For Christmas Linda gave me a Griffin SmartDeck. While this worked great for my iPod Mini, it only worked in our van, as my car does not have a cassette player. So, while I’d take my Mini with me to listen to in the office, I also carried my first generation iPod and iTrip for the car. Even though the quality was horrible, it was still better than listening to the radio.
Unfortunately we began to notice a problem with the SmartDeck. At random it would skip to the next track, or wouldn’t stop skipping all tracks until ejected. Then came the demise of my iPod Mini in the hands of the washing machine (must remember to check pant pockets before putting them in the laundry basket). For those keeping score this is the second device I’ve lost to the washing machine, the previous being a mobile phone.
During the mourning period for my iPod Mini, Linda picked me up a new 30GB iPod (video). While this was a welcome replacement, it also sealed the doom of the SmartDeck. The interface on the 30GB iPod is dock connector only, whereas the version of SmartDeck I’d received connects to the iPod remote connector found on the iPod Mini and probably 3rd/4th generation iPods. This left me lacking the ability to play the new iPod in both the car and the van.
Today I made a quick stop at BestBuy to check out their iPod peripherals in hopes of finding a SmartDeck with dock connector, or a good quality mini jack to tape deck adapter. The sales guy there strongly advised me against a tape deck adapter stating that the new iTrip would sound better than any cassette adapter, and the technology had improved enough that even in a city with no station free channels the iPod transmission would be clear.
Sure enough when I started using it in the van on the way home, first station I picked I was able to hear the iPod clearly. This is way better than the first generation iTrip.
