Customer Reviews

Monster iCarPlay Wireless FM Transmitter with Auto-Scan for iPod

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

I like the fact the frequency can be changed using the ipod display.
Yes there can be static during playback, but that is due to using an already occupied frequencies.
I found I got the best results when I changed the region to Japan and used used 88.1.
I would definitely recommend it, I have used 2 other transmitters and this looks like the final one.
Hope that helps.

I bought this at CompUSA. I live in rural Vermont. The AutoSearch works fairly well. The static when connected is acceptable. A big problem is that suddenly you'll get blasted by static when the FM signal is interfered with. I'm bringing it back for refund. I agree with the previous reviewer - it's NOT worth it. My wife's old 8 station Monster works much better.
I'm going to try going back to my old Belkin charge which connects to a cassette.

I bought one of these from circuit city for $99. I live in St. Pete/Tampa area. The auto station find was not very effective. I found clearer ones by manually searching. When it's connected to your ipod, it definetly slows down the menus. The buttons on the iCarPlay 200 are also very unresponsive. I would press the change station button, nothing happened, then press it again, then it would jump twice. So my advice is have patience when navigating the iCarPlay's menus. Sometimes I could get it to work with an acceptable amount of static, but then the unit would randomly stop working, and i get blasted with noise from my radio being cranked up. You cannot adjust the volume on the iCarPlay, only on your radio. I returned the unit, and I am in the process of getting a pioneer head unit with a built in auxillery input on the front panel. I cannot recommend this unit. It also looks cheap for the price point. It looks like it should cost about $25 dollars. One postive note, it does charge the Ipod fairly quickly. Also in my wifes car, where she a factory stereo the static wasn't quite as annoying. I have amplified tweeters which pick up everything, including static. I also thought that putting the unit closer to the stereo would improve the sound, oddly it doesn't seem to make a difference. You could also look at one of the wired ipod adapters such as the PIONEER CD-IB100 iPod Adapter.

I commute across Los Angeles, CA on a daily basis, and the FM band is literally cheek to jowl with radio stations. Most FM transmitters (and I've tried at least 6-7 of the high-end ones) on the market are practically useless for me as the huge radio stations out here just walk all over their weak signals. This one has proven to be most effective, even with low-volume podcasts. If you are just listening to music, it will usually work well enough, assuming you can find those precious dead spots in the FM band. Some big caveats:

1. The dock connector chassis is wider than the actual connector, making it completely unusable with most form-fitting cases and skins. I've yet to find one that allows me to keep the case on and plug in this transmitter. The connector needs to fit absolutely flush with the bottom of the iPod or it will cut in and out as the connector wiggles loose. If I had known this before buying it, I might have gone with another transmitter (though as I mentioned above, this one has proven to be the best so far out of many +$50 transmitters).

2. Selecting stations with this device is sluggish, and nigh impossible in any kind of driving situation. We are talking up to a full 3-5 seconds of lag between a button press and the transmitter reacting to your press. Repeated pressing will only result in chaos as the device scrolls through menus, scans up and down, etc. I believe this is due to the fact that the transmitter is using the iPod operating system to control the various menus and frequency adjustments.

3. Whenever you connect the transmitter, it will autoplay the first track on the iPod, whatever that happens to be. Not the last thing you were listening to - it will always be the first track of all your media files, whether that is an music file, podcast or video.

A previous reviewer indicated that adjusting the volume on your iPod should improve the quality of transmission, but I don't believe that is true, as the output through the dock connector is pure digital. I could be wrong, but I've tried the same trick without any discernible difference in transmission strength.

Was it worth the ~$70 I bought it for? If you live in a big city like LA or NY where the FM band is crowded, it may be more hassle than it's worth, as you will be frequently changing frequencies while on the road, an unsafe practice at best. However, if you live in an area where there is more space on the radio dial, this transmitter might be a good fit for you.

