Bluetooth cellphones?

Which LG are you considering? The best way to find information on how well they work with the Prius is to plug the model number into the Priuschat search page, like '8100'. Make sure 'All Forums' are selected. You should see tons of feedback (hopefully!)

BTW, as a Verizon customer you will most likely need to upload your phone book using a 'workaround' technique -- PC, PDA, or another uncrippled phone.

Whoops -- I just noticed you are going for an '06, which also has a manual phone book entry method!

 

Just going by memory here but if you are, for whatever reason, considering only an LG BT phone, then as a VZW customer you have two choices; the VX8100 or the "V".

Both should pair and work fine with the car with the exception of phonebook transfer noted by jwe8f. Also, you have the option of trying either LG handset for 15 days without obligation (i.e. you can return it for a different model).

 

Has anyone tried to use the RAZR for Verizon in the car yet? If so, how does it work, what doesn't work? Thanks! I'm thinking about upgrading my phone to this...

 

Email LG and ask them which phones support OBEX. From what I hear, however, Verizon has disabled OBEX functionality in their phones, so it is kind of a moot point. I know the PM 325 does not support OBEX. OBEX is required to transfer your phonebook from the phone to the car. Otherwise, the PM 325 works with the Prius.

 

They have been disabling OPP, actually, which means there's no way to push contacts from a VZW BT phone to a Prius. The Nokia 6256i has OPP and, reportedly, works well with the Prius (including PB transfer).

Also, based on my own experience and from myriad posts on HoFo and like boards, e-mailing the manufacturer with questions about Bluetooth functionality (or features) is really a waste of time...........almost impossible to get a reasonably useful response.

BTW, I just noticed the OP's line about LG being the "best rated phones in the industry". I don't know what criteria were used but do know that WRT using VZW as a carrier, most reports have rated the Moto and Nokia handsets best for signal strength.

 

If you are a Verizon customer, and you want bluetooth capabilities, and almost all the bells and whistles, the best phone offered for the money is the Motorola E815. It has a longer battery life, and very good bluetooth performance with the Prius (minus the PB transfer due to OBEX being disabled to all VZW phones by default).

I have been looking at all the bluetooth phones available. Since I work for VZW, I can get them at a very good price. All the ones I have looked at, (LG VX8100 and VX9800, Motorola E815 and RAZR V3c, Samsung SCH-a950 and SCH-a970) the two I like the most are the Motorolas. The RAZR is the cool fashion statement phone, while the E815 has more real usable features.

 

Thank you!

Now that was great to hear. I have been thinking about getting the E815 for a while now but had not been able to firm it up...till your post.

I really want the MP3 player WITH my phone so I don't have to carry 2 things.

And, it has removable memory too.

Question on that for you azizaVFR....

When you buy the phone from Verizon I believe a memory stick does NOT come with it. Do you have to buy them from VZN or are they standard memory card types you can get at Best Buy or such?

I've heard that this phone does really well with the Prius.

Thanks again azizaVFR!

 

You are correct. The E815 does not come with a memory stick. It uses a very fragile style of memory called a microSD / TransFLASH card. The one which is offered by VZW is made by SanDisk. The largest I have seen is 512MB. It comes with an adapter to use in your computer with a SD card reader. You can buy it from anywhere you find the best price.

Oh, by the way, the OBEX is turned off so we can make more money off each user through the Get It Now service. This way the company can charge the user to download ringtones, backgrounds, and other transportable items. Now you know why...

 

Yeah, I figured that. That's just business.

Thanks again,

Aaron

 

Everything said covers what needs to be said so I would like to add one thing: No way, No way is LG phones the best rated cell phone maker in the industry.

 

So what are your concerns on the e815? Considering how others are rated here, this one stood out as the best Verizon phone in my reading. It does everything I ask of it well, with the exception of what Verizon did to the phone book transfer, which we know how to get around.

 

I have verizon also and i installed a HF 850 bluetooth hands free in my car. Pretty easy install excellent speaker system and mic.lots of cool features too cost about 140 bucks. My phone is a motorola V 710.

 

Really? It's a very good phone.

 

I have a 2006 Prius and a Motorola E815 phone. I love both but hand entering the phone book is slow. How do you get around the Verizon block?

Jim

 

From what I've read, a Bluetooth PC, PDA, or another uncrippled Bluetooth cell phone are the only ways. No one has figured out how to re-enable the phone itself.

 

I have an LG VX8100 for Verizon and a 2006 Prius. I can confirm that BT pairing works for voice and phonebook transfer does not.

Dare I say, what's the big deal about phonebook transfer to the hands-free device? I can pick up the cell phone and use voice command on the phone initiate a call.

 

I have a RAZR and it works perfectly with my 05

 

A good phonebook transfer lets you see the names of incoming calls on the MFD, and it lets you use the MFD while moving to place calls with names through 1-touch.

I'm not big on finding and playing with my cell phone while moving, I consider it MUCH more distracting than using the MFD.

In my opinion, why NOT upload your phone book? The only reason I can think of is if you don't have the resources or knowledge to do so. It can be done.