FM-transmitter

[FLBuff PE]

Mrs. Buff is getting a new 16-GB ipod nano from my parents for christmas, and I want to get her the accessories she needs to run it in her car. I am trying to figure out what the best FM transmitter would be for this purpose. Any ideas?

BTW, I already have her main gift from me. This is an add-on.

 

[MonteBiker]

Mrs. Buff is getting a new 16-GB ipod nano from my parents for christmas, and I want to get her the accessories she needs to run it in her car. I am trying to figure out what the best FM transmitter would be for this purpose. Any ideas?
BTW, I already have her main gift from me. This is an add-on.

Just to check, is there an auxiliary jack in the car (sometimes they are even on the face plate of the stereo)? We have one of these in our car and are able to just run a cable directly from the ipod through the radio. In some cars, you are able to route an auxiliary cable to the back of the radio (this is how a multi disc changer works in some cases) where you can just run a discrete cable from the back of the stereo into the car and plug it in.

There may be some better fm transmitters out now, but the ones I have had in the past couple of years have not been fantastic. If you go with the transmitter, go with one of the ones where you choose the station on the transmitter. I used to have the iTrip where you picked the station on the ipod which was much more inconvenient.

 

[FLBuff PE]

No auxillary input in the wife's car. I have one in the work truck that I run the sat. radio through, and it works MUCH better than the FM transmitter. I could hardwire it in, but don't feel like going through that much trouble. Thanks for the heads-up on the iTrip!

 

[Supe]

Don't bother with a new FM transmitter. The FCC started regulating signal strength a few years back, and they're practically useless now. Go with the antenna adapter at any cost when the aux jack isn't an option.

 

[MA_PE]

what kind of car? A new radio from Crutchfield (with all the instructions to install yourself) might be a viable solution. The FM transmitters don't work well at all.

 

[csb]

Dude, if it's just meant to be the add-on gift get the Belkin adapter. I had one for my nano and it worked like a charm, plus it was a good size for it. Not too bulky.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=...IwAg#ps-sellers

Includes a car charger.

 

[NCcarguy]

Is it possible that your wifes car has a tape player and not CD? The tape player adaptor works very well! but the FM transmitters are spotty at best! I was so frustrated with one I had that I just quit using it within about the first week.

Another option would be taking the car to best buy and let them install something to connect it.....may cost less than you think.

 

[csb]

And the fact that I live in a town with limited radio stations means I never had a problem and had crystal clear sound. I still say that if you're looking for a cheap gift, the Belkin fits.

 

[Road Guy]

the only luck i had with the fm transmitter is the one that plugs into the cig lighter and is about $89 bucks (best buy, target, wal-mart)

we bought it for the boat, my boat radio doesnt have a aux jack on the radio and it was either isntall a new radio or buy the fm transmitter and I didnt feel like screwing with the new radio..

 

[FLBuff PE]

what kind of car? A new radio from Crutchfield (with all the instructions to install yourself) might be a viable solution. The FM transmitters don't work well at all.

'03 VW Passat Wagon. I love Crutchfield, but am not looking to go for broke.

Is it possible that your wifes car has a tape player and not CD? The tape player adaptor works very well! but the FM transmitters are spotty at best! I was so frustrated with one I had that I just quit using it within about the first week.
Another option would be taking the car to best buy and let them install something to connect it.....may cost less than you think.

I agree that the tape adapter is second best to the auxillary, but she doesn't have a tape deck. No Best Buys around me. The closest one would be in Denver (~2.5 hour drive).

And the fact that I live in a town with limited radio stations means I never had a problem and had crystal clear sound. I still say that if you're looking for a cheap gift, the Belkin fits.

We also have minimal radio stations around us. Sirius has a pretty neat tool on their website that tells you the best station for FM Transmitter reception. You enter your zip code or city name. I'll take a look at the Belkin this afternoon. Thanks!

 

[RevMen]

I've never heard an FM transmitter that sounded good.

For probably not much more money, I'll bet you can find an iPod adapter for her stereo that will not only let her plug it in directly, but control the iPod using the stereo's controls and charge it at the same time.

Here are some, and I'm sure there are others:

http://enfigcarstereo.com/shopsite_sc/stor..._PASSAT_03.html

 

[FLBuff PE]

Don't bother with a new FM transmitter. The FCC started regulating signal strength a few years back, and they're practically useless now. Go with the antenna adapter at any cost when the aux jack isn't an option.

I saw that the FCC was doing that. We actually have pretty good luck with them here, b/c of the limited radio stations.

I've never heard an FM transmitter that sounded good.
For probably not much more money, I'll bet you can find an iPod adapter for her stereo that will not only let her plug it in directly, but control the iPod using the stereo's controls and charge it at the same time.

Here are some, and I'm sure there are others:

http://enfigcarstereo.com/shopsite_sc/stor..._PASSAT_03.html

Thanks for the link! I'll probably look into it later down the road (either radio replacement or the adapter), but I basically want a 'plug-it-in-and-go' option for her on Christmas day.

 

[jeb6294]

Check on eBay. I found one on there for my '04 Malibu that was a module that plugged into the radio. There was also an input on the module where I could plug in my Sirius radio Now the iPod and Sirius show up as two additional bands, i.e. am - fm1 - fm2 - iPod - Sirius. It looked like enough of a PITA that I just took the box up to the stereo place and had them install it. I think it was about $100 and that was to run a new Sirius antenna too.

One really nice thing about the module is that it lets you use the radio buttons (and steering wheel if you've got them) to control the iPod. It's nothing spectacular, pretty much FFwd and Rev and you can set it to random, but it's really nice being able to just hit the FFwd button on the steering wheel and skip a song. It'll charge the iPod while it's on there too. I got mine a while ago so they may have even improved the software since then.