I had to search for a new FM transmitter for my iPod after my old faithful iTrip was smashed because of my husband’s carelessness. My husband had an Apple gift card and thought he would make a step up in price this time and decided on the Belkin TuneBase FM Transmitter for my iPod.
I suppose he fell for the visual sleekness of the TuneBase and it’s classy packaging. The package said
Best-in-class-sound quality
“. . . near flawless performance” - iPodObserver.com
How could he turn down something like that?
The Blekin TuneBase FM Transmitter for iPod is a livid piece of crap. No matter what I do, my music is about 30% static. I can move the TuneBase around on it’s fancy gooesneck base and get a slightly clearer sound for a few split seconds but nothing is a true fix.
Searching after the fact for some solutions to the problem, I’ve found everything from suggesting that I lower my antenna to get better reception from the Belkin TuneBase to fastening a copper wire with alligator clips to help improve the $70.00 piece of equipment’s piss poor performance. We’ve blown + $70.00 on an oh so sleek design that I’m now supposed to clip copper wire and alligator clips to so that I can listen to my iPod in the car.
I have had a very difficult time searching for solutions and coming across any - read that again - any positive reviews of the product. Rarely have I seen anything with so many negative product reviews. My husband bought the transmitter at the local Apple store which is a bit unfortunate. If he had a chance to look online at the Apple store review boards he would have realized what he was getting into. The Apple store product reviews are loaded with overwhelmingly negative reviews of the Belkin TuneBase FM Transmitter . . . which leads me to my biggest complaint about the TuneBase -
My biggest complaint is that the Belkin TuneBase is even sold in the Apple store in the first place! Selling the product in the store is an endorsement of sorts by Apple and the Belkin TuneBase FM Transmitter for your iPod is absolutely horrible.
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Just an update - I thought I would try the “lowering your antenna to get better reception” trick. Only problem is I can’t lower my antenna, it’s a standard car antenna.
My husband was so mad he said, “Let’s just unscrew the antenna and take it completely off to see if it works.” He grabbed a pair of pliers and took the antenna off and . . . sure enough, it works a bunch better with the antenna completely off your car.
Of course now I can’t listen to the radio at all unless I screw the antenna back on. Wonderful product. Can’t use it if your car has an antenna.
What did you say? “Virtually every car in the world has an antenna.” Well then if your car has an antenna, don’t get the Belkin TuneBase.
Hilarious that I found this right at the time *I* was searching for a solution to my Belkin TuneBase FM POS problem. I’ve had this thing for a year, and honestly I’ve never been able to get very good reception out of it either. I would usually listen to podcasts as I drove around so I found it easier to put up with but today after having it a while the thing just up and died.
That’s it, I’m done. I ordered a Griffin today. Even if it’s a POS if it’s a different kind of POS from what I’ve dealt with over the last year I’d appreciate the change-up.
Dave on June 26th, 2007 at 10:04 pm | Link
Apple wants you to remove your antenna from your car. That is exactly why they sell this particular product both online and at the brick and mortar Apple stores.
Once you take your antenna off, you’re way less likely to put it back on and then . . . nothing but iTunes, all day, every day.
I have tried three of the Tunbase FM (with clearscan) I even called Belkin as the RF output was not stron enough to make it to either one of our cars antennas. It’s a great unit I like the concept but I could not get clear reception on my car radio. I used pro mode which seemed to bost the out put however then the unit transmitts in mono. They need a little more RF Power output very disappointed
Chuck on December 20th, 2007 at 10:18 am | Link
i just got one for christmas, i tried plugging it into my car and nothing happened. i went back inside to look for the case and someone had thrown it away. i spent an hour going through trash bags looking for the damn case…it was in a trash bag and covered with gravy….
yep it doesnt even work…
scott on December 25th, 2007 at 3:28 pm | Link