Belkin TuneFM VS4121

When it comes to iPod accessories Belkin is king. They’ve produced everything from cases to speakers to adapters and everything in between . Belkin is also known for their high quality standards, if it has their name on it than it must be good.

The Belkin TuneFM is a car adapter for your iPod 5G. You plug the wireless transmitter into the bottom of your iPod and then you plug the charger into your cars cigarette lighter, or a 12V charger if your car doesn’t have a cigarette lighter. The charger is optional because the wireless will work fine off your iPods battery but its always nice to know that you can recharge it if needed.

Here are a few of the technical specifications for the VS4121:

• Street Price: $49.99
• Uses the iPod display for quick and easy FM tuning
• Delivers best-in-class audio performance
• Features 4 single-touch, programmable preset buttons
• Includes auto power cord to power and charge your iPod in the car

Things I like
I am very torn on this product. There are many things that I like about the TuneFM but there are many things I don’t. One thing that I like is the optional charger. Sometimes you want to have your iPod free and Belkin allows you to do this. Some similar products force you to charge your unit constantly and this can be very frustrating. I also like that it comes in black because I have a black iPod. This makes it look very clean and professional. They don’t make it in white so if you have a white iPod your out of luck

Things I don’t like
I really don’t like the wireless transmitter, it just isn’t strong enough for city driving. If there’s even the faintest of radio signals on the channel that you’re trying to listen to you car will pick it up over the TuneFM’s signal. This tends to be very frustrating since it leads to you having to change the channels often. I don’t like the fact that it only comes in black. If you have a white iPod you’re basically stuck with a black transmitter which just doesn’t look good. The final thing I don’t like is that the chargers USB connection isn’t very strong with the transmitter. I’ve gone over speed bumps and the charger connection has fallen out of the transmitter. Belkin should have made this a stronger connection so it didn’t fall out at every bump.

Pros:

• Option to charge or have it run off the iPods battery
• Black looks good on black iPods

Cons:

• Poor wireless quality
• Black doesn’t look good on white iPods
• Charging cable falls out very easy

Final Thoughts
The Belkin TuneFM is a decent product if you want to listen to your iPod in your car. It gives you the choice if you want to charge your iPod to plug it into the cigarette lighter or leave it out and it looks really good against a black iPod. If it wasn’t for the fact that the actual wireless transmitter was very weak this would be an excelled product. Unfortunately the transmitter is so bad that you constantly have to try to find new stations to play your music on and this is very frustrating. I wouldn’t advise buying this, there are many other devices out there that are better than the Belkin TuneFM.