Monster iCarPlay Wireless FM Transmitter with Auto-Scan for iPod by Monster
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List Price: Our Price: $30.00 You Save: $69.95 (70%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Network Media Player See more digital camera details and other models |
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Digital camera reviews of Monster iCarPlay Wireless FM Transmitter with Auto-Scan for iPod
Digital camera Review: Awesome!
Summary: 5 Stars
I love the Monster iCar! Worth every penny. It's easy to use and convenient. I live in the Santa Rosa area in California and I can use the same station all over town and almost out to Valejo. I haven't had any static at all. Great product!Digital camera Review: Best FM Transmitter I have heard
Summary: 5 Stars
I tried the Itrip as well as an Irock device for my 80gb IPOD. The audio quality was low enough I didn't use the IPOD in my BMW. I recently purchased the Monster autoscan model at our local Circuit City at the inflated price of $99 (I wanted to be able to rapidly return it if it wasn't any better than the Itrip). I think it sounds excellent. It has good stereo seperation, pretty good frequency response and low distortion. I'm very pleased. I agree the autoscan feature is not as good as doing a manual search.Digital camera Review: Best Option for Volvo XC90
Summary: 5 Stars
Since the Volvo XC90 has a fiber optic antenae, the only option for connecting an iPod to the vehicle is something that will transmit to the FM Radio. After searching everywhere online and consulting with the Volvo Service department, the only option made by Volvo is the FM Transmitter cradle they make which is permanently mounted to the dash. I didn't like this option and didn't like the $287 price plus installation. I decided to give this a try and have been extremely pleased. Easy to use and easy to hide!Digital camera Review: Best of a bad situation
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the best way to use your iPod in your car if you have neither an iPod jack (1st choice) nor a cassette deck (distant 2d choice). The search function is by far the best way to find a station. It picks stations I never would pick "by ear" and they work well - for a while, then the station (or its neighbor) gets stronger and it is necessary to scan again. I use it all over Los Angeles and it is good enough to keep using your iPod. (I had given up on using the iPod in my car until I got this one, even though I had the previous version of the Monster FM transmitter. ) Even if you don't drive much, it can find a better station than you can find by ear. Monster is the best FM or cassette solution, and this is the best Monster product for FM. I have used several over the years.
It could be improved. I wish it beeped when it finished the scan. I wish the scan result stayed on the iPod screen until you click a button. You have to take your eyes off the road to check to see if it is done scanning. But once it finishes scanning, you can just push the center button once to see the station it found. The only way I can scan is to push the center button three times, which works fine. I started making the stations it finds pre-set stations on my car radio... but it finds different ones all the time, so this did not work so well. It is too much fiddling with the buttons and looking from the iPod screen to the radio dial, but it is the best by far of a bad situation.
Digital camera Review: Best so far, but far from best
Summary: 3 Stars
I commute across Los Angeles, CA on a daily basis, and the FM band is literally cheek to jowl with radio stations. Most FM transmitters (and I've tried at least 6-7 of the high-end ones) on the market are practically useless for me as the huge radio stations out here just walk all over their weak signals. This one has proven to be most effective, even with low-volume podcasts. If you are just listening to music, it will usually work well enough, assuming you can find those precious dead spots in the FM band. Some big caveats:
1. The dock connector chassis is wider than the actual connector, making it completely unusable with most form-fitting cases and skins. I've yet to find one that allows me to keep the case on and plug in this transmitter. The connector needs to fit absolutely flush with the bottom of the iPod or it will cut in and out as the connector wiggles loose. If I had known this before buying it, I might have gone with another transmitter (though as I mentioned above, this one has proven to be the best so far out of many +$50 transmitters).
2. Selecting stations with this device is sluggish, and nigh impossible in any kind of driving situation. We are talking up to a full 3-5 seconds of lag between a button press and the transmitter reacting to your press. Repeated pressing will only result in chaos as the device scrolls through menus, scans up and down, etc. I believe this is due to the fact that the transmitter is using the iPod operating system to control the various menus and frequency adjustments.
3. Whenever you connect the transmitter, it will autoplay the first track on the iPod, whatever that happens to be. Not the last thing you were listening to - it will always be the first track of all your media files, whether that is an music file, podcast or video.
A previous reviewer indicated that adjusting the volume on your iPod should improve the quality of transmission, but I don't believe that is true, as the output through the dock connector is pure digital. I could be wrong, but I've tried the same trick without any discernible difference in transmission strength.
Was it worth the ~$70 I bought it for? If you live in a big city like LA or NY where the FM band is crowded, it may be more hassle than it's worth, as you will be frequently changing frequencies while on the road, an unsafe practice at best. However, if you live in an area where there is more space on the radio dial, this transmitter might be a good fit for you.