Belkin Auto Charger for iPod (White)

The Belkin Auto Kit features an adjustable amplifier to control your iPod's volume level, and a 3.5-millimeter audio-out jack that lets you play your favorite iPod music through your car stereo or other audio equipment when using an FM transmitter or cassette adapter. For safety purposes this unit includes an illuminated LED indicator that lets you know when it is properly connected, and a built-in, replaceable safety fuse that protects your iPod from potentially damaging spikes in power or short circuits. Your iPod locks securely to the auto kit via the dock connector, while a convenient strap lets you easily manage your excess cord length.

Compatible with any iPod with a dock connector--including the iPod nano 1G, iPod nano 2G, iPod mini, iPod 3G, iPod 4G (Click Wheel), iPod color, and iPod 5G/5.5G Video--the Belkin F8V7058-APL auto kit is backed by a manufacturer's lifetime warranty.

What's in the Box
Belkin F8V7058-APL auto kit, a user's manual and warranty information.

This product solves that problem, and charges your iPod to boot. It uses the new line out capabilities through the docking connector. You then plug your adapter into a mini-plug jack located on the power adapter. Adjust the aplifier volume on the adapter as well. The built in amplifier provides enough power now so I don't have to crank the volume on the car stereo, making the sound to be fuller, richer, more accurate and eliminating all the hiss & noise caused by having to turn up the car stereo all the way.

The only things that might need to consider is the mini-plug output for the amplifier and volume controls are on the side of the cigarette plug. While this wasn't a problem for me, people with resessed power plugs in their cars might have difficulty with it if your cassette adapter/fm transmitter doesn't have a angled plug (I have a MB that has a power adapter in a recessed ashtray and it's challenging to use that plug because of space requirements, but does work after some adjustment). Belkin should have put these on opposite sides of the device, but should only be a minor inconvience. I don't envision anyone having to adjust the output volume very often, after you set it for the first time.

I highly reccomend this product to anyone wanting to listen to their iPod in the car.


Works great, sounds great   March 23, 2006
Paul Harlyn (Orlando FL USA)
21 out of 22 found this review helpful

I just bought a new 2006 Civic and like all new Hondas, it has a line input on the stereo. I have been using this Auto Kit for 2 months and I love it. It makes my 1 hour commute somthing I look forward to. When you hook up the ipod with the large connector on the bottom with the Auto Kit, the sound is so much more clear and free of distortion over using the headphone out. I have been a professional audio engineer for 25 years, so I know good sound. The review I read helped me choose, so I hope this will help someone else.


Excellent!!   August 2, 2004
A Reader (CA, United States)
13 out of 14 found this review helpful

First let me say I've hooked up other MP3 players and a Pocket PC to my car stereo before while also having them plugged into the cigarette lighter for charging. In all cases I had a terrible hissing noise while charging. Thus I expected the same with the Belkin and iPod.

To my delight it works perfectly!! I plug in the Belkin charger and run a patch line from it to the audio-in on my car stereo and I get perfect sound with no hiss (while also charging the iPod)!

This product works as advertised. One thing to be aware of is that Belkin tells you to turn the volume down on your stereo and iPod and use the volume control on the Belkin device. I found the sound quality to be considerably better when I did the opposite and turned the volume down on the iPod and Belkin and just used my car stereo volume control.


A great item   January 24, 2004
Peter Payne (Isesaki, Japan)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

I was kind of miffed at what I perceived as "price fixing" on the part of Apple accessory makers when I bought this, since I thought it was just a power adapter. But it's a lot more -- you have the audio plug in the adapter right there, so you can plug just one thing into the iPod for instant music. The sound volume on the adapter is nice too, and the knob isn't cheap, it feels comperable to the iPod. Finally, when you stop your car, the adapter pauses your iPod's music for you. It's da bomb!


Best adapter (and I've used them all)   August 26, 2004
Keith Bly (Galveston, TX)
12 out of 14 found this review helpful

Despite bemlar's assertions that all "hissing" is due to the user's faulty hookup or use of tape adapters and FM transmitters, many people have experienced a high-pitched hissing through their speakers with any audio accessory that uses the cigarette lighter adapter. This is not due to the user's faulty hookup, but due to poor factory electrical systems in the vehicle. It is usually more noticeable while driving (accelerating) and not so much when idling.

Like bemlar, I also have a direct line from my car's factory CD changer connector to my iPod, and can get crystal clear playback until plugging in the chargers from various accessories. The screeching is there through the speakers as long as the adapter is plugged in, even if the music is turned down or the iPod disconnected. Incidentally, this also used to happen with my old CD/MP3 player that I had wired up the same way. Apparently in some vehicles, the cigarette lighter's electrical is too closely associated with the audio system, and this inevitably happens when powering and playing at the same time.

I have owned the DLO Transpod and the SiK imp for my iPod. They both created this high frequency makes-your-dog-wince hissing only when plugged in to charge. Both worked very nicely and sounded great as long as I was not charging the iPod. The DLO Transpod even worked well in FM transmitter mode, but with the direct line I had no real use for that. What I have wanted is a permanent setup that requires me only to "pop" the iPod into a dock when I get in the car and go. The DLO was the closest, but the hiss and inelagance of it's tinker-toy appearance finally made mt try something else. I have also owned an iTrip which worked OK, but of course provided no way to charge the iPod.

The Belkin Auto Kit for iPod is the only one of the 3 powered adapters that does not create the "hiss" when charging, so finally I have a solution that works as I want. In combination with the Belkin TuneDok for iPod cup-holder mount, I can pop my iPod in and out of a secure, visible, and usable place, charging and playing beautifully without any annoying feedback/hissing. It seems the cigarette plug on the Belkin unit must be better shielded, and maybe it has something to do with the input control on the unit itself. I'm no electrical engineer, but clearly Belkin has done something that DLO and SiK have not for vehicles like my '98 New Beetle with this lighter-radio problem.

Keep in mind that for this unit, its strength is also its weakness. Probably precisely because of whatever it is electrically that makes the Belkin work without creating the "hiss," it does not function using its own line-out at all unless it is charging. When I was using the DLO Transpod or the imp, I resorted to never plugging in the charger, just using the iPod's batteries on the road, in order to avoid the hiss. When the iPod's battery got low, I'd just listen to the radio. The Belkin needs to be plugged in to work. This is not an issue for me really, since now that I have no hissing I have no reason to not plug it in. But for people who are making long trips and/or swapping out their cell phones or other accessories with their cigarette lighters, realize that the music will come to a crashing halt if you are using this unit's line-in to play your iPod. Of course when you unplug it you can simultaneously plug your (FM transmitter, tape adapter, line-in) into the iPod's headphone jack, but the idea of devices like this is to minimize cord swapping, right?

In summary, from a person who has owned an iTrip, a DLO Transpod, and a SiK imp, the Belkin Auto Kit + Belkin TuneDok combo is the closest thing you will get to a pop-in pop-out "dock" for your car that makes the iPod usable and sound great without the speaker-cigarette lighter interference hissing many have experienced. I just wish Belkin would combine the two into a cup-holder shaped powered dock with line out. Isn't that obvious?