Wireless headset for a mobile phone
 

I am considering purchasing one of the Jabra bluetooth wireless headsets for my mobile phone. Does anyone have any experience or feedback with them? I don't own a home phone and find the wires with the other types of headsets just a pain.

Cheapest price so far is $129 USD. Any thoughts or recommendations?

Thank you.

This would probably get more response on the Travel Technology board, but....
They make two models of this. One is for phones with built in Bluetooth. The other is for phones without built in Bluetooth. The latter comes with a module that goes on your phone to communicate with the headset. If the phone has Bluetooth, the module isnt needed. As a result the one for phones without Bluetooth costs more since it has the second part. I have the Jabra for phones with Bluetooth. Im pretty happy with it. I dont know which one you are looking at but at least for the one for phones with Bluetooth, that is a terrible price. It is a decent price for the one for non-Bluetooth phones.

Agreed, let's move it there.

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Moderator: OMNI and S.P.A.M.

not sure which model you are looking at, but if you search at froogle.google.com for Jabra bluetooth wireless some come up for under $70

MapleLeaf, do you have a bluetooth phone? If so, you can get the cheaper one that retails for $99.

If you don't have a bluetooth phone, you should take a look at one of these:
http://www.fonegear.com/
http://www.reasonproducts.com/

My phone is a Motorola V60i. Is it bluetooth? It is a GSM model - I am not against changing the phone but won't go away from GSM as I need that in Europe etc.

The model I was looking at was for non-bluetooth phones, that I know for sure.

No.

Nearly all of the Bluetooth phones that exist are GSM. There are dozens to pick from. Go to (for example) http://www.expansys-usa.com/ and just look for the little Bluetooth icon next to the phone...

[This message has been edited by NickW (edited Jan 26, 2004).]

I've used the Jabra with the non-Bluetooth phone adapter for about 6 months and have been generally happy with it. Bettery life is decent. The main problem I have is that the headset normally sits in the adapter when not in use. If you thrown the whole thing in a briefcase, it gets knocked around pretty easy, causing the headset to come out of the adapter. If this happens, the adapter and the headset are activated and the battery drains without your knowing about it.

At CES recently, I was introduced to a fairly new wireless headset (non-Bluetooth) from fonegear
http://www.fonegear.com

I'm planning to check it out. One of the feaures I like is that it runs on regular batteries, so you never need to carry a charger (unless you really want to use rechargeable batteries instead). It's based on a newer technology that provides good quaility sound, although the phone and the headset must be within fairly close (6 ft) range (unlike BlueTooth, which has a range of up to 75 ft, I think).

I believe the entire unit (headset and adapter) retail for around $75.

Worth checking out.

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NickW, my V60i is GSM. I use the Fido network in Canada, 100% digital GSM. Is there someplace I can check to see if it is bluetooth? I do want the range that bluetooth provides. Guess I might be buying a new phone.

Thanks for the input and the suggestions for sites. Cheers.

The V60i is not a Bluetooth phone. So you can either get the Jabra for non-Bluetooth phones that you were looking at or get a new phone and the Jabra (or some other) Bluetooth headset for phones with built in Bluetooth. Depending on what you want in a phone, there are a variety of options among Bluetooth phones. Im a personal fan of the Nokia 6310i which is a triband, GSM, Bluetooth phone. It is not a color phone, it has great battery life and great reception. Other people have other favorites as well. Expansys has a pretty good selection at decent prices. A friend of mine bought a phone there and was quite pleased.

Sorry to be such a technophobe here, but looking at the expanysys site, how do I tell if a phone is bluetooth or not? I don't need fancy, just reliable as I don't have a home phone anymore. Partial to ericcson and motorola, never been a nokia fan. Sigh, trying to simplify my life sure is complicated.

Go here, look for a little blue icon just next to the small phone pictures. Example of phones with the blue icon is Sony Ericsson R520m, Nokia 3650, Siemens S55.

Randy,

If you are an Ericsson fan, no question the handset to get is a T610. It has just about every feature on the planet, a great color screen, a built-in camera, tri-band, and bluetooth. I know several people who have it (including me) and every one of them loves it.

