Griffin RoadTrip SmartScan Follow Up
To follow up my previous post about the Griffin RoadTrip with SmartScan I bought on Amazon.... I did receive a replacement last Thursday. This time I used it in our TrailBlazer. It worked fine out of the box when I plugged it in, but it does seem very snug and I am a little worried this might not be the device to transport back and forth between vehicles for fear of what happened with the first one.
After a weekend of use I have a few issues to complain about. I was hopeful that the SmartScan feature would work better. Unfortunately, it seems to pick stations that are far worse than the ones I find manually (usually in the 88.3-88.9 range). Also, while it works fine to charge and play the iPhone 3G, the adapters in the box do not include one for the iPhone or iPod touch, so I am using the 80GB adapter. It seems to fit snugly (maybe too snugly) and the home button on the iPhone is slightly covered. I also found myself fiddling with the controls. While the play / next buttons might be more useful with a regular iPod, I find the iPhone interface easier to control my music. Not that I would mind the functionality, but the existence of these nicely lit up buttons on the Griffin do obscure the function of switching stations while driving. You actually have to change the function to manually adjust the stations.
In designing the Griffin I imagine the idea was you would be switching music tracks often while leaving the station setting alone. I, however, have the opposite need. I listen to podcasts primarily. I have never found any of these FM transmitters good enough to listen to music with. A single podcast (TWIT, Security Now, MacBreak Weekly) may be an hour and 20 minutes or so. During this time, I don't need to do anything but occasionally pause the podcast. I do, however need to change station about 5 times between Springfield, IL and Bloomington, IL due to static.
In my original article I mentioned that the older Griffin I had a lot of trouble staying upright under the weight of the iPhone. The new flexible one did solve that problem and it is definately more aesthetically pleasing. However, I wish there was a way to shorten the flexible neck. While it is fine for our TrailBlazer, It has a much bigger footprint than I expected it to have in my car. For this reason alone, I will probably be leaving this device only in the TrailBlazer.
Overall, I am a little disappointed. I do think that the Griffin RoadTrip SmartScan is a decent solution for podcast / audiobook listners, or non-picky music lister with plenty of room in their vehicle and for someone who plans to leave it in one spot. I do also want to mention the audio out for users with a Line-In in the car. That solves the mediocre audio, however, if you are going this route you might as well save some money and buy the Tune2Aux device. I have not decided if I will keep this unit or not, but I am continuing to look.
