I am new to the forum and looking for some advice on adding Blue Tooth to my package 2 2008 Prius. I live in the Berkeley, California area, so if any one knows of a good installation place that would be helpful. Also, I have read about the Motorola T305 and the Motorola T605 so anyone that has these it would be helpful to hear from you. I have read some posts on this subject but any additional suggestions or opinions are very welcome. I would like voice activation and a clear sound quality, clearer than what I hear from my friend's 2008 Prius, which has the blue tooth capaibilty from the Toyota Factory in package 4. Thank you very much, Kathmr
Make sure you get one with echo-canceling. Without it, the other end will hear an echo due to the tight space inside a vehicle. I have T305. It is affordable and good, but there are better ones out there. Also make sure you get one with BT 2.0, which starts up and links much faster than 1.X. The way I use it, ... I put my cell to Vibrate-then-Ring. When a phone call comes in, my cell vibrates. I immediately turn on the T305. It takes about 3 seconds to connect. That way, I don't have to turn T305 every time I get in the vehicle. And I don't have to recharge it very often.
Thanks for your response a month or so ago regarding adding blue tooth capability to my new package 2 Prius. It took a while but I finally took possession of the car yesterday. Long waiting lists now in California, especially for the color I wanted. Glad a I waited as I love the color and the car, but am back now researching adding Blue Tooth phone capability. Do you know anything about the Parrot 3200. I was told that was a good system, I am concerned about voiding warranties by messing with wires and such. Would it be better to simply get a system that is external, or do you think it is safe to go with an installed system that can be voice activated. Your suggestions are greatly welcomed and most appreciated. Katherine :redface:
I had the Parrot sustem on another car - in my humble opinion it is far better that the stock bluetooth in my 2008 Prius. I was able to access my full phone book which I cannot do with my rius system. I may add another Parrot to my new baby!
thanks for your reply about the Parrot system. Which one did you get. I also was not that impressed with the factory blue tooth on the Prius and that is why I opted not to get it. Where are you located and who did you have do the installation. Anything else you suggest is most welcome. Katherine
I didn't buy the package 4 because I didn't need all the other extra's and I was told I could add the blue tooth after market. After everything I have read thus far I think I will probably get the parrot 3200. Looking now for an authorized installer in the northern california area. What is your car. Katherine
I won't be there till Friday-Saturday (my normal work days) but you can call my shop located in Fairfield. We sell the Motorola, EGO, and Parrot brands. The new EGO pieces look really nice feature wise but I have not used one yet. The really nice part about all these new devices are the integration harnesses. Now you don't have to hack into wiring or anything. Makes for a clean install. Ask for Robert and tell him you got the number from Justin and he'll fix you up. Audio & Performance Systems 1819 North Texas st. Suit B Fairfield, CA. 94533 707-422-2771
there are a few adapters available out there, not quite sure which is better tho i heard theres a new model that can even stream music now?!? mine is a prius package6 touring ... since i knew i was going to drive it a lot (100mile/day) i went ahead and purchased the one with ALL the bells and whistles, so i dont HAVE TO add anything to it
The EGO does that. As for getting the upgraded package. That's all well and good but you paid out the nose for what you could have got at a fraction of the price in aftermarket goods. You did save a bunch of time having to figure out which mods to get though. lol
I had the Motorola T305 for my Honda and had to return it. There are several problems. First, the blue light blinks constantly and is terribly annoying at night since it's on your visor and right in your eyes. And in the day the glare of sunlight off it is so bad you can't see the light at all. It's important to see the light since it give status signals. Further, the on/off button is impossible to see since it's the same color as the body and is very tiny and non-tactile. The sound was mediocre. It also turns off automatically if you leave the car for 30 minutes, but since you can't see the light, you have to remember to check it every time you get back in the car. All in all, not a great product, but it might work for you. Just make sure you can return it. Oh yeah . . . it can only be charged in the car -- it doesn't come with a home charger. So if it runs down you have to connect it to your car's power outlet and drive around for a couple of hours or keep it hooked up to your visor (not so great.) It will use a Motorola home phone charger should you happen to have a late model Motorola phone.
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Robert, Thanks for your reply. I am in the Berkeley area and will make the drive to Fairfield if need be, but if you know a reputable installer in my area that would be very helpful. I checked out Hi Tech Audio in El Cerrito, but they have never put a blue tooth hands free in a Prius. With all the computer stuff I may be a bit cautious, but I am concerned about affecting the warranty should anything happen when they mess around with the wiring. Any thoughts? I love this forum and I am loving my beautiful Spectra Blue Prius. It was so worth the wait to get the color I wanted!!! Katherine
One more question, Prius friends. Would you choose an installed Blue Tooth over the clip on the sun visor speaker phone. Kathmr
I suspect the call quality of one of the Parrot integrated units is higher than the clip-on speakerphones. I have three of the clip-on speakerphones, a Blueant Supertooth II, a Parrot Minikit, and a Motorola T505. All function as advertised, none of them are great. The T505 is small and light, but probably has the poorest call quality (seems to cut out a lot, and voices are distorted). The Blueant is heavy and bulky, but IMHO is the most usable, with the flip-down microphone to turn it on, which can be flipped down past 180 degrees for when the visor is down. It doesn't cut out as much as the Motorola, though the voice quality isn't that great. The Parrot is somewhere between the two in size and call quality. Feature sets vary, so if there is some feature you can't live without, make sure the unit you buy has it.
the speaker clip on type may be an issue if its loud outside your car or your passengers are talking or you like to drive with the windows down or cracked a bit... ...the integrated in the stereo type would probably be your best bet
Volume is not an issue. I had my phone bond with my T505 rather than the Prius on the drive home last night, and I had the volume high enough so that it was almost painful. It's voice quality, not volume, that is an issue with nearly every Bluetooth device I've ever used. My HS850 earpiece is pretty good though.
Why not just add a Garmin GPS with Bluetooth like I did. Then you have GPS "and" Bluetooth as well. I added an extra amplifier and a speaker out of sight and it works great I also added an external microphone on the driver's side column. I've received no complaints from callers. They say they hear me fine and I hear them great. You can look the photos on my profile if you want to see where I placed everything.
