Product Description

Compatible with the new iPod! The Auto Kit connects your iPod device to your car's power source and speaker system, and includes an exclusive Belkin cable that charges your iPod from your car's cigarette lighter. The Auto Kit also provides an adjustable amplifier and 3.5mm audio-out jack that lets you play your iPod through your car stereo or other audio equipment while in the car. You'll know your Auto Kit is properly connected by its illuminated LED indicator. The unit is also engineered with a replaceabl...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7717 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Belkin
• Model: F8V7058EAAPL
• Released on: 2003-11-18
• Dimensions: .0" h x .0" w x .0" l, 2.20 pounds

Features

• Connects your iPod device to your cars power source and speaker system
• Includes a Belkin cable to charge your iPod from your car's cigarette lighter
• Auto Kit also provides an adjustable amplifier and 3.5mm audio-out jack

Manufacturer's Description
The Auto Kit connects your iPod device to your car's power source and includes an exclusive Belkin cable that charges your iPod from your car's cigarette lighter.

The Auto Kit also provides an adjustable amplifier and 3.5mm audio-out jack that lets you play your iPod through your car stereo or other audio equipment when using a Belkin TuneCast Mobile FM Transmitter or Cassette Adapter. You'll know your Auto Kit is properly connected by its illuminated LED indicator. The unit is also engineered with a replaceable safety fuse to protect from potentially damaging spikes or short circuits.

You can use the Auto Kit with the specially designed Belkin Mobile Cassette Adapter or TuneCast Mobile FM Transmitter (not included) for high-quality audio through your car stereo.

Box Contents

Customer Reviews

Very disappointing, but then it could just be our car...
I bought this after reading the very positive review on iPodlounge. Taking the adapter out of the box, it looks great, and feels like a good build quality. The velcro cable tidy is a nice touch, too. Sadly, though, once I tried it in the car, I found that it just didn't work for me.

The problem is that the spring-loaded contacts (a) are too far away from the plug end of the unit, (b) don't project far enough out from the unit's sides and (c) aren't anywhere near stiff enough. This means that, in our car (an S registration Fiat Punto) the adapter is not held securely in the cigar lighter socket. If you touch the Belkin adapter, pick up the connected iPod to change a track/volume, etc. or hit a bump in the road, the adapter pops slightly out of the lighter socket and loses power. This tells the iPod to pause playing, so you then have to hit play again. This would happen 4 or 5 times in my 9 mile journey to work during which I'd barely touch the iPod on the passenger seat, which is no good at all.

So, I returned it for a refund and have gone back to using a double-ended 3.5 mm jack to plug into the car stereo fascia, which is unpowered, but works fine.

The really gutting thing is that this fault would have been so easy for Belkin to address when designing the adapter. My £5 mobile charger makes a good, tight, dependable connection in the cigar lighter socket. It Belkin had used a connector like that, this would be ideal for me. Unfortunately, that kind of attention to detail was lacking.

Your mileage may vary, as they say, and it might work just fine in your car. Try it out and if, like me, you find it's an attractive but useless piece of shiny white plastic, you can always return it.

I may now try the similar product from Monster as the connectors look like they project rather further than those of the Belkin adapter.

Nice bit of kit
Don't be put off by the low price charged by Amazon, this is a good piece of kit. Early days at the moment but have used mine for 3 - 4 hours at a time and it works faultlessly and the IPOD has stayed fully charged.
You must read the instructions and set the volume on the charger - otherwise there is no output (got the Tee Shirt on this).
I like kit like this - it just does what it says it does.
PS: I do not usually endorse products, but this deserves it.

Not bad at all
Mine works fine in a VW Bora (see review below re: poor connection with lighter socket), although it did come unstuck occasionally if I knocked the ipod off the seat - I guess it varies from car to car.

I used this in conjunction with a cassette adapter. It does a really good job of boosting the sound (especially the bass) with its built-in pre-amp, but be careful you don't overload your speakers!