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Consumer Tech Reviews

Belkin TuneBase a smokin' FM transmitter

Admit it…the average FM transmitter is plain junk that broadcasts weak and distorted signals. But don't despair, the Belkin TuneBase FM for iPod Nano is nowhere near average. It broadcasts crystal clear sound on frequencies between 88.1MHz-107.9MHz without drifting between channels.

The TuneBase is designed to broadcast through your car stereo by plugging directly into the lighter. Plugging a Nano into the small docking cradles both powers and charges the iPod. The cradle is small enough that it doesn't block any of the iPod controls, but so snug that any protective cases have to be removed.

The gadget has a flexible steel gooseneck that can be bent out of the way of radio controls when driving. Crazy cranking on the gooseneck won't dislodge it from the car lighter because a rubber gasket secures the business end of the transmitter in place.

The Tunebase has presets for four stations and a frequency selector that displays the current broadcast frequency on the iPod LCD screen. It sells for an MSRP of $79.99.

Dude, where's my car?

A toy for the truly paranoid, the Track Stick from Telespial Systems, Inc. lets you track the whereabouts of your car, children, spouse, or employees.

The Track Stick combines a 1MB memory stick with a GPS listening device, letting it record the date, time, speed, heading, and altitude by listening to 24 satellites orbiting the Earth. The Track Stick then precisely calculates its own position anywhere on the planet to within fifteen meters.

The gum pack-sized personal GPS location recorder comes to life with a touch of a button, located on the side. The unit collects data until the two AAA batteries die, which takes around 24 hours on high power or five to seven days on low power. Once it is done capturing, the data can be uploaded by plugging the Track Stick into a PC USB port.

Telespial's free TrackStick software integrates Google Earth, Microsoft Streets and Trips, Virtual Earth, Encarta, and other applications. The result is high-resolution 3D maps and 3D video that displays the exact route of the GPS recorder.

The one catch is that the GPS device does not broadcast, but only records, which means that none of the information is available in real-time. The unit won't do much good if you're worried about you car getting stolen. However, if you want to know where your car has been, the $249.99 cost may well be worth the investment.

Archos AV700E PocketDISH

Who says you can't take it with you? The Archos AV700E PocketDISH lets you take your favorite movies and TV shows anywhere at anytime. The PocketDISH is a portable DVR designed for recording content from the DISH Network like a regular VCR. However, it is not limited to just recording from the DISH Network. When in the TV docking pod, the AV700E is able to capture video or audio from any standard video or audio source, capturing audio as WAV and video as MPEG-47 video or AVI. You can even use it to capture audio from your old audio cassettes. Content can be moved the PocketDISH from your Mac, PC, digital camera, external hard drive, or camcorder using the enclosed USB cable.

The twist is that the PocketDISH thinks it is actually an iPod video . Like the iPod video, the AV700E can carry hoards of music and video, but with a much bigger seven-inch, 480×234 pixel screen. The 40GB drive on the AV700E is able to hold up to 20,000 MP3s, WMAs, or WAVs and up to 400,000 JPEG or BMP photos. It can capture forty hours of DISH network satellite TV programming or 120 hours of video from other sources at a lower resolution.

The AV700E has two built-in stereo speakers, is roughly 4.2 x 8.2 x 0.8 in size, and weighs a little over a pound. The internal rechargeable Lithium-ion battery lasts for about 4 hours when watching video or 12 hours when listening to music. You'll have to cough-up a few bucks to get it since it has an MSRP of $399.