Portable MP3 FM

Posts Tagged ‘Metro Areas’

Coby CA 745 Wireless FM Car Transmitter with Digital Display and DC Car Cigarette Lighter Adapter

Coby Wireless Car FM Transmitter with Digital Display Transmits Music Wirelessly from Audio Devices over FM Frequency

User Ratings and Reviews

3 Stars Great Sound Quality but Crackels very soon
I purchased this product back in April when i ordered a new 120GB Zune off Amazon… Upon recieving both products I was suprised to hear how good the sound quality was - near cassette adapter quality and nothing like any of the other FM Tuners I’ve used in the past…. The unit kept the station even when it was unplugged, the light was convenient and it was strong enough of a signal that i didn’t have to change the station at all…. All in all this was a great buy for the that first month until yesterday when something happened (and I don’t know what) to cause every an ear-grinding crackle every time the MP3 player or the unit’s cable were moved even slightly [a sensitivity that was not present during the prior month]…. Not sure what caused this issue since it was not dropped or removed from the cigrette ligter for the last month but i would think it should have a longer life than 1 month…. Not sure what I’m going to do because if i have to pay shipping for warranty sevice on this then It might not be worth. One things for sure.. when i have to replace it I will think 2x about getting a coby.. great quality or not due to this longevity issue.

4 Stars Coby FM iPod transmitter
works very well so far…better than my cassette adapter. Like every FM transmitter, it runs into interference from time to time. But set at a low FM frequency (like 87.9) the interference seems to be minimal (except in large metro areas where there are “pirate” radio stations and maybe near the Mexico border.) Wish it recharged my iPod during travel but I’m still happy with it.

5 Stars Works great, a power switch maybe even better.
I use it on my 2004 Chrysler Sebring 4Dr sedan, the MP3 player is Sony A828 4GB. Most of the time I drive in the small city, but not yet any interference from other FM emitter. This one has very little noise, because of the long wire, but negligible. The noise between changing songs does not exist to mine, probably depends on each MP3 you are using.

cons: you need to turn on the volume a little bit louder than usually, so when you forgot to plug in the emitter, the noise of the radio is rather annoying. So a power switch or an automatic power switch may be desirable.

1 Star There are better alternatives
This is my second FM transmitter (after having the iriver AFT 100 Mobile FM Transmitter) and I was severely disappointed in it. I was surprised how well-constructed this seemed out of the packaging (nice sturdy-feeling body, a thick coiled cable), but once I plugged it in, the problems began.

First, I found that if you bumped the cable however slightly, it would produce a lot of static or bumping sounds. This cable is EXTREMELY touch sensitive and would make the worst noises if I so much as picked up my MP3 player to change the song. And that’s with the transmitter securely plugged into the cigarette adapter, by the way.

Second, the signal of this thing was just terrible. Now I live in an urban area, but there are a TON of empty stations. But even on these stations my MP3 player sounded grainy at best, with white noise constantly in the background. I flipped through every channel trying to find a better alternative, but I had to settle for fuzzy noise in the background.

Third, while I really appreciate transmitters that let you scroll through all FM channels as opposed to giving you two or three options, I was kinda disappointed that the Coby doesn’t include quicksave buttons, i.e. programmable stations so you can save your own stations that sound the best. The iriver had this handy feature, but this guy did not, and I found myself missing it.

Overall, I wanted to try a new transmitter (my iriver AFT 100 Mobile FM Transmitter broke a while back) and decided to try this Coby to disappointing results. I will be getting a new iriver; its quality is amazing (mostly because I think it’s beyond FCC regulations). The only reason I had to get a new transmitter was because my old iriver broke, but this time I’ll be sure to keep the receipt and warranty information.

Avoid this thing, especially if you’re in any kind of urban setting at all.

1 Star Two TERRIBLE Experiences
After about three months of sheer delight with this adapter, it started working intermittently. After trying to contact customer service for technical advice (kept on hold, told I was 23rd, then 18th, then 9th then told to call back later, wasting over twenty minutes each of the three times), I finally just sent the darned thing back. About two months later a new one came, although I had purchased another adapter that was wired in permanently, so I didn’t need it right now. The new one sat unused, and unopened, for about three months and I needed to use it for a trip in another car that didn’t have any MP3 plug. I cut open the package, plugged it into my cigarette lighter and MP3 player, it lit up and looked just fine but produced no signal to the radio. I tried it in another car and same problem. This company has a serious problem with quality control and customer service. I just trashed the new replacement unit along with the packaging. I will avoid purchasing ANYTHING that says COBY on it.

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