It works well with the Jabra but IMO several of the Sony Ericsson Bluetooth headsets work and perform better. And SE has a ton of other BT accessories (like the RC car) that work with it as well. You can also use it as a wireless modem for your laptop with a USB BT adapter.

Fido is selling the T616 for CAD$400, which sounds really high to me. The T616 is a look-alike that swaps the GSM900 band for GSM850 in NA. It still has GSM1800 for world roaming but you will have a smaller choice of carriers. I paid 120EUR for my T610 from Vodafone (though locked).

Expansys has the T610 for USD$326, or the older but still very good T68i for USD$234. If you don't need the camera and color screen, you can get all of the other features in the R520, which is still my favorite phone ever, for about USD$100. All of these are unlocked and have full Bluetooth functionality.

Personally I would stay away from Motorola BT handsets as they don't have much experience making Bluetooth products yet.

Bottom line if you just want a good phone with Bluetooth, and don't need lots of gadgets on it, the unlocked R520 at $100 is a bargain. It's discontinued now, but has a great screen, good menu system, looooong battery life (like 8 days), GPRS, WAP, and a speakerphone. When I bought mine (one of the first) I paid $900 and was happy.

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-alan in sitges, home of the new, improved Si-Re-Do

thanks alan - the R520 seems like the best fit. I don't need bells and whistles, don't care about a camera, just want to make phone calls, take my phone when I travel and get a decent handsfree headset without wires.

Merci.

I have used this jabra headset for a couple of years, well since they came out. They work really well with bluetooth phones, and you can buy the one with the dongle that connects to non-bluetooth phones, but I find that a bit cumbersome.

As for the bluetooth phone integration, I think the connection with the Sonyericsson phones I have it is very good, and the sound quality is very good on my end, and on the the called party end.

The only thing I will say is, it does NOT work well in an outdoor environment. If there is a lot external noise, or if you have the windows down, your called party will have a hard time hearing you.

So, the microphone is good for picking up your voice, but it picks up quite a bit else. So, be prepared for that.

Otherwise, the early adoptor in me, and technophile is pretty happy.

btw, the jabra customer service is really tops. Turn around on a defective one was free, and took two days. NQA

Let me know if you are looking for a better deal on one, I have some links

I would agree about going with the R520 if you want a Sony Ericsson phone. It was the last of their phones with outstanding reception and is a real bargain. I also agree about staying away from Motorolas. I have several CDMA Motos including a V60i that I am quite pleased with. From what I have read people have not been extremely happy with Moto since the V60 series.

Definitely look at some of the SE BT headsets - the Jabra and others will work with it, but I think you get some cool extra features (like voice dialing) if you use the SE ones.

You might also want to look into some of the cooler SE accessories - they have a travel charger the size of a lighter, and you can also get extra batteries - standard, long-life, and really, really, really long life. The last will increase the thickness of the phone quite a but, but you can head off for two weeks at a time without having to worry about charging.

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-alan in sitges, home of the new, improved Si-Re-Do

One final question before I place an order. I am slated to move to the UK in the fall. How can I get a charger for the phone and the headset that will work on the 220v system, not the 110v found in North America? I don't want to buy the phone there, way more $$.

How did you do it alan?

If you're buying an Ericsson/SE: for what it's worth, every one of them I've ever purchased (which would be, uhm, six) has come with a universal charger that works on both 110V and 220V systems.

Even if not, you can pick up a charger over there for about £10.

[This message has been edited by NickW (edited Jan 29, 2004).]

What NickW said. The charger that comes with that particular phone (if I recall correctly) has different plugs that snap onto it, and they are the standard "figure 8" type connector that lots of electornic equipment uses so you can get a new one easily. If you pick up the travel charger, it will come with US, EU, and UK type plugs already.

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-alan in sitges, home of the new, improved Si-Re-Do

Gracias... now all I have to do is borrow your credit card alanw and order the phone. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/smile.gif

I ordered the phone and a SE headset today. Got R520 phone and a HBH-35 headset. No mention of a travel kit, so have to wait and see.

Thank you for your help. Cheers.