Review: Belkin Accessories For Your iPod
Don Bradbury suggests ways to broaden the appeal of the ubiquitous music player with the Belkin Tunebase, Tunedok and Cassette Adaptor.
| Product | iPod Accessories |
|---|---|
| Company | Belkin |
| Web | www.belkin.com |
| Price | Cassette adapter £14.99 incl TuneBase: £29.99 incl TuneDok: £13.99 incl |
| We like | |
| We don't like | |
| Rating | 9/10 |
| Requirements |
It isn't just the Apple iPod, of course, that can use accessories to maximize its appeal; any music player of the genre that puts its output to a standard 3.5mm mini-stereo jack may be in line for some Belkin help.
While essentially a portable media player that's meant for wear on the body, most folks will want to use their music player in the car as well. It probably holds the owner's favourite music, so why not? For these duties, a range of accessories is available for the iPod. Take, first, the option to run the player via your car's cassette deck (an option that's open to virtually all MP3 players).
Cassette Adapter
Belkin make this cassette adapter (described as MP3/CD/MD) for the iPod and similar players that's suitable for use in any front or side-loading cassette player. It takes the form of a standard tape cassette but instead of tape it houses an "inner magnetic and shake-resistant design" which simply takes the output from the player's standard audio socket via an integral lead to the cassette adapter.
Pop the adapter into the car's cassette drive, switch on the music player and the car's amplifier, and you have beautiful music on the move as an alternative to radio, cassette tape, or CD player.
Both the player's output and the car amplifier can now be controlled to produce the sound level required. The choice of which he uses is up to him, but the higher you set the player's output, the faster its batteries will be drained - they're not being replenished by this setup - so you could decide to rely mainly on the car's own amplifier.
But in practice you'll most likely want to balance power usage from the two sources against total amplifier noise. Each amplifier will contribute its own level of electronic hiss, so finding the optimum balance may be a first priority on switching on. For pop and rock music fans this will make little difference, but we found music with quieter sound levels can benefit from this quick tweak. Not that there's much hiss; it's far less than you'd get from a non-Dolby tape.
Variously described as Flex-Neck or TuneBase, this device accepts the iPod Mini into its cradle, and this sits on a flexible neck, on the other end of which is a standard power plug that you can pop straight into the car's lighter socket.
Pass-thru audio output is then delivered, as before, to the cassette adapter (provided in this pack) and the music player attaches firmly to the cradle via its own adapter. The power plug in the cigar lighter is held firmly in place by means of a castellated rubber washer than tightens nicely in the socket.
The great advantage of this arrangement is, of course, that your music player is constantly being recharged from the car's battery via the lighter socket. You don't have to worry about it's own battery source running out of power.
With the cassette adapter, you may have difficulty deciding where to lay the music player. You could, as we tried, just pop it into any convenient dashboard cavity, though that's not particularly secure; it's free to vibrate about while driving. The TuneBase offers it's own solution as described, but cheaper still is this next offering.
The TuneDok lets you install your iPod or iPod Mini in a cradle that sits in a dedicated rubber cup which in turn is intended to locate the assembly in your car's drinks holder. Cups of various shapes, sizes and flexibilities adapt either type of the iPod to a secure housing, finally being located in the threaded TuneDok holder stem as shown below.
The threaded stem can be adjusted to raise or lower the height of the iPod (there are different cup sizes for iPod and iPod Mini), and to bring it to a position where it faces the operator. The rake angle of the player can also be adjusted via a clamp screw, and the rear of the clamp houses a cable snap into which you can thread the player's audio cable. This then attaches to a cassette adapter (not included in the TuneDok kit) as described above.
Finally, there's also a cup in the TuneDok pack which you can invert before screwing in the threaded stem of the cradle so that the assembly acts as a desk stand for your iPod. Altogether, this is a rather nifty assembly of holders and adapters.
In conclusion
Apart from a certain lack of panache, perhaps, with audio cable necessarily dangling its way to the cassette adapter, our only real complaint with these items is the difficulty of getting the things out of the plastic packaging in which manufacturers feel obliged to sell them. Carefully cut the item out with a pair of good scissors. All these accessories are thoughtfully designed and are recommended.
