One of the best things about music is sharing it, and sometimes I like to share the music I have on my Treo. Compared to most dedicated MP3 players, my Treo has the benefit of an external speaker. But lets be honest, the Treo’s speaker sucks. What I want is to be able to hook my Treo up to some good speakers wherever I go. This is what the Seidio FM transmitter is designed to do. The accessory allows you to transmit the sound output from your Treo to any FM radio receiver, such as your car radio or home stereo.

Upon opening the kit, you find several essential cables (in addition to the transmitter); a retractable audio connector cable and a USB terminated cigarette lighter adapter (see right).

One essential item that isn’t included in the kit is a 2.5mm-3.5mm adapter (see left). Without this, you can’t connect the transmitter to your Treo as the audio cable has 3.5mm jacks. Luckily, I already had an adapter that I use to connect my earphones to my Treo. If you do need an adapter don’t worry they cost less than $3 in the mytreo.net store.

The kit is simple to setup: you just plug one end of the extendable audio cable into your Treo and the other into the transmitter. Then plug the power cable into the transmitter.

When connecting up the transmitter I found the major limitation of the system: it lacks a battery. To use the transmitter it has to be connected to a power source. The power source can be your car’s cigarette lighter socket using the supplied power cable, or you can use a USB cable connected to a computer. For some people this won’t be an issue as they will only use the transmitter in their car or near another power source. However, I would like to use the transmitter in a range of locations - some of which aren’t near power sources.

The transmitter is simple to operate with just four buttons: a power switch, a preset frequency button and two buttons to go up and down the transmitter range. Unlike some FM transmitters this one is not limited to several preset frequencies, you can select any frequency between 88 and 108MHz in 0.1MHz steps.

The sound quality of the transmitted signal is very good, the music sounds just like you’re tuning into a FM radio station playing just the songs you want to hear. I played around with some different MP3s and the sound quality seems to be on par with MP3s encoded somewhere between 96-128kbit/s. Unlike some weaker FM transmitters this one has a good range (quoted as 50-80 feet), I happily transmitted the signal through several solid brick walls without compromising the sound quality.

You can really have some fun with this system, I tuned my home cinema system into it and watched a movie on my Treo with the sound provided by my Denon and Tannoy 5.1 system. Or if games are your thing, how about some surround sound floor shaking effects for your next Microquad race?

If you want to listen to the MP3s from your Treo on your car stereo this a great option, it provides a good strong signal to give very good sound quality and a decent range. However, the lack of a battery means I really can’t recommend this if you want a versatile, use anywhere FM transmitter.

Pros

• Strong signal gives a good range and great sound quality

• Can be tuned to any frequency between 88-108MHz
• Great transmitter to listen to your Treo music in your car

Cons

• No battery

• You need to provide your own 3.5-2.5mm adapter

Related Links

Buy Seidio FM Transmkitter

Discuss Accessories in the Treo Discussion Forum

Seidio Accessories in mytreo.net/store

Filed under: Accessory reviews