Customer Reviews

eForCity Black Universal All Channel FM (Broadcast) Transmitter great Compatible With Apple Ipod Nano, Photo,Video Mp3 players, PDA, CD (portable) DVD, any device with 3.5mm

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

After much, and I mean MUCH, reviewing of FM transmitters for my Sansa I decided on Eforcity because of the price and features. What I see as a necessity in an FM transmitter is this: First, the ability to choose any station - a must especially if you live in the city so you can choose a station that is not being used. Some of the other more expensive transmitters gave you the option of only choosing 6 frequencies. If they're occupied or even slightly occupied you will not get a very clear signal and your FM transmitter will have to compete with that signal already being broadcast. This model has the ability to search up or down to find a frequency that works best. Second, multiple power sources - This model came with both a car power adapter and will also run on one AAA battery. What I like about this is that I can broadcast my mp3 signal over any digital radio anywhere. This comes in handy at home or when I'm at a friend's house and want them to listen to a cool new song on my mp3 player. It has a pretty decent range also. I tried it at home from about 20 feet away from the radio and had no problems. What's cool about this is that you could have a radio tuned to your frequency in different rooms and walk around your house and hear your music from your mp3 player. Yeah, I know I'm getting off track. Anyway, it's a great find at a great price. I didn't have any problems with Eforcity either. It took about a week and a half to ship however. But worth the wait.

If you buy one of these great transmitters then do these simple things to improve your odds of having it work for at least 1 1/2 Years.

A) Don't dangle the transmitter from the input wire or car charger wire.
Make sure the wires and transmitter are properly supported. I think a
hair tie would do the trick.

B) Don't pull on the wires a lot or they will fray and stop transmitting
or powering the device. Ive been using the same rechargeable AAA
batteries in mine for over a year.

C) Tune your radio to a station with nothing playing & with as little
interference as possible. There should be NO SOUND coming from your
radio when it is CRANKED ALL THE WAY UP ON THIS STATION! - Then tune
the Transmitter to that station showing on your radio.

D) Turn your MP3 player all the way up when using the transmitters. Think
of it as thickening up the broadcast signal and making it easier for
your radio to see. Plus your radio wont hurt its ears when listening to
the signal anyways. I actually like to go fishing on the shore.. I turn
my car radio up all the way and the iPod all the way. Then I can adjust
the loudness & songs from my pocket - 20 to 25 feet away from my car.

E) Noise Suppression Spark plugs and wires help get rid of your beaters
buzz in your car stereo.

____________________________________________________________
How i Learned this junk - ( The hard way.....with my brain )
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I had the exact same transmitter and the input wire frays or breaks inside of the casing ... making the unit stop transmitting or causing the signal to break in one or both of the speakers on the left & right.

I bought my old transmitter back in Oct 2005 and as of June 2007 I have had no problems with it. I did dangle the thing by the wire and pulled on the wire sometimes. The transmitter still works but the wire inside of the casing is shot making the left side speakers break in and out when I use it.

At $14.95 I bought 2 More - these are re-branded bulk items BTW. My old one was called "Beam-It by iRock". Now the things are all black and branded under " Eforcity's " Logo... I only hope the insides are the same as my old one.


If your getting a buzzing sound matching engine noise in your car I think its time for some new noise suppression wires & plugs, your probably arcing somewhere in your engine bay and losing power to boot.

I hope this helped someone.
Thanks,
Original MF'er

Have had a little problem with frequency shifting after the unit gets warm. Trying to find an open channel on the FM dial isn't as easy as it sounds especally while traveling. Takes a little tweeking to keep clear reception.

I got this as its smaller and I like the option of being able to tune to any channel. If you power it via the cigarette charge you will get an alternater whine that matches your cars rpm's, I'm driving 86 bmw. However when I try it on my gf's camry I get no whine. I like the battery feature because on a recent ski trip, at our cabin we broadcasted from an ipod to the cabins 2 alarm clock radios. Sure beats local mountain music when your relaxing from a hard day of powder runs. Its less than twenty bux shipped quick from Eforcity, my friend has the griffin version that fits the ipod mini perfectly but that's powered by the ipod itself so fm signals were very weak compared to this one.

