Customer Reviews

Griffin 9781-TRP30BK iTrip FM Transmitter with Dock Connector for iPod (Black)

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(55)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(43)

 

 

First, and foremost, we are talking about FM transmitters. Therefore, nothing will sound like CD sound or direct cable connections when it comes to music quality. You will lose some highs, and you will lose some lows, and you will have nowhere near great quality. That being said, sometimes there are no alternatives, and some transmitters can get the job done. In addition, I have owned and tested all of the following transmitters, to which I will review for you now to save you the time and money. A note: I have 2 vehicles, a SUV and a Saturn.

First up: Belkin Tunebase
I bought this after my Roadtrip base was stolen with my iPod, and I thought I would try an alternative. I liked the flexible connector in my SUV to allow reaching of all controls. However, it was disastrous in my Saturn, only preferring 1 position - lying down. It is a pain to control the iPod when driving in either vehicle, as the flexible arm gave too much in order to advance unwanted songs or control the iPod in general. Although a wider range of highs and lows was evident, the strength of output of this device is way too low; easily outcompted by either of the following transmitters. In the SUV, it is very good at broadcasting and being received by the radio. However, in the Saturn, it was an absolute disaster. I am transmitting on a completely free channel, and in my Saturn I got feedback from the background radio hiss! I even had the hiss increase in tune with the windshield wipers! How awful. This is not a bad transmitter in a larger vehicle, like my SUV, but in a small vehicle, you don't want to risk it. Finally, you can't disconnect the transmitter like the Griffin items. So, it's use in your car, or don't use at all. Although you rarely need to use it outside of your car, the other two below are the same price or cheaper, so you're already paying for it. Avoid this item.

Next - Griffin Roadtrip
Although this comes with an extension, the fixed location of the holder interferes with many of the car controls, even with the extension. However, the transmission is much better and can even be picked up in nearby cars at clear enough reception. I again had trouble making turns in the Saturn, as the roadtrip does slip around; but not nearly as bad as the Belkin. The transmission is good, but not great; as you do need to find a completely clean frequency in order to get a good reception. Finally, controlling the iPod is easy, as the adapter is a sturdy adapter and holds the iPod quite well. It got the job done in both cars, but didn't exactly knock my socks off.

Finally - Griffin iTrip
The best of the bunch. I doubt the transmission is greater than the griffin Roadtrip; based on the fact it runs off of the iPod, but it doesn't matter. You can move your iPod into position to be right under your antenna and get fantastic reception. In addition, because it doesn't need to be connected to the lighter, there is no interferce with the controls of the car and the iPod is easy to control. Finally, purchase this with the Powerjolt and you've spent the same as either of the above and can charge your iPod at the same time; except with a cable to keep the iPod clear of auto controls. I was expecting very little from this tiny device, but I am quite pleased. The only drawback is that, since there is no holder, there really is no secure place to put your iPod; as it will slide all over the dash. Putting it near the controls of the car (like in the center compartment area) obviously takes away its advantage over the Roadtrip. However, some velcro backing to it or sticky tape should afix it to the dash temporarily and you can remove it when you leave the car. But then you have tape on the back of your iPod....so..... Well, it still is the best choice, as the transmission is clearest because you can get it close to your antenna; and it is the only transmitter that worked well in my Saturn. In the SUV, all worked well.

Don't buy this or any other FM transmitter expecting excellent reception and sound quality. I think the technology itself just has some limitations, such as occasional interference and decreased sound quality. But if you are OK with those limitations, then I think this is the best product of its type.

What was important to me in looking for a transmitter was (1) that it be compact and easy to carry around (2) that I COULD charge my iPod while using it and (3) that I didn't HAVE to charge my iPod while using it. I saw some transmitter units that were also charging stations, like the RoadTrip, but with those you can't use the transmitter separate from the charging station. Then there is the corded inline iTrip that has the transmitter stuck halfway down the charger cord, and those also don't work unless the charger is plugged in. Then there's this unit, which plugs into the docking port and draws power from the iPod, and therefore you can use it without having anything plugged in. But I almost didn't buy it, because I hated the fact that, if my iPod battery was low, I'd have to disconnect the iTrip, plug in a car charger, wait for it to charge (not being able to use the iTrip in the meantime), etc.

BUT HERE'S THE ONE THING NO ONE TELLS YOU. IT'S NOT IN ANY PRODUCT DESCRIPTION OR EVEN ON THE PRODUCT PAGE ON GRIFFIN'S WEBSITE!!! You CAN charge your iPod while still using this iTrip. On the bottom of the iTrip is a 5-pin mini USB port. So, you can get Griffin's PowerJolt charger, which has a USB port on it, and get a USB A to 5-pin mini B cable, plug it into the iTrip, and you're charging your iPod while still using the iTrip. So you get the best of both worlds... the freedom of the iTrip running off the iPod power, plus the ability to recharge while using it if you WANT to. Still have no clue why this isn't mentioned in any product info. It's only mentioned on Griffin's iTrip support page under a FAQ.

So, bottom line, if you have to use an FM transmitter to play your iPod in your car, I think this is the best option.

I bought this at Best Buy for ~$50 for an iPOD Video expecting the same performance I got out of the iTrip that plugs into the headset jack. I tested it in the house on the home stereo. It worked great while the transmitter was <1 foot away from the FM antenna. At 2 feet there was noticeable static. Anything over 4 feet away was ALL static. When I returned it to the store the salesman said they had only been selling them for a week and had already gotten almost all of them back on returns for the same problem.

Summary: Terrible product!

