5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
A Poor Replacement
Date of Review: Apr 27, 2008
The Bottom Line: This unit is too weak a transmitter to make it a viable solution for me. I cannot recommend it.
I purchased this unit 26 April 2008 as a replacement for my previous transmitter after 4 years of faithful service. Unfortunately the old transmitter no longer transmits properly resulting in signals just slightly off channel and in mono.
So, I needed a new unit and this one, well it was the only unit available from my local shops. Belkin has historically been a reliable company for me so I felt comfortable with the purchase.
The unit is small (compact) and comes with swappable mounts so that your iPod will be held snugly in the device. The base of the device has a nice large LED display to indicate the frequency and broadcast type with settings for music as well as audio books. There is a small button on the front of the base which is suppose to automatically (easily) locate open frequencies. Unfortunately, what it did in my case was locate fairly strong broadcasts - so perhaps some work needs to be done on the logic.
On the left hand side of the base are the controls to swap transmission modes (between music and audio books) as well as two buttons for programmed frequencies (favorite 1 and 2). On the right hand side of the base are manual tunning buttons.
While small and compact sounds nice, what I have found in this case is that there are just too many buttons in too small of a package. Basically, for me, touching any part of the unit results in frequency changes.
The remaining construction is such that the power plug feeds to a flexible arm that then connects to the iPod. My problem is that my cig. lighter sits between driver seat and the gear shift. So for a Toyota 4-runner this unit is not optimal. The lack of the ability for the flexible arm to keep the iPod firmly in place results in the iPod falling left or right as I traveled down the road. Left puts it in my knees, right leans it against my shift and if it falls forward it's into my coffee holder.
Next, I have a real problem with what manufacturers of these devices have had to do in regards to their power output. In my case the signal strength isn't enough to even clear white noise from any frequency in my automobile.
The result is that this unit, and probably any unit in the modern market, will not be sufficient.
