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I guess this item is pretty hit and miss. I’ve had excellent luck with mine…it works great! I was really apprehensive because of all the negative comments, but tried it anyway, and I’m glad I did. I set my radio on a static station, pressed play on my iPod, dialed in the iTrip to the station, and voila! my music came through loud and clear! And for anyone out there who is wondering, you CAN charge your iPod with the iTrip connected…you just need a USB car charger (like the Power Jolt), and a USB-miniUSB cable (I had one that came with my camera). I can’t promise that this item will be great for everyone, but I’d say it’s worth a shot. It sure was for me!

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I purchased an IPOD nano for the sole purpose of listening to the music I want to listen to on my hectic drive to work. I unfortunately drive a car that contains no tape deck, and to make matters worse the lighter tray doesn’t work. Ok so I just invested in this two hundred dollar ipod for the sole intent of using it in my car, and i’m coming to the realization that I need to take advantage of Best Buys thirty day money back guarantee. However my sister informs me of a device that streams the music using the FM radio in my car. Fortunately for me my FM stereo is just about the only thing that operates in my car. Without hesitation I go back to Best Buy and invest the money into the “ITRIP”, and I couldn’t be any happier. I live in the greater san diego area and found 87.9 works brilliantly with little or no static. I’m by no means picky when it comes to minor static considering it’s the only possible means of listening to the ipod in my car. Nonetheless I can hear my ipod loud and clear (no pun intended) just as long as the ipod is strategically sitting in close proximity to my stereo. I’m quite surprised their are several bad reviews regarding this product, however we’re dealing with a transmitter that is relative to any particular area of the country. In any event I really enjoy the product, and will be keeping 87.9 FM as my default radio station forever.

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I had two friends who HATED this thing. They said they got terrible reception no matter what they did. I said, “What are you talking about? My iTrip is brilliant.” Then I realized that they had not read the manual; the iPod MUST BE at a volume level of 50-70% and NO HIGHER — any higher and the signal distorts causing a sound like the radio reception is breaking up. Now that they are using the device properly, they LOVE this thing.

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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.

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The griffin iTrip is one of the best ipod accessories on the market.

Pop it on the bottom of your ipod and you’re good to go.

I drove from colorado to california with the itrip.

I did have to change frequencies occasionally, so it helps that I’m not lazy.

As for it’s shortcomings, there are a few. The itrip will voraciously eat your ipods battery power, so I reccomend a car charge kit along with the itrip.

Another problem you may encounter is that there is a loud popping noise between songs.

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This review applies to the following products:

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

Griffin Technology 9500-TRIPDA iTrip LCD/FM Transmitter with Dock Connector for iPod

This transmitter works quite well if you understand its limitations.

First of all, it broadcasts on the FM band so don’t expect the sound to be better than your FM radio. Secondly, it’s designed to be small and portable, so it’s not going to have a very powerful transmitter built in, not to mention there are probably FCC rules regarding how few watts a personal device like this is allowed to transmit (in order to prevent interference with other electronics).

If your car doesn’t have an alternate method of connecting an iPod (such as via a cassette adapter, line-in jack, etc.), and you don’t want to spend the money to upgrade your stereo, this is a good, cheap solution to listen to your iPod in your car.

The product description (on Griffin’s web page, the product packaging, and Amazon) mistakenly states that the iTrip works with frequencies ranging from 88.1 to 107.9MHz. It’s actually designed to broadcast from 87.9 to 107.9MHz. I was happy to discover that my unit was tuned to 87.9MHz out of the package, which is a barely used fringe frequency in my area, making it ideal for FM transmitters. I just had to change it from DX (mono) to LX (stereo) mode and I was in business.

The controls are extremely simple and user friendly. Changing the broadcast frequency is easy as moving the toggle switch on the side of the unit up and down. Changing it from DX to LX involves pressing the toggle switch for about 3 seconds, then toggling between the two modes, and pressing the switch again to save the setting.

The built-in mini-USB charging port is a very smart feature. It allows you to use the same charger for many popular cell phones (MOTORAZR, Blackberry, etc.) and GPS devices, reducing the need to carry around a proprietary charger just for your iPod. And unlike the iTrip Auto, you only charge when you want to, instead of letting it charge all the time (and possibly using up unnecessary charge cycles). Also, some people have reported interference when using car powered transmitters, especially if they don’t have a noise suppressor installed in their stereo, so allowing the iTrip Dock to use the power from the iPod gives additional flexibility in that regard.

My iTrip Dock works pretty well if I leave it in the cup holder of my car, which is about a foot away from the stereo. I may hear a little interference if I shift it around, but for the most part it provides a satisfactory performance, and I can’t really complain considering the price and convenience.

By the way, Griffin has a web-based station finder application called SmartScan that tells you the clearest frequencies in your area. Just google “griffin smartscan” and give it a try if you have problems finding usable frequencies. Good luck!

UPDATE: Be aware that the iTrip does not work well in cold temperatures. I left mine in a car overnight during a cold spell, and it did not work well (low volume and increased susceptible to interference) until the ambient air temperature warmed up. So try not to leave it in your car if you park outside in the cold.

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Purchased this item for use with the radio on my motorcycle. I was wary after reading some of the negative reviews, but decided to take a chance. Tried three stations until I found one that didn’t have any interference. When I turned on the iPOD, I was pleasantly surprised at the excellent quality of the sound. The volume was slightly attenuated, but the radio volume control bumped the volume up over the wind and engine noise. Put the iPOD/iTRIP in my pocket and walked down the driveway and never lost the signal. Thanks for an excellent product.

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I drove from Ohio to California using the i-trip and it worked great! I am planning on purchasing another i-trip for my sisters birthday. Thanks.

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I tried the newer Griffin transmitter (not as powerful) and it was terrible! I heard the older Griffin transmitters are more powerful so I searched it out and bought it. They were right, it works great! Be sure you purchase one of the older ones. They are generally cheaper too!

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I have (well, had), been looking for a good but cheap fm transmitter for my ipod nano (3rd generation) so i could listen to my ipod in my car, since my car doesnt have a cassette tape player, let alone an auxilary port, or cd player.

After shopping around here on Amazon for another thing i needed, i saw this and most of all, SAW THE PRICE!!!

ONLY $4.00!!!!!!!!!!!!

So instead of paying $50.00 for a brand new one from wal mart or some place (who i’ve noticed dont carry fm transmitters anymore in my area), i only payed $4.00!!!!!!

Not only was the price great, but the sound quality is nearly pristine (i tune it to 88.1 fm) and it doesnt drain the battery on my ipod as quick as i thought it would. It also looks good with my ipod nano, it isnt too bulky, but it isnt so small i’d loose it in 2 seconds.

I received it pretty quickly too. I got it 2 days after i got the shipping confirmation email.

My overall take on this product:

THE GOOD:

-Good sound as soon as you find the right station

-looks good (with any ipod i imagine)

-doesnt use up extra batteries, it uses the battery power from your ipod.

-not complicated to use

-unlike what other reviewers said, i didnt have any problems with the volume on the ipod itself, in fact, the volume on the ipod doesnt matter, its the volume on the radio you are using.

-doesnt really get more static-y when you are driving

THE BAD:

-it didnt come with instructions, so for the first 5 minutes of getting it i had no clue what to do, but quickly figured it out as soon as i plugged it into my ipod.

So if you are wanting to get this product, but are unsure of it because of the price, i personally say go ahead and get it, cuz the price is UNBEATABLE and the product is GREAT!