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5 Great Gadgets for Revolutionizing Your Road Trips

By Amy-Mae Elliott (from Mashable) on December 10, 2010

If you don't live in a bustling city with ample public transportation options, chances are that you spend a fair bit of time in your car, so you want to make that time as pleasant as possible.
That's where tech can step in to help entertain you, keep you connected, make sure you're charged up and even help you get wherever it is you're going.

We've picked five fantastic gadgets that will help you get the most out of your time on the road. Have a look through the list below and let us know in the comments what your motoring must-have device is.

1. Griffin iTrip FM Transmitter

An FM transmitter enables you to play the tunes from your phone or your MP3 player on your car stereo. This model from Griffin works with all iPhones (apart from 4) and most iPods. It automatically beams your music via the best FM frequency it can find. Griffin also offers a companion iPhone app, the iTrip Controller, that provides easy-to-use controls for the device.
Cost: $49.99

2. TomTom Ease In-Car GPS

Once you use in-car GPS you'll soon wonder how you ever found your way around without it. If you're looking for a standalone device, you can't go wrong with the entry-level, and therefore affordable, TomTom Ease. It's compact and easy to use and offers A-to-B, turn-by-turn navigation (including street and place names) across the U.S. and Canada.
Cost: $109.95

3. Jabra Cruiser In-Car Bluetooth Speakerphone

A speakerphone will help you stay on the right side of the law if you have to take or make a call when driving. The Cruiser from Jabra clips onto your sun visor and, once you've paired it with your phone via Bluetooth, enables you to chat and drive. It offers dual microphones for better sound quality and 10 hours of battery life (13 days standby time), so you should have plenty of juice for long journeys.
Cost: Approx. $45

4. Coffee Cup Power Inverter

Shaped to fit conveniently into your car's cup holder, this clever gadget converts your car's power into two 120-volt AC outlets for charging your electronics on the go. It also offers an incredibly useful USB charging port. It can juice up three gadgets at once, so you're pretty much protected from flat-battery-gadget-hell on a road trip.
Cost: $29.99

5. XO Vision Overhead Monitor

An overhead video monitor will transform your vehicle into a mobile movie theater. The beauty of the overhead design, of course, is that the equipment stays out of reach of little fingers. This model boasts a 9-inch screen and can play DVDs with the audio coming through your car's speakers. Other features of note include USB and SD card slots and AV input for hooking up other electronic devices.
Cost: $127.81

Your Picks
These five devices are a great start for gearing up for better trips in your car, but we're sure you have a few go-tos yourself. Let us know in the comments about your must-have car gadgets.

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Founded in July 2005, Mashable is the world's largest blog focused exclusively on Web 2.0 and Social Media news. With more than 15 million monthly page views, Mashable is the most prolific blog reviewing new Web sites and services, publishing breaking news on what's new on the web and offering social media resources and guides. Before joining Mashable as a staff writer, Amy-Mae Elliott covered all things gadget, tech and online news for Pocket-lint.com. Previous to that she worked in magazine publishing for lad's gadget mag "Boys Toys" and the more sedate secretarial title "The PA". Amy-Mae studied photography at The Arts University College at Bournemouth, where she gained her love of the sea-side, now residing near the beach in Devon.

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