Three months ago, after doing some reading in the web regarding this subject, I went to BestBuy looking for a system for my car. At that time I had narrowed down my options to either the Griffin iTrip FM transmitter for dockable iPods or the Moster Cable iCarPlay wireless FM iPod transmitter/charger but was not totally sure so I decided to ask for advice to a salesperson at the store (bad decision) and he recommended the Monster product.
He claimed he had one in his car and he loved it. He also highlighted the advantage of charging your iPod while you listen to your music.
About the same time, my son bought the Griffin product and he has been using it since then.
Well, I began using the Monster system for about 6 weeks and then switched with my son and began using his Griffin gadget and after gaining experience with both products I can say the following:
1) Because the Monster Cable system has only 8 pre-set FM stations you can use to send your signal to, you have to make sure that there is at least 1 free FM band in the city where you are using this product. If not, you are out of luck. Here in Indianapolis, after much work I found only one FM band that is not being used by a local station so I got lucky and my system works fine. The Griffin iTrip FM transmitter for dockable iPods has much more flexibility since it allows you to tune to any of over 100 FM stations in your FM dial.
2) Even if you find a "clean FM band" to use your Monster Cable FM iPod Transmitter/Charger, you will find that when you are riding your car using the system, you will hit some spots where you will pick-up considerable interference or "static". I have not yet lost my iPod signal when this happens but this situation is quite annoying. For the Griffin iTrip FM transmitter for dockable iPods this problem seems to be much less significant (but not totally absent as they claim in their manual) and this seems to be related to the fact that they use digital technology (versus analog technology which is used by competing products) to beam the signal to your FM radio and this apparently makes the quality of the signal better, stronger and cleaner.
3) The "Charge while you Play" feature is quite a plus for the Monster Cable product. The gadget does charge efficiently and very quickly and it keeps your iPod battery fully charged at all times. For long trips this is quite an advantage that the Griffin product does not have.
4) The price of the Monster Cable product is considerably more expensive than the Griffin iTrip gadget. At BestBuy, where both, my son and I bought these products, the Monster Cable iTrip product was $69.99 while the Griffin iTrip was $39.99.
5) Don't forget that another difference is that with the Monster Cable product you have a cable connected to your iPod all the time and this takes away flexibility and makes it very visible in your car. The Griffin product is wireless and thus there is no connection so you do not need to worry about hiding it when you park your car in oublic places.
In summary, these are two innovative products that allow you to listen to your own music in your own car in a practical and flexible manner. If you are mostly going to use this equipment in the city, while you comute to work and back to home and willnot make long car trips, save yourself some money and some headaches and get the Griffin iTrip FM transmitter for dockable iPods. On the other hand if keeping your iPod charged at all times is a must or if you make long, long trips on your car and want to listen to your iPod during these, consider the Moster Cable iCarPlay wireless FM iPod transmitter/charger. Monster iCarPlay Wireless FM Transmitter/Charger for iPod
I was hesitant to buy the iCarPlay - I had an FM transmitter several years ago and it was miserable. I was afraid I'd get in an accident while fiddling with the dial. The iCarPlay, however, has present stations, making it easier to change the station should you pick up some static.That problem doesn't happen often though. I live near Washington, DC, and rarely have to change the station because of static. Sure, the quality isn't as good as if you have a direct line-in port on your car stereo or a cassette adapter, but for those of us with plain ole CD players, the iCarPlay works well. It also does a great job of keeping your iPod charged.Another plus is that the cord is long enough that you can pretty much put your iPod wherever you want. I also read some great reviews of it on the Apple message boards.It might take you a while to get this product, however; I was on the Amazon's waitlist for over a month before I found it elsewhere and cancelled my order here.
