Bluetooth / Handsfree - W880i & W660i and so on.

[anonymous-user]

[redacted]

[andy-xr]

I reckon you can get it with one of the Garmins. I cant remember which one, but they do have one that links over FM.

I believe the problem is, you have to have it on FM to get the audio, so when you're sat there with 54 miles to your next turn, it's either silence or time to choose another input. Not so bad on motorways, but would get annoying round town flicking one to another

Abuse of the TMC would be better using something like a 3 foot range

Rest of your post says TomTom to me really. If the FM's a showstopper then I'm sure it's either Garmin or Navman

Some of the later models have pretty loud speakers so if you're thinking of using the car speakers to get it louder there are other options

[sjg]

I have yet to come across a satnav unit that can do the bluetooth calling side of things well.

You can pick up a Parrot CK3000 for about £50, a CK3100 for a little more (which gets you a display, phonebook sync, etc - better if you need to dial out rather than just answer). Not hard to fit, it piggybacks on the stereo ISO connectors, works through the speakers and performs flawlessly. No chance either of getting a call coming in on a short journey that you couldn't be bothered getting the satnav out for and risking answering it - it's always there.

Then get Tomtom One or Garmin equivalent (255?), suitable Brodit mounts for the vehicle, a 12v socket from Maplin and hide the power adaptor somewhere behind the dash, poking the cable out somewhere near where the brodit mount is.

I wouldn't worry too much about satnav audio through the speakers, the units are loud enough and I tend to leave the audio on mine off - as long as it's somewhere in sight it conveys enough decent information to know where to turn well ahead of time.

[niva441]

andy-xr said:

I reckon you can get it with one of the Garmins. I cant remember which one, but they do have one that links over FM.

I believe the problem is, you have to have it on FM to get the audio, so when you're sat there with 54 miles to your next turn, it's either silence or time to choose another input. Not so bad on motorways, but would get annoying round town flicking one to another

Depends if the Sat Nav is also a MP3 player. When I use the Sat Nav in the MGB I use the MP3 player to fill in the gaps in announcements. My Garmin 310 takes an up to 4 GB memory card, which lasts a reasonable time (cost £10 from Play.com). My garmin hasn't got a FM transmitter, so I use a cassette adaptor, which also allows the regular radio traffic announcements to cut in.

It also comes with Bluetooth, which seems to work reasonably (once the phone has synchronised address books etc) and converts text messages to speech which was a pleasant surprise.

Edited by niva441 on Thursday 27th November 08:38

[andy-xr]

If you're talking about the hardwire Parrot rather than the cigarette lighter one, it's about a half hour install, and uses the existing ISO connectors on your head unit. You then just need to put the mic somewhere

I've got one in mine, but the bluetooth isnt so great, I dont know if it's my phone in particular, but it seemed much cleaner with a Nokia, so I've gone back to in the ear handsfree with a wire. Lot of background noise with the Parrot as well, although thats more to do with mic mounting that anything. Mine was next to a window, and Ford window seals arent the best feature of their cars. Up near the rear view mirror might be better

Cheapest TomTom is around £95 at the moment for a regional one. Keep looking for something to replace Sally Traffic, but everyone I've spoken to that has TT traffic says it never tells you whats actually going on, so fairly unreliable. Dont know if thats changed recently or not, TomTom were making noises about getting a better system into their newer units

[niva441]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I'm using an Ericsson K750 with my Garmin, initially it kept locking up the phone, asking for permission to synchronise and dropping the connection continually as I was driving.. However I deleted the Bluetooth connection on the phone and on reinstalling it, I set it to synchronise every time (not to ask for permission) and it works as it should now.