Griffin AutoPilot /iPhone 3G road trip report/revue

[leicaman]

Hi,

Just back from my first road trip with the 3G used continuously with the Griffin AutoPilot ( the one with the AUX output to the car's stereo... NOT the iTrip with the FM tuner...)

Used the iPhone entire way up and back from San Diego to San Francisco. Phone on the entire time, location services always on, playing iPod the entire time. Mapping and 3G were on the entire time. Made numerous phone calls during the trip... both ways. 8 hours up and 8 hours+ back.

The Griffin worked like a charm.... Phone always had a full charge even with everything running. When using the iPod the music faded when call incoming and ringtone played. Always able to track location with maps as well as and make receive calls... Position locator was flawless.:D

Still on firmware V2.0 But functioning was flawless. Took photos and uploaded to e-mail. Np problem using in the bay area which has been problematic for many.

I can HIGHLY reccomend the Griffin AutoPilot car charger... better than I expected... :D

All the iPod controlls worked... forwards/back/pause/play. The charge light showed when full charge etc. The AUX output was run through the AutoPilot and there was no line noise whatsoever.

The only thing I was NOT using was BlueTooth... But I did use more than a single driver would normally use ALL the time. Full charge.

The iPhone 3G was a jewel as well. Great road companion. I kinow the phone has some rough spots but after this real-world test I couldn't be more please... either with the Griffin or the 3G

[n3tfury]

would you mind providing a model number?

[leicaman]

http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/autopilot

:D

[n3tfury]

you rock man, thanks!

[n3tfury]

one more question: that mini to mini must plug into the connector? or does it plug into the cig adapter?

[leicaman]

I plug one 3.5 male end into the jack on the round AutoPilot next to the HI/Low slider switch ( set mine at High) and the other end plugs into my Stereo's AUX input. Nothing plugged into the iPhone but the AutoPilot's connector.:D

[n3tfury]

awesome, thanks again leicaman

[MochaChai]

Thanks for this!

i have been on the lookout for a charger that would let me use the GPS on the road and still have enough juice to charge the phone. I have an AUX input to my stereo too, so this will be perfect!


TIA

E.

[leicaman]

You should be fine... with all but BT running phone was always at full charge.:D

[tonepod]

You should be fine... with all but BT running phone was always at full charge.:D
I wouldn't be surprised that if you had BT on, your phone may very well not remain fully charged--BT is a known battery-drainer...even more so on with the iPhone 3G.

[n3tfury]

so this doesn't make your iphone 3g display the message regarding radio interference?

[leicaman]

It displayed the aircraft mode message the first time I used it and I said NO to Aircraft mode. On subsequent connections the query did not appear again.

[MochaChai]

so this doesn't make your iphone 3g display the message regarding radio interference?

I just bought mine a few hours ago based on leicaman's report. I have only tried it once, and did get the message that it was not made for the iPhone/airport mode message. Based on his report, I hope to be clear of that tomorrow. It is a very nice setup with the mini jack plugging into the AutoPilot adaptor and then into the AUX input of my radio.

Next up is a good car mount...

E.

[n3tfury]

I just bought mine a few hours ago based on leicaman's report. I have only tried it once, and did get the message that it was not made for the iPhone/airport mode message. Based on his report, I hope to be clear of that tomorrow. It is a very nice setup with the mini jack plugging into the AutoPilot adaptor and then into the AUX input of my radio.

Next up is a good car mount...

E.

okay, thanks. that just changed my mind about this device.

[MochaChai]

I still get the warning message every time I connect to the Autopilot, but this is not really a deal breaker. I have noticed a very faint 2 second high frequency pulse in the background when connected as well.. I'm not sure if it is related to the pulsing indicator ring on the Autopilot itself.

Overall, I'm still reasonably happy with this unit.

E.

[superkrad]

Can you use the aux pass through without having the charger plugged in? I would only like to use the charger when I am low so as not to keep my ipod constantly plugged in and potentially wear the battery.

[leicaman]

I would guess not.... but you don't need it if not charging.... I plug the input into the 3G's headphone jack. Sounds as good. You just have to control the iPod via the phone itself.:D

[superkrad]

Can you confirm if this is possible? I want to use the line-level out and charge it only when low. Needing it plugged in to power full time for line out to work may be a deal breaker for me.

