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FUNKOMETER RATING: 10
So if you're like me you love your zune, however
there's one major problem with zune (or any media player), you can't
freaking listen to it in the car! That is, without breaking any laws.
The solution for many people that don't have auxiliary port on their car
stereos is to use an FM transmitter. I was going to go this route
and started to look around for one. I've heard that there's
distance issues with the Microsoft FM transmitter (for those that have
the Microsoft transmitter there's a
hack at engadget that solves this problem, kind of), so I decided
to stay clear of it.
Browsing around, I found the
DLO TransDock micro for Zune. I
thought I was in heaven, or maybe even Valhalla (since I battled so hard
to find an FM transmitter), a FM transmitter that can charge my Zune AND
play my tunes on the stereo! I was soon to find it wasn't heaven or
Valhalla I was in, but HELL! The setup for the TransDock was
pretty easy, open the package, plug the TransDock into a cigarette
lighter, connect your Zune, tune to a open FM station and enjoy.
The problem? The final step is impossible. That is unless you like
hearing constant static, music at a barely audible volume, and the hard
drive's spin up noise. The TransDock has it's own auxiliary plug
so you can connect an external audio source (get your Nintendo DS and
hook it up to the car stereo and listen to your nintendog yap).
You can connect the Zune headphone plug to the auxiliary port and it
actually sounds good. Using the auxiliary jack defeats the purpose
of the device though, since you can't charge the Zune that way. I
know what you're saying, "Why not use the auxiliary port and plug the
Zune in to charge?". Well, you could do that, but once you plug in
the dock cable the sound volume goes down, not to much though, so you
might be able to live with it. My only guess is that DLO made a
mistake with the Zune's pin out, or they didn't test the damn thing at
all (insert joke about no one owning a Zune).
The end result: nice design, cool auxiliary port,
can't really do the main thing it was made to do.
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