My New Toy - Easy MP3 ...

Updates: A colleague was so impressed with my new toy that he tried it out on his car's FM tuner and it worked so fine that he's getting one of his own soon. Wah, I'm turning to be as bad as Tim!

I splurged RM128 (now probably RM68! I'm gonna kill Tim!!!) on a new toy that I didn't even knew existed until very recently. And I blame Tim for it. Trust him to dangle new gadgets, gizmos and toys to me every now and then like some juicy carrot. Bad influence, your name is Tim .

Anyway, back to my new toy. It's really the coolest thing ever. Almost everybody that I talked to drooled when I described what it can do. And they asked me to test it out and give them a full report when I'm done. So, here it is - in full color and all.

What is this gizmo anyway?

This universal FM Modulator allows you to play your pen drive (yes, pen drive!!! Woo-hoo!) and any other audio source (Ipods, other mp3 players, CD & DVD players) through your car's FM tuner. It's like Belkin tunecast and more!

How do you install it?

If you are using a usb pen drive, you just plug it to the usb connector at the back of the FM modulator. For other devices, you can connect it using the cable provided. After that, plug the other end into your ciggie lighter slot. Tune your FM channel to the channel that you have selected on your FM modulator (it gives you the option of 7 pre-set channels). Even if it's occupied by any radio station, it still works. And voila, once you hit the correct station and hear the music belting out from your speakers, you are done!

I wasn't sure if the thing could read my mp3 files stored in the folders of my usb drive, so I placed them all on to the root directory. Updates as at 9 Sept 05: Yes, it can sniff out files located in the subfolders - the clever thing!

How's the sound quality like?

The quality wasn't that great, unfortunately. Certain songs sounded rather muffled. I guess it is largely dependent on the quality of the mp3 itself. But being a non-audiophile person, I have no complaints. I can live with average quality music without cringing nor hyperventilating.

Do you like the design of this thingamajic?

Honestly speaking, I found the design to be a little weird. Kinda like a doorknob or something. Also, the front panel controls were a little hard to manoeuvre while driving. You sort of need two fingers gripping the thing to hold it steady if you want to skip or repeat songs. I haven't checked whether it has any other advanced functions, but I shall have to explore that later and update it here.

Would I recommend it to friends and foes alike?

Heh, yeah! For RM128, I can use my existing usb pen drive as a portable MP3 player. Sure saved me a lot of moolah than getting an Ipod, don't you think? Besides, even if I do eventually acquire an Ipod, I'll still need this to connect it to my car speakers.

Before I ripped the package open

Here's the front portion

And here's the back where you plug in your usb pen drive

A close-up of the front - Ain't it a beauty?