Bluetooth device for car

tregan

Hi all,

Before i buy - as really need to get device for my car - what does anybody know about this model / device. Replies appreciated soon as offer ends in couple of days.

http://megadeals.pigsback.com/megadeal/33332?utm_source=MegaDealAlert&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=TheMegaDeal

Alternatively, recommend me something which would be in this price range?

coylemj

€30 for a bluetooth device with some of the money going back to Pigsback = heap of sh1te.

Buy a Parrot kit and keep your blood pressure down at manageable levels.

tregan

i hear ya! thanks and then can you recommend a parrot but not one i have to wire in as husband takes forever!

coylemj

What model phone have you and might as well tell us the make and model of the car as well.

You can buy car kits where the installation is included in the price from any of the local mobile phone shops. Obviously if you buy mail order over the internet you'l have to pay someone to fit it if you can't tackle it yourself.

Henry Ford III

http://www.mobilefun.co.uk/clip-and-talk-bluetooth-car-kit-p15581.htm

STG£20. No wiring needed. Simple and effective.

coylemj

Henry Ford III wrote: »

http://www.mobilefun.co.uk/clip-and-talk-bluetooth-car-kit-p15581.htm

STG£20. No wiring needed. Simple and effective.

Do you own one of these? How long does it last on a full charge?

tregan

Henry Ford III wrote: »

http://www.mobilefun.co.uk/clip-and-talk-bluetooth-car-kit-p15581.htm

STG£20. No wiring needed. Simple and effective.

well i like the look of that and i like the price too!

Coylemj wrote: »

What model phone have you and might as well tell us the make and model of the car as well.

i have a megane saloon, phone i have is samsung galaxy II - well i hope i have as it fell in the loo and is currently with a guy who thinks he will be able to repair, fingers crossed as i love that phone!

thanks to all of you for replies and suggestions

coylemj

tregan wrote: »

well i like the look of that and i like the price too!

I like the look of it and the price but I'd have a number of concerns.....

1. It's clearly battery driven so you drive down to Cork and back and the office or family is constantly on the phone to you, how long will the battery last? I know the mobile phone can pack up as well because it has a battery but you can buy a cigarette charger for the phone. Powering that gadget means you will need a two-way splitter to feed the phone and the car kit, very messy.

2. When they show the gadget clipped on to the driver's sun visor, they avoid showing it with a power cable running right up the middle of your line of sight.

3. A regular Bluetooth car kit is powered by the car so that's one less gadget to run out of juice plus any microphone powered by a battery will not be as good and sensitive as one powered from the car's 12V circuit and similarly the speaker will not be as good.

4. In the promotional video the guy makes an outgoing call on the iPhone and you can see the called person's id on the display but when he gets an incoming call supposedly on the car kit, nothing comes up on the iPhone display which suggests they're pulling a fast one on the viewer.

I wouldn't buy a battery powered bluetooth car kit.

johnayo

I have one quite similar to Henry's one. The battery last for hours but depends on its usage. There is a cigar lighter charger for it as well. The sound quality is very good. The only down side for me is having to switch it on every time I get into the car. Where as the parrot I have in the van comes on with the ignition.

Henry Ford III

coylemj wrote: »

Do you own one of these? How long does it last on a full charge?

I don't (my car has a factory fitted bluetooth facilty).

The reviews (over 900 of them) are very good however. Claimed 16 hours talktime, or over 1000 hours standby. Of course there are wires, but you can charge it off the mains or car, and the wires can be run out of sight.

For STG£20 you cannot go wrong.

tregan

on more investigation and because i like the idea of sound going through the car stereo have found this one

http://www.mobilefun.co.uk/jabra-cruiser-bluetooth-speakerphone-p21820.htm

anyone know anything about this ? and yes i know starting to up my price!

biko

I have a Silvercrest Aldi BT car stereo with mp3, CD, USB, ...
Was 60 euro 2 years ago, still going strong.
And I can play my phone music over BT into the car speakers too (and phone conversations of course).

colm_mcm

Aldi radio not compatible with steering wheel controls though.

coylemj

colm_mcm wrote: »

Aldi radio not compatible with steering wheel controls though.

It's very difficult to get an aftermarket car kit that can integrate with steering wheel buttons which are primarily intended to control a factory-fitted car kit. I have seen discussions on VW fora where certain Parrot car kits can be wired up in Golfs and you can use the buttons on the steering wheel. I guess it depends on the car model and whether the manufacturer made it easy or hard or impossible to wire up a kit to use the buttons.

coylemj

tregan wrote: »

on more investigation and because i like the idea of sound going through the car stereo have found this one

http://www.mobilefun.co.uk/jabra-cruiser-bluetooth-speakerphone-p21820.htm

anyone know anything about this ? and yes i know starting to up my price!

I have owned several Jabra Bluetooth headphones and they were all top quality.

If you opt to set that gadget to play calls through the car stereo, it will do so via an FM transmitter which means the car radio will have to be permanently tuned to a specific frequency which in turns means you won't be able to listen to radio in the car. When you do setup, that gadget scans the FM band and finds an unused frequency which it then announces to you. You then tune the car radio to that frequency which means you cannot listen to a radio station. If you drive a long distance, there is a good chance that you will drive into an area where that frequency is in use and you will have to do a rescan to use a different frequency.

Just be aware of that limitation if you want to listen to callers through the car speakers, otherwise I'd have no problem with any product from Jabra.

Edit: there is a later model, the Cruiser2 http://www.jabra.com/Products/Speakerphones/JABRA_CRUISER2/Jabra_CRUISER2

AlanD

That pigs back deal is a cod. Comes from Chinese retail websites and costs the purchaser about a 10er each. You can buy the very same unit on eBay for under 20. Works fine, but is not A2DP compatible

wonski

I wouldn't go with any bluetooth kit with fm transmission. It makes no sense ast all. I want to listen to the music when driving, and be notified of a call, when it comes in. Honestly i would pay to have proper bluetooth kit hooked up to the radio/speakers, not to worry about changing frequencies, and all this.
I have very old(i think) nokia ck-7w unit hooked up to the factory radio. Only one button on the remote to answer a call/make a call by voice recognition system(and i never use that). No hassle with the cables running around, or charging the unit from lighter socket. When the calls comes in, the radio go in the pause mode, you press the button and talk. You then press the button when you are done, and thats it. Since most have touch screen phones, you don't really need fancy displays on bluetooth units, as the phone sits in the holder and you can see who is ringing. If i was you i would try to find a good deal with the fitters, and buy basic unit properly installed, saying that i have to admit i never paid for mine, as it was there when i got the car, so i have no idea what kind of money does it cost, but i am sure it's worth it.