Anyone have an FM transmitter for their iPod for use in their car? I bought the AirPlay by Xtrememac and it was easy and convenient, but despite the 7 or more different frequencies I tried, none came in very strong or very consistanly. If I put my iPod down, it would get static. I want to try another one, but dont’ know if any are better than the others. My 1989 car could be the problem too…
An iTrip is what I use. But if you live in an area where a lot of the FM frequencies are used, a FM transmitter may not be the best option for you. You might consider a unit that works off a tape deck.
I depends heavily on what city you are in. For example, in Dallas/Ft Worth, there are very few “open” frequencies. When I travel I have no problems using my IPod with “ITrips”. I will say one advantage ITrips has over other solutions is that you can choose any FM station to broadcast.
I have this one:
Once you find a station, it seems to work very well. I didn’t even have to change stations when I drove to my sister’s 3.5 hrs away.
I’ve used several and the best is the Griffin iTrip. Its small, uses the iPod battery, and gets excellent reception with little to no interference.
I have an iTrip and well…I wouldnt brag about it to anyone. It works, but it DOES sound like the radio. further, if you are using it on a longer trip you will likely run into another radio station. Finally…it sucks your power.
If I had the money I’d definitely hook it up into my system…but I dont…and so now I get my ipod with bad sound 
My experience with the iTrip was very poor. I tried using it in both of my cars and it had bad reception in both, could possibly have been the area I live in though. Hard wiring something is always a better alternative if you can manage to do it.
I recently sold it on eBay.
I have the Griffin iTrip and am quite happy with it, although I use it for mostly driving in rural areas where there is little or no radio available. In more populated areas without “open” frequencies, it is not as user-friendly.
mp
I bought the Belkin Tunebase (http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=&Section_Id=201526&pcount=&Product_Id=186782)
for my wife and her Toyota Highlander. It allows you to fine tune the frequency across the whole FM spectrum and then lets you save 4 of them.
In that car, the performance is marginal. She still uses it but we put a cassette adapter in there and it is now great. The gooseneck allows you to set the ipod wherever is convenient - especially in the Highlander which has a really good lighter location.
If you really want to go all out, you can find ipod interface adapters that allow your built-in radio to control your ipod. That way, you can tuck the ipod away, out of sight, yet still use it. Check out www.crutchfield.com.
Thanks, guys. The guy at the Apple store seemed to think that all the options have the same frequency strength? For those with iTrip, is it a pain to navigate through the ipod to get another station when you lose reception on one? Have any of you used one that is a cradle that plugs into your cigarette lighter and is also a radio transmitter? Does the iTrip sound better if you can plug a charger in while you are using it in the car?
Also, my car does not have a visible antena…does this matter for signal strength? 20 questions over here 
I have a Belkin TuneCast. I guess it works OK, but the sound is pretty marginal and it goes through batteries like crazy.
I bought one of these for my jeep and love it. More expenisve than an FM gizmo for sure, but it sounds terrific.
My wife and I both have iTrip’s, which work great. We use them in both the car and through our office radios.
We actually bought a cheap radio with an aux in and just plug the iPod in directly. Wired sounds much better, and it’s no hassle.
I had an itrip, and it was OK. Sort of. Honestly I hated that stupid thing - there are 3 things which bug me about it.
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Tuning the itrip is a pain in the @ss. Once its set its ok, but changing the channels is a pain in the ass.
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The soundbites which program the itrip come up in playlists. When you skip them you reprogram the frequency. Yeah yeah make a smaart playlist which randomizes everything but the itrip files. Still a hassle.
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I don’t like that the hold button is covered. To get to it you have to pull off the itrip, etc, etc.
That being said, the itrip is a good tool considering that it will never sound better than a mediocre FM station. My Saturn(s) have external antellas and work fine.
I replaced the itrip with the Air Play from Extreme Mac http://www.xtrememac.com/adapters/airplay.shtml it works great, although I think that it messes with the battery status. Unconfirmed.
Hope that this helps.
jsargevt
Have the itrip…think it sucks…I am pretty technically savvy…it is just too much of a hassle and then the sound is so-so…
I just purchased the cassette tape version…plugs into the iPod to a cassette in the car…we’ll see…
-T