There are many solutions to the music enthusiast who refuses to settle for a mere home burned CD with a very short leash on the number of songs available per disc currently the most common solution to hooking up the Ipod or Zen being the tape adapter, radio transmitter or wireless transmitter as its more well known and of coarse a good old fashioned patch cable.  Whichever you choose there are of coarse downfalls some obviously larger then others hopefully this guide will help you in deciding the best solution to fit your needs.

Rule #1 SAFETY:  We have all seen that guy amongst our friends who thinks he can multi-task better then anyone else and will claim till his death that he can talk on the phone and drive at the same time with no problems, but we have also seen how these people really drive.  The same concept applies to your MP3 player, if your playing with the controls and watching your display then you are not focused on the road and today driving can be described as no less then a martial art requiring often times cat like reflexes and defensive measures so there is obviously little time for destraction.  We also have moods and sometimes we don't always feel like listening to our entire music library so what are we to do?  You guessed it, playlists; almost every mp3 player that holds enough data to need one supports playlists and some of the better ones support many playlists allowing you to create one best fitting for your mood.  Simply place your player on the charger and start picking songs for each playlist that fits any of your moods then when you wake up to make your morning commute you can simply unplug the player choose the playlist you would like ot listen to for the day and yoru on your way or for you Ipod enthusiasts you can use Itunes to sort your playlists.  A playlist file is miniscule in size so the possibilities are endless and this keeps yoru eyes on the road and the music you want to play always playing.

Cost: Originally FM transmitters were under 20 dollars but with the advent of the popularity of Ipod as I mentioned earlier, the retail prices of these devices have become a little more then slightly higher, sometimes as much as 80 dollars.  These all work basically on the same principle regardless of how they interface with your player and although the quality sometimes varies from brand and model to brand and model all of these have a fatal flaw, station selection.  On a long car trip particularly ones involving state to state transit, these little devices become true nuisances because wutever empty station you choose at some point along yoru journey you are bound to find a radio station overpowering it and the minute you change it 30 minutes later you once again faulter back to the same predicament, so if you can get away with it, meaning you have a tape deck or auxillary input then do away with this idea immediately odds are if you have a decent car stereo you have at least one of these other options and some radios even have docks for the more mainstream of players.

Rule #2 Your MP3 Player's Safety:  Chances are if you have a decent player then chances are you also paid a decent sum of money for it so naturally you don't want it flying every which way you can imagine and for this there is limitless possibilities but cost being a concern there are a lot fewer.  Most high end MP3 players offer stock automotive mounting options and most of these cost well more then any of us bargain for so explore your options, these mounts are essentially the same any way you look at it and there is simply no shame in buying a nice universal cell phone mount or gps mount for your MP3 player and some of these costs less then 10$ and for those who are leasing they offer cup holder models that work quite nicely.  This is important because the hard drive in the Ipod video has platters that are as fragile as glass and nearly thin as paper so it goes without saying that its a bad idea to drop it or for it to fall off your passenger seat for that matter.

The Number 1 Most Frequantly Asked Question:  I have an aftermarket stereo but it doesnt seem to have an auxillary jack so what do I do now?  My question to you would always be. did you install yoru radio yourself?  Chances are you didn't in this case because auxillaries are almost always made available in the rear of the player in modern stereos connections to XM or sirius recievers sometimes an adapter cable is called for such as a 1/8 stereo mini to stereo phono (the red and white plugs such as the back of your VCR)  The Ford Focus works exactly in this fashion with its stock radio.

Power:  Nowadays a car adapter is seldom needed but its not a bad investment because lithium batteries have a shelf life and thus do not last forever and a car adapter can extend the usefullness of a player that cannot hold a charge chances are this will only become needed when such happens as most players hold a charge for at least 10+ hours when new.