Probably stupid question about iPods

[skygazer]

I'm going on a road trip in late July and would like to be able to play my iPod through my car stereo. I've found some devices that work by scanning for clear radio stations to play over but if I'm traveling, I'm going to be outdriving radio stations and that sounds like an iffy proposition.

Is there anything I can buy that will just let me run my iPod through my car's speaker system? Full disclosure - my car only has an AM/FM radio. No cassette, no CD player, not even an 8-track. :P

[leeroysphitz]

1. Without investing in a new car stereo I'm afraid you are probably stuck with the FM transmitters.

Sorry.

[MajorChode]

4. Not necessarily

Even some basic car stereos have provisions for an AUX input, but installing the necessary interface requires a bit of know how.

[rucky]

2. You can change the signal pretty easily if you run into interference

on the model I use, at least.

If you can't find any gadgets that play into it directly, I wouldn't sweat the radio signal.

[Initech]

3. I've never had good luck with FM transmitters.

You can buy a new car audio unit for less than $150 and most come with an auxiliary input as standard equipment these days.

Like this one for instance:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9198628&type=product&id=1218056721138

[LynneSin]

5. You could even buy an AM/FM casette player for 50 bucks

and just replace your radio. I had an aftermarket CD player in my car until I decided to go totally Ipod and I put back in my old cassette player.

About a year ago my casette player broke and I found a replacement one for $10 on Ebay (it was the same model for my Toyota)

[Initech]

10. Nice thing about my Nissan

Its a fairly newer model Altima. Has all sorts of audio options and includes a 6 disc MP3 CD changer and an auxiliary jack for ipod. I dont even need a cassette deck. It's so much easier to use an AUX cable then it is to use anything else. And trust me I'm a long experienced iPod user.

[pokerfan]

7. some are better than others

This one seems to be one of the better ones.
Exonic EXF 2030 FM Transmitter
Suggested Retail Price: $49.95

But for the same price you could buy a basic am/fm cassette player with an aux input on the front for easy iPod attachment.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_070XC4100/Dual-XC4100.html?tp=5684">
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_070XC4100/Dual-XC4100.html?tp=5684

[krispos42]

6. I use a cheap one in my car

It works pretty well, but I have to crank up the stereo to hear it. The transmitter is kinda quiet.


It works well enough for me, though. I have the proper station saved as a radio preset. I just plug in my iPod, press preset #6, and crank the volume.



I stuck a piece of velcro to my iPod and my console so I can access it without difficulty.

[Lex]

8. You don't play it over the radio station, but the frequency. Like 88.3.

In fact, it's BETTER when you don't have stations interfering on the frequency.

[gmoney]

9. You could get external speakers for the ipod

either battery powered, or that plug into the lighter. That way you can play your iPod in your hotel room or wherever you're staying.

if you try the FM transmitter thing, get one that's powered by the lighter outlet, rather than powered by the ipod itself. There are some that charge the ipod at the same time, and they put out a pretty decent signal strength, so you shouldn't have to adjust them too often.