I just got my Tunecast, the original version in the mail today. I ordered it from Dell on a courtesy coupon they gave me. Overall, I'd say it's okay. It's better than I thought it was. First test was with my RCA digital tuning clock radio. Worked great, even from across the room. Then, took it in the car.
Car I tested it on was a 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix with the standard sound system. I'm also going to test it on a 2000 Passat with the Monsoon package and my 1992 Mitsubishi Diamante.
It was okay. We have Penn university radio at 88.5, I'm in Philadelphia, so the best frequency out of the four (88.1, 88.3, 88.5, 88.7) was 88.1. The Tunecast II allows you to surf the whole spectrum so I'm sure if I had that one it would be a bit better. Overall, however, not too bad. In the car, you can definitely hear some hiss if you have your player turned off with the Tunecast on. When you put music on, it's not bad. However, it has a hard time holding on to the signal. I didn't drive with it, but if I put it near my console, it would be okay, but would fuzz out a little. It's hard to position it. It has a great sound though, if it only had a little more push it would be excellent. I think I'll still keep it though because I didn't pay anything for it and it's a cool little thing that I can even use when I go driving with friends.
Overall, it has a great sound, but it could use a tiny little push to make it sound better. If I hold it in my hand and it has my body to work off of, it sounds as good as a CD hookup, but the minute you let it go it gets weak. If I toss it in the back seat nearer to the antenna, it sounds pretty good but who wants to do that? I'll have to test it in my other cars, but on the car I'm driving, it has a 3.5mm input jack right on the front of the radio, so I won't need to use this.
Nevertheless, I'm going to keep it because it sounds pretty good, better than I expected, and I don't need it on the car I drive most anyway. The Tunecast II should be better anyway because you can pick a station that's really remote. On 88.1 near me, I get the slightest bit of talk, so that could've been a factor. When I turned it to 88.5, the actual station, all it did was make it as fuzzy as the Tunecast running on 88.1, didn't even make a dent.
Either way, it sounds pretty good and it's a neat gizmo so I'll be keeping it. Although I'm normally an audiophile and like my stuff REALLY clean, this is good enough for when I'm driving in my cars that don't have the input in. If you have an iPod, definitely go iTrip. I was using my Dell DJ, and this isn't a bad option, and it matches the player nicely.
