OK, I've seen many threads on problems with certain bluetooth enabled phones. My question is, and maybe this should be a poll, but which phone is a rock solid choice for using bluetooth in our TL's? My wife just washed my slider Kyocera (YEAH!) so now I have to get a different phone, and want blue tooth. If there is a past thread regarding this, please point me to it. Otherwise, please give your experiences with your bluetooth phones.. Thanks!!!

 

I have both the Motorola A630 and the RAZR and they work really well. I never had any problem with either of them.

 

All the latest Sony Ericsson phones are known for great bluetooth on all applications. from your HFL in the car, to syncing with your computer, etc

i use the Sony T616 with the TL HFL and with my PowerMac to sync, change themes, browse the phone etc...

 

something wrong with the moto v710. Great phone though other than that. For somet reason it dosnt want to really receive calls

 

All of the phones have their faults here and there. If you are looking for a phone that will provide info for all of the HFL's functions, the SE T616 is probably your best bet. If you choose that phone you will have to live with sub par signal reception and no speaker phone. Almost any Bluetooth Nokia works great except for the fact that signal and bat. strength never gets displayed in the MID. I've been thru a few phones and found that my Nokia 6820 is the best balance of features and functionality for my needs. It’s always a compromise

 

I don't think thet make the SE T616 anymore. Maybe try the newer versions, which are the T630 and the more updated T637. I don't have these phones yet, but I am looking into getting a T637.

 

Signal strength is purely a matter of geography. I receive 90-100% strength about 95% of the time... i've never had any reception problems with the T616. having the latest firmware helps in this area too....

 

I have two bluetooth phones, one for personal use and one for work. For personal use, I have a Nokia 3620. For work, I have a Blackberry 7290. Reception & Sound - wise I cannot tell the difference in the car, both are excellent. The only difference for me is that the Blackberry shows signal strength and battery power on the display.

Overall, I'd recommend either for Cingular or Suncom customers.

 

I have the razr and i must say it works very well and to me its the best looking phone on the market. Plus its extremely thin and that works well for me because i wear a suit everyday and i dont need a cell phone bulging my pocket.
Razr all the way!

 

my v80 seems to work fine

 

In areas of sub par to low signal strength from my nokia's the T616 has none. Thats all I was trying to say.

 

I have the V555 linked with my car and my laptop, so far I am very impressed

 

I had a T610/616 and it worked perfectly, had everything. I recently got a motorola razr and it's working perfectly also.

 

my Moto V80 works great, no problems.

 

see my sig ... BT works great.

 

I had the T610 and while it was fine, I hated the display on the phone since it was too hard to see, especially outside. I replaced it with the Blackberry 7100T which I absolutely love. Plus, the Blackberry gets better reception than my T610 did, not to mention that it has so many more features than the T610.

 

Sony Ericsson makes a fantastic phone like many have mentioned. I have serviced many older models like the T28, T39, T68i, T610, T616, T630, T637 as well as their new lineup... i.e. K700i, S700i/S710a, P910i, P910a. The closest manufacturer that comes close to Sony Ericsson would be Motorola. They will be the giants of this year and Nokia (even though huge) will probably drop market share like an anvil.

BTW, you said Kyocera...so your provider must me...Verizon? Geographically, where are you located? I would suggest to switch to a GSM provider because you will get more options in handset selection.

 

I am very happy with the Moto V551. The phone quality, durability and features are great. The HFL has worked very well (no battery meter on MID, however).

But keep in mind, not alone is the phone important. You must find that magical mix of what equipment, what service provider in your area in conjunction with your TL's HFL. Most of us are already commited to a service provider, so that narrows down compatible equipment.

I took my TL to the Cingular store and had them demo Bluetooth phones with the HFL before deciding on the Moto V551. But I realize I was LUCKY to get a sales rep willing to do this. It was a quiet day and me thinks he was eager to play with the TL.

