How to Listen to Your iPod in the Car

The Apple iPod is wonderful because you can take your music collection with you wherever you go. One place you deffinitely want to be able to listen to your iPod is in the car. You can do this with the help of a car adapter, but you need to know the two best car adapters for use with iPods, which one is right for your, and how to use it.

Instructions

Tape Adapter

1. Use a tape adapter, if you have a tape player in your car. The easiest and least expensive way to listen to your iPod is through a tape adapter. These basically look just like a cassette tape with a wire attached that runs to your iPod.

2. Purchase a tape adapter. It's best to buy one that is specifically made for iPods since ones that are not can cause annoying your iPod to randomly pause. Tape adapters specifically for iPods are available fairly inexpensively at any electronics or music store.

3. Plug the end of the cord into the headphone jack of your iPod. Slide the tape end into your car's cassette player. Now press play on your tape player and play music on your iPod normally. The music will be played through your car speakers.

FM Transmitter

1. Use an FM transmitter. If you do not have a tape player in your car, you can listen to your iPod via an FM Transmitter. This is a device that plugs into your iPod's headphone jack and broadcasts the music over an FM radio station so that you can listen to your music on your car's speakers.

2. Purchase an FM Transmitter at an electronics or music store. The most important thing to look for when buying an FM transmitter is to get one that can play on ALL the FM stations. Some transmitters only play on a few of the least-used stations and if you happen to live in an area where these stations are broadcasting, you are out of luck.

3. Find a clear radio station to play your music over. Turn on your car radio to FM and listen to each frequency until you find one that has almost no noise. Set your FM transmitter to that station number (i.e. 94.5). Play your iPod normally and the sound will be played through your car's speakers.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are only getting sound on either the left or right side of your car, make sure that the headphone plug is pushed all the way in.

• If you are going to listen to your iPod in the car frequently, you may want to purchase a car charger for it. Some companies sell products that are both car chargers and FM transmitters, so you may want to consider this when purchasing a transmitter.

• If you are the only person in your car, it is recommended that you set your iPod to shuffle so you are not constantly looking down trying to find a new song while driving.

• Avoid any product that requires you to set the radio station by playing a track on your iPod, such as the Griffin iTrip. These are extremely difficult to use.