too bad my car only has a CD player...

...now all I have to do is buy an iPod

one problem...I'm low on cash...

laterz

My car's cassette player has a flip-down window of sorts that must be closed after the cassette is inserted. This makes a "cassette on a string" design a bit problemmatic, as their wires are usually too large in diameter to allow the door to be closed (probably not an accident, on the Automaker's part, unfortunately).

What would be a better alternative for me would be a wireless bluetooth device that draws power from the cassette's little turn spindle.

...of course, what would be a much better alternative overall would be a standard 'headphone' jack to plug an iPod into. But gosh, that would be to embrace a standard


-hh

Belkins (and I am sure others by now too) offer a little FM transmitter that plugs into the ipods headphone jack, reception can be a challenge if you live in a metropolitan area

Quote

Guest wrote:
Belkins (and I am sure others by now too) offer a little FM transmitter that plugs into the ipods headphone jack, reception can be a challenge if you live in a metropolitan area

Belkin was a latecomer to the business and their TuneCast and TuneCast II are relatively lame. Their big advantage is that they can be used with other devices. The most elegant solution is the Griffin iTrip. The Sonnet PodFreq is pretty good, but bulky and fairly expensive. It's major advantage is that it works from the docking connector, rather than the headphone jack, so it isn't affected by the iPod's volume control and should have less problem with distortion. It's also a case of a sort. I use the iTrip with a retractable charge/sync cable and an adaptor that plugs into the car's aux power outlet (used to be the cigarette lighter <G>) and gives power through a FireWire socket.

In the article, it says:

"SmartDeck's features effectively puts the US$24.99 product in direct competition with more expensive adapters like the $99 420i from Alpine, or new adapters from AudioVox and Pioneer announced last week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, NV. Unlike those products, however, SmartDeck will not display meta data on your car stereo's display."

Hardly. That's like saying that a flintlock rifle is a competitor to a machine gun. The Griffin device uses the directional controls of the cassette deck, I expect. That will NOT work with a lot of decks: they will detect the absence of the tape and barf. The deck in an older Toyota I had would flip back and forth with a cassette adaptor. The deck I put into the next car, a '92 Corolla, had the cassette deck behind the control face--you have to flip the face closed to use it, so it couldn't use any fake cassettes with cords coming from them.

The other adaptors--Audiovox and Pioneer are nowhere near the most versatile or adaptable (see the iPod2car adaptor and the Monster iCruze, for example)--connect permanently to the car stereo, usually at the CD changer interface. (They don't affect a built-in/internal CD drive, just the changer input.) They will work with a large variety of stereos, including factory-installed stereos. They also provide power to the iPod. (The Griffin SmartDeck doesn't, so, as with the TuneCast II, you'll have two cables entwining.) You can use the car's steering wheel stereo controls to change playlists (6-10--the number of disks that could be in an optional changer) and tracks. (I've named my top 6 tracks with numbers to put them at the top of the list on the iPd.) The Monster iCruze will have an optional display, as well. With them, you could put the iPod in the glove compartment, center console, etc.--almost anywhere--out of signt is a good idea. The SmartDeck will force you to keep the iPod close to the cassette slot, perhaps hanging by the cord.

OK, only kidding, I was a teenager when they were invented (and 8 track!) but like any technofile, I've junked the frankly awful things - and the spawn of satan tapes - long long ago.

I really don't know many people in the UK who have a cassette deck in their cars still, and if they do, they probably can't afford an iPod at UK prices!

Are they still so prevalent in the USA? Does anyone actually SELL a new car with them fitted??? Surely NOT.

I love my iPod but the complete lack of REALLY nice ways to use it in the car sucks.

Headless Macs, Flash iPods, yeah yeah, but what I REALLY would like to see is an in car deck from APPLE - or from APPLE and a good partner, that SIMPLY lets me slot in my iPod, maybe just like those old cassettes, and go.

This, to me at least, doesn't seem like rocket science to achieve and with SO MANY iPods and MP3 players around, it maybe ought to feature a holds-all-flavours cartridge/adaptor before slotting in.

Or, if APPLE want to do it the way normal iTunes/iPod way, make sure it ONLY fits iPods...

Has anyone heard of ANYBODY that wants their Dell Junkbox (sic) or Zen or anything else to play in their car? Interesting isn't it? The iPod has become so pervasive and, dare we say it, standard, that we want it with us everywhere. Hmmm, next up the Griffin iShower with a set of waterproof speakers and remote control for the bath!!

i have a Belkin Cassette Adapter... and I just replaced my car radio with a Pioneer KEH-P4020 Cassette Receiver because its predecessor, a Mitsubishi Anti-Theft cassette-radio that came with the car, had given up on me. (yes, i still installed a cassette deck just for the sake of being able to listen to my iPod mini in the car!). My point is none of those FM transmitters worked for my iPod mini in the car. The only thing that could work is that cassette adapter.. and now, it wouldn't work because my new radio has that "flip-face" feature... and that dangling cassette adapter wire has become a huge problem..

Mac idiots.

Let's look at the reality of this as a product. Sure, an iPod owner could go and buy a iPod2car or an iCruze or even a Desian module for their car (provided there is a compatible harness for their vehicle). The cost of these packages ranges from $100 to over $500 depending again on the vehicle and whether the owner wants all the bells and whistles to completely control their iPod.

Even with these expensive modules installed, some of the functionality may be lost...

-The iCruze module will only play playlists and the iPod display and controls are completely cut-off until you undock.

-If you have an external cd changer, it will have to be disconnected completely.

-You may or may not be able to see the song title and other file information depending on the vehicles radio or whether the user bought an addon module for viewing this information.

Now add on to of all of that the cost to actually install these high-end packages and you can be looking at well over $700 - $1000.

Now examine the Griffin SmartDeck.

-It allows you to connect you iPod quickly
(no installation costs)
-It allows you to change tracks.
-It auto-levels the volume.
-It works with all iPods and even other devices.
(certain low-end iPods and other devices lose the ability to change tracks with the cassette controls, but can still use the smartdeck as a standard cassette adapter.)
-It does not disconnect your external CD changer.
-It provides 95% of the audio clarity of more expensive options.

and the big one...

-It costs about $25 bucks (MSRP). This leaves me more money to buy music I can put on my iPod.

Now tell me, which is a better value?

This is a great technology. How clever to be a able to controls in older vechiles for today's technology.. Brillant.

I just got a Acura which still comes with a tape deck, along with XM, and 6 cd. Before this the only decent option was splitting the XM line, and manually switching back and forth. Now I can just hit cassette and be on my Ipod, since I dont actually own any tapes.

I am going to attempt to combine this with the Transpod, which if it works will allow me to drop in the IPOD and charge it and connect to the smartdeck, without having to touch wires.

Has it even shipped yet? They've been talking about this for many months, but I have never actually seen one in a store (or online).

Still shows "pre-order" on their website.

just a quick question. are the video cassettes still popular in UK? US still has a lots of rentals that offer significant percentage of movies in this format.