Griffin 7265-TRIPUNB iTrip Universal Play any MP3 Player On Your Car or Home Stereo

Here's my opinion of the Griffin iTrip Universal. I have a 4th Gen iPod Nano, which I love. I looked at the "old" style of the iTrips specifically designed for Nano, but there was not a 4th Gen one out yet. I decided to go ahead and purchase the iTrip Universal, that way if someone was in my car with an MP3 player other than an iPod, it would still be able to be used. I was extremely excited once I received it and thought the charging mechanism (via USB) was brilliant since you wouldn't drain your iPod battery using it. However, the excitement quickly faded when I went to use it the first time. I charged it fully and a few days (4 days tops) later went to use it. It was completely dead. I had assumed I had done something wrong, since I hadn't used it yet. I recharged it later that day and used it the next day. I drive a fairly small car and have used FM transmitters before without issue. With the iTrip universal however, there are 2, maybe 3, places in my vehicle I can set...Read more

I've owned and used this product for close to a year now. Bought it as soon as it came out. That was a mistake. It is cute and is good in theory, but not in practice. Here's a quick summary after using it many times in many situations:

* Short shelf life for battery. To charge battery you must connect it to a USB port of computer. Good in theory. But after a charge, if you don't use it soon afterward, when you go to use it, the battery is dead and you need several hours to charge it up again. Who is going to keep it constantly attached to a USB port?

* Signal strength is weak. From back seat of minivan or sedan, static is present while music is playing unless you hold the iTrip just right. Have had several other transmitters that have much greater range. In a house, maximum unobstructed range is 15-20 feet.

* Cord to connect to headphone jack of music player is ridiculously short. Like 4 inches long. Why so short??!!

* Display is...Read more

I have purchased the iTrip MP3 player basically to play in my stereo the music I have stored in my computer. If you find a clean FM frequency, the device will transmitter properly. However, some interference may remain depending on how the transmitter is placed (beside the computer or on it, for example). For this reason I found that the cord to connect to headphone jack of music player should be much longer. A longer cord may also improve reception.
The battery drops faster than what the seller says (about 4-6 hours). Moreover, it drops even without use.
All these drawbacks may make this device useless for use in your car, but it still worth for use at your home.