Zune Car Pack FM transmitter (Black)
by Zune
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Category: Network Media Player
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Digital Photo Product Details
Artist: Artist Not ProvidedManufacturer: Zune
Brand: Zune
Edition: Electronics
Release Date: 2006-11-14
Model: Car Pack
Publisher: Zune
Studio: Zune
Music Label: Zune
Product features:
- Full vehicle pack designed for Microsoft Zune media player
- FM transmitter wireless broadcasts music through car's stereo speakers
- AutoSeek function automatically locates unused FM frequency
- Car charger plugs into vehicle's 12-volt cigarette lighter plug
- Includes coiled cord for easy storage; 1-year warranty
- It includes coiled cord for easy storage and has 1-year warranty.
- The car charger plugs into vehicle's 12-volt cigarette lighter plug.
- The FM transmitter wireless broadcasts music through car's stereo speakers.
- The full vehicle pack designed for Microsoft Zune media player.
- The AutoSeek function automatically locates unused FM frequency.
- Monster iCable 800 MP3 Player to Auxiliary Input Cord (3 Feet)
- Zune 30 GB Digital Media Player (Black)
- Zune 30 GB Digital Media Player (White)
- Zune 30 GB Digital Media Player (Brown)
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Zune Car Pack FM transmitter (Black)
Customer Review: inferior in every way
Summary: 1 Stars
As you can see, most people have found this as worthless as I have. There is one thing going for it. It matches the Zune players design. That's it, the rest is as bad as you could possible imagine. I've tried this device in an Acura Integra, Honda Civic, and a Saturn SL2(I think that is the model). The Saturn was better due to the cars antennae located in the front right region of the car, but was still bad enough to warrant a return.
Here's the short version for this review immediately below, but read further below if you'd like to see how ridiculous of a solution I came up with just get this product usable, yet still not as good my wife's DLO TransPod (for the ipod, but has a audio in headphone jack) which CNET reviews as the best FM transmitter.
CAR CHARGER:
- cord to short (coiled which can stretch to a longer length, but doesn't want to stay that way
- charger doesn't stay firmly seated in cigarette lighter hole, can work it's way out if you try to maintain the cord in a somewhat stretched length
FM TRANSMITTER:
- doesn't work. plain and simple. I can't believe this thing was actually mass produced. Yes it's that bad.
- auto seek finds the strongest station instead of the weakest station for your FM transmitting needs! Talk about a defect! It's does the opposite of what it is supposed to do!
- charger connects stronger to FM transmitter, but FM transmitter doesn't lock at all to Zune. There is some slight friction to hold it in, but not much.
CAR CHARGER
The car charger wiring is a little short (though it is a spiral-type you can stretch it to be longer, but it quickly wants to return to it's short length) In my car the charger doesn't quite stay secure either as it slowly works it's way out of the lighter hole due to the length I try and maintain of the charging cord. It has yet to actually come out all the way, but I always am able to push it back inwards (a bit) during my commute. This may just be an issue with my vehicle and where I am trying to place my Zune player, so this may not be an issue for you.
FM TRANSMITTER
Thought the above issue(s) may only affect a small percentage of you, the more important issue is the lack of reception/functionality of the tuner part of this bundle. I don't even see how this thing was approved for mass production. It is that bad! I wish I still had mine so I could post a video on You Tube because it is quite amazing how bad it is. I live east of San Francisco about 50 miles so it's not like anyone can say that I live in an area plagued with interference. I could not find a single clear station that actually would work with this device. To make sure this was not totally broke, I decided to walk my Zune (with the FM transmitter attached) towards my antenna to see when I actually would start to hear music. I was about 2 feet away when it started to come in, and I did not get a clear signal until I was 2 inches (YES 2 inches!!!) from the antenna before it was actually a clear broadcast. Mind you that I was indeed on a station that had zero interference/radio broadcast on my test station. I'd also like to note that after 2 inches is not a smooth introduction of interference, but like a light switch would instantly turn on a light, there would instantly be a great amount of interference that is enough to justify a return of this product. Yes it was that bad. As an example. 4 inches away would result in about 40-50% interference noise/hiss. Just to make sure this wasn't the case for this particular station, I tried a couple others with SAME results.
At this point I should have just decided to package this item up for a return, but I decided to see what I could come up with to make this thing work for me. I have a commuter car that has seen better days, so I decided to see if I could do to improve reception. With the Zune still playing, I decided to plug it back into the car charger. I immediately noticed a reduction in the interference! So it seems the Zune car chargers acts as an antennae or there might be a small difference in power feed to the device that might have improved the FM transmission. Though there was a noticeable change, it is nothing to consider usable. :( I also noticed if you stretch the charging cord and move your Zune around the car, you can change the reception. Seeing how the coiled cord wants to stay in it's shortest length, it's near impossible to maintain your Zune in a position to maintain this slight increase in reception.
Getting back to the story, my plan was have a second antennae which would run to the passenger seat (to give me that great reception I experienced when I placed my Zune right next to the cars antenna). I decided to pull out my Pioneer stereo to access the antennae connection. Once I had access to the antenna wire, I pulled it out.(while Pioneer was still powered) and PRESTO!!! Near perfect reception with my Zune! Oh yea! Well...sort of... I can now listen to my Zune, but I no longer have an antennae for my radio!! What I did was take some extra speaker wire and connected it with the original antennae connector when placing it back into the Pioneer. I ran this homemade antennae wire up to the passenger seat with enough to wrap around the Zune. This actually gives me a decent signal, but nothing to cheer about. Not to mention that it
is simply ridiculous to have to resort to this to make it usable!
I commuted with this solution for a week and still found reception to be sub par compared to the DLO transpod. (which I tried on the same commute prior to purchasing the Zune car pack) Needless to say, I returned the item. This item deserves 0 stars.
Description of Zune Car Pack FM transmitter (Black)
The Zune Car Pack includes everything needed to keep the music rolling loud and clear through you car's speaker system. Perfect for use in multiple vehicles, when you buy the Zune car pack, you'll get the FM Transmitter with Autoseek and the Zune Car Charger. Designed to wirelessly stream music from the Zune via the car's FM radio, the included FM transmitter ensures clean and crisp Zune playback without the hassle of complicated and messy wires. It is complete with an autoseek feature, the FM transmitter automatically finds an optimally clear radio station to use for streaming.Amazon.com Product Description
The Zune Car Pack includes everything needed to keep the music rolling loud and clear through you car's speaker system. Perfect for use in multiple vehicles, when you buy the Zune car pack, you'll get the FM Transmitter with Autoseek and the Zune Car Charger. Designed to wirelessly stream music from the Zune via the car's FM radio, the included FM transmitter ensures clean and crisp Zune playback without the hassle of complicated and messy wires. Complete with an autoseek feature, the FM transmitter automatically finds an optimally clear radio station to use for streaming.
Just turn it on, wait for the signal to connect, and you're ready to rock and roll. So you can leave battery life worries back at home, the car pack includes a handy cigarette lighter charger for the Zune, allowing you to enjoy music on the move and charge the Zune at the same time. An integrated status indicator on the car charger helps prevent any negative impact on the car?s battery--an ideal feature for those times when you might be tempted to jam out through the car's stereo while the engine is off. It even comes complete with a coiled cable for easier storage. The car pack comes backed by a limited 1-year warranty.
What's in the Box
FM transmitter with autoseek function and 12-volt cigarette lighter adapter.
 The Zune Car Charger lets you charge your Zune while listening to music. |  The Zune FM Transmitter can wirelessly broadcast the music that is playing on your Zune to your car stereo. |
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