Belkin Auto Charger for iPod (White)

I use it with a "Sprint Anycom FIPO Bluetooth v2.0 Stereo Receiver" and it works like a champ. The built in amplifier is strong enough to keep the volume the same when switching from radio to the auxiliary input, but I've found it starts to distort if I turn it up over ½ way or so. Having wires hanging all over the dash was pretty annoying so I direct wired a power port (cigarette lighter, 5 bucks at Auto Zone) behind the dash. Kinda nerdy, I know. But now I can stream music wirelessly from my android phone and the only thing visible is a switch on the dash to turn it all on and off.

I've have two bad things and one good thing to say about this product: 1) The plug is not a tight fit in my car's cigarette lighter (BMW 325iX) ... as such my iPod turns off everytime the adapter is bumped, which is very annoying. 2) There is a high-pitched whining noise when I accelerate ... I've read that I can fix this by purchasing some additional parts, but please I shouldn't have to do that. 3) The volume control / line out is a very nice feature ... without it the signal from the headphone jack is too weak and makes switching between my iPod and the radio dangerous (i.e. too loud), however with it the volumes are more similar ... nice. So overall I'm in the process of debating if I can deal with the bad in order to have the good. Bottom-line is that there is room in this market for a better product, but for now ... ?

This product is the best way to go - sounds clean in my car. I tried that FM crap and forget that... 1. Plugs in clean on the bottom - no audiojack needed at the top plus the cig adapeter on the bottom. 2. They cleverly put the 1/8" out back down where the cig adapter plugs into the car. Ingenious for my setup which is in the console - all wires nearly hidden. 3. Saves you $ 200 ish dollars for the BMW like IPod line in car kits... 4. I work in the audio industry - so I have no idea what the other people are complaining about - it's a quality piece. All you need is an aux in - or jack into the line out wires of your CD Changer - this gives you 40 Hours of Ipod Car Music Bliss....

I had intended on directly hooking up my iPod to my car CD player and thought this would be a great device since its one cable for both audio output and power recharging. However, the device is faulty. First, the audio connector on the unit had to be fiddled around with to get the Stereo left and right outputs to work. Directly hooking up a line from my iPod headphone out to my car CD player resulted in perfect Left/Right output. Through the Belkin Auto Kit, more times than not only the Left output worked. I had to wiggle the audio cord a bit until the Right started to output. Secondly, the audio output of the Auto Kit was weak compared to the headphone output. Contrary to what Belkin says on their website about the headphone output and the amplifier of the Auto Kit, the headphone output is clearly superior and offers better quality output. Just use the volume control on the iPod itself, just liking using the volume control on the Auto Kit. The third bad reason is the final nail in the coffin for not using the product. Using the iPod with the car charger plugged in produces a whiney hum while driving and gets progessively high pitched as you accelerate. The reason for this is that most cars don't properly have their power port grounded. Normally there shouldn't be any reason whether it should or shouldn't. But when dealing with audio it does. Basically the whiney high pitched hum is an result of Ground Loop Interference. It's where two different devices with different voltages aren't independently grounded causing one device to ground through the other device instead of grounding away from it. So unless you open up your car's interior and ground the car power socket, you will experience this hum. So for me, this Auto Kit will only be used for charging my iPod when the battery is low. I will just connect my iPod directly to my car from the headphone output without any power connected. I'm pretty sure the 12 hour batttery will last between charges since I don't drive long distance much anyways.

Nice little unit, I really like the way I can have only one cord going to my iPod as the audio is tapped off at the unit plugged into the power socket. I have been thinging about semi permanently mounting and wiring it up, so that all that is visible is the cord to the iPod. The reason I only gave two stars on the sound quality is that it has introduced alternator whine, I assume because there is a little amp built into it for the level control. I dont have this when the audio is plugged into to iPod directly, even with a power cord plugged inot the unit. In my thoughts about semi permanently mounting it, I am thinking about adding a fairly large capacitor to the power to see if that gets rid of the alternator whine. It's pretty pronounced when the iPod isnt playing and the volume is up a bit. The music will drown it out completely, but you know it's still there, and it shouldnt be. Thinking about also trying the Monster unit like this, to see if their amp is designed better and cuts the alternator whine.