Ipod in my car?

[VeggieFan05]

I would really like to be able to play my Ipod nano in my car...any recommendations/warnings? :) Thanks.

[danbos]

If you have a cassette player in your car it's fairly easy. There's something that's like a cassette but it has a wire coming out to go to your headphone jack on the ipod. I use one of those for my mp3 player and it works fine. I think you can also get a car charger as well, so you don't use your ipod's battery while you are playing it in your car.

And if you don't have a cassette player, I can't help you. I don't know anything about the other kind.

[Cornelius]

You could also use an FM transmitter. It's not the ideal solution, but it works.
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/itripnano/

[mat1583]

Do you have a factory radio/cd player or after market? Many after market head unit manufacturers make iPod adapters that plug into the back of the head unit in the axillary or cd changer port. It's a possibility that there could also be an adapter for you factory unit. Get it if you can.

I tried to use one of those radio transmitter things at first. While it is nice to have if you can't get an adapter, it is fuzzy and if you're on a trip, you'll have to keep changing stations. With an adapter like I mentioned above, sometimes you can control everything from your head unit, plus it charges the iPod, and it's iPod quality music.

-washboard

[middletree]

You say you have an iPod nano? Don't those things hold like 1 gig only? In that case, I'd just get a car stereo with CD player that plays MP3s. You can burn 180-200 or so songs onto one CD in MP3 format.

[mat1583]

You say you have an iPod nano? Don't those things hold like 1 gig only? In that case, I'd just get a car stereo with CD player that plays MP3s. You can burn 180-200 or so songs onto one CD in MP3 format.

Possible $50 adapter (off ebay) or spending 250 for a new mp3 cd player. I would go with the adapter. (I have both :p)

-washboard

[middletree]

Possible $50 adapter (off ebay) or spending 250 for a new mp3 cd player. I would go with the adapter. (I have both :p)

-washboard
I've seen several ads for MP3-capable CD players for cars in the $60 range.

[scbyd23]

You say you have an iPod nano? Don't those things hold like 1 gig only? In that case, I'd just get a car stereo with CD player that plays MP3s. You can burn 180-200 or so songs onto one CD in MP3 format.


Actually the nanos can hold anywhere from 2-8 gigs depending on which model you purchase. The shuffle that apple released holds between 512mb-1gig. :D

[rossid]

Could not believe the $30 boom box my mother-in-law bought has an input for an MP3.

[KarenAlexa]

Your best bet is to buy an iPod adapter that installs in your car (behind the radio) and a cord for the iPod comes out in the dash or in the glovebox. That's the ideal solution -- coolest and best sound. Also pricey and involves installation.

Another option is a FM transmitter. I've had 2 of these over time and I don't think they are worth it. They're great fun to play on portable radio -- I've used mine to play my iPod on a boombox by the pool and even on the stereo system built into my brothers house. They're very finiky though -- you have to have them in just the right position to get reception and you have to have a good open FM station to use. Also, sometimes you have a nice clear station and you drive somewhere where that station is no longer avaliable (can happen in a small distance, almost guranteed to happen on a long drive). Then you have to find a new station (easier with some trasmitters than others) while driving -- not good.

I'm assuming your car doesn't have a line in or RCA ports (hey, some do now) -- those are obviously a great way to do it, but being that you're asking here, I assume you don't have something so easy.

You can also get a cassett adapter. This is my own personal choice until I can afford to buy an iPod adapter to install. This will cost you 7 bucks and you can buy it anywhere that sells adapters (even walmart). The cassett slides into the player and there's a cord to plug into your headphone jack. You'll want to combine this with a battery charger if you don't want to rely on your iPods battery. I have a great car charger from Belkin that has a line out on it. This charger plugs into the port on the bottom of my iPod. Then I've got the cassette adapter plugged into the Belkin charger's base. That way I don't have to have 2 cords running to my iPod and It's always fully charged :) The sound is great too.

[mat1583]

Your best bet is to buy an iPod adapter that installs in your car (behind the radio) and a cord for the iPod comes out in the dash or in the glovebox. That's the ideal solution -- coolest and best sound. Also pricey and involves installation.


Bought mine on ebay for $50 and installed it myself in 15 minutes. Neither pricey nor hard to install.

-washboard

[VeggieFan05]

Hey, thanks for all your responses! I don't have a cassette player, and my cd player is aftermarket (it's the kind with the removable face) and doesn't have any in-line ports or anything like that. I'm pretty sure it's too old to be MP3-capable. I was looking at those FM radio transmitters, too, but it seems that the sound quality is not too good with those, like Mat1583 and KarenAlexa said.

Bought mine on ebay for $50 and installed it myself in 15 minutes. Neither pricey nor hard to install.
-washboard

If I could get the Ipod adapter for not too much and something that's fairly simple to install, that seems like it would be the best way to go. Any recommendations on brands and such?

Oh, and my nano holds 2 gigs...just enough for me right now. :)