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Posted

Hey,

 

My boss just bought an Accura TL loaded. Nice car and all but I'll keep my truck. He was showing me all the bells and wistles which were nice but when he got to his cell phone connection I nearly flipped. His car has some kind of wireless communication in it called BlueTooth. I assume this is the "standard IBM BlueTooth" system they use in their computers. Anyway he claims that if you have a cell phone that supports BlueTooth that his in car stereo will pick this up. All he has to do is have his cell in the car and he can talk and answer it hands free over the cars audio and mic system. He has a button on his dash that when pressed will answer the call and all that. I guess it will even automatically turn down the stereo music when the call comes in.

 

Anyone heard of this on GM vehicles? I have never seen much use for NAV units but if this capability is built into it I would love it. I hate messing with the stupid head sets and many states require you to not have your cell in your hands.

 

This feature would be just too sweet!

 

Anyone know if this can be added aftermarket? My truck does have the OnStar so I would think it has everything else needed.

 

thanks,

 

Tom

Posted

Yes, you can do this. And you don't need Nav. OnStar may be necessary, but you have it anyway, so no sweat. Motorola, SonyEricsson and Nokia all offer kits for this. I have the Motorola kit installed in my truck.

 

I get in the truck, and as soon as I turn the key, the truck searches for and connects to my phone. I do nothing and leave the phone in my pocket. When a call comes in, I just say 'Answer,' and I'm immediately on speakerphone with the caller. And it automatically mutes my factory stereo (the headunit displays 'PHONE,' just as it does when I use OnStar). It impresses the hell out of people, not only am I on speakerphone with my phone buried in my pocket, but also that my GM factory stereo somehow knows to shut up and announce on its display that 'Jon is on the PHONE.'

 

Do a google search on 'Bluetooth Car Kit.' I recommend getting the same manufacturer as your cell phone, but it's not mandatory. Of course, you'll need a bluetooth-enabled cell phone to do this.

 

Also, I have to mention another company who makes one of these kits:

 

http://www.raytel-llc.com/index.html

 

These guys have a nice unit that displays caller id for you. Also, it will run the speakerphone through your factory speakers (the motorola unit I have came with its own speaker I mounted in a hidden place). Anyways, the guys at Raytel really know their stuff, and they advised me on the installation of my motorola kit even though I hadn't bought their product.

 

BTW, there are self-install and professional-install versions of these kits. The professional-install kits are worth the extra money and efffort. I'll be happy to provide you with all the help you'll need in installing this thing. I LOVE mine. You never touch your phone while in the truck. It stays in your pocket all the time. The motorola interface on my dash looks impressive too. Here's what the interface looks like:

 

IMG_4088.JPG

 

That little thing fits right in the little rectangular space above the air-bag switch on the dash. Motorola does not sell this one anymore, though. The new one looks cooler anyway:

 

98675H_mdwd.gif

 

Let me know if you have any more questions.

 

Jon

Posted

BTW, Superman TNT, here's something AWESOME about having one of these kits and also the iPod adapter that you've already got:

 

When you place a call or a call comes in, not only does your iPod song get muted, but when you hang up, the song starts exactly where you left off. How it 'Pauses' the iPod, I don't know.

 

Do it, man. Make your boss and his sissy Acura jealous as hell.

 

:seeya:

Posted

Jon, Thanks as always!

 

Ok I want to do this in the worse way. Only problem is a little over a month ago I just signed up for a new contract with Verizon Wireless and got a new phone. Since I had no clue at the time that there was any such thing as this, and none of the sales people told me about it . . . I ended up with a LG VX6100. This phone is NOT BlueTooth enabled and Verizon WON'T let me swap phones because it has been more than 15 days.

 

I really want this feature. The whole hands free thing and all the voice activated stuff is really nice. Well . . . I'll try and sell this new one on eBay and eat the difference and get another new one.

 

Some question for you Jon,

1) if you are talking and want to continue the call in private (say the kids are in the car) can you open your phone and will it drop the speaker phone in the car?

