Best BT Phone out there now??

Thanks for all the input folks! Site updated:

http://home.earthlink.net/~bluepointvance/...prius/Chart.htm

If anyone has any corrections for me, or wants to add their personal experience with a particular phone -- just post it here or e-mail me at: [email protected]

BluepointVance

 

I bought the V600 today and the Quality is MUCH improved from the Sony-Ericsson bluetooth phones. The sound quality in the Prius is amazing and the prius DOES ring as well as the cell phone.

Too much $$$ though, $349 without a new contract!
Cingular.

 

A few gripes about ATT email. It always starts out reminding you
that you have an extended announcement greeting, you have to
touch 1 to keep it. The messages aren't labeled, no phone number
(if available) and no time. Finally, you can't prematurely delete
a message, you have to listen to the entire message before
hitting delete.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco\";p=\"41911)</div>

I was told at the local Cingular shop that they've discontinued the V600. Seems like the best phone choice from those listed in the chart. Where did you find it? I should be able to get a new contract as mine is up in about 2 months and I'm pretty sick of my SE T616.
[/b][/quote]Some Cingular stores still have the V600 - I was told that there is a new update V600 comming mid october. I LOVE MY V600 - it works absolutely PERFECT with the Prius. I used it for over 2 hours today! Works great!

 

Another phone I would really like to hear about is the Nokia 6230. Especially compared to the SE K700I...

These phones are available over the Internet, but don't seem to be available from the carriers yet.

Anyone have experience with T-Mobile hooking up an unlocked phone?
America gets the good phones really late - if ever...

Thanks!

Robert

 

This is very interesting for me, in Japan cellphone has so many integrated advaced future(mega pix digital camer, video recorder, TV tuner.. so on) but there is almost no BT capability phone. Only 2 cellphone has BT capability which not offer to my cellphone carrier(Vodafone).
If I want BT capability phone, I have buy from Nokia Japan direct... which is Nokia 7600. Problem is retail cost is 400bucks :cussing: But other hand by effective from next month? Law prohabit to use cellphone while driving which like in NY, NJ. Well for now my choice is use useless earpiece... :roll: because who want spend 400buck for cellphone? not me I reather buy buy new Ipod mini :roll:

 

love my v600!!

got it from tmobile for 50 bucks with a new contract

 

When my Smartphone died last week, I started researching optiong for my next phone, and being a Verizon customer I was pretty enthused to see they finally had a BT capable phone - the V710.

Thanks to all of you who contribute to this site, I was quickly clued in to the fact that Verizon has, for whatever reason, diabled some of the BT functionality on the phone - resulting in no ability to import the phonebook on your phone into the car, and no incoming ring in the car or on the phone when in BT mode. I appreciate all the information we share on this site, because it saved me a huge disappointment had I rushed out to get that phone.

Instead I started expanding my thinking, and decided that if I could find a phone with another provider that would have what I need, I would consider paying the contract termination fee with Verizon.

What I found was the BLACKBERRY 7100t a relatively new phone that is equipped with BT AND has traditional Blackberry email capabilities. This phone is a little different from the previous BB phones in that it has been slimmed down to the candy bar shape of classic phones, instead of the wide flat box that diminishes the BB appeal as a phone. The way BB accomplished this is by assigning two letters to each key, and developing an advanced software called SureType that intuits the word you are typing so you don't have to scroll back and forth between the letters to type. I was a little skeptical so I went to the store and tried it out. After a short learning curve, I was amazed at how well this software works.

But on to what you really want to know about - the BT compatibility. I just paired the device with my car and made a few test calls. Worked great, including receiving a test call which rang on my phone but not in the car. I haven't tried to import an address book yet because I have to synch it with my Outlook at work, but I will report back on that next week.

Using the chart info already set up in other posts:

1-Set up difficulty. - EASY

2-Speed connecting with car. - ABOUT 3 SECONDS

3-Sound quality. - GOOD

4-Transfer of phone book. - TBD

5-Display of signal strength/roaming/caller id/etc. - DISPLAYS SIGNAL STRENGTH, SHOWS CALLER ID, DON'T KNOW ABOUT ROAMING YET

6-Does the prius RING for incoming calls. - PRIUS DOES NOT RING, BUT PHONE RINGS

7-Transfer from phone to car/car to phone on already established calls. - PHONE TO CAR AND CAR TO PHONE BOTH POSSIBLE THROUGH HANDSET - YOU CAN SWITCH BETWEEN HANDSET AND HANDSFREE DURING CALL

I hope this is helpful to those of you who are shopping for a BT phone for your Prius, and I hope Verizon gets the message that they are losing customers to other providers by 1) disabling the very features that attracted people to their one BT phone and 2) being so far behind other carriers in terms of the BT functionality and options in their phone selection.

 

This phone has gotten great reviews, here is one from Time Magazine (click here).

Unfortunately, it is only available from T-Mobile. Their coverage in the Los Angeles area, especially in the mountain and canyon areas, is rather weak as compared to the other carriers.

 

Well I took the plunge. I ordered a Blackberry 7100T this afternoon after having this Nokia boat anchor of a phone for almost 10 yrs. (Ya I know I should have upgraded earlier.) But with the $100 rebate, I bit. I also like the fact that it DOESNT have a camera or MP3 stuff. I what a phone and PDA, not a video juke box.
Will advise outcome. (Assuming that I can even turn the darn thing on.) Please send positive karma.

Only 30 days till election day. Do you know where your voters registration card is? Dont leave home without it. :mrgreen:

 

Has anyone figured out if you can upload the phone book from a BlackBerry 7100t ?

I've had mine for 6 hours now. Works great (much better than my Nokia 3650) - except I'm concerned about not beingable to upload new contacts.

Thanks!

-Brad, Annapolis, MD, White 04 #9 BC

 

Recently I bought a Sony Ericsson K700i.
It works well in the Prius Business Edition (the Netherlands).
But it does not make the speakers in the car ring.
It 's a pity, but it mutes the audio, so a call does not get unnoticed.
Anyone knows a solution for this annoyance?
Jan