MP3 to Car Radio transmitters

[SpriteII]

Has anyone bought one of these £12ish devices from eb*y for transmitting from an mp3 player to the car radio?  I'd like some feedback on how well they work.  Cheers.

[nickliv]

They work <OK>, a bit of crackle and hiss, and they're quite power hungry, I have 2, one I use plugged into my computer so I can 'listen again' all over the house, the other was in the car, but I've now got  a proper solution for the new car. You need to be aware that they have a range of over 1/4 of a mile, and can interfere with regular broadcasts. They're also not strictly legal.

If you've got a VW / Audi / Skoda etc  I can recommend the VAGX1 (just google it)

The other car has a tape adaptor thingy which woeks very well indeed.

[Truckosaurus]

Yes, bought one from eBay a while back.  You have to turn the volume up fairly high to get a decent sound level out of it, (perhaps that might be just my mp3 player) but otherwise it does the job.  I'm sure hi-fi purests would complain about the sound quality but it is good enough for car listening imho.

[smokie]

I have one but have much more success with a plug in cassette fake.

The radio volume is too low and I have trouble tuning to it. It was, mind you, very cheap...

[SpriteII]

Thanks for the prompt responses.

Nick, sounds like you are saying the tape solution is a better one too, yes?

[SmithA]

I bought one of the 99p £10 postage transmitter type ones from the "e" site and it was ok ish, if you went near any high tension power lines the signal went, as previously mentioned it did eat the batteries i got to Hereford and about a third of the way back to Hertford and they died. it proved the idea though so i went and bought a different set up on that connects my ipod direct to the radio aerial and that works a treat.

Andy

[Jay (Team Cannonball)]

I bought a proper Belkin (I think) one from abroad, (they are illegal in the UK I believe). It works great the range is about 10 ft and two AAA batteries last about 10 hours, although it can be powered off the ciggie lighter.

I find it very easy to tune normally.

I think it was about 25-30 quid. More thank likely better than the tat on ebay.

[rcutler]

I bought one from here:-

http://www.blueunplugged.com/Products/TuneCast_II_Mobile_FM_Transmitter__Black.aspx

Delivered Next Day and worked fine provided the ariel on the car is a half decent one and you not too close to powerlines.

[Jay (Team Cannonball)]

The one Rick purchased is the same one I bought. Except mine was white. I can recommend.

[nickliv]

The tape adaptor works better IMO, needs no power, so leaves a ciggy lighter socket free for something else,  but then with the cassette thingy you do have the wire into the tape deck.

Tescos are doing them for about £4.00 at the mo.

[SpriteII]

Thanks for your input folks, much appreciated.  Think I'll go tape adaptor in the car though Nick has made me realise I can use one of the radio devices to have DAB all over the house.  Neat.

Cheers again.