 

2) With your Motorola what happens if someone else with a BlueTooth phone gets into your truck? Will it detect that and do the same thing?

 

3) How do you know if it is your phone ringing or the other persons?

 

4) What if you're on the phone and the other person's BlueTooth phone starts to ring?

 

5) does your truck have the OnStar? You said you had to use a speaker they provided to your with the kit. Did you try feeding that into your stereo instead? Why do you have to use their speaker?

 

6) did you also have to use their mic or where you able to use your OnStar mic?

 

7) What model Motorola cell do you have? I'm looking at the v710, have you heard anything good/bad about it?

 

The price and style of the Motorola unit is much nicer than the Raytel 2000 or 3000 units. I really like the Raytel 4000 but the only price I could find for it was $600!!! Ouch! forget that. What are they thinking?

 

Thanks,

 

Tom

Posted

1) Yeah--if you want to switch the call over to your phone, you just push and hold the big blue button on the interface for 3 seconds, and it switches the call to your phone. On my phone, when I do this, the phone asks me, "Bluetooth signal weak. Switch to phone?" ---and I press "Yes."

 

2) Well, bluetooth devices must be "paired" before they recognize each other. You pair your phone to the kit in the initial setup. If someone else with a bluetooth phone wants to use your kit, they'll have to go through the initial "pairing" process with the kit, and when they do, it will "unpair" with your phone--the kit will only pair with one phone at a time.

*****Note, this is true for MY kit. I'm pretty sure that the Raytell kit I mentioned above can be paired with up to five phones at once, and then if you and five buddies are all in the car at the same time, an incoming call for anybody would come through the kit. I'm not positive about how that works, though, since I don't have that kit.

 

3) Not applicable with my kit---see answer #2.

 

4) Again, not applicable to my kit---can't say about the Raytell kit.

 

5) I do have OnStar. I'm not sure that the 'stereo mute' function would work on a truck without OnStar. I'm using the speaker provided because it was the only option available for my kit. The only sound output wires that my kit has are the wires going to the speaker that comes with the kit. I suppose you could cut those wires, feed them to a line-output-converter, and then buy an Aux-input kit for your truck. That way, you could run RCA cables to the aux-in, and get your caller's voice through your stereo that way, but that would require you to hit the 'BAND' button on your headunit in order to hear your caller. Also, your stereo mute function would essentially be muting your caller's voice :jester:

I suppose that's not applicable to you anyways, since you wouldn't be able to have an aux-in installed anyways, considering you already have the iPod adapter.

All that said, the Raytell kit DOES have output wires that are supposed to go straight into the back of your headunit, and your caller is supposed to be heard through your stereo. Again, I don't know details, since I don't have that product.

Also, before I forget, for a while I considered splicing the kit's speaker output wires into just one of my trucks speakers. I didn't go far with this, since I have Bose, and I've heard that Bose systems are kind of incompatible with normal signals. Rather than try to become a Bose compatibility expert, in the end I just sort of realized that as long as I get decent sound from their included speaker, I could just mount it discreetly and I'd be happy. I was right.

 

6) I don't know enough about my truck and OnStar's wiring in order to try this. I did think about it, and I wouldn't be surprised if someone else around here could figure it out, but I found discrete mounting positions for my mic and speaker, so I'm happy.

 

....so yes, I used their mic.

 

7) I have the Motorola V600. I don't really know anything about the V710. I have T-mobile, and I'm not sure if they offer it. If it doesn't have bluetooth, then I'm sure I didn't look twice at it, even if I did see it.

 

The style and price of the Motorola are great in comparison, but as you can see above, your money is going to very useful features. It would be very nice to have my caller's voice come through my stereo. The sound is decent on their speaker, but not like it would be, I'm sure. As for the support for up to five phones, it may be important for you, and if so, that's a pretty big deal. Also, their interface has caller ID on it. That would be sooo nice. I can answer the call without taking the phone out of my pocket, but I still have to take it out if I want to see the caller ID.

