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Review: Kensington RDS iPod charger/transmitter

It was with a great deal of interest that I happened upon the new Kensington RDS FM transmitter and charger for iPods. Last week i got a new vehicle, and it was the first one I have owned with the RDS feature.

RDS stands for ‘Radio Data Systems’, and we’ll let Kensingtons blurb define it for us here:

Radio Data Systems (RDS) is a sub-frequency of FM radio, sent along with a normal music signal. It allows text to be displayed on RDS-enabled radios. Song and artist names can scroll across the stereo screen. The Kensington patent-pending RDS FM Transmitter will digitize song information and send it via RDS to a car stereo (along with music). RDS is available in various vehicle models offered by leading automakers.

In other words, what is playing is shown on your stereo, much like an ID3 tag for an mp3 would be shown.

The Kensington device translates what comes out of your iPod and while broadcasting it to your radio, sends RDS data including the track name and the artist. And it works perfectly…it’s cool to put my 60gb on random and not have to grab the iPod everytime I hear something vaguely unfamiliar come on.

Additionally, Kensington has built in several cool new features which put it far and away better than any FM transmitter seen in the past, including:

  • an ‘on/off’ switch near the lighter receptacle end. This lets you avoid those slow drains of your cars power.
  • buttons near the dock connector which allow you to quickly change the FM frequency without fumbling aorund with switches or dials
  • a sleek black/silver interface that matches that of newer iPods and takes away some of the ‘white cable, let me steal it’ stigma associated with so many iPod related prodicts
  • displays the current channel/frequency on the iPods screen without a seperate software install…in fact, no software is necessary…it’s plug and play.
  • charges the iPod hwhile transmitting.

    • As a serious road warrior (20+ hours weekly commute time), I listen to my iPod constantly. It’s cool to have such a great new product ready to use in my new baby (a 2006 Colorado CrewCab, in case you’re interested).

    There are some caveats though, I admit:

  • the power button is too easy to toggle on/off. A ‘push down, then slide’ option might have been better
  • the cost is a little on the high side: around $70 USD. Considering the old version (sans RDS) goes for about $40, that’s a hefty jump for one feature that doesn’t necessarily increase usability or functionality…

    • Overall though, I would highly recommend the Kensington RDS charger/transmitter. Check it out, if you’re in the need for a new transmitter/charger for your iPods car time!

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