It’s not often that we get excited about an FM transmitter. As a matter of fact, the iTrip Pocket is the first FM transmitter we have ever gotten excited about. In general, FM transmitters aren’t the most exciting devices. They’re just useful devices which serve the purpose of getting music off of your digital audio player and on to any system with an FM radio. I’ve owned a few FM transmitters in the past and well, they’ve all sucked. As a matter of fact i’d kind of given up on them until now. However, I’d never tried any of Griffins iTrips though I had heard good things about them.
When I spotted the new iTrip Pocket and noticed how small it was and how it looked to be a perfect compliment to the iPod Nano, I just had to try it. It turns out that it’s quality and build are so similar to the Nano itself that one could be fooled in to thinking that it was an accessory that Apple produced themselves. Also, it unquestionably must be be one of the smallest FM transmitters available.
Setting up the iTrip Pocked was a cinch. I connected it to the bottom of my Nano via it’s dock connector. The Nano picked it up right away and flashed on one of the preset FM bands that the iTrip comes set up with. The iTrip pocket draws power to run directly from the Nano, which I prefer much better to having to worry about batteries or charging the transmitter. As it is with gadgets nowadays we are constantly having to keep on top of charging devices, who wants to worry about charging the accessories to those gadgets as well!
On the iTrip Pocket are three buttons, labeled as 1, 2 and 3, each one functions as a preset for an FM band. Above those three buttons is a directional button which allows you to navigate through stations. First I tried the presets, but all of them had to much interference from nearby radio stations so I used the directional button to navigate to a station with the least interference as possible. After that, music came through very well, much better then the experience I’ve had with any previous FM transmitter. I don’t claim to be an expert FM transmitters, but from the few I’ve tested, the iTrip Pocket came out on top. Though I am sure that there are perhaps more expensive FM transmitters which can offer even better quality, but they will undoubtedly cost more and not be as conveniently designed as the iTrip Pocket is if you own a 2G Nano. However I did notice that if I place the iTrip Pocket in the back seat of my car, the signal started to become staticy and erratic. In general, The closer to the FM radio, the better the music coming out of the radio sounds.
Overall, the iTrip Pocket has been a pleasure to use. The fact that it is so light tiny and it matches perfectly with my Nano is really great, and it makes me feel less annoyed about having to carry along an extra bulky accessory. A clear hard plastic Dock Connector cover is included as well so that you can toss it into a bag without worrying about it scratching up anything. Using the iTrip Pocket with both with my Car radio and home stereo system worked superbly. The iTrip Pocket is reasonably priced at $49.99, so If you have a 2nd generation Nano and you need an FM transmitter, look no further. Also, we spotted it for $39.99 at MWave, making the iTrip Pocket even more enticing to purchase.
