I have been following the many posts regarding the issue of a quality installation for an ipod in the Cayman S. By now, most of us know that Porsche radios are not user friendly for hard wired options(non so far) and so the question becomes: Is there an option out there that works well enough to satisfy all but the diehard audiofile, and thus provide us the use of our ipods?
Also, this may also be a fix for those that do not want to break into the dash, firewall, existing harnesses, etc. and would accept some compromises to use something that is wireless, easy to set up and take down, and works better than any other FM Transmitter device I have seen.
I am refering to the Griffin RoadTrip. It sells for $90.00 at Best Buy and $59.99 on Amazon.com. I have used it for about a week and both my wife and I find it very acceptable, and by no means a nuisance in terms of static. You will hear some static during certain conditions or when your hand is on the unit to press a button, but 98% of the time it is not audible during playing. The average rating on Amazon.com is 41/2 stars out of 5.
Unlike many other FM Transmitters, the tuner matching options on the device are limitless, and so there is a better chance that you can find a frequency in your area that works the best for you. I think the connection hardware options along with the location of the cigarette lighter in the Cayman S make the final setup very convenient for both the driver or the passenger. I have posted the pics to demonstrate.
Perfect? No. Better than not having the use of your ipod, and without a lot of static? Definitely.
I'm sure that setup would work better than my iTrip. As you mentioned the ability to change frequencies easily is key to making it work nicely. Also in using an iTrip the trick is in getting it close to the antenna and setting volume about 2/3 up at a low frequency band which usually makes for acceptable sound.
But my stop gap measure is still burning special mp3 disks since I have the PCM system ordered.
Nice job in getting the RoadTrip installed to work good.
Is this the one you have?
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/reviews/comments/griffin-roadtrip-all-in-one-car-solution-ipod/
Doesn't appear to be half bad.
SantaFe,
It is the same except the pictures depict a different extension than the one currently packaged. All the other contents are identical. They include everything you need to make it functional with all the different ipod models except the ishuffle.
BTW, I clicked on Buy.com at the end of your posted web site and they currently have it for only $55.98, with free shipping and no tax.
Here's a link to a post on a Boxster board for a hard-wired solution... would this work on Cayman? Looks a little scary but I might try it if it worked and I really wanted music other than the engine:
http://www.ppbb.com/scgi-bin/boards/986/main.pl?read=1085901
Looked at the link
http://www.ppbb.com/scgi-bin/boards/986/main.pl?read=1085901
--- not very clear - same audio as Cayman???
Anyone know where to get the cables in the above link? I think i'd rather go that route then anything wireless.
kmns,
Thanks for the pics, it does look really nice. For the price I don'tthink there is much to lose by giving it a try until something better comes along.
Russ
I agree not much to lose at that price. Something to hardwire into the PCM or stereo using the MOST bus system will likely cost 10X the $59 price. I do think we'll see some products soon that are attractive though.
The belkin tunecast 2 also has limitless frequency choice and is much smaller. It connects directly to theheadphone socket so you can uas any MP3 player and can be set up to charge an ipod too.
I tried the original iTrip, but in the New York market they have wedged a station into every corner of the radio spectrum. And there's even a few pirate stations operating on top of those that the FCC assigned.
Denison claims their MOST adapter is 'real soon now,' so i'm holding out. Besides, once you hear the noise that emits from the 'backseat' starting at about 5K rpm, you're going to turn off the radio anyway... I swear it scared me the first time i pushed hard on an empty stretch of road! -john
