700w Car Kit ???

[HKINGS]

Anyone have any suggestions for a 700w Car Kit.

I'm interested in the ones that have built in speakers so they amplify the sound.

I've seen a few from Seidio and Mr Handsfree Genius.

Any suggestions or advice?

Thanks in advance!

[beachcitiespc]

I use the sony hcb-30 sounds great, and people say I sound good on the other end.. check ebay for cheap prices...

http://www.mphone.co.uk/bluetooth/hcb-30.html

[Lostinthe530]

I like the Jabra SP-500 bluetooth as both a car kit and speakerphone other places. Before I bought, I compared it to the Motorola car kit on verizonwireless.com...the Jabra was more functional.

[biswasd]

Hey guys: PPCMD and I have been exchanging PM's regarding hfk options for the 700.

He suggested the Moto HF850 (which Verizon sells) or the more expensive Moto IHF-1000 which verizon does not sell, but is easily obtainable from the internet.

I suggested the Parrot CK-3000 Evolution (not the older Ck-3000)

which is available on www.treocentral.com and also www.mobilecityonline.com.

Well, being anal retentive, I ordered both the HF850 from verizon using my "merits" 25% discount at the price of $126 plus shipping (normally retails at verizon for $169). I also bought the parrot ck-3000 evo from mobilecityonline for $109....and a separate external speaker from awswireless.com for $27. (The parrot doesn't come with an external speaker like the moto)

After testing both and reading the owner's manual, specs, etc.

I decided to go with the MOtorola Hf850 b/c of the following:

- It is visually more pleasing
- Has a dedicated mute button on the controller unlike the parrot which does not.
- Sound quality on the HF850 was better than on the Parrot
- Phone pairs very easily and stays paired with the HF850, unlike the Parrot which seems to drop the connection
- The chrome oval shaped, bean-shaped controller on the moto has lots of backlighting, unlike the controller on the parrot which is more simplistic (a matter of taste)

Cons:

The motohf850 has about a 2-3 second delay before the call is audible on the bluetooth speaker. What i mean is, when you initiate a call on the 700, it transfers the call to the HF850 external speaker.....this means that you should be able to hear the "ringing" line as you are waiting for the caller to pick up....this is where the 2-3 second delay is....sometimes, the caller has picked up so quickly, that the hfk has not been able to keep up....the same problem also is apparent on incoming calls..

My estimates are that it has happened on 10% of the calls. Not a big deal....i did notice that the parrot also has this problem but the delay is more like 1-2 seconds....i think this is a limitation of any b-tooth hfk, but i'm not sure about that....


Also, DO NOT buy the IHF-1000 which costs a helluva lot more than the HF850.....the only difference is that it has voice activated features such as voice dialing, and voice commands so that you can digit dial, etc. BUT!! BE AWARE!! the treo as we all know does not support voice dialing when it is initiated from any b-tooth device such as a headset, etc. so you will be wasting your money on features which are not supported by the Treo 700.

Good luck.....

I will post pics of my set up shortly.

[dangerfish]

I recommend the Sony Ericsson products. I have the HCB-30 in my car and the HCB-300 in my wifes. Both are connected to the stereo's with their HCE-16 (advanced music mute). What is so nice is that callers voice is played thru the car speakers (loudly) and the stereo mutes automatically when placing or receiving a call. I have had other hands free kits in the past and the little speakers that come with them just plain suck, especially at highway speeds. The ability to connect these kits to the car stereo system is what makes these units the best in my book.

[ppcmd]

biswasd thanks for the update. I know the voice dialing via BT is not out yet, but soon, hopefully soon. The only reason I opted for the HF1000 (for me) it was part of a package of upgrades to my ride that were being done at the same time. So for me the cost wasn't much more.

But I do agree the HF850 would be a good choice too, Moto BT products have been great.

[biswasd]

ppcmd: thanks for your update i would be curious to know exactly what the functional differences are between the hf850 and hf1000....as far as i can tell, the only physical difference is the dedicated mute button on the hf850, while the hf1000 makes it even easier (provided voice tags work) with all of the commands such as mute being done with voice commands.....

i hope that i am wrong about the compatibility and that your install is successful.

p.s. I just contacted www.proclipusa.com who i have used for the last 5 years and they informed that they will be releasing a 700w dedicated powered car dock in 2 weeks...they are re-tooling b/c the 650 dock leaves some wiggle room....