8 December 2006 1:00 GMT / By Stuart Miles

The iTrip is now legal, but does it work? We took to the roads with the iTrip Auto to find out.

If you're tight of space and have an iPod whose battery is on its lasts legs then this is probably the best of the Griffin range for you.

The small tuner dongle comes with a cigarette lighter charger, a small screen so you can see the FM signal you're tuning in to and a docking port connector to connect to most of the iPod's except the shuffle.

The benefit with the iTrip Auto is that it acts a charger as well as a transmitter, however it also means that you'll need to plug it in to work.

Available in black or white to suit either iPod colour the small screen is illuminated and shows the bear minimum information that you need. That information is basically the range of FM signal you can transmit, in this case 87.9-107.9 FM.

Once tuned in, all that's left is to tune your car radio into that frequency. And here lies the rub; you've got to make sure that the signal your trying to transmit to is free. Try and take over the Radio 2 signal for instance and you're going to struggle with lots of interference.

That's said when you do find a spare bit of signal on the band, you're in business and your favourite tunes will be piped out in your car for you to sing along to.

In our tests, quality of the iTrip Auto was very good, there is no software to install and it’s a case of plugging it in, selecting the channel and away you go.

Verdict

As a small bolt on to the iPod, the iTrip Auto is a great addition to your in-car entertainment as long as you can get a signal on your radio.

The ability to charge your iPod at the same time is a great bonus over Griffin's original iTrip that sucks battery life from your iPod like it's going out of fashion.

If you're fussed about battery life, then this is the one to go for, however if you don't want to cover your car in more wires the original iTrip will be better for you.

Score

Review Recap

Made by

Griffin

Price as reviewed

£45.95

The good

Easy to install, easy to use, powers your iPod

The bad

Have to find spare frequency to transmit signal to

Quick verdict

If you're fussed about battery life, then this is the one to go for, however if you don't want to cover your cars in more wires the original iTrip will be better for you

Score

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