I also ditched the FM transmitter idea. The quality sucked, it was hard to get working all the time, and the volume was never loud enough. Oh, and too much interference. The only way to go is a hard-line connection, and like you I have a Matrix with no tape deck.

What I ended up doing was splurging on a new Pioneer head unit with a rear auxillary input, so I ran a cable from the back through the mounting bracket, and now I can listen to my iPod. It really seems to be the only way to do it on the Matrix, short of going to talk to your Toyota dealership and paying WAY too much money to get it integrated into your car.

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I use the Kensington Digital FM Transmitter/Auto Charger. It works great long cable and great bass, gives a real rich sound. I owned the iTrip for awhile and this transmitter is a so much better. The other nice thing is that I can use it with my protective case on.

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I picked an inline (you splice into your attenna cable) FM modulator from Walmart for around $25. It's been working great with my factory deck for over a year now. Audio quality is comparable to a good FM stereo station. Plus, it uses a standard mini plug for the audio so when Microsoft releases Zune you can keep on rocking.... with your ipod.

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I have a monster fm transmitter. It works well. But was expensive.

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I say nay. My car doesn't have a regular antenna, just one of those barely visible wires embedded in the windshield, so no FM transmitter will ever work for me.

So I bought the cheapest radio I could find with auxiliary inputs (Pioneer DEH-P7300MP), which set me back about $120, plus $20 for the CD changer to RCA adapter. Since I don't smoke, I ran the cable from the back of the radio into the ashtray in the center console, so I can roll up the cable and store it inside the ashtray when not in use. I wish I could turn the ashtray itself into a dock for the iPod, but alas, my modding skills aren't l33t enough.

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I've never seen an FM transmitter that I was happy with, but I'm not terribly fond of the tape deck method either. When I get a car I'm going to look for a way to do a direct digital line in even if I have to make the cables myself.

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The FM transmitter's quality is based on a few things:

1) your car's stereo. how good is it at reveiveing a signal. we have a 2002 Hyundai elantra and a 2005 hyundai elantra (don't ask). the 2002 works better with FM transmitters.

2) the area that you live. do you live in a large city with lots of interference from radio stations? I live in St. Louis, I guess it's not so crowded with stations.

3) the transmitter itself. I had a 2nd gen iTrip that worked great in my 2002 w/ my 3rd gen iPod. but it sucked in the 2005. We have an iCarPlay that works great in the 2002 and good in the 2005, same for the PodFreq.

I never go anywhere w/o my iPod or my iCarPlay, but I can tell you this. Next time I car shop. I'm bringing them on the test drive.

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I didn't even try FM because I'm a cheapo, I just grabbed a tape adapter for my 99 avalon.  but since I will be upgrading the head unit soon (won't even play burned cds anymore), I'll make sure to grab a head unit with an aux input.  the input on my 05 element is excellent - great volume, great quality - a hard-line aux input is just the best solution you can get short of having a dock installed (which I enjoyed in my old BMW, but overall it wasn't worth the cost since it kind of defeats the purpose of having the amazing iPod interface to work with).

in summary:
nay for FM transmitter
ehh for tape adapter
yay for aux input
yay (if you have the money) for a dock, but don't drop the cash unless you really really really just want to use your car's interface

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Every FM transmitter I've tried sucks pretty bad, but you can make most of them usable by opening them up and turning up the signal amplifier. Just don't tell the FCC!

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Why not get a Harman/Kardon Drive+Play
http://www.harmankardon.com/drive-1/default.aspx

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It depends on where you are and how much FM pollution there is. Where I live, in Los Angeles, there's a radio station on nearly every band. The really strong stations blast their signals out at 50,000 watts, which means they'll override the much weaker signals nearby-including the one in my iTrip.

On the other hand, while on vacation a few years ago in Wisconsin I found I was able to use my iTrip. It worked perfectly, giving me a loud, strong and CLEAR signal.

