Review: Best Fm Tuner For Ipod (Iluv I707)

[chickenslut]

So rather than rip apart my dash so that I can use my iPod Touch in the car (still not happy about that whole cassette tape thing, but I digress) I was at a discount store yesterday (Marshalls) and stumbled across something I was willing to give a shot to: the iLuv i707. I got mine for $39.99.

Now a couple things to know: the sound quality had to be good, it had to charge my iPod and had to be compatible with most models or it was going to be returned. This unit accomplished all of them, but I did some leg work as well.

It comes with the "holder" with a small LCD screen reading your preferred broadcast station. It has 4 buttons: 2 for quick access preset broadcast stations and 2 for Up-Down of broadcast stations. As a bonus it comes with an extender arm for the cigarette adapter should you require it and some foam pads that you can add to the back of the holder to cushion your iPod. There is also an adapter too for you Nano users out there as well.

Now onto the work I did, I travel back and forth to rural Michigan a lot from Chicago and needed a clean channel to work with, that's where Radio Locator came into play. I punched in my city(s) and it gave me a list of the best "free frequencies" to broadcast on. I can successfully say that while driving around downtown Chicago and even some of the Burroughs there was no interference whatsoever, not even by police or fire stations or hospitals. It was that good. So the right channel is key. I now have a list of the best channels to broadcast on from here to Kalamazoo. I keep the list in a note on my Touch for quick access.

The unit is small and fits nicely in the cigarette outlet next to the shifter. One thing is that when moving the shifter knob you need to swivel the unit (yes the transmitter has a swivel) to the right so as to not hit your iPod, but once in Drive it's perfectly situated so that I can keep my hand on the shifter knob and change tracks on my Touch. The audio volume is good, it is a few ticks lower than the normal radio but it is still a quality sound for $40.

Once we reach our destination I just unplug the transmitter, fold up the cigarette lighter arm and plunk it in my center console. No muss, no fuss. Full control of my music without issue. It still will mute the music when on a call via Bluetooth, since it is the radio and is being piped over the stereo, so I just remember to hit Pause on the iPod and then un-pause once the call is completed.

For anyone on the fence about having a cassette adapter or FM transmitter I suggest you give it a try, it's been well worth the sheckles I paid for it and hope you enjoy it too.