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Hit 7 - Belkin Tunebase FM Transmitter with ClearScan for iPod
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List Price: $89.99
Our Price: $53.09
Your Save: $ 36.90 ( 41% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Belkin
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Batteries Included: 0
Binding: Electronics
Brand: Belkin
EAN: 0722868638088
Feature: Adapter lets you listen to any docking iPod in your car
Is Autographed: 0
Is Memorabilia: 0
Label: Belkin
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
Manufacturer: Belkin
Model: F8Z176
Publisher: Belkin
Studio: Belkin
Warranty: 3 years warranty
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Features
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Adapter lets you listen to any docking iPod in your car
Automatically finds the optimal FM frequency to broadcast music for the clearest sound
Line-out option for use with car-stereo inputs or cassette adapter
Built-in auto charger provides power to the iPod
Built-in stand lets you optimally position the iPod
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Editorial Reviews:
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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
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Not Worth the Money!
Comment: I researched these transmitters for a about a month before i made my final decision on this belkin. From what I read prior to my purchase, about most transmitters, I expected there was going to be some static. I was hopeful that it would be minimal. This was not the case. I travel into Miami for work and found myself spending more time trying to find a clear station than listening to the music. I have since hooked my ipod up with an auxilary port into the back of my radio and the sound is crystal clear. I recommend this option if you want to save yourself the headache. If your radio doesn't allow this option, buy one that does. Only positive for me on this belkin was the stand.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not suitable for cities with crowded FM radio frequencies
Comment: This device is not suitable for using in Bangkok. There are too many FM radio stations here and their frequencies are very close to each other. I cannot listen to my iPod nano without interference.
The charger is not fit well with my car's (Honda Civic 2003) cigarette lighter. When it was put into place it's difficult to remove.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good but mounting problematic
Comment: This product worked very effectively -- for less than a day. The display is very clear and it automatically finds open stations, which can be helpful (though I was able to do better in just a minute or two manually). It holds the iPod nicely and has adaptors for lots of models. The controls are intuitive, too. All in all, it seemed very well designed.
The problem is the way in which it mounts into the cigarette lighter. There's a rubber gasket that's attached to the front of the plug, which is designed to hold the thing firmly in place. But that gasket makes it almost impossible to remove the Tunebase without nearly tearing the socket out of the dash. This is exactly what happened with us when we wanted to adjust the positioning of the Tunebase. And in the course of pulling the thing out -- just once -- the Tunebase somehow got fried and the channel display stopped working.
And so, it went back.
Unfortunately, we can't use a cassette adapter because we don't have a working cassette player in this particular car. So now, with the Tunebase off the list, we're probably going to install a new radio -- with a line input jack. That has the potential to sound better and won't be yet another RF source near the driver's body.
Customer Rating:
Summary: It wasn't quite what I expected
Comment: Before purchasing this product for use with my I-Pod Nanochromatic, I researched for hours to make sure the product would be compatible as well as economical. According to the Apple website, this product can be used with the 4th Generation I-Pod Nano. Although it can be used, there is no adaptor seat for the I-Pod Nanochromatic, and does not feel as secure as I'd hoped. That aside, the sound quality is fine as long as you keep the signal. You can try to program a couple of stations, but that is no guarantee that this frequency will be strong a half a mile down the road. I've had to switch stations a lot, and all this station changing is even more distracting than driving while using a cell phone (at least you can try to keep your eyes on the road while doing that). If you're willing to give it a try, I would definitely recommend purchasing it on Amazon.com. I saved over $30.00 by purchasing it on Amazon.com. Considering I've had mixed results with the Belkin Tunebase FM Transmitter, I'm glad I didn't pay retail.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Could have been better, but not bad
Comment: After reading the other reviews, i was expecting the reception to be much worse than it actually is. The "ClearScan" function is a joke though as it really does seem to just pick a random station, sometimes landing on some of the most unavailable frequencies in my area.
The sound itself was not bad at all, and the flexibility of the unit was good for customizing the position. However, I was hoping that this would allow me to make 'speaker phone' calls using my iPhone, but it does not. I'm not sure if that is a shortcoming of the unit or the iPhone, but I suspect it is the iPhone because upon further research, I have found that the only units that do allow this functionality are those with an external jack that plugs into the iPhone's headphone jack.
My unit was also apparently defective because the display would take a little while to 'warm up' when it was cold outside (by cold I mean early Autumn in NY cold, like no less than 55 degrees F, so I can't imagine how well it could possibly work in the winter.)
My only other gripe would be that in cars like mine where the cigarette lighter is always on, the unit is always on, so when shutting the car down, you need to remove it from the lighter socket to avoid unnecessary battery drain. If everything else was good with the unit, then I would have been willing to modify it myself with a little switch on the plug to open the circuit, but Belkin should really have though of that, or an alternative solution.
Anyway, I sent mine back and am on the lookout for a better solution.
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