psmith2.0
2004-09-20, 19:37
...well, in a casual, badly written kinda way, of course. ;)
First off here it is:
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/roadtrip/
As some of you know, I recently won this in a contest. I received it today, via UPS, from Griffin. And I put it through its paces tonight, in my car.
It's a pretty nifty little system, I have to say. Easy as pie to set up. In its most simple, basic form, it's a 4" piece that sticks into your car cigarette lighter and, on the other end, connects to the back of the "cradle" device shown at Griffin's site above. You turn your car radio on, find an used, nothing-but-static FM frequency, then use those arrow buttons on the roadtrip to match the frequency.
Voila. Instant iPod contents, blaring out of your car speakers. That's it.
The device also acts as a charger and there is an extension piece that comes with that you can connect between the part going into the cigarette lighter and the cradle section, adding about 8" to the piece. The connecting points are jointed and have tiny thumbscrews to loose/tighten the joints as you set the angle(s) to your liking.
I kinda chuckled because I had it curved in such a way that it instantly reminded me of that time the Three Stooges were plumbers and built some wild-ass, multi-angle piping system in some rich guy's house.
:D
Another cool thing is, unlike some other FM transmitting devices on the market, this one lets you use the entire FM frequency (I have a buddy who has a Belkin product, and it limits you to four pre-set frequencies, which might, in some cities, be a drawback).
I just tuned my radio way up the dial to 107.3 or something, matched that on the RoadTrip and here comes the music!
Fits the 3G, 4G AND iPod mini models (basically, any docking iPod). There's a little insert sleeve backer you slide into a groove that holds the small iPod mini securely in place. You drop it into the cradle and it plugs into something that looks exactly like the little rectangular socket/plug thing in the iPod dock.
But you couldn't ask for an easier method to get your iPod into your car. I added the extension piece and the whole cradle sits beautifully at tummy/chest level, basically blocking my built-in stereo (a neat little bit of symbolism that wasn't lost on me). The front of the cradle lights up, glowing green. And you still have full-on iPod functionality and control. Just reach up and hit a play list. Until today, I was carrying about 10 iTunes-created custom mix CDs in my car, forever changing disks in and out, losing storage space for them, etc.
Now, in this iPod and RoadTrip combo, I have the contents of all 10 CDs (same playlists/order I'm used to and enjoy), PLUS all 2,800-plus songs in my collection, available, literally, at the tip of my finger as I drive.
I've probably played my last CD in my car, and I sure as hell am done with the radio.
It's a bit pricey, I suppose ($79), but it seems to be a solid, well-made product and I'll use it forever, I'm sure.
Jason from Griffin told me that they're not quite on the streets yet and not "officially" shipping, so he said "congrats...you've got your hands on something very few outside Griffin have". But he sounded like they'd be shipping to the public soon.
So, in a nutshell, anyone looking for an easy, flexible way to do the iPod/car thing, give the RoadTrip a look. In the 8 hours I've had it and monkeyed with it, I've got no complaints whatsoever. With autumn coming on, I'm nuts about aimless weekend driving in the mountains and country...this device is really going to get used, and couldn't have come at a better time!
First off here it is:
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/roadtrip/
As some of you know, I recently won this in a contest. I received it today, via UPS, from Griffin. And I put it through its paces tonight, in my car.
It's a pretty nifty little system, I have to say. Easy as pie to set up. In its most simple, basic form, it's a 4" piece that sticks into your car cigarette lighter and, on the other end, connects to the back of the "cradle" device shown at Griffin's site above. You turn your car radio on, find an used, nothing-but-static FM frequency, then use those arrow buttons on the roadtrip to match the frequency.
Voila. Instant iPod contents, blaring out of your car speakers. That's it.
The device also acts as a charger and there is an extension piece that comes with that you can connect between the part going into the cigarette lighter and the cradle section, adding about 8" to the piece. The connecting points are jointed and have tiny thumbscrews to loose/tighten the joints as you set the angle(s) to your liking.
I kinda chuckled because I had it curved in such a way that it instantly reminded me of that time the Three Stooges were plumbers and built some wild-ass, multi-angle piping system in some rich guy's house.
:D
Another cool thing is, unlike some other FM transmitting devices on the market, this one lets you use the entire FM frequency (I have a buddy who has a Belkin product, and it limits you to four pre-set frequencies, which might, in some cities, be a drawback).
I just tuned my radio way up the dial to 107.3 or something, matched that on the RoadTrip and here comes the music!
Fits the 3G, 4G AND iPod mini models (basically, any docking iPod). There's a little insert sleeve backer you slide into a groove that holds the small iPod mini securely in place. You drop it into the cradle and it plugs into something that looks exactly like the little rectangular socket/plug thing in the iPod dock.
But you couldn't ask for an easier method to get your iPod into your car. I added the extension piece and the whole cradle sits beautifully at tummy/chest level, basically blocking my built-in stereo (a neat little bit of symbolism that wasn't lost on me). The front of the cradle lights up, glowing green. And you still have full-on iPod functionality and control. Just reach up and hit a play list. Until today, I was carrying about 10 iTunes-created custom mix CDs in my car, forever changing disks in and out, losing storage space for them, etc.
Now, in this iPod and RoadTrip combo, I have the contents of all 10 CDs (same playlists/order I'm used to and enjoy), PLUS all 2,800-plus songs in my collection, available, literally, at the tip of my finger as I drive.
I've probably played my last CD in my car, and I sure as hell am done with the radio.
It's a bit pricey, I suppose ($79), but it seems to be a solid, well-made product and I'll use it forever, I'm sure.
Jason from Griffin told me that they're not quite on the streets yet and not "officially" shipping, so he said "congrats...you've got your hands on something very few outside Griffin have". But he sounded like they'd be shipping to the public soon.
So, in a nutshell, anyone looking for an easy, flexible way to do the iPod/car thing, give the RoadTrip a look. In the 8 hours I've had it and monkeyed with it, I've got no complaints whatsoever. With autumn coming on, I'm nuts about aimless weekend driving in the mountains and country...this device is really going to get used, and couldn't have come at a better time!