[tonepod]

I had an opportunity to test the AutoPilot in order to see if it could maintain a full charge on my iPhone 3G while under heavy usage similar to leicaman's usage, but also adding BT to the mix; just like my tests with the Griffin PowerJolt, the AutoPilot could not keep my phone fully charged--phone went from full battery to 1/3rd full by the end of the 2.5 hour drive.

FWIW--I'm not the only person who has discovered that it seems no 500mA car charger (which both the AutoPilot and PowerJolt are rated at) can keep up with an iPhone 3G that's doing a whole bunch of power-hungry tasks (BT, 3G, GPS, iPod) simultaneously and continuously...and that's not even including other possible tasks such as auto-fetch and screen brightness being set at default (50%) brightness or higher (I had my brightness set at a mere 15% and even THAT wasn't enough to keep the battery from draining faster than the AutoPilot could recharge it).

[cristianofr]

hi guyz,
I just bought my second unit of griffin autopilot and it just Doesnt work for me.
I have an iphone (not the 3g one) and when I connect the griffin autopilot plug into the iphone everything works perfectly except for the charger.
I also got that "not made" message.
It seems that the charger is not working and even that green battery icon on the top remains inactive...
But the autopilot plug connected in the car got amber and green, so i can assume that the energy is working
As I sad in the beginnig this is the second unit that i bought,I thaught this failure was something wrong in the old one, then got a new one in another store.

Does anybody has a clue ?

Thanks,

Cris

[Anachronism]

Can you confirm if this is possible? I want to use the line-level out and charge it only when low. Needing it plugged in to power full time for line out to work may be a deal breaker for me.

Line out does not work unless the charger is plugged in. I don't know why you would want to use it without plugging it in anyway, running the battery down then charging it (cycling) is what wears the battery out.

I have a cassette adapter plugged in with the switch set to low and it works fine other than sometimes I get a thump when I turn my car off. The airplane mode message has not gone away, it's not as annoying as I thought it would be.

[cristianofr]

hi guyz,
I just bought my second unit of griffin autopilot and it just Doesnt work for me.
I have an iphone (not the 3g one) and when I connect the griffin autopilot plug into the iphone everything works perfectly except for the charger.
I also got that "not made" message.
It seems that the charger is not working and even that green battery icon on the top remains inactive...
But the autopilot plug connected in the car got amber and green, so i can assume that the energy is working
As I sad in the beginnig this is the second unit that i bought,I thaught this failure was something wrong in the old one, then got a new one in another store.

Does anybody has a clue ?

Thanks,

Cris
Help ????????

[TMC2k1]

This will not work when I have my iPod Touch in my apple universal dock. Is this normal?

[eqblues]

The page for the Griffin AutoPilot, doesnt include the iPhone among the compatible devices, so if youre having trouble with it, thats why. They have other products made specifically for iPhones.

[OrangeChannel]

Sorry to bring back an old thread...I've been using one of these with the old 1st gen phone, I just updated it to a 32gb 3GS, and I noticed today that play buttons have been sort of jumping upward towards the album artwork while connected to the Autopilot...there's not noise issues, I've taken a pile of phone calls, but it's a little weird that the play, ffwd, rwd and the volume slider would do that....it's almost like it's pulsating. The phones not getting hot or anything so I guess it's easy peasy...I'm going to try a reboot and see if it happens tomorrow...

[greatcapp]

I have the same issue as above with my new 3GS.
Not only do i have that, but also, if i leave the iPhone plugged in, when i turn off/off the ignition, every 2 or 3 times it re-boots the handset, resetting the time to 01.01 1st Jan 1970.
Most annoying.

[soundhd]

How long is the cable on the AutoPilot?

[OrangeChannel]

I have the same issue as above with my new 3GS.
Not only do i have that, but also, if i leave the iPhone plugged in, when i turn off/off the ignition, every 2 or 3 times it re-boots the handset, resetting the time to 01.01 1st Jan 1970.
Most annoying.

Probably because it's not recommended to keep your device connected when starting the vehicle. You get a spike at the point of ignition. That being said I never had that issue with the original iPhone and the same device. Can't wait for the TomTom cradle...

[Anachronism]

How long is the cable on the AutoPilot?

I have been meaning to measure it but I keep forgetting - it's about 2 feet though.

[Anachronism]

I have been meaning to measure it but I keep forgetting - it's about 2 feet though.
Ok, closer to 2 1/2 or 3 feet.

I also was not able to maintain a full charge while using GPS for several hours straight.