iPhone on a RoadTrip

I constantly listen to audio books and podcasts whilst driving. That’s the only way to maintain a bit of sanity. The arrival of the iPhone a few weeks ago urged me to check out some solutions that would offer in-car charging and possibly FM transmission capabilities. Though my primary device for listening to media is still the 32GB iPod Touch, there’s no reason to be device-specific and I went out looking for a suitable gadget that would fit both the iPod and the iPhone.

On that note, just one comment: it is likely that any accessory one purchases for a current iPod generation will cease to provide its full functionality to subsequent product generations. That’s something that irritates me no end, and generally seems to affect charging of the new device. The reason for this is Apple‘s inability to maintain a standard for the pin-outs on the iPod dock connector – when plugging a newer iPod into an older accessory, the “This accessory does not support charging” message is displayed. It’s an obvious ploy to keep manufacturers of accessory products in a cycle of constant evolution with regard to their products, but its a costly exercise for the consumer.

As always when I look for iPod accessories, my attention turned to Griffin. That company makes many sensible and useful products to enhance the iPod experience, though their products are by no means cheap. After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, I settled on the RoadTrip FM transmitter. The device consists of a short, bendable gooseneck supporting an iPod cradle on one end and a cigarette lighter plug on the other.

For the cradle, a whole collection of iPod adapters is provided, each of which fits neatly and snuggly on top of the connector. A display indicates FM frequencies and various options.

I can attest to the RoadTrip‘s ability to securely hold both the iPod Touch and the heavier iPhone as I travel on a rather bumpy dirt road every day. There is hardly a possibility that the device will fall from the cradle. As with the Logitech Pure-Fi Dream, making out the markings on the black plastic cradle adapters that indicate which iPod each one fits on is rather difficult – the moulded indicator on the adapter is not always easy to make out. Generally, this shouldn’t be an issue if only one device is to be used with the RoadTrip, but I tend to swap the Touch and iPhone every now and then and need to identify the cradle adapter reliably. A minor gripe, but something that manufacturers may want to address by providing a more visible marking. Maybe it’s my eyesight?

Securely fasten the correct adapter on top of the cradle, plug the device into the cigarette lighter socket and adjust. I recently had my iPhone on the RoadTrip, Bluetooth enabled and taking handsfree phone calls via the Garmin nuvi whilst checking that cool little blue blip on Google Maps update my location. It’s almost a car computer…

The RoadTrip features an FM transmitter with a three frequency memory. My frequency of choice in the greater Johannesburg area is still 88.7 and the RoadTrip provides clear, crisp sound without interference to my car’s radio. The RoadTrip does include SmartScan technology which is supposed to determine the best three frequencies for use by the car radio and presets these automatically on the unit. I wasn’t convinced by its findings and stuck to my manual setting. The device in the cradle is charged automatically.

There’s no need to fumble around with the buttons on the iPod or worse still, with the touch interface of the iPhone: the RoadTrip has three hardware buttons that provide rudimentary control over the audio stream: play, pause and skip to next track.

I can’t fault the RoadTrip, other than for its purchase price which is in the region of ZAR 850, a lot of money for an iPod accessory. The gooseneck is solid and stays in position, the cradle holds the iPod very firmly and I consider the sound quality to be as good as is possible for something relying on FM transmission. With an iPhone or iPod Touch in the cradle, you can surf the web, check out Tweetie or email and play a game or two, all the whilst listening to your selected audio. Don’t forget that you’re piloting a car, one of the most dangerous weapons mankind has ever produced, though!

If you’re in the market for a charger/FM transmitter that supports a slew of older iPod models, the RoadTrip may be worth a look.