The Monster Cable iCarPlay Wireless 250 provides an semi-automated method of wirelessly connecting your iPod to a car stereo that lacks a line-in jack or full iPod connection. It's a wireless transmitter - or FM modulator - with its own FM receiver that seeks out an unused FM frequency, tells you what it is on the device's small LCD display, and then you manually tune that station on your car radio. The convenience has a price: While most FM modulators cost well under $50, this one lists for $100 and sells for about $70 street.

The iCarPlay Wireless 250 comprises a three-foot cable with a 12-volt accessory plug at one end and the iPod connection at the other along with the LCD display and three buttons - for auto-scanning, tuning up, and tuning down. In testing, it worked reasonably well but not to perfection. The unit found clear frequencies but sometimes even driving through rural areas with hardly any radio stations - at least not on the order of the congestion of a New York or Los Angeles - I'd have to rescan every 20 to 30 minutes when I came within range of a transmitting FM radio station. Sound quality was decent. The unit also recharges your iPod as you drive, as do most wireless adapters.

Conclusion: For wireless FM adapters for iPods, this is about as good (and also as pricy) as it gets. But it's not perfect. If an iPod is central to your life in the car, also check out wired FM connections (it sounds like a contradiction, but it exists and it works) or adapters that create a line-in jack from your car's unused CD changer connection. Those solutions will cost even more than Monster's solution. Too bad automakers didn't start adding line-in jacks a decade ago.