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Griffin Technology SmartDeck Intelligent Cassette Adapter for iPod
 
Manufacturer: Griffin Technology
Customer Rating:
 
List Price: $29.99
Sale Price: $9.89
Availibility: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Intelligent Cassette Adapter for iPod

Product Details
  • Control iPod navigation through the car stereo
  • Intelligent level control for optimal input levels
  • Features highest-quality tape head for crystal clear quality
  • Sets optimal volume on the iPod for best audio quality
  • Compatibility: iPod mini, 3G iPod, 4G iPod with click wheel

Video Reviews
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Customer Reviews
Do you love poor sound quality?
 
Review Date: January 17, 2006
Reviewer: Dave, Pittsburgh, USA
If you're like me, there's nothing you hate more than great sound quality. Frankly, nothing bothers me more than listening to music on my iPod via my really high quality car stereo without it sounding like I've got a burlap bag over my head, just like the one from Missing in Action -- in fact, the only shortcoming of this awesome device is that it doesn't come with a hungry rat that'll gnaw your face off!
Closed Tape Decks
 
Review Date: August 24, 2006
Reviewer: C. Kime, Farmington, CT USA
My Mercedes has a tape deck that requires the door to be shut to function. I was worried when ordering this product that I wouldn't be able to shut the tape deck door, but got it anyway since it was the best solution at the time, allowing me to use my car's steering wheel controls to seek through songs. Although the wire from the cassette to the iPod was too thick to shut, I was able to strip the wire coating way down (and eventualloy all the way off) and shut the tape deck. It still works to this date. Although I would NOT recommend doing this to yours, as it might impair the functionability of the SmartDeck, it did work for me.

Not sure if this'll help anyone, but I was looking for some info like this when buying mine.

-Sam
Works great for me
 
Review Date: April 23, 2007
Reviewer: J. Ragsdale, Dallas, TX United States
I'm glad I bought this before reading the other reviews because it works great for me in my 2000 Lexus RX300. Our 1999 Ford Escort will spit it out a few times when it is first inserted, but it eventually stays in. The cassette forward and reverse buttons work as advertised. The sound quality is very good. For me this was a much better solution than an FM transmitter.
Works fine for me, but it's noisy
 
Review Date: August 2, 2006
Reviewer: woburnmusicfan, Woburn, MA United States
This is a fairly ingenious device, with a pretend cassette that acts as an interface to get your iPod's music to your car stereo's speakers. There is an umbilical off the cassette that connects to the iPod. The adapter also allows your rewind and fast-forward buttons to move you forward or back a track. When you eject the cassette, it automatically pauses the iPod.

Unlike several of the reviewers, I've had no trouble getting this adapter to work. (For those who think it's car-specific, I have a Honda.) My one issue with the adapter is that I find it to be pretty noisy. My experience has been that when the outside temperature gets above 65 F or so, there is a LOT of mechanical noise coming from the tape deck as the pretend cassette wheels in the adapter move. If you listen to music that has quiet passages, it will be pretty annoying. The metal parts of the cassette get very hot, and this may be triggering the noise.

The SmartDeck is a lot cheaper than the FM adapters I've seen for the iPod, and if you're on a long trip you don't have to keep changing frequencies to avoid local radio stations. But it's no quieter than FM adapters. And unlike some FM adapters, you can't plug the SmartDeck into your cigarette lighter to save the iPod battery.

(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)
Works for me. But don't buy it.
 
Review Date: December 25, 2005
Reviewer: A. Verma, Columbus
Having read such terrible reviews for this item, I probably shouldn't have purchased it. But I had to try it for myself, and personally I think it works as advertised. I own an 3G Acura TL. I have used the Griffin RoadTrip in the past and it worked pretty well with my Lancer's stock stereo. Unfortunately, its limitations were 'amplified' in the Acura's high-end system. So I discarded it and decided to try a cassette adapter.

When I inserted the tape, it whirred and clicked for a few seconds before finally coming on. The sound was extremely loud and the bass was exaggerated and distorted. A few minutes of tweaking the pod and the stereo fixed that. The trick was to turn the car stereo bass off (I set mine to -2). Use the Bass Reducer on the iPod if necessary. Also keep the iPod volume really low (25 to 30%). Music then sounds clear and the bass quite crisp.

The Fwd and Prev function work too. But it takes a few seconds, screeches and clicks some more before skipping to the next track. Because of this delayed response moving to a previous track is impossible (just keeps repeating the current track). So this feature is absolutely useless. If I do keep the SmartDeck, I will probably buy a dock and use the pod directly to skip tracks.

The whirring sound continues when the music is playing, but is so faint I had to really strain to hear it.

In conclusion, I would NOT recommend buying the Griffin SmartDeck. It's not that smart. As a tape adapter it works fine, but is overpriced and the special features really don't work too well. I will probably try a Sony or Coby adapter before deciding if the SmartDeck if worth keeping or not.

PS: I had originally ordered the dock connector version of this product, which also has horrible reviews. Interestingly, Amazon refuses to ship it for some reason (It's been 8 weeks since I ordered it and has been available everwhere since November).

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Filed under: Tape Decks

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