Use-anywhere FM transmitters 1 - Griffin iTrip
First of the use-anywhere transmitters, Griffin's £18 iTrip is also a dedicated iPod model and our design-favourite of the review. Unfortunately, the iTrip has a maddening firmware glitch but we'll get to that in a minute.
The iTrip is beautifully made - which makes the firmware glitch even more maddening. It wouldn't look out of place in the iPod retail box next to the headphones and docking lead. And, at just 62 x 37 x 23mm (2.45 x 1.43 x 0.9in), it's the smallest product in the review.
It clips to the bottom of the iPod via the docking socket and switches on automatically as soon as it detects an audio signal.
The design is a classic. There are no batteries or cables – the iTrip draws its power directly from the iPod's docking port. That's part of the reason for its diminutive size and what makes it the neatest transmitter in the group, as well as the only wire-free model.
Unfortunately the iTrip is quite power-hungry. It dramatically reduced the battery life of our test iPod – a 30GB fifth-generation model – by 50 per cent or perhaps even a little more.
The product has a single side-mounted multifunction control that takes care of frequency tuning, channel storage and mono/stereo switching.
However, like the iTrip Auto, the iTrip doesn't have any presets. That, together with the way that it clips to the iPod, makes retuning and storing into a two-handed job, although the more dexterous might do it with one.
To get the best results from the iTrip in its basic wire-free form, it generally needs to be closer to the radio or tuner than the other products we're reviewing.
This was particularly noticeable in the car and also meant that the unit had to be retuned more often than the other models to maintain optimum performance.
However, the iTrip does have a power input socket, so if you invest £9 in the Griffin PowerJolt car-charger kit, you'll be able to charge and run the iPod and iTrip from a cigarette-lighter socket.
The PowerJolt's lighter socket plug is equipped with an anti-surge fuse and an LED that starts off amber and changes to green when charging is complete.
The power lead that connects the iTrip to the cigarette-adaptor plug also improves the unit's performance by increasing its transmission strength.
The power lead (but without the 12V adaptor plug) gives the same lift to transmission performance when the iTrip is used away from a car.
And so to the firmware glitch. During the transition between tracks playing back from the iPod there is a loud thump or crack. The noise is similar to that made by a stylus when it hits the holding grove at the end of a vinyl record.
The thump is difficult to miss, even with three children in the car trying to kill each other, and is quite disconcerting.
The good news is that the problem doesn't occur with all iPods. However, fifth-generation models are definitely affected. We alerted Griffin to the problem and it says that it's been looked at. Hopefully, we'll be able to update you soon.
Firmware glitch aside, the iTrip was our favourite piece of kit in this review - primarily because it was wireless, beautifully made and very stylish.
It was the least practical for in-car use but the most convenient around the home.
Finally for two universal FM transmitters, both use-anywhere models, starting with the icast universal...
