Belkin Tunebase FM Transmitter with ClearScan for iPod
Belkin Tunebase FM Transmitter with ClearScan for iPod
TuneBase FM lets you listen to your iPod and avoid the frustration of manually finding a clear FM station. ClearScan technology cuts through the static and quickly finds the best FM frequency-all with one push of a button. Line-out feature, improved FM transmission, delivers crisp, clean audio with car-stereo inputs or cassette adapters. Innovative, flexible steel-neck with integrated antenna makes for easy repositioning. Custom-designed swivel cradle and flexible steel-neck mount your iPod securely and easily Line-out option for use with car-stereo inputs or cassette adapter
User Ratings and Reviews
2 Stars convenient, but poor sound
I first tried this in a friends car, and it seemed perfect – really easy to plug in, and it appeared to sound good. My own howerver was never able to produce sound that would be bearable to listen. I thought the problem is with where my lighter is relative to my radio, or kind of radio (after all this is my 5th radio adapter, and only two had decent sound), but after I gave up and bought a cassette adapter to plug in to phone jack (which this device does have), I found that even wired sound coming out is pretty crappy compared to same wire plugged into the iphone itself.
I still like the convenince of simply plugging it in, but when I lose or burn this one I am definitely looking elsewhere.
4 Stars Best way to listen to your iPod in your car
I had tried a few different things to play my iPod in my car. This is by far the best I’ve found. Not only can you listen to your iPod, it charges it as you play so it never dies while you’re listening to it. You simply tune your radio to whichever station the Belkin transmitter suggests and then you can listen to your music clearly right through your radio! I would definitely reccommend this over any other iPod car players (such as iTrip etc). I had one problem with it since I’ve had it for 6 months. The digital screen starting having issues where I couldn’t read all the numbers, but once I uplugged it and plugged it back in, it’s been fine ever since.
4 Stars First role: dock, second: FM transmitter
First the bad news. The FM transmission stereo signal is very modest. Clearscan doesn’t help a lot. That’s why I use it in Mono mode all the time – I lose the stereo effects, but the reception gets a lot better. So, if you want high-quality sound radiowaves is not the way.
Second, the good news. This stand works perfectly as a flexible charging dock for your iPod. While waiting in the traffic, I use the iPhone to browse through news, facebook, mails, sms, etc.
Third, the bonus news. Even though specs say iPhone is not supported, it actually works just like every iPod.
2 Stars Worked great… major drawback though!
I thought that this gave me the best signal of all FM Transmitters that I have tried out. It was absolutely perfect, and I work in the NYC Metro area. Unfortunately, it fried my iPhone and burnt out the connectors. Luckily, Apple was awesome about the whole situation and gave me a replacement at no charge, but they said that they would do it “only once”.
I loved the thing… just be careful before following the advice of others that may tell you to just “ignore the window that says ‘This accessory is not made to wirk with the iPhone”. I could have learned the hard way.
Other than that, if you have a regular iPod, get this one! Be wary with iPhone. For your reference, I was using an iPhone 3Gs.
Good Luck!
4 Stars My Tunebase – 4 out of 5 Stars
I purchased this unit to use with my Iphone. I used two other types of FM transmitters. Both were plug in types that worked ok. However, my vehicle, a Lexus RX400h interior does not have a handy spot to place my phone & dangling FM module or the plug in port types. The plug in unit did have a mini usb socket to provide power but does not charge my iphone. On long commutes (2 hrs) my phone battery would lose 1/4 to 1/3 of its charge. The AAA battery operated xmiter (miniplug to the earphone port on the phone) would occassionally exhaust the batteries if I forgot to recharge them, and of course, the iphone battery would be drawn down – a pain when traveling and those 110v outlets are not always handy while waiting for my flight.
So, fast forward to the Tunebase. Pluses are that it charges my iphone quickly, allows my phone to operate with the blue tooth phone pickup in my RX400h, keeps a very nice place to hold my iphone securely and facing me (and not sliding off the seat onto the floor or taking up space in the cupholder alongside my coffee), avoids dealing with plugging and unplugging wires or cords or remembering to have freshly recharged batteries in the FM xmitter. The steel goose neck is stiff to hold my iphone in any angle I want. The tunebase control panel has a swivil on back that allows the phone to rotate 90deg if you want.
I like the 2 presets. The scan feature does find the open frequency, but sometimes, the airwaves are so congested, that open spot is overwhelmed 2 minutes later. So I have to manually hunt for an open frequency. Its not the fault of the tunebase as much as too many stations filling up the band that use to be vacant at the low and upper ends.
This unit is very convenient for me and I use it just about every time I get in my car. Audilble books and podcasts are what I listen to most of the time.
Previous posts have covered assembly of the unit. The cigarette lighter plug fits very snuggly. I pulled it out once without pushing down on the plastic console around the lighter socket and the tight fitting Tunebase plug pulled my console the face plate out. Fortunately the console faceplate popped back in place with no harm done. The Tunebase plug end has a gasket that forms a very tight fit, so be aware of that.
The FM transmitter is probably regulated by the FCC as to signal strength so works pretty much as effectively as the other plug in units I have. Its advantage is its engineered to make using your ipod or iphone easy and you can quickly change frequencies while you’re stopped at a traffic light. If your vehicle has its cigarette lighter socket in a place that can accomodate a Tunebase, you will love this thing. Unfortunately, I left my garage door up 6′-8″ the other night and some slimy thief got in, ransacked my car and stole two things, one was a digital camera and the other was my Tunebase. I am buying a replacement Tunebase from Amazon. It’s that good.
