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Belkin F8Z183 Tunebase FM...Where to find..***DOES WORK WITH iPHONE 3G***

thor79

thor79

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 8, 2008
448
0
Chicago, IL
Edit...since this seems to be a difficult to find accessory I've modified the topic title to be more of a general thread.

Sites to get this from are lower in the thread.
As of 2:45pm CST 8/1/08
-Apple shows a shipping delay of 6-8 weeks
-JR.com shows it as backordered. (best price)
-Amazon.com has it in stock (third best price, Amazon raised it)
-Buy.com has it in stock (next best price)

See links further down in the thread to the item at those sites.

Ok...anyone else order this car kit from J&R even though it says preoder?
I ordered it from them simply because I can save $30 over the normal $100 price...but I'm wondering why it's a preorder when people on these forums have said they have used this specific model (F8Z183) with the iPhone 3G and that it works.

http://www.jr.com/belkin/pe/BKN_F8Z183/

Also I ordered it over the weekend and got charged for it today...they say they only charge when they ship products. So it should be on the way correct? (could anyone experienced with jr.com give some insight?)

Yeah I contacted them directly to see what they have to say since my order status doesn't say anything about shipment...and the product still says it's a preorder.
 
Received this:
Thank you for writing. What you saw on your checking account is an authorization for the amount of your order($74.94). Unfortunately we have not received the Belkin TuneBase in as of yet and we do not have an eta at this time. I will email my buyer to see if he has one and as soon as I get an answer I will email you.
Click to expand...

so yeah...they essentially charge your account the full amount even if the product has not shipped. Holds for money on an account is the same fricken thing...all I know is...I can't use that money for anything since it's being held.

So I'm waiting.
 
Ok they're on sale now....and they still have the $30 discount off the regular $99 price...so I believe it's the cheapest you can get it.

So I'm expecting mine to ship later today.
 
Update:
My status page still hasn't changed but when I called into their customer service number to cancel my order (I asked for an order status first before I even mentioned wanting to cancel) so I could order from Amazon they said the order shipped today and that I'll be receiving a tracking number tonight. So the website order status isn't exactly accurate.

I did a search of all the sites belkin has listed for selling their products and the only ones that say they have this specific model in stock are
Amazon.com ($91.27)
http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-F8Z183...2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1217442731&sr=1-2

Buy.com ($103.99)
http://www.buy.com/prod/belkin-tunebase-fm-for-iphone-or-ipod/q/loc/111/208172868.html

Looks like Amazon is your best bet for getting this hard to find car kit. Everywhere else I tried either just didn't carry the model (nothing but strictly iPod accessories on almost all the sites) or were backordered (JR.com and Apple). (the two Apple stores nearest to me didn't have it)
I did not check sources other than the ones Belkin has listed on their site though...but there are other sites on the web that carry belkin products.

This thing better do everything for the iPhone 3G like people said it does...I'll be pissed it if doesn't (like if it doesn't charge). When I get mine I will post a review in this thread.

edit: It appears Amazon cut the discount a bit...it's now more than Buy.com.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Ok it shipped...received my tracking number just after Midnight central time. Should be here on Friday.
 
I ended up ordering yesterday from amazon for 91.52 and signed up for a free trial of amazon prime and got a 10.00 gift card for doing that so total with over night shipping came to 85 and change should be here some time today.
 
Ok received mine. Here's my first (but not complete) impressions.

***I need to make modifications to my case to make it fit properly. This review will not be complete until I do that.***

One thing I didn't think about when I ordered this was the case (Contour Flick) I put on my iPhone...it makes it just slightly wider than the iPhone...enough to where the plastic holder for the iPhone was a bit too snug. I tried the iPod Classic (which is just slightly wider) holder that came with the tunebase and it fit fine. Also the bottom edge of the case interferes a bit with the phone connecting to the Tunebase...I had to really force the phone down onto the connector to get it to pass the music through to the Tunebase. I'm going to try to trim off the bottom edge of the case to make it fit better. There's two small pieces of plastic from the case that stick down below the bottom edge of the phone which make it difficult to connect to the connector.

