This is an item that's not found in the MP3 player section of your mega-stores: it's usually found next to the air fresheners because no one knows what it is. You plug this into your cigarette lighter, plug your thumb drive into it and pick a frequency that's not being used by a local station. Press the play button and listen to your music, books on tape, etc. The more thumb drives you have, the more variety!
The good, the bad and the room for improvement:
Good: inexpensive, seven different frequencies, skip forward and back, plug your other CD/DVD/MP3 players into it's aux jack, has a replaceable fuse, and an undocumented feature: pressing and holding the forward or reverse button allows you to set the volume so it's equal to your radio.
Bad: Can't fast forward within a tune (or a broadcast you've taped), can't "shuffle"/randomize songs, some noise in our Ford Windstar (could be we need new wires under the hood, too), does get quite warm.
Improvements: better shielding, ability to fastforward/rewind within a selection, document the volume equalizing feature I found (see "Good:" above).
Good for the price, with thumb drive prices dropping every day, it's a worthwhile gadget to have or give as a birthday present to anyone who drives a lot.
Andrew Perkins,
www.scrimshaw.com