Belkin Tunecast II FM Transmitter Review
05/05/2005
Written by: Josh Taylor
As stated in a previous review, I recently bought a Dell DJ 20 (which in fact, I am in love with). But there was just one problem: How do I get the audio through my car speakers? I didn't have a tape deck, and even if I did the hook-ups aren't the best of quality. So I did some fine searching on Google for FM transmitters. One particular one caught my eye: the Belkin Tunecast II.
Belkin originally released the Tunecast which had an option of four pre-programmed frequencies to broadcast on. The Tunecast II allows you to select any frequency you wish on a slick digital display. There are up and down toggles with a backlit screen. You can also program four favorite frequencies that work best when listening to music. The FM transmitter also advertises ten hours of battery life. I never got around to actually testing the life of batteries, but I highly doubt that they would live up to that quote.
I opened up the package and unpacked the Tunecast II. Immediately I put in the batteries it came with and ran upstairs to try it out. I plugged in the FM transmitter to my laptop and turned on my stereo on the other side of the room. I turned on some music and started looking for a good channel, no luck. No matter what channel I was on, I heard the beauty of static and interference.
So maybe I'm just too far away? I set my laptop over on the desk next to my stereo and of course, it helped a little. But, the static was still overwhelming. Disapointed, I set the FM transmitter aside for a bit.
The TuneCast II comes with a car power adapter. This was a problem, becuase as well as using this in the car, I was looking forward to using it in my room with my Dell DJ and laptop. I ordered a DC to AC converter and awaited for it to arrive.
A few days later a package, that felt near to the heavyness of a couple bricks, arrived. I unpacked the converter and plugged it in. I scrounged up my TuneCast II (on which the cheap factory-sent batteries had died) and plugged it into the converter. I repeated the process that I had tried with the batteries and to my amazement, quality sound was being outputted to my stereo. Having the device plugged in makes all the difference. The batteries must not output the same strength signals as a direct power source does. Most of the time, I could get clear music through to most portions of my house.
I was satisfied with the product for a couple months, the sound was decent. Although, if you had the music up too loud you received static, and if it was down too low you hear a windy static noise. But for the most part, it was worth having, and came in handy a lot.
The Belkin TuneCast II features an auto-on and auto-off feature. Great, right? No. This would be nice if you could toggle whether you wanted this feature on or not. Often, I would be in the quiet part of a movie, or listening to a soft song, and SNAP. Static. The FM transmitter could not detect enough noise being transmitted and had shut off. This feature was rather annoying, as you could not mute your music for more than 59 seconds without hearing a thriving rush of static at the one minute mark.
I got used to remember not to mute music, and learned what channels work best. The TuneCast II worked best on 88.1 for me, but latter in it's life worked great on 92.3.
But then about a week ago, the TuneCast II broke. The wire connecting the outputting device and the FM transmitter was faulty and if you moved it, it would cut out half of the music. I lived with this for 3-4 days (just toggling with the wire until it worked) and then that started failing. So, as I write this, I have another Belkin TuneCast II enroute to my house. Why, if I've had so many problems, you ask? Because there is no other way to transfer sound to my car speakers without buying an expensive direct hook-up to my factory sound system.
The Belkin TuneCast II is not perfect, but for it's price, it is a decent solution to your audio connection problems. It is a lifesaver for everyday car rides and road trips. Although, if you have the money, I highly suggest hard-wiring your portable music player to the sound system of your car. The sound comparison is the difference between black and white. Direct connection is always better.
So do I recommend buying the Belkin TuneCast II? Well, it depends. If you absolutely need a way to play your music through a device that doesn't have another way for you to connect it, yes. But if you have the money, I highly suggest other alternatives.