequency with a knob built right onto the iTrip. Brilliant! Those are big improvements and I would suggest you buy the newer version if you are dead-set on buying one at all.

But if your primary application is taking this on "trips" then I can only offer a word of caution. This thing only works for me at home, never in the car.

Your mileage may vary. Good luck!