Zune Car Pack [Review] +
The Zune Car Pack comes with three items; the USB cable, which is just what you expect and nothing more. The Car Charger which plugs into your car’s lighter. The other end of the charger plugs into your Zune so you can charge your device on the go.
The real meat of this kit is the third piece, the FM Transmitter. This little device plugs into the bottom of your Zune and transmits what your Zune is playing to the radio station shown on the Transmitter’s tiny LCD screen. The radio station LCD displays white numbers on a black background which makes it easy to read at night.
Unfortunately, this is the only good thing I can say about the FM Transmitter piece. Before I got my Zune I used an iPod with a Griffin iTrip and had no problems at all. Only rarely would I have problems with static. However, the Zune Car Pack’s FM Transmitter seems to be so underpowered that it has a hard time even outputting enough signal to hear your Zune’s music.
But that’s not the worst part. If I hold my Zune, the broadcast instantly clears up and the output is very crisp. Or, if I plug the Zune in to the Car Charger while the FM Transmitter is connected (see image to left), it diverts some of the power from the charge so it can output more power to the FM Transmitter and cleans up the broadcast.
My battery was also drained about 3/4 (from a full charge) over the course of about two hours of listening time using the FM Transmitter.
Overall, I’m very disappointed in the Zune Car Pack. I’m especially spoiled after using the Griffin iTrip and its clear output. I can only hope the Zune Car Pack version 2 fares better than the Zune Car Pack version 1 I’ve reviewed today.
Final Score: 
(2 out of 5 stars)