Just remember the HFL is dependent on the Bluetooth, and dependent on the quality of the signal to your phone in your geographic area. It may not be perfect all the time, and there are a few links in the chain that can cause it to no be perfect.

Good Luck!

 

You can flash your V551 to a V600 firmware (teehee)

 

I've had absolutely NO problems with the SE T610 (T-Mobile) for the 4 days I've had my car .

 

And what features or benefits would that get you?

 

Actually I take it back. For the N.America users, the V551 would be more favorable cuase with the V600 you would lose some V551 features like EDGE.

 

I have T637 and recently replaced it with v551. While T637 gave me one extra Bluetooth feature - battery meter - it was a generaly inferior phone in my opinion. Plus, the battery strength display is not important on v551 since the battery lasts three times as long as T637! That's right, I had to charge T637 every other day while v551 lasts full 6 days!

The T637 had slightly better reception, but there are too many pluses that v551 has over it for this to matter. Honestly, I couldn't be happier with v551 as a cell phone in general and as a Bluetooth phone.

 

With Sony Ericssons, it all comes down to firmware versions. I know the battery meter issue has also plagued the S700i and K700i in previous versions. Motorola and Sony Ericsson are great choices but until Motorola gets rid of that iTAP crap, I'll stay with my Sony Ericsson.

 

What's iTAP??? I have a Motorola phone and I have no idea what you're referring to.

 

It's the method by which you can tap out text messages to anyone you want.
I use it occasionally. It is inconvenient but if you don't use Text messaging, don't worry about it.

 

Like u guys said above......some people are committed to certain service providers. Thats y i ditched sprint after 4 years.........for the simple fact that they only have 2 bluetooth phones and i dont like neither of them. Im happy with my Razr and cingular now.
BTW.....can u upgrade the razr to show battery meter??

 

iTAP is Motorola's version of predictive text. I text quite a bit so I rather use T9 or a keyboard/thumbpad rather than iTAP.

 

I have a Sony Ericsson T637 and it works great, just lost the bluetooth connectinon one or two times but all i needed to get going was reboot the phone. I might be dreaming but did i read somewhere that txts can be displayed on the MID thru some phones?

 

Can you please clarify two things for me:
1. Can you sync the V551 phonebook with TL so that you can place phone calls from TL?
2. Can you transfer files and sync with a Mac and/or Windows machine?

I see a lot of posts from people happy with the Hands Free operation of their phones in TL but with no information on whether the phone book is transferred to the car or not. A Cingular sales person told me this past weekend that it (the phone book transfer and 'mating' with a PC/Mac is not possible with V551. I think she was wrong but would like someone to confirm.

I would appreciate the same information for a RAZR.

 

The HFL phone book is not linked to your cell phone address book. You have to enter your phonebook by voice command into the HFL with voice tags. It does not synch with your cell phone. It's kinda like adding a voice tag on the phone itself, you enter the number then give it a voice tag for recognition.

I cannot speak about the PC synch as I do not utilize that feature. I believe you can with a Bluetooth connection to a PC or PDA, but not certain. Try the Moto Web site for more detailed info on the v551. I also believe the Raz behaves the same way with the TL HFL.

 

1. This feature is not available with any cell phone using Acura TL's HFL. I believe there's a new Audi on the market that has this feature, but we're out of luck.

2. You can sync with Windows (don't know about MAC) if you buy Motorola Mobile Phone Tools (v3.0 is latest) and USB cable. But it's very cumbersome and flaky! The SE T637 sync through IrDA was great.

 

I just got the Motorola V551 a few weeks ago and am VERY happy with the way it has linked to my TL. I get the signal strength showing up, and because the battery last so long, I do not miss having the battery strength displayed.
I have the phone set up so that it recognizes when I'm in the TL and it automatically switches over. I can answer the via the phone itself OR the HFL. Switching from one to the other is easy and works flawlessly for me. I have been able to build my phone book and call these numbers via voice with no problem.
And being a Cingular phone, I have rollover minutes! Good Bye Verizon!

 

AMEN!