by Griffin Technology
| Average Rating: |
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| Sales Rank: | N/A (lower is better) |
| Price Used: | $10.99 |
| Shipping: | Free Shipping on most orders over $25* |
| Availability: | |
| Release Date: | 2005-11-04 |
| Label: | Griffin Technology |
| UPC: | 685387040308 |
| Binding: | Electronics |
| Published By: | Griffin Technology |
| ASIN: | B0002WTK48 |
| Category: | Electronics |
Griffin Technology 4030-ROAD RoadTrip FM Transmitter & Auto Charger and Cradle for iPod Features
- Convenient one-piece transmitter and charger module uses any frequency from 87.7 to 107.9
- Backlit screen shows which frequency RoadTrip is currently broadcasting
- Transmitter can be removed and used with a Mac or PC computer
- Plugs into any auto power outlet or lighter adapter
- Compatibility: iPod nano (1G only), iPod mini, 3G iPod, 4G iPod with click wheel, iPod Color, iPod Video
Editorial Reviews and Product Descriptions
Product Description
Imagine having a high powered FM Transmitter, an iPod auto charger AND a convenient iPod cradle. Meet RoadTrip, the only iPod and iPod mini car accessory you'll ever need. RoadTrip makes enjoying an iPod or iPod mini in the car convenient and easy. The RoadTrip plugs into any auto power outlet or lighter adapter and provides an adjustable cradle to charge and hold any docking iPod including the new 4G iPods and the iPod mini. The RoadTrip transmitter can then be set to broadcast iPod's music to any FM frequency from 88.1 to 107.9. Its backlit screen shows which frequency RoadTrip is currently broadcasting -and can easily be adjusted via buttons located directly on the front of the unit. Your iPod's audio is transmitted through the connected dock on the bottom of iPod. Not only is this a superior signal transmission but it also leaves the top of the iPod exposed for use with other iPod accessories like the Griffin iTalk.The RoadTrip is a great FM transmitter and car charger for the iPod in the car, but what makes RoadTrip truly unique is its removable transmitter module that can also broadcast music from a Mac or PC. The package includes a combination USB power and audio connector cable that attaches any USB equipped computer to the module. Users can then play their iTunes music, movie audio or presentation sound to any FM stereo close by. The RoadTrip is compatible with all docking iPods, including the iPod mini. iPods with FireWire ports on top (1st and 2nd gen) will not work with the RoadTrip.
Customer Reviews
WONT CHARGE NANO 4G, Lame support - Reviewed on 2008-10-29
2 customers found this review helpful.
I purchased a Road Trip with the "New iPod nano Adapter Included!",
only to find that the CHARGER function DOES NOT work with any
"New ipod nano" (4G).
I purchased this product with the clear intent to FM transmit, charge and cradle my "New iPod Nano".
I am very disappointed.
Of course, I expected to get what I paid for, and I requested remedy from Griffin.
I stated that this device will not do as the package claims, and I requested a full refund.
Adding, this device CAN NOT perform its stated purpose(s), I further
contended that the packaging is deceptive regarding the capabilities of
this device.
Mine certainly wont do all three as claimed. Griffin blithely verified this.
My response from "Shannon" at Griffin was that this device in fact "ONLY WORKS WITH 3G", and not (as the packaging indicted) with the ("NEW") Nano 4g, ignoring the legal ramifications.
Thats all they had to offer.
LAME. The lousy customer care disappointed me as much as the product.
I went with the InCharge because of the reviews, and flame Griffin for the above nauseating experiences.
Hit the Road, Trip - Reviewed on 2008-07-07
This device is a nightmare.
The bad dreams began the moment I opened the package and attempted to fit my 80GB iPod w/ video into one of the provided mating flanges. Turns out the only one that fit was for a different iPod and then only after some filing of plastic. And, of course, I had to remove the iPod from it protective neoprene wetsuit, which would have been very nice to have when the iPod fell out of the Griffin 4031-RDGC RoadTrip FM Transmitter and Car Charger for iPod (Charcoal) ... standing still in the driveway.
Things went downhill from there as I tried to get music through the car's tuner and into my ears.
Okay, true, I live in an FM-RF saturated environment. So I wasn't expecting optimum performance close to home. But none of the three frequencies auto-scanned by the Road Trip were at all usable. Manually tuning a dead band on my radio - and incrementing Road Trip to match - produced an interference-ridden, wheezy little simulacrum of the strong studio mixes in my Playlists. Damn disappointing for a hundred bucks.
Worse, on recent rural road trip my Road Trip was even more galling. With no audible stations within two guard bands either side of Road Trip's self-selected optimum frequency, there was still plenty of harsh hash, multipath "swang", and annoying collapse to mono.
So it's gotta be my vehicle, right? It's a 2000 BMW with a decidedly Bavarian audio system. Maybe it's just a Germanic engineering attitude problem? Nope. Road Trip fared no better in my wife's 2007 high-end Toyota, a vehicle with impeccable modern electronics.
In desperation, I tried Road Trip's OTHER route: a direct output jack (1/8" stereo), bizarrely (and inconveniently) located on the power plug. At least I'll get clean audio straight into the preamp section of my car's system?
No such luck. The Road Trip's output impedance is severely mismatched to everyone else's idea of the line-in spec. It is neither line level nor headphone level. And the result is, like, 20% harmonic distortion. And, of course, no way to attenuate the output; it just smashes its way in and clips like a [...].
Unusable for audio, I now have a very expensive iPod charger that sometimes - when it wants to and obeying no logic that I'm able to figure out - supplies a trickle of current through to my iPod, but then shuts off well shy of full charge.
These issues seem baked-in and endemic, not at all the result of poor manufacturing or lax quality control. These are basic design flaws.
Succinctly: This device is an unmitigated piece of crap. Do not buy it.
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