 

Hope this helps. Fire away with any more questions. Good luck with the folks at Verizon--I hope you can get a new phone.

 

Jon

Posted

Hey Jon,

Thanks for the info. I'm working on this now in my spare time. What I found out . . .

The Motorola V710 is a Verizon only thing (your v600 is MUCH nicer w/ more features). The idiots at Verizon wanted a special limited features Bluetooth phone that prevented their subscribers from down loading or uploading pics, data, etc... onto or off from their phones without having to pay Verizon to do it. So they had Moto develop a Bluetooth phone which prevents this without using Verizon's network. A$$holes! I hate Verizon but it is currently the only viable option in my area for coverage. Some day when they get competition in my area they are so toast.

 

The Raytell system is definitly the best one I have looked up. They offer a bare bones unit (2000) like your Moto unit for $100. No display so no caller id. It does connect over your trucks speakers however and will pair with 2 different BlueTooth phones which is nice (you and the wife both get to use it). The unit itself is really ugly and low tech looking however.

 

The next system up is the 3000 and it is like $170. It supports up to 3 Bluetooth lines which is nicer (you the wife and one rug rat). It also has a display so you get caller id and such. However once again the unit is really BIG and totally ugly and low tech looking.

 

There next system is the 4000, up to 4 BlueTooth lines with a really sweet display, small, very high tech and clean looking. It has everything you can imagine. It includes your phone book and lots more. This is the unit to get but it costs $600! Forget that, $600 is insane.

 

No matter what I want the thing to use my trucks speakers and stereo. So far that means Raytell since I haven't found another system that does this. So know I'm kind of stuck. Not sure what to do, suck it up and get the ugly 3000 system? Looks like that is where I'm headed.

 

I called Raytell and there is definitely a shortage of qualified sale, support amd installers out there. I will do the install myslef, I'm not too worried about that. However they did inform me that will void their warrenty so if something goes wrong I'm out the $170. Not liking that either. They did walk me through the install and it sounds pretty easy. The Raytell guys got "inside information" on how to plug into the OnStar radio inputs on the back of the stereo head unit so they could use them. That is what makes their unit so sweet. I would think Moto could have done this too. I'm betting future units will get better and better. I wish I knew what was coming and when . . . If what they have now is it for the next year I'll just do it now . . . if they have something nice coming in 6 months I would wait.

 

I'm off to do more home work and figure out what the best option for me is.

Posted
Hey Jon,

Thanks for the info. I'm working on this now in my spare time. What I found out . . .

The Motorola V710 is a Verizon only thing (your v600 is MUCH nicer w/ more features). The idiots at Verizon wanted a special limited features Bluetooth phone that prevented their subscribers from down loading or uploading pics, data, etc... onto or off from their phones without having to pay Verizon to do it. So they had Moto develop a Bluetooth phone which prevents this without using Verizon's network. A$$holes! I hate Verizon but it is currently the only viable option in my area for coverage. Some day when they get competition in my area they are so toast.

 

The Raytell system is definitly the best one I have looked up. They offer a bare bones unit (2000) like your Moto unit for $100. No display so no caller id. It does connect over your trucks speakers however and will pair with 2 different BlueTooth phones which is nice (you and the wife both get to use it). The unit itself is really ugly and low tech looking however.

 

The next system up is the 3000 and it is like $170. It supports up to 3 Bluetooth lines which is nicer (you the wife and one rug rat). It also has a display so you get caller id and such. However once again the unit is really BIG and totally ugly and low tech looking.

 

There next system is the 4000, up to 4 BlueTooth lines with a really sweet display, small, very high tech and clean looking. It has everything you can imagine. It includes your phone book and lots more. This is the unit to get but it costs $600! Forget that, $600 is insane.

 

No matter what I want the thing to use my trucks speakers and stereo. So far that means Raytell since I haven't found another system that does this. So know I'm kind of stuck. Not sure what to do, suck it up and get the ugly 3000 system? Looks like that is where I'm headed.