I think because I could not initially fit the phone down enough to get it to pass the music to the Tunebase...it did not recognize it as a proper accessory, as I got the warning from the iPhone about 3-4 seconds after plugging it in that the accessory was not made for the iPhone.

edit: After trimming the case so that it now fits down all the way on the connector it recognizes it properly as an iPhone 3G accessory. Yes, that means no warning. It says that it's charging off the Tunebase. And second most importantly, music sounds great through it.

I have to return a set of Power Support Crystal Film that I accidentally bought that was the original version not 3G...so I'll be making a trip to my nearest Apple store. That will give me a chance to road test the Tunebase.

As of right now though, I love the Tunebase.

I've attached a couple of pictures of the modifications I had to make to my case. For both pictures I've added lines in Paint Shop Pro to enhance the edges of the case and the iPhone.

The first picture shows how the bottom of the case curves over the edge of the iPhone...this is the edge I had to cut off.

The second picture shows how I cut off the bottom edge of the case just enough so that the bottom of the iPhone is exposed enough to plug in properly to the TuneBase. As a result of this I'm probably going to order one more back from BSE to cover the base better. I had to originally modify the BSE so that the case wouldn't interfere with it when I put the bottom flap of the case over it. Because of the modification to the case though, I can undo some of the modifications to the BSE I made.
 

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Oh maybe I should finish my review.

Sounds great *most of the time*...I noticed some sounds dropping out once or twice...probably just mild interference. Other than that the sound is perfect. You notice a little his from static when music isn't playing but that is quickly covered when any music starts up.

The iPhone 3G works perfectly in the TuneBase
-charges
-plays music through the stereo
-securely holds the iPhone 3G.
-When a call comes in it fades the music out properly. It also hands off to bluetooth hands-free devices just fine. I did not test without the bluetooth hands-free device though.

One slight thing I did notice was when I took turns hard it would tilt the holder (not the arm) a little bit (no more than 1/8 -1/4 of an inch)...forcing me to readjust it. Not really annoying though...pretty minor.

I will try to get some pics of my installation.
 
thor79 said:
Oh maybe I should finish my review.

Sounds great *most of the time*...I noticed some sounds dropping out once or twice...probably just mild interference. Other than that the sound is perfect. You notice a little his from static when music isn't playing but that is quickly covered when any music starts up.

The iPhone 3G works perfectly in the TuneBase
-charges
-plays music through the stereo
-securely holds the iPhone 3G.
-When a call comes in it fades the music out properly. It also hands off to bluetooth hands-free devices just fine. I did not test without the bluetooth hands-free device though.

One slight thing I did notice was when I took turns hard it would tilt the holder (not the arm) a little bit (no more than 1/8 -1/4 of an inch)...forcing me to readjust it. Not really annoying though...pretty minor.

I will try to get some pics of my installation.
Click to expand...

I wanted to buy this also but someone on a thread I read posted that this fm transmitter could affect the internals on your iPhone 3G and I definitely don't want that to happen. Anyone else heard this?
 
"Could" affect the internals?

Has someone said it hurts the phone? Because I haven't noticed anything negative with this device. It works perfectly. When the phone is properly seated NO warning is given on the phone saying that the Tunebase is incompatible with the iPhone 3G.

Nothing I have seen makes it look like my TuneBase is negatively affecting my iPhone 3G in any way.

What thread did you read? Can you post the link?
 
thor79 said:
"Could" affect the internals?

Has someone said it hurts the phone? Because I haven't noticed anything negative with this device. It works perfectly. When the phone is properly seated NO warning is given on the phone saying that the Tunebase is incompatible with the iPhone 3G.

Nothing I have seen makes it look like my TuneBase is negatively affecting my iPhone 3G in any way.

What thread did you read? Can you post the link?
Click to expand...

i just read it somewhere, i don't have the link. i also understood that people can hear your phone calls on this fm transmitter.
 
dinosaur1 said:
i just read it somewhere, i don't have the link. i also understood that people can hear your phone calls on this fm transmitter.
Click to expand...

If it is used without a bluetooth headset I can understand that since it is supposed to route the sound through your speakers...thus going over FM which anyone near enough can pickup if they are on the right frequency. This shouldn't be an issue if you use a bluetooth headset (I use a Plantronics bluetooth earpiece) since it mutes audio going through the bottom connector if you use one. This will be the same for any fm transmitter that uses the car stereo speakers to output the audio from your calls. Whatever you hear through your car stereo speakers will be exactly what anyone can hear that is near and on the right frequency. There's no way to stop that and still use fm to get audio through your stereo.

