Product Description

Kensington 33185 Digital FM Transmitter/Car Charger for iPod, iPod Mini, or iPod Nano

Product Details

• Brand: Kensington
• Model: 33185
• Platform: Windows
• Format: CD
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 20.47" h x 56.69" w x 84.65" l, .31 pounds

Features

• Simultaneously plays and charges iPod using the car's DC power source (cigarette outlet)
• Transmits iPod tunes through any available FM radio frequency
• Simple up/down button speeds frequency selection and three programmable buttons lock in station presets
• Compatible with iPod Nano (Gen 1,2,3); iPod (Gen 1,2,3,4); iPod Classic; iPod Touch
• Patented Aerielle wireless technology enhances noise reduction and stereo separation

Amazon.com Product Description
This Kensington digital FM transmitter/auto charger transmits your iPod tunes through your car stereo while simultaneously charging its battery, making it a versatile two-in-one bargain. The unit includes such features as an easy-to-read digital display, simple up/down pushbutton operation that makes it a breeze to select frequencies, three programmable buttons to lock in station presets, and a safety fuse that protects against power spikes. And thanks to the ClearFM technology, you'll enjoy richer lows, crisper highs, and superior stereo separation with a "concert hall" effect--all through your default stereo speakers. The ClearFM circuitry also boasts Kensington's patented filtering technology, which results in the lowest total harmonic distortion and signal-to- noise ratios of any FM transmitter on the market today--up to three times clearer than Kensington's competitors.

Compatible with any iPod with a dock connector--including the iPod nano 1G, iPod nano 2G, iPod mini, iPod 3G, iPod 4G (Click Wheel), iPod color, and iPod 5G/5.5G Video--the Kensington FM transmitter/charger is backed by a two-year warranty and includes free technical support.

Accessorize with Kensington
Get the most out of your consumer electronics products with a full line of Kensington accessories. Whether you're playing it, controlling it, carrying it, securing it, connecting it, or powering it, Kensington offers a diverse selection of products for almost any home office or entertainment need. See the chart for a sampling of products offered by Kensington, a worldwide leader in mobile computing accessories.

What's in the Box
FM transmitter/car charger and user's manual.

From the Manufacturer
All-in-one Digital FM Transmitter/Auto Charger charges your iPod while it's playing--using your car´s FM radio and DC power source. Three programmable buttons and digital display let you preset available frequencies quickly and easily. Patented Aerielle wireless technology provides superior audio fidelity, and safety fuse protects against power spikes. Recent lab tests prove that reception from the Kensington Digital FM Transmitter is 3 times clearer than leading FM transmitters on the market today. For any iPod with dock connector including iPod nano and iPod video. 5-year limited warranty and free technical support.

• All-in-one digital FM transmitter and charger plays iPod tunes through the car's FM radio.
• Simultaneously charges iPod using the car's DC power source (cigarette outlet).
• Transmits iPod tunes through any available FM radio frequency.
• Simple up/down button speeds frequency selection and three programmable buttons lock in station presets.
• Patented Aerielle wireless technology enhances noise reduction and stereo separation.
• Safety fuse protects iPod from power spikes.
• For iPod or iPod mini with dock connector.
• 5-year limited warranty and free technical support

Accessorize With Kensington

Get the most out of your consumer electronics products with a full line of Kensington accessories. Play it, control it, carry it, secure it, connect it, power it. Kensington has a diverse selection of products available to be compatible with most of your home office or entertainment needs. See the chart for a sampling of products offered by Kensington, a worldwide leader in mobile computing accessories.

Customer Reviews

Good if you know what you are getting into
After I realized that I was gonna have to go the route of the FM transmitter to play my ipod in my car, I did tons of research. I must say that this unit sounds really well, if you configure it right. The first thing you need to to is set your ipod EQ to "treble reducer" or "small speakers". (I have yet to figure out why the EQ affects the sound through the dock/line out, but the volume control doesn't) The high end sounds will break up and annoy the crap out of you if you dont! Then you have to have multiple stations to work with. I find myself switching presets once every couple of car rides depending on where I go in town. I live in Louisville, KY and there are plenty of free stations which work well. While you can scroll down to 87.9 by holding down the right two preset buttons and scrolling, I have found this to be useless where I live. Stations higher in the band are overridden much easier than this one for some reason. Also, as with all fm transmitters, there will be some sound of static hiss as you crank up the volume. I find that this scares lots of people, but it really isn't that bad in the end. Ingeniously, if you turn on the air in your car to the lowest setting, it seems to match the static well and canel it out:) All in all this is a great solution for those with CD player only car stereos. The ipod is charged as you drive and you save hundreds on getting an ipod compatible stereo installed or hardwiring a connection from the back of your car stereo, which you can't even do (that I have seen) with my 2001 honda civic.

Better than the Monster Cable iCarPlay Plus
I have the Kensington 33185 in one car and the iCarPlay Plus in the other. While the iCarPlay Plus is decent, the Kensington wins out.

First, the Kensington has better reception, which I believe is largely due to it being tunable. You can set it to any station on the FM radio frequency so you get to control which station works best for you in your given area. The iCarPlay Plus has three stations pre-set and they can not be changed, so if those three are being used in your area by high-power FM stations you're out of luck. Luckily, I can use the three pre-sets in my area because there are no high-powered broadcasts on those stations already, but the Kensington still sounds better.

Second, the Kensington's controls are molded into the unit that plugs into the cigarette lighter while the iCarPlay Plus' controls are separate. This is a problem for the iCarPlay Plus because the unit tends to get flung around during sharp turns or lost between the seat and center console during normal use causing the buttons to be pressed and the station it broadcasts on to get changed. It can be very dangerous to try to find the unit again and switch the broadcasting station while driving. Since the Kensington's controls stay in place plugged snuggly into the cigarette lighter, they are always in easy reach and never get accidentally changed.

Third, I protect my iPod with iPod Armor which gives accessibility to the iPod's dock connector at the bottom of the iPod. The slot is plenty big for the standard USB and Fireware connector that Apple ships. However, the iCarPlay Plus' connector, for some unfathomable reason, is nearly twice the size of the standard connector, therefore I have to remove my iPod from the armor every time I want to use the iCarPlay Plus. This is annoying! The Kensington uses the same size connector as Apple which means that I don't have to remove my iPod from its armor so I can just plug in and drive away.

While the iCarPlay Plus is a nice unit that does work quite well, the Kensington 33185 is the overall winner based on sound quality, reception, and thoughtful engineering.

Worked just fine right out of the box
After reading the reviews about FM transmitters I was concerned that I would be happy with this purchase. As soon as I plugged it in and found a frequency it worked perfectly. Rarely have to change frequencies in the FM crowded NY, NJ, Philadelphia region.

The sound quality is definitely not CD quality but is certainly good enough for car listening.

Highly recommended.