I remember a time when portable CD players were becoming popular and in-car cd players were considered a luxury item and not standard fair (yeah I’m that old) and I would use a tape adapter to connect my cd player to play through my car speakers. Today of course we have mp3 players that have essentially replaced those portable cd players, and now we also find cd players standard in our cars.
Some car stereos have a line input for connecting your mp3 player and some of the higher end ones even feature a USB port or even a memory card slot, but those are more high end offerings and we’re left we having to either upgrade or find an inexpensive way to connect our mp3 players to take our music with us.
The product I’ve got for review today does just that, it inexpensively connects your portable mp3 player to your car stereo or any other stereo so you can take your music on the go, it’s an FM Transmitter from our friends at USBFever. It utilizes the stations that are not in use in your area to transmit the music from your audio player to your stereo, it’s very easy to use, small, lightweight and even features a dual power source. So read on to check it out…
USBFever Auto/Car FM Transmitter Reviewed
Author: Kristofer Brozio
Sponsor: USBFever
Tech Specs,Features or the Basic Info:
Auto/Car FM Transmitter from USBFever
Product Code#:AL120-A847
Price: US$12.99
Features:
– Stereo
– Digital PLL
– Full Frequency range, effectively avoid interruption
– 2 power suppliers: 2 AAA battery or Car Power Source
– auto Power off after 1 minute if no audio frequency is inputing
– 4 pre-set memorail channels (with 4 pre-set one-touch buttons)
– Background Led light
– Frequency adjustment: 0.1 1MHz incremental ( Frequency range: 88.1 ~ 107.90MHz)
Package Contents:
– FM Transmitter x 1
– Car Cigarette Adapter x 1
Note:
– To use this one with your iPhone, you need to have an iPhone Audio Special Adapter, which is not included.
A Better Look at Things
:
The Auto/Car FM Transmitter comes in a fairly easy to open plastic clamshell package, it’s perforated on the back to help open it easier. On the front of the package we can see the transmitter itself and on the back we can see the cigarette lighter power adapter that is included with it. The basic specs and features are listed along with brief instructions on the back as well.
The transmitter itself is small and features a nice large LCD screen that is also backlit blue for low light conditions. On the left side of the LCD screen are two buttons, these are for tuning the station to match that of your radio, on the right side is the power on/off and back light button combined. To turn it on you need to hold the button in for a couple seconds, the same for turning it off, just a quick press while the transmitter is turned on activates the back light. Under the LCD screen are four more buttons, these are for presets so you can set four stations in your area that you now will work with the transmitter to get the best signal.
One of the things I found interesting about this gadget is the audio cable wraps around the transmitter and locks into the top for storage when not in use, no worrying about loosing the cord or breaking it.
On the back is an identification label and also the battery compartment, you can use two ‘AAA’ batteries if you wish to power the transmitter to take it with you when no in your car.
The included 12v cigarette lighter adapter is a nice bonus especially for the low price of this product, the cable is nice and long and it just plugs into the side of the transmitter for those long trips when you don’t want to be wasting batteries.
Installation, Testing and Comparison
There really is no installation involved unless you consider installing the batteries…
The audio jack is the standard 3.5mm size so of course it will fit most audio devices out there and if not there are adapters that can be found cheaply many places.
Using the FM Transmitter was extremely easy, the hard part, or tedious part was finding the stations to program in to the transmitter. You’ll find many stations that are static but you’ll have to go through and test the ones that work the best with the transmitter and then program them into the memory. It’s nice that the transmitter allows you to search for stations in .1 increments (1Mhz) so you really get to fine tune them in and find the ones that work best, also this of course gives you many more choices as well.
The LCD display is very bright in the dark which is a plus, but then again you shouldn’t be driving and using it either right? especially at night…
I did notice that no matter what station I picked I still found a slight bit of static in the times between songs, and also there was an audible click when I changed songs or it automatically went to the next one.. other that that the sound was great overall.
Summary:
For the low price of this little gadget I can’t be too hard on it, it does what it’s supposed to do and does it well. The FM Transmitter from USBFever is a very inexpensive and easy way to take your music with you.
DragonSteelMods gives the Auto/Car FM Transmitter from USBFever a 4.5 out of 5 score.
Pros:
-Very easy to us
-Dual powered
-Backlit display
-Small and portable
-Inexpensive
Cons:
-Slight static when quiet
I would like to thank USBFever for the chance to review the Auto/Car FM Transmitter and for their continued support of DSM.
Questions about this review or discuss it HERE
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