iPod: 3rd gen, 20 gigCar: 2001 Mazda Protege, stock stereo/cd player unitI bought this device from an Apple Store just before a road trip from Westchester, NY to Washington, DC. I had previously been considering taking the car in to a car stereo place to have somebody run a cable from the in-dash stereo (which has a button for MD/Aux) so I could plug in the iPod directly, but after using the Monster product during my weekend trip, I don't see any reason to bother.I am thoroughly satisfied with this device, despite it's higher price compared to some other options such as the iTrip and the iRock. I previously owned a 2nd generation iPod, for which I had a cigarette lighter adapter/charger and the iTrip. For less money than the Monster product, I could have bought a PocketDock (to enable me to use the charger with the 3rd gen iPod) and a new iTrip, but I chose to try out the Monster iCarPlay (despite the terrible name), and I'm so happy I did. Here are some issues to consider when buying a car kit for the iPod and my take on how the Monster iCarPlay performs. First let me say that I'm assuming that the cassette adapter route is not an option (if you have a cassette deck, the decision is even more complicated, but I don't know anything about cassette adapters because I have only a CD player in the car):1. FM BROADCAST FREQUENCIES -- The iCarPlay offers 8 options toward the bottom of the FM spectrum. I was able to use 89.3 with very satisfactory sound quality all the way through to Baltimore, despite traveling through a series of major radio markets, including New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. From a user interface point of view, the iCarPlay features red LED indicator lights that clearly communicate to the user which FM frequency is being broadcast - and there is only one button to press to scroll through the options - nice and simple. Compare this with the iTrip, which requires the user to download a playlist of "tracks" onto the iPod that are used to tell the device which frequency to use, a system that not only requires stoppage of music to change frequencies, but also results in the iPod occasionally playing a bizarre series of beeps during random play of the full Library due to the fact that the frequencies are encoded in the form of tracks in the iPod's music Library. I'm a big believer in the benefits of a hardware-based rather than software-based solution, especially after the time that I forgot to re-sync the iTrip frequencies playlist when I changed the music on the iPod, rendering the iTrip unusable on the next car trip. The iCarPlay is ready for use right out of the box - no software to install or data to be transferred to the iPod. Ever.2. iPOD-ESQUE ESTHETICS -- Here, the iCarPlay falls short, but I don't care that much (I don't use the iPod ear-buds either - I never found them comfortable), and I think the iCarPlay is nice enough looking on its own merits. My main concern is the usability and the efficacy of the product, and it is great in both regards.3. POWER/BATTERIES -- One of the best things about the iCarPlay other than the sound quality is that it is an all-in-one solution, charging the iPod and broadcasting the FM signal at the same time and through the same port on the iPod. No batteries to change in the transmitter (compare with the iRock), and no leeching off of the iPod's own power, however little it may be (compare with the iTrip).4. CONNECTIONS -- As mentioned above, there is only one point of connection with the iPod for both charging and playing: the dock connector port in the bottom. I like this because the performance of the FM transmitter is independent of the volume level on the iPod, resulting in one fewer thing to worry about. By comparison, the iTrip requires that the iPod's volume level be set within a recommended range for best results, even to be able to set the broadcast frequency. The iCarPlay's use of the dock connector also has the advantage (I'm speculating here: I haven't tried this) of leaving the top of iPod free for using the in-line remote or another peripheral, such as a voice recorder.As a final detail, I'll point out a feature that may be unique to the iCarPlay. When you turn off the car, the device stops charging the iPod. What I was delighted to discover is that when this happens, the iCarPlay sends a signal to the iPod to pause itself. This is simply good, smart, considerate design - it takes the onus off the user to remember to pause the iPod to avoid having the iPod battery run down for no reason.One last issue to bear in mind is that the iCarPlay is really just for use in the car (or on a boat, or anywhere with both a cigarette lighter socket and an FM radio). One advantage of the iTrip or iRock, is that they can be used to play the iPod through *any* FM radio, such as in a hotel room. I am willing to give up that bit of flexibility in return for the numerous other advantages I've found in the iCarPlay.I don't usually take the time to write reviews on Amazon, and especially not of this length, but I am so pleased with this product (and aware of how confusing the decision about which FM transmitter to buy can be) that I felt compelled to share my experience. The iCarPlay is an effective, supremely easy-to-use solution for those of us with no cassette deck and a desire to play our iPod through our car stereo. - Ipod - Ipod Fm Transmitter - Ipod Accessory - Fm Transmitter'
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