On a RoadTrip with my iPod
Mon 3 Sep 07 13:58 | Tags: Hardware, Reviews, iPod
My adventures with car transmitters for my iPod continue.
Recently I stumbled upon a great deal at Overstock.com - they're selling the Griffin RoadTrip transmitters for only $20. Granted, they're refurbished, but for less than a quarter of Griffin's original price, I decided to take my chances on used goods. (If you're not as brave, you can get it from Amazon for only $43.34.)
I think I got a pretty good deal. The sound quality of the RoadTrip is pretty good. It's been too long since I've used the NewerTech TRAFFICJamz to do a fair sound comparison, but I had no complaints sound-wise.
The RoadTrip is hangin' out. This photo shows it with all three arm segments connected; for regular use, I just use two of them.
The hardware of the device itself, however, is another issue. The TRAFFICJamz was a small stick-like module which plugged into the car power adapter socket (known in less PC times as the cigarette lighter) and had a cable a few feet long coming out the end with an iPod connector at the end. The RoadTrip, however, is like an iPod caddy with a bendable segmented arm on the back, with the power adapter at the end of the arm. The device comes unassembled, so you actually have to connect the arm segments together. You have the option of using just two arm segments, or putting a third segment between the two for added length and bending angle-age. All this means that the RoadTrip is significantly larger, heavier and more complicated than the TRAFFICJamz.
This is a bit of a serious concern. While parked, I would often stow the TRAFFICJamz in my glove compartment in order to hide the easily-stealable expensive electronics products from sight; with the RoadTrip, I have to cram it under my seat. More serious, though, is that the awkward weight and length of the RoadTrip means that it's prone to wiggling loose from the power socket when driving on not-so-smooth roads or over train tracks. This means I have to pull over and readjust the RoadTrip in my car's cheap-ish power socket, which leads to much cursing and frustration.
The larger screen and controls on the RoadTrip compared to the TRAFFICJamz are appreciated, though I find it strange that I have to manually push a button every time I start my car in order to make the RoadTrip start transmitting. The TRAFFICJamz would just start transmitting automatically.
I guess I can just mark up these concerns to just getting what I paid for, though, and in those terms I still think I got a pretty good deal. Just so long as this thing doesn't short out my iPod again, I'll be pretty happy with it.
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