On Tue, 05 Jun 2007 21:50:53 +0000 Dan said: > I have decided to get my first bluetooth headset for my Treo 700P, and I am > looking for recommendations. > > Mainly I am interested in knowing what features are not really worth the > money and which are. Also, I would be interested in specific experiences and > recommendations, especially as they relate to convenience, reliability and > audio quality.
My experience here is limited, but here it is: I +love+ the Logitech Mobile Traveler/Freedom headsets. They have a windblock microphone, site entirely on the outside of the ear with an earloop (I wear glasses), and have plenty of volume for use in a not-so-quiet car. The only physical problem I had with them is the plastic on the earloop was brittle and would eventually snap in half. Logitech is very good in their service though, my first one was replaced at no charge with proof of original purchase date. Unfortunately, while it worked beautifully with my Treo 650, it didn't work so well with my 680, the headset once connected would not enter standby mode. I hate the Motorola headsets and speakers. I've tried a couple of each, and they all sucked. None of them had sufficient volume for use in anything other than an acoustically dead room, and none of the headsets I tried even fit very well. And I'm reasonably sure they were genuine, not counterfeits. I don't recall the specific model numbers, though. And the flip-boom would be better if they flipped from the outside, not the inside, so the user could close and open the boom while wearing the headset. I've used or tried a couple different Jabra sets, and for the most part they had the volume I need, but they didn't feel secure against my ear. One even fell off. The more expensive ones are better than the cheap ones. But these, at least in the ones that sit against the ear rather than behind the ear, tend to emphasize fashion rather than function, with changeable faceplates. I'm currently using a Plantronics Explorer 340. It's got the volume I need, some sound insulation for the speaker via a small in-ear tube. But I've started to notice that when I use it, the person on the other end has trouble understanding me about half the time, or most of the time if I'm using it in my car. The single multifunction button also takes a bit of getting used to, and is too easy for my belt carrier to press and turn off. I might be getting a Jawbone. My contract with Cingular is up today, and the sales rep at a local Cingular store said that they might be able to give me a discount on that if I renew since I'm not interested in a discount on a new phone at this time. Note that because I wear glasses, I cannot use any headset that is a behind-the-ear style, nor can I use headsets that use an earbud, so those are two entire styles I have no experience with. As for useless features? The only one I can think of off hand is the caller-id display that SonyErricson puts on some of theirs. I don't even know if that works with a Treo. A feature I'd like to see work is voice dialing over BT. That doesn't work from the Treo end of things, though. -- Jeffrey Kaplan www.gordol.org The from userid is killfiled Send personal mail to gordol "There's always the threat of an attack by say, a giant space Dragon, the kind that leaves the sun once every thirty days, it's a nuisance but what can you expect from reptiles." (Marcus Cole, B5 "Messages >From Earth")
