Bluetooth car kit or Bluetooth HU?

[abhinav.gupta88]

Originally Posted by vebmetal

1. Does the HU automatically pair with your phone when you sit in the car? (of course assuming BT is ON on your phone).
2. When a call comes in, which buttons do you have to press to accept / reject the call? (since this is for HUs that don't have built-in BT, and wouldn't have those green and red buttons)
3. Can you use the HU to make outgoing calls? Is this easy to use while driving?
4. Does the HU store your phonebook (and update every time you pair the device)?
5. Can you read SMSes through the HU's screen?

I had a 78/7950 BT unit
1. Yes, it used to automatically pair.
2. To accept, i had to press the rotary knob and to disconnect, there was a button of end.
3.Yes , but it is a bit tideous and you might get distracted too often .
4. Yes it does. ( Not sure about update)
5. Mine didn't!

[Pamul]

Originally Posted by NIP

a2dp/bluetooth kills the quality of music. if u like quality music, avoid this.

If this thread is about safe driving with the available options of voice communication with the world (outside the car !), much more info is expected to be here on the available brands in India for HU. Anyone not buying a fully loaded new car, will find this thread very useful.
Any VFM BT HU available from known brands?
cheers

[santosh.s]

Any suggestions on a VFM bluetooth car kit, which has following features?

1. Connects automatically (after initial pairing, of course)
2. Has decent voice quality. (I mean speech should be easily recognizable, not looking for musical "SQ" here )
3. Should have telephone mute output which will automatically mute/un-mute HU

Anything beyond this is nice to have, but can be readily compromised for price.
(Visited a Nokia showroom, they have nice kits but the cost is steep, something like 9-14K. That is like double the cost of my HU! Another from Sony-Ericsson was like 4-5K, but not sure if it supports automatic muting)

[rkavthekar]

Originally Posted by vebmetal

Sadly, I still have not been able to figure out the situation, and my BT problem still exists

Today I went to Driven, and according to him the BTB200 would be for 8K!!! And while he highly recommend the Kenwood 6539, he said that there have been several complaints with BT in the 7539U which has built in BT. So apart from fitting a BTB200 in my pioneer for 8K my only other option is to sell by 6050 and buy a 6539 and a kenwood bluetooth adapter. (This would mean spending about 10-11K)

I am not happy with either. Any advice?

If you are thinking of replacing your current 6050 and need to buy 6539 with a Kenwood BT adapter, why don't you buy Blaupunkt Hamburg that has builtin BT that pairs upto 6 cellphones and USB drive, CD drive, Aux in and excellent sound reproduction. I bought Hamburg this Jan for 14K with B&W.

Phone automatically pairs with HU when I am in the car and I haven't had any hassles so far. It comes with its own mic that can be mounted on flap above driver's forehead. Mic picks up voice of person sitting on behind easily.

take care and drive safely

[saurabhdadhichi]

Guys, i have both Bluetooth HU & also Bluetooth car kit system. The reason for having both are because when i got the music system installed, i specifically wanted to have hands free driving situation & at that time the best option i got was to go Sony Bluetooth Stereo Set. This device doesnt have a separate microphone to speak from, so unfortunately while talking have to keep the phone near to me, as phone's microphone is used for transmitting the voice. However, the good thing about this set is that it mutes the system if listening to Radio & it pauses the system if listening to CD. One more advantage is that you can increase or decrease the volume of the speakers (on which you are listening the person on call) as per your requirement.

But unfortunately, i had trouble of transmitting my voice through the phones microphone, the caller would say hey your voice is echoing a lot. So i decided to move on to a more sophisticated system which is cheap & doesnt have voice clarity problem. While i was in Holland & spain, i came across that lots of drivers & owners are using Parrot's handsfree kit. So i made up my mind to make this particular kit mine. I got that device installed in Delhi only & after pairing that device to my mobile i am having no issues of voice clarity, it mutes the music system, one can even see the number who is calling (though i didnt buy the system with a display just a basic one to make a call & end the call).

I am pretty much satisfied with the system, dont know if its available in India yet or not but is definite from myside.

Hope it helps some of the probable buyers.

[jingaboysr]

I have a scorpio Vlx with the stock HU and speakers. ( I think nippon)

I was searching for a bluetooth car kit, after some research, I bought the parrot CK3000 evolution car kit from USA for 100$ and got it shipped through my friend today.

I am a bit paranoid about the installation, as the kit says "professional installation recommended". Planning to get it installed at Cochin this weekend.

Has anyone installed parrot kit in their cars? how easy is it? Is there something I need to take care?

Thanks in advance.

[hrishig]

so what's the update? Did you install it?

[jingaboysr]

Originally Posted by hrishig

so what's the update? Did you install it?

yes I did install it, it was pretty easy even though my stock HU did not have a mute out.. and it works seamlessly.

But there was one issue though, the firmware we got with this was one version older, which did not support the new s60 platform mobiles which my dad had!!! And updation of firmware is not possible on this model unless you have a serial update cable, which actually costs more than the kit.

But we had a spare HTC touch, so my dad actually ended up changing the mobile for it. But he find this the most useful accessory in the car.

[pratim]

Guys,

I am kind of thinking of getting one easy to use, bluetooth based car communication kit through which I can make/receive calls without taking my hands off the steering or eyes from the road.

Here is what I have chanced upon:

Parrot CK3100: Parrot CK3100 Bluetooth Car Kit - £0.00 : Car Communications, Nationwide hands free car kits - mobile phone car kit installation service - hands free kit. Vehicle tracking systems gps bluetooth hands free kits

Main features (copied from the link given above):

• Echo cancellation, noise reduction
• Voice recognition dialing
• Volume control
• Dual call
• Auto connect on incoming call
• Dialing with numbers
• Caller ID
• Displays carrier name
• Network signal strength
• Pick-up and hang-up
• Scroll button = sound level
• Extension with new voice tags (up to 200)
• User connection priority management (up to 5 users)
• Phonebook synchronization

It can be integrated with the audio setup of the car and there are optional steering wheel controls as well.

Here an Indian distributor for this:
IDLPDL Introduces Parrot CK3100 Bluetooth Car Kit in India

Way pricey though!

What are other options? Expert opinions please!

-Pratim