I bought the manual select FM transmitter for my brother and I liked it, so I bought this one for myself. True, in heavy traffic congestion (I live in Chicago)the static is not cool, but I don't see how Monster could get around that. I find that the auto scanning feature works quite well, despite other reviews. I'm happy with this product and was able to find it for about $70.

I tried the Itrip as well as an Irock device for my 80gb IPOD. The audio quality was low enough I didn't use the IPOD in my BMW. I recently purchased the Monster autoscan model at our local Circuit City at the inflated price of $99 (I wanted to be able to rapidly return it if it wasn't any better than the Itrip). I think it sounds excellent. It has good stereo seperation, pretty good frequency response and low distortion. I'm very pleased. I agree the autoscan feature is not as good as doing a manual search.

I just received my order and was excited to use my new FM transmitter. (My old one broke. It was not this brand.) I have an iPod Classic that I got for Christmas. Unfortunately, it doesn't work right. The auto scan just scans up to about the 96 frequency - not the whole gamut. Then it chooses a station, but loses the signal about every minute or two blaring loud static. It has also crashed my iPod a few times to where I just had the apple logo on the screen.
I looked into returning it, but the seller, 6Ave, states that they will not issue a refund at all if the product has been opened. They will exchange for the same item, but that doesn't help me because it's not a defect problem - which I found out later. I decided to call Monster. They said that this product doesn't work with the newer iPods because of the new technology that Apple has put into the iPods. This is not the first time I've heard this. My iPod isn't compatible with so many products out there, including my DVD player that has a dock and is supposed to play iPod videos - but doesn't. The guy at Monster said that a new version of this item - the 250 - will be out in June '08 sometime, and it will work with the newer iPods.
So, I can't really rate the actual product, since it's not compatible with my iPod. The quality seems to be very nice and when the sound did come through, it was decent for an FM transmitter. I will say that I don't think it's fair that the description doesn't state what iPods this unit is compatible with (neither does the packaging!) and then the seller won't issue refunds - hence the lower rating. This has happened a couple of times when dealing with sellers that are not Amazon. I have decided to only buy things when Amazon is the actual seller, because at least their return policy is fair.
Thanks for reading my review!

The good news is that it produces a good sound when it finds a clear channel.
On the downside, it is not easy to use while driving as it does not seem to work consistently. You must watch the display and do something quickly before the menu changes. Better to park and deal with it.
Also, sometimes it says it is scanning for new stations, but it finds the same frequencies it had before - even if they are noisy. Then you either have to scan again or choose another one of the 3 chosen frequencies.
How much nicer if it had fewer options: Find me a clear frequency and tell me what it is.

I bought this iPod transmitter for my wife to use in her vehichle. So far, it has been rock solid. The auto-scan feature located a clear channel, and it works just as advertised. The sound quality is not quite as good as the set up in my truck, but I paid about $200 for an adapter that connects between my XM receiver and my factory head. Considering the price of the iCarPlay, I consider it an outstanding buy!

This is the best way to use your iPod in your car if you have neither an iPod jack (1st choice) nor a cassette deck (distant 2d choice). The search function is by far the best way to find a station. It picks stations I never would pick "by ear" and they work well - for a while, then the station (or its neighbor) gets stronger and it is necessary to scan again. I use it all over Los Angeles and it is good enough to keep using your iPod. (I had given up on using the iPod in my car until I got this one, even though I had the previous version of the Monster FM transmitter. ) Even if you don't drive much, it can find a better station than you can find by ear. Monster is the best FM or cassette solution, and this is the best Monster product for FM. I have used several over the years.

It could be improved. I wish it beeped when it finished the scan. I wish the scan result stayed on the iPod screen until you click a button. You have to take your eyes off the road to check to see if it is done scanning. But once it finishes scanning, you can just push the center button once to see the station it found. The only way I can scan is to push the center button three times, which works fine. I started making the stations it finds pre-set stations on my car radio... but it finds different ones all the time, so this did not work so well. It is too much fiddling with the buttons and looking from the iPod screen to the radio dial, but it is the best by far of a bad situation.