I bought this at Best Buy for about fifty bucks. Works great. Sound quality is clear, but you do have to turn the volume up a fair amount. Other than turning up the volume more than usual I can't complain. When you turn the volume up it doesn't affect the sound too much. It's by no means something you, or your friends would notice right away...so, it's definitely not bad. You could buy this one or get the "car audio kit" that costs more. But, for me this works fine. I just need to find a cheap car charger now. It's really not as bad as the other people are complaining. This is actually the newer generation that does fit all ipods.

Avoid this product at all costs!!! I should've listened to the other reviews but NOOOO, I just had to see it for myself. This product worked (barely) for 2 weeks then just totally died. In the short time that it worked, the sound quality was just horrible. No matter what free channel you play it on. I have a good 40 mile drive one way (not city or metropolitan driving) and in that span, I'll have to switch channels between 3 to 5 times.
Kudos to Amazon's hassle free return policy, I was able to return it and get the Belkin TuneBase FM which I highly recommend.

A colleague was talking postively about his experience with itrip. I was inspired and decided to get one. When I looked at all the reviews here on amazon I was quite concerned.

However, based on my colleagues experience I decided to go ahead and give it a try.

I have found the device excellent.

I've used it in two cars. I have each car preset to the frequency I've selected. I selected the best frequency by cycling through all frequencies in the car that had the best radio reception for a frequency that had a significant gap each side.

I have had no problems with the itrip. The flexibility to be able to tune it to any frequency is great and the mini USB port to allow me to charge it from my car charger is an added bonus.

My daughter is able to sit in the back seat of the car and act as DJ without any problems.

I should mention I live in Sydney/Australia not the USA and our population is about 4.3 million.

Reading many poor reviews on this site I noticed a lot of people complained about static and the ability to tune it to a frequency that received well. I have had no negative results in this area.

A lot of people also complained about how it sucks battery power. I wasn't even worried about this because the box indicates that it has a mini USB socket for charging. I have used this and it's great. But last time when my daughter was playing DJ from the back seat it was just running off the ipod battery and it seemed fine. However, I am quite happy to plug it into the charger.

I've experimented walking away from the car to see how far away I could get and I found that the distance was enough to give me absolute confidence that it will continue to work well in our car.

The other complaint people made was that the quality was not as good.

In my experience it sounds fine. It isn't as good as playing a CD. I did sit for a while switching between CD and ipod on FM to try and guage the difference. Whilst I believe there is a difference it is more than acceptable to me and sometimes is hard to pick. If I was trying to quantify what the difference was I would say that your trebles don't have as much treble and your bases don't have as much base.

This device is everything I hoped for and more.

Finally let me say that I have never reviewed anything here. The reason I've posted this review is because I feel a lot of the bad reviews given here are unjustified. That made me feel that obliged to comment on my own positive experience.

Don't be too deterred by the majority of the reviews written here. I was hesitant after reading them. I purchased item anyway figuring I can always return it. I live in a fairly rural area, but drive into the city to work. I have not had any problems so far. The distance you can move it around does kind of suck, but as long as you have a place to put it on your dash, you will not have any problems. My passenger usually plays DJ, but that's about as far as it can go.

My main concern was charging the ipod, as the transmitter does draw power faster than normal use. After reading other reviews, I found that you can use the 5-pin insert on the bottom of the itrip. To make things better, I use the charger for my Motorola Razor phone to charge the ipod. It is the same 5-pin adaptor and it works fine.

Maybe I'm having better luck than others based on my location, but I have used the product for over a month and have had no problems. I think it is the best possible option for car use. Hope this could help.

These reviews truly DO NOT give this device justice!

My wife had a previous generation iPod and the iTrip to match it. That was an awful device, we got better reception and quality from a 0.99$ Hong Kong FM transmitter we bought on eBay. So when I first saw all of the other reviews, in addition to our previous experience, I was real hesitant to purchase this device. But I had a free gift certificate so I had nothing to lose. I finally got the device I was thrilled to see that I did NOT need to install an iTunes plug-in like the previous model. This device has a small scroll dial that allows you to change the station without having to go through the iPod.

The first time I tried it out, I was in my car and like the other people here said, I got nothing but either static or fuzzy reception. Not wanting to give up on it that easily I gave it the benefit of the doubt and went through every single station in order to find the perfect one. Sure enough after an exhausting search I found it and the sound quality and reception are beyond amazing. We live in Houston Texas where its 3 cars to every family of four, everyone has some sort of device in their car and with that being said - rarely does it ever drop the signal. There are some times in which the passenger picks up the iPod to change song and we get some sort of interference, but that's very minimal at best.

With that being said, there is one huge problem I have with this - sometimes it just won't turn on. There's nothing in these comments and nothing in the manual, it's suppose to power on as soon as you hit play but sometimes that never happens. It's taken me from a couple seconds of hitting play to a couple of minutes, to even hours. This is the reason why I don't give it a perfect score and sometimes I just want to return it for my money and get a better one.

I have not seen that problem happen to anyone else so I don't know if it's just faulty engineering on their behalf or I just have a defective product. But overall I am extremely satisfied with my iTrip.

When I first bought this item I was really scared because of all the bad reviews that it got on this site. I decided to get it anyway and let me just say it serves its purpose, works well in my car and on other radios, it looks great and matches the ipod really well. The two different modes work well and the dial on the side makes for easy station selecting which is a nice change from having to have to songs on your ipod. So if you are planning on buying and itrip for your ipod don't worry about these negative reviews it works well.

A must addition for every iPod owner. iTrip works great in the car or in the house! My daughter took hers on the road and did not miss a tune on her 5 1/2 hour trip.