I
talked a while back about how to get your car set up for an iPod.
Since then, not much has changed, except for the fact that I've had
the opportunity to play around with one of the options for iPod/car
compatibility, an FM transmitter.
These little things are pretty amazing. Simply connect one to
your iPod, and whatever you have playing on the iPod will come
through on the desired frequency on your radio.
My mom recently picked up a Belkin TuneCast II for use with her
iPod nano. Two of her three cars have cassette decks, so the
cassette adapter was a viable solution, but the third car has a CD
player and no cassette deck. That's why we figured the TuneCast II
would be perfect.
The main feature of the TuneCast, as opposed to the Griffin
iTrip, is that it's compatible with any MP3 player - or even
Walkman cassette player - since it has a standard headphone
connector instead of iTrip's iPod dock connector. This is excellent
if you have a car with a CD player but sometimes want to listen to
your cassettes.
The TuneCast operates off it's own batteries, not draining the
iPod's, something the iTrip does. The downside is that you may need
to carry some extra AAA batteries with you on a long trip.
How Well Does It Work?
The big question is how well does it work? My use of it found
that it really depends on the car you're driving and the area you
live in.
Why the area? Some areas have more radio stations, whereas
others have very few. If you have a large number of open
frequencies, you should have no trouble finding something to set
the TuneCast to.
Unfortunately, the New York metro area has a station on nearly
every frequency, and finding an open one is a bit of a chore. Also,
a station may come in on the frequency you have selected as you
drive, forcing you to change the settings while you're driving.
The car also matters quite a bit. Cars that have their radio
antenna in the front tend to get better reception from the
TuneCast. The two cars I spent time testing this in were a 1986
Saab 9000 Turbo and a 1995 Mercedes E300. Both cars have their
antennas in the rear, and there was a significant difference when
it came to reception.
The Saab wouldn't receive the signal from the TuneCast unless
the it was positioned on top of the dashboard. Not the most
convenient location for it - go around a sharp corner and it could
fall off. The Mercedes required a bit of fiddling with placement,
but I was able to find a spot on the center console where reception
was decent. Perhaps this is due to the angled antenna in this car,
as opposed to the vertical one in the Saab.
In terms of sound quality, there's a noticeable difference in
terms of whether the radio's getting good reception or not from the
TuneCast. Even at it's best, the sound was a bit muffled and quiet
in the Saab. Touching the TuneCast would open it up, but removing
your hand removed the improvement in sound.
To see what it could really sound like, I tested the unit
indoors with the radio in the kitchen. With the TuneCast close to
the radio's antenna, the sound was much better. I could see this as
a very handy device if you want to play music through your stereo
system without going connecting cables, but the TuneCast II seems
to not have a very good broadcast range in general. I was a bit
disappointed - and there's no way to add an antenna to the TuneCast
itself.
The bottom line is that the best solution is to have a stereo
that supports either an audio input (through a headphone-type jack)
or an iPod via a dock connector. A cassette adapter would be my
second choice (if your car stereo takes cassettes), and an FM
transmitter is a last resort.
- Link: $15
Device Turns iPod into a Personal Radio Station, Dan Knight's
review of the NewerTech RoadTrip FM transmitter, which draws its
power from your cigarette lighter plug.