I've also got a Matrix (the '03 model, the one without a reliable means of attaching an iPod) and to be honest, I just burn a lot of CDs. I've given up trying to use the iPod. I got the car before I got the iPod, so it wasn't a concern at the time. It's definitely something I'll watch out for next time. Apple seems to be working with manufacturers to include iPod connections in new cars, so by the time I'm ready to buy a new car I bet it won't be an issue.

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I had the iTrip then got the Monster... far far far far superior to all the ones I've heard.

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also, as far as head units go - if you're installing yourself, the VR3 unit from Wal-Mart for $80 is great for its versatility if nothing else, that'll be what I pick up when I feel like dropping the cash for a head unit.  it plays CD/MP3CD/SD cards/USB (woohoo for shuffle users!)/AUX

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I've been using a Griffin RoadTrip (the same one I won in a TUAW contest a while back, in fact) for several months with no complaints. Sound quality is good enough for me, reception is fine in town, and only usually takes a bit of tweaking when I leave town and have to find clear air.

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Definitely nay on the transmitter. I've tried three methods--transmitter, line in, and tape adapter--and the tape adapter works best. Granted, I'm using a Griffin Smartdeck, which gives line quality sound. Probably a line to a dock connector would be ideal, but I no longer have a stereo with an aux port.

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I use an iTrip on my 4G iPod with no problems in England (and yes, before you ask, they're still illegal over here). I got my sister an iTrip for her nano as well and that works fine. I think they're much better than any kind of cassette adapter.

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I had an fm modulator (MUCH better than fm transmitter) in my last car, but when I got my new car I bought a new head unit specifically with an iPod input. You can control the iPod from the head unit - it has the basic functions (play, pause, next...) and it also lets you browse your ipod by playlist, artist, album, and genre, shuffle all or by artist, AND it displays artists name and track title in the head unit. Definitely worth the cost.

There's a lot of great info on setting up your ipod in your car over at http://www.ipodincar.net

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I've never liked FM transmitters. When I got my first iPod I picked up a Belkin transmitter and immediately hated it. A week or so later I picked up an iTrip and found it even more frustrating because it still didn't work worth a damn and you had to change the frequency using tracks. I finally ended up installing an FM modulator on my stock head unit (in my Suzuki Aerio) and running a monster cable 3.5mm minijack to RCA cable from the iPod to the FM modulator. That has worked great for about two years now. The only downside is that it doesn't charge the iPod and you can't control the iPod remotely.

Just recently I bought a Lotus Elise which come stock with a Blaupunkt Acapulco head unit. Blaupunkt sells an iPod interface that works with the head unit so I gave that a shot. Big mistake. It didn't see any of the playlists, wouldn't play more than 3 or 4 tracks, had a LOT of noise/interference, etc... I ended up ditching that entire setup (Blaupunkt head unit & interface) for an Alpine CDA-9856 & iPod cable. This was cake to install and works absolutely flawlessly. The sound quality is great and changing/finding tracks is a breeze. If you are interested I go into a bit more detail in this blogpost: http://www.fleur-design.net/lotus/2006/06/finally-real-lotus-elise-ipod-solution.html

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I say 'yay' if you don't care about perfect sound. Especially for podcast material.

I usually use trains in Tokyo, but had a stretch of 4 months where I could hitch a ride with a colleague teaching at the same location. He didn't like most of my music, but we both really enjoyed podcasts. And podcast sound isn't so critical for enjoyment.

BTW, I use the same iTrip, but maybe it's a bit different version in Japan. It worked quite well with little futzing. No problem getting a channel.

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A tape adapter is definitely the best choice, if you have the option. Unfortunately, in my crappy Honda Civic, I don't. If you do have to go the FM transmitter route and you're using a full-sized iPod or a Nano, get a transmitter that plugs into the bottom of the iPod, not the headphone jack. That will give a clearer signal. I have one that plugs into my cigarette lighter, which is handy because it doesn't require batteries and will charge the iPod at the same time. Also, I've found that (for whatever reason) it's not always best to transmit over an "empty" frequency. I get the best results transmitting over some country station. Go figure.

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