Review: Belkin TuneCast for iPod or iPhone

Belkin TuneCast
Review by: Katie
http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=404646
Price: $79.99

More and more cars are being built to work with iPods and other personal media players. in fact Steve Jobs regularly documents in his Keynote presentation just how many automakers are creating custom iPod solutions for their vehicles. But what about all of us who don't have one of the latest and greatest cars on the road? I personally drive a 1997 Toyota Avalon (it's a great car, only has about 75,000 miles on it and I plan to drive it another 100,000) and it certainly doesn't have any kind of iPod connection. Although I went out a few years ago and put a new stereo in the car that does have an iPod dock, it won't work with my iPhone, which is what I'd like to use as my primary iPod. That's where the third party manufacturers come in with some really innovative solutions.

I was sent a Belkin TuneCast Auto for review. I was very skeptical at first because I tried radio transmitters in the past with very poor results. The TuneCast is a great leap forward from those original transmitters I used back with my first generation iPod, but you're still not going to get the quality that you would from a straight connection into your stereo. The TuneCast transmits over FM signals so your audio quality is going to sound like what you would hear over the radio and depending on the radio stations in your area, your mileage may vary.

The TuneCast features ClearScan, which they say will scan the FM spectrum to find a clear frequency. On my tests, it took me about 3 tries to find a good frequency using the ClearScan button, but I did eventually find one. One my first two tries there was clearly another station that was broadcasting on or near that frequency and I got a fair amount of static and background interference. However, I do live in a large city and there aren't many free FM channels. The TuneCast does have two programable buttons so once you find a few stations that tend to work for you you can very quickly access them. Once I found a clear station I proceeded to use the TuneCast with my iPhone to run around town for my weekend errands. The connection stayed mostly clear, although there were periods where I picked up more than just background static. I was catching up on a week worth of Mac OS Ken episodes while I ran my errands and for the most part Ken sounded like he was coming through a regular talk radio station. If you're a regular talk radio listener, then you're probably not going to have a problem with the quality, but if you're use to listening to your podcast or tunes through a direct connection to your car stereo, the audio quality drop is noticeable. Though again, you are using an FM transmitter, so you can't expect anything better than radio quality.

I like the fact that the TuneCast specifically works with the iPhone as well as all iPods with dock connector. Not once did I hear any of the "GSM Buzz" noise that the iPhone is famous for. Although I did get the "this accessory is not made for iPhone" notice which I simply ignored and the device worked perfectly. The TuneCast also charges your iPhone while connected which means you won't have to go out and buy a separate charger. I tend to have trouble with my iPhone running out of juice at the end of the day so having the built in charger is a big plus. The TuneCast was very easy to use, pretty much plug in play. If there was a manual that came with it, I didn't read it.

In sum, FM transmitters are not my favorite way to connect an iPod or iPhone to a car stereo system, but for many people it's the only option. If given the choice to use a direct line in connection or even a cassette adapter, I would choose those over any FM transmitter any day. But many older cars don't have line in ports and cassette players are becoming rare in newer models. I can say of all the FM transmitters I've used in the past, the TuneCast is the best of those products. It's very hard to say what type of experience each individual is going to have because the quality is very much based on location. I tend to travel a bit for work and occasionally am in a rental car where I have no control over the type of stereo system included. For me, I'll continue to use my dock enabled car stereo when traveling in my car, but will throw the TuneCast in my travel bag so that I can keep up on my podcasts and charge my iPhone while on the road.

The TuneCast is made by Belkin and is compatible with all 4th generation or better iPods, the iPod Mini, the iPod Nano, and the iPhone. It retails for $79.99 and is available from the Apple Store and other retailers.