I noticed that most of the bad reviews are from 2007 click on the 1 star review link. I got this in June 2009 and for the money its very nice. I tuned my car to a non-used channel - 88.3 and matched it with the Eforcity FM Transmitter. Very Nice sound, I turned up my radio, rolled down my windows, opened the car door and walked 50 ft away and it was still rocking, I sat the transmitter and my PSP down and walked back to the car - No Static from the signal being 50ft away, "Impressive". In my house on my home stereo in the same room it is crystal clear and would be considered a dream reception of any true FM signal - ZERO Static, 25 foot away in another room it had a small amount of static but if I moved the FM antenna on my home stereo it would clear up easy. Sound Quality is 9 out of 10. I don't see how it can be beat for the money and this was all on a AAA battery that some other units don't even offer. I've only had it running for and hour so I can't say about longevity of the unit or even battery life, but if it doesn't break then it warrants the 5 Stars its got from recent buyers. I guess the manufactures have fixed the issues in the more recent units, as my unit works perfect and I feel I got more than my moneys worth with the .1 frequency dialing, battery operated for portability and a supplied car adapter for back up power. They do not send any instructions at all and I suspect a few of these reviewers didn't know how to work it. If the FM transmitter doesn't receive a signal for 30 seconds on battery power it shuts off, and there is no obvious on button, the up and down frequency buttons won't turn it back on neither will plugging it back in to a active signal. What you have to do is hold down in between the up/down frequency button for 1 full second and it will pop back on a quick tap of the center button wont do it. This unit also has a average back lit blue LED light to see your station while you tune it, then goes off, the auto shut off is a excellent feature. The unit is just a tad bass heavy in tone but it also boost the signal compared to a strait 3.5mm connection to a stereo, I tested it against a strait L+R channel 3.5mm cable to the back of my stereo and the Eforccity FM Transmitter is very close I'd say 95% of a strait wired connection from my PSP that again is damn impressive. 5 Stars.

Quick review. No instructions to lose. Sound quality - it rolls off the high trebles; similar to a 128K file, much better than AM radio or nothing (FM radio). Gain - it accepts medium level output from my BlackBerry just fine. Biggest con - microphonics galore, a slight bump will throw your subwoofer for an extended excursion. Curious that it comes attached to a short short coiled cord. Plug it into an extension cable and place it somewhere immobile or you'll be distracted (and the chap next to you). Forget 87.5 MHz, it only goes from 88.1 to 107.9 in .1 steps. It is too easy to accidentally change the frequency when powering it up. It does seem to broadcast strongly with no noticeable interference. The price is right.

I was iffy about this one at first. Some people loved it while others had problems with it. Well, I got it yesterday. I tried it on my home theatre. It worked great! Then I tried it on my crappy bedroom clock radio when I went to bed. No problems whatsoever. I listened to it on my car stereo (I drive a 2005 GMC Canyon) as I drove into work this morning and it worked to perfection. I got to work and played it on the boombox in my lab and it was awesome!

I live in NJ, right in the middle of the state so I get Philly and NY station but I slapped this baby on 88.1 and it came in crystal clear. No interference, no static. Nothing but my music. And I work in Rahway, NJ. I used to be able to see the Twin Towers from my office. So you would suspect that NY stations would completely overpower it. Again, on 88.1, there was no static, no interference.

And what's awesome is the building I work in really cuts off radio signals. Trying to tune in a station, even from NY, can be incredibly frustrating. No more. Not with this transmitter. I get the music I want when I want it, crystal clear, anywhere I want...so far. No doubt I'll have trouble locating a good broadcasting station when I travel and such, but for right now, this Eforcity transmitter delivers on everything it boasts. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

As a matter of fact, I think my one co-worker is gonna pick it up for himself. I didn't even have to convince him. I just let it play and the transmitter sold itself. And for the 14 or so dollars it cost me? Completely worth it. One of the best 14 bucks I ever dropped.

UPDATE: AUGUST 13,2009 OVER ONE YEAR LATER
So I bought Eforcity's universal FM transmitter over a year ago and it is still working GREAT! And I hammer the hell out of this unit! I recently switched jobs and now spend a good chunk of my work week in a building with ZERO radio reception in some of the rooms. I hook this baby up to my iPod shuffle and I supply music to every radio in every room of my corridor through cinderblock walls and steel doors. I let it play 8 hours a day straight through, 3 days a week.

You'd assume that it plows through batteries...and it does. You could go with rechargeables but since I'm pretty stationary when I use it, I invested in a universal AC adapter. Problem solved.

And at home I have this junkie little radio in my art studio with no antenna and a broken CD player. I set this baby up next to it with the iPod and I can have music while wasting away countless hours with my artistic hobbies. It essentially turned a useless radio that should be in a landfill somewhere into a productive machine again.

This transmitter is a no-brainer! For 10 bucks, now?! I thought it was a bargain at $14. You simply CANNOT go wrong with this thing.

Oh come on man .... for JC's sake I bet those people who get the FM transmitter didn't know how to use it. I am just a college student with a stupid old car (does not have a CD player) Glad that I got my ipod for my b-day present and I've decided to get a FM transmitter from Eforcity and give it a try. I didn't want to get the car cassette because it looks way cooler with this FM transmitter. You need to channel it to some empty channels man ... if you try to channel it as FM102.7 or whatevers it definitely will conflicted with your songs in your MP3s .. Come on .. use your brain people .. use your brain ...

I think this Eforcity FM transmitter is fabulous (looks, quality, price)

*I am a big fan of Eforcity for the prices of their items .. make me going through my college life easier than tons of the brand names stuff ...

Awful product, don't buy it. Burns batteries in less than 2 hours. The audio connector is fragile and the tip broke off after two days.

the sound was muffled and full of static. had success with the coby fm transmitter sold on here, but it kept burning out. this one was horrible from the start. i would not buy again.