Summary of Auto Charger Options

[skiboy00]

I see many postings for the different brands of auto chargers and they are scattered all over the place.
I have tried several searches to find out about the differences, but can never find any postings that help me come to a conclusion. I guess I still have yet to master the fine art of searches.

At the risk of being scolded for posting a question that has been asked many times before, I need to ask:

Is there an auto charger option that would work with an Itrip or with my earphones? Or will they all work?
In other words, all I want is to keep my Ipod charged.
It seems that the Belkin, the Sik, and the Monster all assume that you will be using the "line out" to pipe the music to an aux in on your radio (which I currently do not have). From the many postings, I get the impression that you cannot play music out of both the top and the bottom (I am so confused ).

That asked, it would be nice if there was a sticky on the subject of chargers so that most general questions would be addressed immediately.

Thanks...

[gvenditto]

The forums used to have lots of posts but the unfortunate crash resulted in the loss of a lot of great information.

What I remember reading is that iceLink
http://icelink.densionusa.com/
will charge while the iPod is connected in your car. This product is used when your car has a CD-changer and you're willing to take it and use your iPod instead.

I considered it but instead went with a blitz-safe connector for my BMW. It is also a replacement for the CD changer but it was simpler to install and cheaper ($99 vs. $200). I also didn't want to mess with the car's electronics (the product was brand new when I bought my blitz-safe adapter).

I never tried those others -- I charge mine in the house.

[brted]

Any of them will power the iPod and allow access to the headphone jack. But some come with extras.

The Sik imp has a line out from the dock connector which gives you a better quality signal than from the headphones jack.

The Belkin does this too but has a volume control. While that might not give you the cleanest signal, the dock line out signal is too strong for casette adapters or FM transmitters.

The Monster charger is just a charger but claims to provide a trickle charge (I thought the iPod regulated that by itself though).

The Monster icarplay powers the iPod and has a FM transmitter so you can tune it in on your car radio.

The Griffin Technology Powerpod is just a charger but the cord is removable so it gives you an extra firewire-dock sync cable. That's why I bought that one.

You can get no-brand plain chargers on Ebay as well.

[volki]

Originally posted by brted
The Monster charger is just a charger but claims to provide a trickle charge (I thought the iPod regulated that by itself though)

Monster charger IS NOT just a charger (for the 3G iPods). It has a line out at the connector, just like the Belkin and Sik Imp. See this thread (http://www.ipodlounge.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=21420) for pictures...

Your best bet is to get a "plain" charger, if you are OK with the headphone jack output. Belkin has a charger (not the Auto Kit itself), along with many no-name stuff on eBay (as mentioned).

[Diane]

It seems Monster has two flavers, one with the line out and one without. :)

Diane

[MOCKBA]

Belkin is only one pausing iPod after turning engine off.

[volki]

This should be "one with line out - for 3G iPods" and "one without" for 1&2G iPods... ;)

[thebrain_16]

Mockba,

Are you talking about the Belkin Mobile Power Cord for iPod w/ Dock Connector? I'm looking to buy a car charger, but I'm not sure which one to buy yet. All I want to do is charge my iPod in my car while using the iTrip. But if the charger shuts off/Pauses the iPod when you turn off your car, than I'm gonna get the Belkin charger.

[BigPicnic]

Does the Belkin charger really pause it? That's great.

Anyone have any experience connecting from an FM modulator to the belkin line out. Does that diminish the sound quality?

[mookiemeister]

Belkin makes two chargers. Apparently one with volume control and one without, since I bought a Belkin car charger that doesn't have a volume control. It does have a extra line-out though.

[MOCKBA]

Can you provide a link or a part number of Belkin without volume control?

[Lynch]

Info about the Belkin with line out:
1. pauses ipod when power is lost to outlet. I'm not sure what happens if it is connected to an outlet that is powered when the engine is off. When hooked up to a dock, the Belkin does not pause the iPod.

2. I found a significant quality loss when the Belkin's line out is hooked up through the line out to my Audiovox FMM100A FM modulator. The best sound quality is found from the line out on the dock, then the headpohne jack, and then the Belkin charger has the least attractive sound quality. Also, if the Belkin is hooked up to a dock, the lineout does not pass through to the charger, it is passed out through the dock.

[mookiemeister]

Originally posted by MOCKBA
Can you provide a link or a part number of Belkin without volume control?

I bought mine from http://www.apple.com/store. They listed two Belkin car chargers, one for $19.95 and the other one is $39.95. So I bought the cheaper one. The $19.95 one I got has the Mfg part T8881LL/A and UPC is 0722868480380.

[mookiemeister]

Originally posted by Lynch
Info about the Belkin with line out:
1. pauses ipod when power is lost to outlet. I'm not sure what happens if it is connected to an outlet that is powered when the engine is off. When hooked up to a dock, the Belkin does not pause the iPod.

2. I found a significant quality loss when the Belkin's line out is hooked up through the line out to my Audiovox FMM100A FM modulator. The best sound quality is found from the line out on the dock, then the headpohne jack, and then the Belkin charger has the least attractive sound quality. Also, if the Belkin is hooked up to a dock, the lineout does not pass through to the charger, it is passed out through the dock.

Questions:

1. Do you need to use the line-out from Belkin charger to get it to pause when engine is turned off? I just tested my Belkin car charger with my iPod + iTrip and it doesn't pause iPod when I turn off my car engine. The outlet is not powered because Belkin charger LED light is not on when engine is off. I'm just wondering if I need to use the line-out to get the charger to pause my iPod.

2. I don't notice any additional noise at all when using Belkin charger versus iPod's battery. Although it could be because iTrip already produce some noise itself so maybe I couldn't tell.