KJW73

I have finally decided on a phone w/ Bluetooth and now I'm not so sure if it'll pair with my 05 TL. I purchased the Motorola V557, which is not listed on the Handsfree Link mini-site. I called Acura and they said that they can't guarantee it's going to work. However, here is my theory and I'd like to know others...

My theory is this: If Acura has "approved" the (e.g.) V551, V500, etc. series - the same phone, just upgraded to a V557 (I'd assume?) and the phones have all of the same features with minor changes...I'd love to think that the V557 would be compatible. All I want to do is talk through my freaking car!!! Granted it is my own fault for not looking at the Handsfree Link site beforehand, but regardless for my area coverage, that was the only Motorola phone available through Cingular w/ Bluetooth at this time. Otherwise I'd have to go to a Blackberry or Treo and I really didn't care for them.

Any ideas, thoughts, experiences with this? Thanks! :wink:

Andrew McCarthy

Have you tried using it yet?

I have an LG phone that's not listed as "approved" on their site but the only feature that doesn't seem to work right is the call-waiting.

I'd try it out and see how it works.

jlkdoh

Please don't AssUme the phone will work. BT has proven to be tricky. See the many posts in the Electronics thread. If Cingular has the same 15-day free trial as Verizon, you have nothing to lose by buying it and trying it. My Treo has not yet been approved and I expect based on my experiences, that it won't.

KJW73

Hi Andrew!
Unfortunately, I haven't tried it yet. I ordered it online from Cingular so it should be here within a day or two. By you telling me about your LG phone, I'm feeling more confident already.

How do you like using the Bluetooth? I don't drive that awfully much (to work and back and the occassional Atlantic City/Philadelphia trip here and there), but my employees call my cell a lot and it's a very cool feature to have and I'm excited to use it. Techie gadgets make me feel like a kid in a candy jar! LOL.

Thanks for your feedback!

Thorin78

Have you looked at the Electronics and Navi sub-forum?

I have a Sony Ericsson Z800 phone that's not listed on the acura site because the phone isn't sold in the US. It works great. There are many phones that are not on the list that work well with the HFL.

KJW73

Yes, I do hate to assume anything, but I have spent entirely too much time messing around with Cingular since last Friday. For the past seven years, my employer has paid and provided cellular service and I always was upgraded to a "free phone" basically. I knew I wasn't going to be able to get a Bluetooth phone through work, so I gave up my free service and got my own less than a month ago. Of course, I too got a free phone, non-Bluetooth. So, this past Friday I see on Cingular's website that they're giving away a free Siemens S66 w/ BT...I call to exchange my phone and for two days, they are unable to locate the SKU number for the phone. I'm leaving for vacation next week and will spend some time traveling to the airport - so I wanted the phone paired before I traveled. After much frustration, I canceled the order since they had absolutely no clue when the SKU would be available. So I decided to spend $100 on the Motorola today. All I can think is that if it is not compatible...I'll be pissed!

It's been giving me a migraine....

KJW73

I haven't had the opportunity to check out that forum; hopefully tonight I will.

You too have given me hope! Thanks!!

trancemission

good idea, Ill go ahead and move this there now...

Will Y.

For what it's worth, my Cingular V551 (new 2 months ago) paired perfectly, although the battery strength meter is not visible, and works incredibly well.
The V557 is supposed to be an update of the 551 w/o any changes to Bluetooth, so you should be OK.

ashamooilian

Where can i find the list of approved phones??

Andrew McCarthy

acurahandsfreelink.com

midas69

Unfortunately there are also phones that Acura says work, but alas, they don't.

KJW73

Thanks Will!
The phone is supposed to be here tomorrow via FedEx to my office, so we'll see then. Anything else you've noticed?

anysia

hey kjw! long time no talk!! i lurk over here from time to time....

regarding bluetooth~stevel and i checked out the lists on forums as well as acura's list before deciding what to purchase. some have not been approved for minor things not being compatible, but the main functions are compatible... others just are plain flat out not compatible.

we both have verizon. he has the nokia 6256i now and the only fault of it is no signal/battery strength shown on the display. everything else works perfectly. i have the motorola razr and it seems to work fine with the tl and everything shows up on the display.

at the time we bought the phones, neither of them were listed on acura's site yet. i don't know if they are listed at all at this point even.

the nice thing for cingular is acura's site shows a ton of bluetooth compatible phones for them, whereas verizon just has a few....

Will Y.

You're welcome!
Set-up (pairing) was easy, quick and a one-time job with the V551.
The V551 uses its battery pretty quickly (mine is on 24/7) compared to prior phones - 4 days stand-by instead of 7-10 days stand-by, and that is with Bluetooth turned off when not in the car. You may want to keep the phone hooked into the car charger when driving for more than 15 minutes. The V551 permits a shortcut to turn Bluetooth on/off (without going through lots of menus), so the V557 should as well if you think Bluetooth uses battery too quickly.
Also, belt cases for the V500 series on the web are much cheaper than at the Cingular store.
Have fun!

KJW73

Hey Anysia!!!
It is so nice to read from someone familiar!! Hope that all is well.
How ironic that I would find you here... I haven't posted in a while...

Thanks a lot for the info; I'm pretty anxious to try to it out.

I contemplated the Razr and the Slvr and hope that I don't regret not spending the extra $50 for one.

Take care you and hope to "see" you around again soon!

Nitrotiger

The only phones that seem to answer calls well are Nokia phones you just dont show the battery and signal. And who cares on that as long as the phone wprks

DMZ

acurahandsfreelink's compatible phone lists tend to be flawed and I'd take them with a grain of salt.

I have an HTC/Audiovox XV6600 from Verizon. One the one hand they show it on the Not Compatible list while clicking on the model reveals their features compatability table with green check marks across the board for everything except battery level and signal strength. I have hardly any problems making or receiving calls.

mattlissy

Does the new V557 show both signal and battery levels on the display. I know the V551 only shows signal level.

Please advise...

Simplekid

I have a Tres 650 and it works great without any issues (Cingular)

KJW73

I paired my V557 yesterday and it works perfectly!
The only thing that doesn't show is the battery signal; but it does show the signal bars. I haven't read the TL manual to figure out what all the commands are, but it took me awhile to finally figure out that "End call" would end it - I kept saying, "Disconnect" (don't really know why, but I was) and the lady kept saying she didn't understand my command. It dawned on me sitting in traffic on the way home from work and I was speaking with my mom - I couldn't hang up (we chuckled) - then thankfully, it did.

Any way - I'm good now.