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Griffin iTrip Transmitter for iPod

By   Jesse Kornbluth
Published: Jan 01, 2005
Category: Gifts and Gadgets



 

Griffin iTrip Transmitter for iPod

You got an iPod and loaded it with your greatest hits.

Bet you felt buffed that day.

Then you discovered the Apple earphones were the product’s single weakness, so you sprung for the Shure E3c Sound Isolating Earphones.

And, wow, did your pleasure shoot through the roof.

Then you realized you wanted to take your iPod on a trip and play it in your hotel room or backwoods cabin or campground tent, so you picked up white plastic book-sized portable speakers .

And you thought: ‘Now I have the whole kit.’

Oh ye of little faith in technology — did you not see that the time would come when you would need to use your iPod in your car for hours at a time? Did you think your FM radio would get your there sane? (Answer: Yes, you did. Because you have Sirius or XM satellite radio.)

You don’t have satellite radio? Then skibble right over to Amazon.com — sure, you can say, “Oh, Amazon!” like they’re baby-killers, and you can stamp your foot and buy this device at a real store, if, that is, you don’t mind paying $40 for an item Amazon sells for $23 — and buy the Griffin FM iTrip transmitter.

Griffin? Sure looks like an Apple product. A sleek white tube, with a neat peg. Insert it on top of your iPod. Tune your FM radio to 87.9. Press Play. And your music pours out from your car stereo’s speakers.

Is it perfect sound? No. There is apparently static in areas of less than ideal reception.

Can you toss your iPod in the rear seat and have it transmit to your radio? Some say yes. Others swear you need to keep the iPod in the front seat, crisply pointed at your car radio.

Is there another way to get the same results? Yes. Buy the iPod cassette adapter  for just $12.

Me, I vote for the Griffin iTrip transmitter. We used it on a pontoon boat cruising the Ohio River one scorching weekend, and although the transmitter is one more drain on the iPod battery, we had hours and hours of flawlessly delivered music. And it was a great help, at the end of our visit, when we had an hour’s drive through rural Kentucky and didn’t feel like listening to Country Classics.

Yes, you thought you were done when you bought the iPod. Yes, it turns out you have simply added another line of must-have products to your life — when you thought you were streamlining and simplifying. Oh, well. Can’t be helped. This is good stuff. And small. And pretty. Soon every iPod will want one.

To buy the Griffin iTrip Transmitter from Amazon.com, click here.

To buy the iPod cassette adapter from Amazon.com, click here .