thoughts on iPod Shuffle with FM transmitter

[Sol-Toy]

Has anyone used iPods or similar devices with an FM transmitter? and if so, is it worth it? I'm debating if I should pick up a new iPod shuffle and the fm transmitter. It would but under $200 total–but I'm not sure if the sound quality and transfer quality is worth it. Plus apple is releasing a new product tomorow...if it's a souped up video iPod like the rumors are saying, I may have to scrape up the cash and finaly get me a top of the line MP3 player. But it must...MUST work in the car or I won't bother.

[thealkimo]

the iTrip or any fm transmitter is pretty weak...

at times it works well but at others all you get is static...

barely worth the $30 imo...

[Jon11582]

For $200, might as well get a headunit that can play MP3-CDs

If you wanted the shuffle for portable music purposes too, and you have the single CD player with tape deck, get a tape converter instead. You still lose quality, but not as much.

[SPF 0]

FM transmitters tend to work better in less populated areas. Here are some reviews of transmitters that Mac Addict liked: http://www.macaddict.com/issues/2005/5/reviews/airplay

[ThatVietGuy]

I bought one and I used it for ONE week until I sold it to my friend.

The static just irked me so bad that I just ended up buying the iPod2Car setup. The odd thing is that it works perfectly in my friend's Camry.

[~Spadwaller~]

I bought the Itrip and a Ipod for my brother for his b-day we had to go back to the store to return the itrip cause it was so crappy.

[SPF 0]

Again, Mac Addict agrees that some FMTs work better than others. It's just a matter of choosing the best one.

[Sol-Toy]

hmm...interest is now rising. Steve Jobs just introduced the new Video iPod. I knew this wasn't gonna be a fluke! I may wait a few months for the refined and upgraded iPod...but crap! You can't argue a MP3 Player by apple that allows an upload of TV shows and video casts!

OT but I have a good feeling Jobs was forced into this one. He has been anti media for a long long time and I think he's finally being forced into selling a fully blown portable media system. Its about time and if anyone will do it right, it's gonna be apple

It's slim, it's sexy and it's all apple. Props to Mac for finally breaking down to where the iPod needed to go.

*edit* and back to my comment of apple/Steve Jobs being anti media, I think he finaly saw the outcome of pod casting and realized where portable media was headed.....Bah....this is a topic on it's own and I think I'll start a new thread.

[hskrsolara]

I had the iTrip for a short while until I just went out and bought a clarion proaudio deck with aux inputs. The clarity is perfect now and Yes, the fm transmitters are very unreliable. However, I was recently talking with one of the heads down at the apple repair shop here on campus and they said that there is a way to rewire the internals on the iTrip to make it much more powerful. I didn't bother with that, but I suppose it is always a possibility for someone that really wanted a good transmitter.

[SpikedMantis]

It seems like a lot of sound quality is lost. I barely get any bass. Plus, I have to turn the volume all the way up for me to be able to hear anything.

[skadoo323]

i was in the same situation sort of. i already had an ipod but wanted to use it in my car as well, but with the stock head unit. what i ended up doing was buying a $60 aux adapter that works with the stock head unit. that adpater has 2 sets of aux inputs. all i had to do was pop my radio out connect this adapter to the back of it, then connect an rca cable from the aux adapter to the headphone output of my ipod. so far i'm very happy with it. i tried the FM transmitters and even the tape adapter and both had horrible sound quality. supposedly adapters like this are available for most car factory head units. all you do is hit the cd button twice and it will play whatever is connected to the aux adapter.