- 1). Purchase an FM transmitter for your iPod. What this does is essentially turn your iPod into a very low-grade radio station that has roughly the range of your car. Plug it in to your iPod and the cigarette lighter, then tune your radio to the matching radio station that's displayed on your transmitter. The downside to this is you don't come close to achieving optimum sound quality, and your iPod is subject to radio interference. If you live in a big city, it'll be hard to find a frequency that doesn't have interference. The good news is this is relatively cheap--probably around $30.
- 2). Purchase a cassette adapter for your car. This will allow you to play your iPod through your tape deck, if you have one. The cassette adapter is a regular-sized tape that has a thin wire running off of it, and that wire would connect to your iPod. Cassette adapters are also relatively cheap (around $30), and will allow your iPod to play without radio interference. While this doesn't get you full digital quality, it's pretty close. The downside is you have a wire running down the front of your console, and most cars no longer have cassette decks.
- 3). Purchase a wire that has 3.5 mm ends on both sides. This only works if your car has a radio with a built-in auxiliary or MP3 jack. This allows you to connect your iPod directly to your car stereo, has no interference, full digital quality and the wire is as cheap as any of your other options. Again, like the cassette adapter, the downside is running a wire down the front console of your car.
- 4). Purchase a new car stereo unit that has an auxiliary or MP3 jack in the front, then follow Step 3. This will probably run you about $200 plus either the cost of installation, or some time to install the stereo yourself. However, before you do this, consider the options in Step 5; for a little bit more money, you'll get a much better result.
- 5). Purchase a new car stereo unit that has full iPod functionality. Once installed, you will have an iPod connector built in and hidden in your car, usually in the glove compartment. It will plug in to the bottom flat plug of the iPod. This gives you full control of your iPod through your car stereo. You will be able to access your full playlists, change songs, skip songs and even charge your iPod, simply by plugging it in. It also carries the benefit of full digital quality with little loss. The downside is the expense; it will run you $250 to $300 as of 2008, depending on the stereo and the installation.
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