I couldn't tell you if it mutes fm if you use the audio out connector on the bottom, since I don't have a connector for that on my truck's stereo. I imagine it would solely use the audio out connector if you do use it though...no point in using fm if that's the case.
 
thor79 said:
If it is used without a bluetooth headset I can understand that since it is supposed to route the sound through your speakers...thus going over FM which anyone near enough can pickup if they are on the right frequency. This shouldn't be an issue if you use a bluetooth headset (I use a Plantronics bluetooth earpiece) since it mutes audio going through the bottom connector if you use one. This will be the same for any fm transmitter that uses the car stereo speakers to output the audio from your calls. Whatever you hear through your car stereo speakers will be exactly what anyone can hear that is near and on the right frequency. There's no way to stop that and still use fm to get audio through your stereo.

I couldn't tell you if it mutes fm if you use the audio out connector on the bottom, since I don't have a connector for that on my truck's stereo. I imagine it would solely use the audio out connector if you do use it though...no point in using fm if that's the case.
Click to expand...

scary stuff
 
dinosaur1 said:
scary stuff
Click to expand...

Why?

If you know exactly what you are getting into when you get it and you know how to avoid it, what's the problem?

Sounds like you just shouldn't be using any FM transmitter if you're that scared about your privacy.
 
thor79 said:
Why?

If you know exactly what you are getting into when you get it. You know how to avoid it. So what's the problem?

Sounds like you just shouldn't be using any FM transmitter if you're that scared about your privacy.
Click to expand...

how to avoid it?
 
dinosaur1 said:
how to avoid it?
Click to expand...

Like I said...a bluetooth headset will route all sound for your calls through the headset. The iPhone does this if you pair up a bluetooth headset with it. Very simple and effective way to ensure your privacy.

Even if you don't use a headset, nothing you say will be sent over FM...thus the only thing people can hear over FM is whoever is on the other end of the call.
 
thor79 said:
Like I said...a bluetooth headset will route all sound for your calls through the headset. The iPhone does this if you pair up a bluetooth headset with it. Very simple and effective way to ensure your privacy.

Even if you don't use a headset, nothing you say will be sent over FM...thus the only thing people can hear over FM is whoever is on the other end of the call.
Click to expand...

i seen this same belkin fm transmitter jr.com now for like $69. I am debating in getting this or a Pioneer in dash unit like this one:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8679691&type=product&id=1197678618266
 
dinosaur1 said:
i seen this same belkin fm transmitter jr.com now for like $69. I am debating in getting this or a Pioneer in dash unit like this one:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8679691&type=product&id=1197678618266
Click to expand...

Yeah I got my tunebase from jr.com for that price. Fast shipment once they actually got them in.

That Pioneer solution would definitely take care of the privacy issue (if you don't plan on using a bluetooth headset) since it would be a direct connection to the head unit (the iPhone doesn't support music via bluetooth, only phone calls). I can't tell you if that head unit is iPhone 3G compatible though...I have no experience with it.
 
thor79 said:
Yeah I got my tunebase from jr.com for that price. Fast shipment once they actually got them in.

That Pioneer solution would definitely take care of the privacy issue (if you don't plan on using a bluetooth headset) since it would be a direct connection to the head unit (the iPhone doesn't support music via bluetooth, only phone calls). I can't tell you if that head unit is iPhone 3G compatible though...I have no experience with it.
Click to expand...

I bought mine at Walmart today. I have to fix my cigarette lighter because the Belkin tunebase is still very loose when I move it left to right.
 
I bought the Belkin F8Z183 Tunebase at Walmart yesterday. Realized right off it wouldn't work with the clear case I bought w/my iPhone 3G so took that off. When I did the scan, it came up with E 5.1 or IP and some numbers. Never could get it to work correctly. I had on my Motorola bluetooth headset, so at first thought maybe that was a problem....from reading posts, it should not be.

Anyone have a clue what I might be doing wrong? Or why this isn't working for me? Apparently it works for everyone else so???

KimmiH:mad:
 
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