In-car Hands Free Advice please?

Lum

The facia adaptor I linked gives you a single din radio slot and a little storage cubbyhole. Double DIN is an option but double DIN radios are usually very expensive so I didn't even bother looking into that. On my own car's double DIN, I have a single DIN radio and a single din cupholder, but I think you can only do that on Japanese-style radio fittings.

It's pretty easy to swap the stock radio back in if you need to take the car back for warranty service, and it avoids the problems of glueing or screwing a parrot kit to your dashboard which is why I suggested it.

funkycoldribena

Ive got the slightly older parrot in one car and a hands free visor type in another and to be honest they're both as good as each other,cost 20 quid from a supermarket,theres just not £180 worth between them if you see what I mean.

Edit re-post above;parrot is not screwed in or glued-its held in place by removable metal clip.

rev_henry

My Dad has had an aftermarket parrot in his previous car which was rubbish (although it was a convertible so road noise was part of the issue). In his current car he has the stock bose Nissan bluetooth thing, which isn't much better, although it will reflect the age of the car (54 plate).

I meanwhile have a £20 visor clip jabra thing which is excellent for the money, sounds better than the things in his car.

sistafromanothermista

StixUK wrote: »

Did a spotty 16 yo fit it or did you get someone who looked like they knew what they were doing?

:rotfl:
Spotty 16 yr old

I can't actually remember what he looked like, he did a good job anyway.

forgotmyname

My car came with a Bury handsfree kit, You swap the front cradle for different phones.

Some plug in and some have bluetooth lots of choice.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Unless the car is stealthy quiet inside the background noise your callers (customers) will hear may be annoying to them if not you.

I have for many years used a headset similar to those used my the McDonalds drive thru people.

They work and well, you have a comfortable headphone that clamps lightly to your ear (reversible depending on which ear you prefer) and the mic on a flexible pipe that sits where you want it to as near your mouth as you want.

I use mine every day sometimes for very long calls, usually lasts 2 days between charges.

People often mention that the call clarity is the best they have ever heard.

By all means have a fully automatic all singing all dancing intergrated system, but don't be surprised if it doesn't hold a candle to a standard headset a tenth of the price for all important call clarity.

plane_boy2000

Mrs had a parrot fitted in her car 6 years ago - works really well, but not as good as the factory fit one in my C5. On that one people couldn't tell they were on hands free, but in part that was because the car was so quiet.

Have you checked with vx that there isnt a module upgrade to give you bt with your existing head unit?

StixUK

Ooooo this is a toughie...

So many different options...

1. Get a sun visor one that comes around £20 - £80 depending on brand and model etc etc

2. Get a touch screen alternative, which has a lovely graphic user interface and can play songs through it.

I'm trying to scope down what I actually require and maybe a further bit of information or two may help a little.

I am constantly in and out of my car as I do multi-stop work, for example, 40 - 50 calls, travelling no more than 15-20 miles sometimes, so in out in out, you get the jist.

I can't be having something in my ear or a 'silly' looking headset. I have to negotiate with people and be professional and I don't like the idea of taking the thing out, putting it back in, taking it out and then having to remember to charge it etc etc...so the earpiece option is a NO NO!

I want to be able to see what number is calling me, dial my voicemail on the move (legally) of course and have any text messages read out to me.

Basically, I still want to have my phone in my pocket at all times, read texts, dial voicemail, see the Caller ID of the person calling me and have the ability to answer calls quickly and effectively.

I really need my phone not to be out and about, attached to a wire or anything like that.

What I like about the Parrot system was the ability to have the contacts on a touchcreen, text to speech dialling, ability to see who is calling me, reading of text messages and integration with stereo system.

Can a clip-on hands free offer any of this at all (obviously minus the car stereo thing!)??

StixUK

funkycoldribena wrote: »

Ive got the slightly older parrot in one car and a hands free visor type in another and to be honest they're both as good as each other,cost 20 quid from a supermarket,theres just not £180 worth between them if you see what I mean.

Edit re-post above;parrot is not screwed in or glued-its held in place by removable metal clip.

Hmm I see what you say, but I think the visor type is just a basic, you here a ring and then can press a green phone sign to pick it up. Tell me if I am wrong.

I need a little more than that and the music integration of the Parrot (with the SD card) was a huge selling point for me as I find CD's clunky and always changing them, I like to have my complete music collection available. I also don't own an Mp3 player or iPod, so it kills 2 birds with one stone as I spend the only time listening to my music in the car.

Lum

The option I used to use when using company cars that had a line-in but no bluetooth. Phone on a windscreen mount, audio plugged into the car's line-in.

Any decent smartphone could handle making a handsfree call in that way, using the built in mic and the car speakers, and the windscreen mount satisfies the requirements for handsfree use. You would also get MP3 playback and satnav with the right phone/apps.

I've done this sucessfully with a Nokia N900, HTC Desire Z and Motorola Droid 4. I've also used them sucessfully as dashcams, but never gotten around to installing proper recording software.