Customer Reviews

iLuv I701 Digital FM Radio Transmitter (White)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

iLuv is relatively small and thin. Easy to carry around, will fit almost anywhere. Uses standard 3.5mm stereo audio connector. It is in no way iPod specific. I guess it has "i" in the name because every cool device these days has "i" in the name. You can use iLuv with anything. Laptops, MP3 players, Walkmans, CD players, anything standard. And with iPod too. Of course, if your device has non-standard connector (most mobile phones for example) you are out of luck.

It uses AAA batteries, which is not really a good thing. However, given that device is too thin for AA batteries, I'm not going to hold it against it. BTW, may I suggest rechargeables to everybody who bitches about price of AAA batteries. There is a 3V connector on it, so you don't need batteries if you have 12V to 3V adapter for car. I just got iLuv today, so can't really comment on battery life. It's been turned on for the whole afternoon with used batteries (that I pulled out of my old FM transmitter), and it still works.

It covers the full FM frequency range in 0.1 MHz increments. You can set it to virtually any unused FM slot. As far as I can tell, it stays at the dialed frequency and doesn't "pollute" reception of nearby stations (translated, your neighbors will not hate you). However, the range is very limited. You probably want to keep it no more than 10 feet or so from the antenna of your radio. If you are looking into buying it for use in car, this is not a problem. Tested. I placed it at the worst position in car, furthers away from antenna, and the sound quality was still good. If you want to transmit to the room on the other end of a house, you'll be very disappointed. It simply doesn't have enough juice for that.

There's some audible white noise when there's no input signal, but not any worse than some other devices I had in my hands. Don't expect miracles from something in this price range. If you'll be using it in a car (use most folks are buying this devices for), don't worry about it at all. Even if you have very quiet car, you won't notice this at all. On the other hand, if you are audio perfectionist, you'll probably have to spend much more money for something better.

Conclusion. iLuv is no worse then what I read in reviews for most other FM transmitters. It is way better then my old Radio Shack branded one.

Length:: 0:45 Mins

Works almost perfect. Great deal for 30 bucks. Some static and sometimes a high pitch noise, but you'll have to pay a lot more to get something better.

I'm surprised this product has only three previous reviews when compared to the Belkin Tunecast II! The iLuv does its job beautifully! I wanted an FM transmitter to not only be able to hear my stereo system in the bathroom on a smaller radio while shaving or showering, but also for my mp3 player on the stereo in the car. It passed the first test-took it out of the box, installed the batteries, turned it on, set a random frequency, and instantly the signal carried from my stereo to the radio in the bathroom. I was impressed by the clarity even when there is a competing radio signal.I'm pretty confident that it will work well in the car. I would recommend getting some rechargeable batteries and a charger to eliminate the headache of buying new batteries. I owned a Belkin Tunecast several years ago and it ate batteries like they were going out of style. The Tunecast, by the way, crapped out on me in less than a year, the signal was lousy in the car when it did work, and it fared no better around the house. I must say I was impressed with the iLuv. It may be one of the best kept secrets in the FM transmitter market for iPods and other devices.

I wished I hadn't wasted my money buying this. I used to have a nice radio transmitter for my mp3 player where it was like a dial on the radio and when the station came in, it was in nice. I lost that one. So I bought this, but this, you have to go through clicking on ALL the stations before getting a signal and even THEN, it's staticy. Any station that my songs would play--they would all turn out staticy!
Forget this piece of TRASH and maybe pick up some speakers, that's what I did.

While not perfect, this transmitter is far & away above the field in quality. Of the MANY fm transmitter products I've tried, this is the only one that works reasonably well. If you live in a rural, or area with several "blank" digital areas, without two stations straddling every station (ie. 88.1, 88.9, 104.7...) you will have great success, with only the faintest background noise. I live in an suburban area with extremely packed FM dial, and I could only find three non-use stations. I use it mainly to hear podcasts, which makes faint background noise only a minimal problem. Simply find a station on your dial with no signal, (preferably with white noise, since it will probably NOT have a station to the left or the right...), then set the iLuv unit to that digital station, pug in your iPod, portable CD player or ever Tape walkman, and you are good to go. Just remember to shut it off when you're finished, or you'll go through dozens of AAA batteries. There's an AC adapter available from iLuv direct, but you'll need to hunt that down. overall, it has been a cheap, reasonable alternative since my car deck because unusable. I've tried three other units, one by Griffin, and they simply couldn't give a static free experience. Hats off to Jwin I701 iLuv; well made.

This transmitter does a fine job for what it is supposed to do. The only drawback is that it does not come with an ac adapter. Two AAA batteries will usually last a few days which I feel is good. I have only had to try one frequency and that has been fine with only minor and sporadic interference. Overall, I am pleased with this product.

I purchased this item specifically to resolve the problem of being able to listen to the TV remotely via headphones, either while in bed or while on a treadmill (so you don't have to turn the TV up super loud). I can confirm that this does have a range of about ten feet, and is suitable for either one of these tasks. You can then use a standard FM radio or mp3 player (the sandisk sansa clip features an FM tuner and is very compact) so that multiple people can listen to the signal, or you can listen to it while running on the treadmill, without employing a more expensive solution that utilizes proprietary headphones.

Additionally, if the source device is more than ten feet where you want to listen to it, you always have the option of using a headphone extension cord to move the iLuv transmitter a little closer to you. So, although the signal strength isn't quite as strong as I would like, this device definitely does work at a distance of about ten feet (which was my biggest concern) and is a good value for what it does.

Also, your TV will require a headphone jack, or you can get an RCA to 3.5 mm (female) headphone jack adapter cable for about five bucks.