You don't know what you're missing until it drops in your lap. In our case, what fell into our lap was a Nano-specific FM transmitter used for beaming the iPod's music wirelessly to a car's FM radio. Never having considered the idea of pairing a Nano with the car's radio, it was a ear-opening experience insofar as experiencing the sounds of the Nano suddenly playing over the radio and through the car's front and rear speakers.
Upside
Aside from Griffin, Belkin has been working tirelessly to produce third-party addons for the iPod faster than Apple can roll out its music players. We aren't able to compare its TuneFM to Griffin's iTrip, but the TuneFM scores for its portability, almost the bite size of a chocolate square, which clips to the butt of the iPod. Once plugged in, the Nano is prepped instantly to transmit. Digital tuning is as simple as using the up and down arrow keys and aligning an unused FM channel to the TuneFM's. There are four memory settings in case your current preset station gets all static on you.
Belkin has clearly sought to give its TuneFM more mojo by marrying the best of both worlds. This is not just an in-car device, its ability to run off the iPod's battery power means the transmitter can be utilised over any radio, even the one at home. We also liked that there's a supplied car charger, which came in handy for charging the iPod in-car when the battery started running low.
Here's something the Belkin may have over the Griffin: A miniUSB port. Intended for the car charger, the presence of this port also means you can get hold of a good old miniUSB cable as a backup charger in your office. You might already own one as these are bundled with a plethora of electronic devices, from digicams to card readers. However, do note that you can't perform a sync with the iTunes software through the miniUSB cable.
Downside
FM transmitters are seldom static-free and this unfortunately holds true. Having found an unused channel on 107.9FM, the TuneFM spluttered for the first few minutes before, wonder of wonders, broadcasting the Nano's music cleanly with nary a hiss, despite the various positions we tested within the car's confine. However, the next morning during drive time, Norah Jones' honeyed voice crackled on every fifth note which was not only annoying, it butchered the music and put a dampener to the listening experience, to say the least. The advice would be to find a sweet spot within the car's interior and to invest in a mount (unfortunately not bundled here).
The other letdown was we had to remove any skin or metallic casing in order for the TuneFM to plug fully to the base of the Nano. This was inconvenient and left our very scratchable player exposed, making a fixed mount all the more essential to keep the iPod from shifting about in the car.
Outlook
If you can locate the sweet spot and nail it down, figuratively of course, with a mount, the TuneFM should work fairly well, with the occasional (and bearable) low static. Even if you find yourself hardly using this add-on, it doubles as a nifty and lightweight miniUSB dock for charging via a PC. Comes in black or white to match your Nano.
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