 

I called Raytell and there is definitely a shortage of qualified sale, support amd installers out there. I will do the install myslef, I'm not too worried about that. However they did inform me that will void their warrenty so if something goes wrong I'm out the $170. Not liking that either. They did walk me through the install and it sounds pretty easy. The Raytell guys got "inside information" on how to plug into the OnStar radio inputs on the back of the stereo head unit so they could use them. That is what makes their unit so sweet. I would think Moto could have done this too. I'm betting future units will get better and better. I wish I knew what was coming and when . . . If what they have now is it for the next year I'll just do it now . . . if they have something nice coming in 6 months I would wait.

 

I'm off to do more home work and figure out what the best option for me is.

 

 

 

 

I looked at that raytel stuff its WAY to high. Check out the Parrot CK3100. Its comparable and just as good from what I can tel. Its about $150 and also has an LCD for readout. They even have one with a GPS reciever built in that uses your phone to display maps. http://www.driveblue.com/(nwzeev45zaijdp55...t)/Default.aspx

 

I'm pretty sure i'm going to buy this tonight.

Posted

Hey cbiggers,

I also looked up/at the Parrot CK3100. Like you I think that is a better way to go. It can handle up to 5 BlueTooth phones and from what I can tell has all the features the Raytell 4000 has too. It also sounds like this system has been on the market longer and there is a larger installed base.

 

Where did you find it for $150? The cheapest I found it is on eBay for $190. Also, what BlueTooth phone are you using? Let me know if you buy this and how it goes.

 

Does anyone out there have any experience installing/using the Parrot CK3100 system? If so what phone are you using with it?

 

TallB, thanks for finding the 4000 system cheaper but $400 is still way too much. I really expected to find these for $150 or less with all the features the 4000 or Parrot have.

 

 

Hey EVERYONE Else,

the more I think about this the sky is the limit. Does anyone know if GM is working on offering BlueTooth capability as OEM? I mean are they working to put BlueTooth in the OEM head unit and OEM DVD systems? Just think if your phone had BlueTooth, your iPod had BlueTooth, your kids GameBoy or DS system had BlueTooth, etc... Your kids could get in the car and play there game system on your in car DVD player without wire connections. Your iPod could intereface to your OEM stereo head unit without any installation cables, your phone would interface directly to the head unit, etc.... I could go on and on with these ideas.

 

Is GM (or any other car MFGs) going after this? What model year can we expect this to come out?

Posted
Hey cbiggers,

I also looked up/at the Parrot CK3100. Like you I think that is a better way to go. It can handle up to 5 BlueTooth phones and from what I can tell has all the features the Raytell 4000 has too. It also sounds like this system has been on the market longer and there is a larger installed base.

 

Where did you find it for $150? The cheapest I found it is on eBay for $190. Also, what BlueTooth phone are you using? Let me know if you buy this and how it goes.

 

Does anyone out there have any experience installing/using the Parrot CK3100 system? If so what phone are you using with it?

 

TallB, thanks for finding the 4000 system cheaper but $400 is still way too much. I really expected to find these for $150 or less with all the features the 4000 or Parrot have.

 

 

Hey EVERYONE Else,

the more I think about this the sky is the limit. Does anyone know if GM is working on offering BlueTooth capability as OEM? I mean are they working to put BlueTooth in the OEM head unit and OEM DVD systems? Just think if your phone had BlueTooth, your iPod had BlueTooth, your kids GameBoy or DS system had BlueTooth, etc... Your kids could get in the car and play there game system on your in car DVD player without wire connections. Your iPod could intereface to your OEM stereo head unit without any installation cables, your phone would interface directly to the head unit, etc.... I could go on and on with these ideas.

 

Is GM (or any other car MFGs) going after this? What model year can we expect this to come out?

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.ecost.com/ecost/shop/cart/shopp...pno=757626&qty=

 

Its $159 there. I do believe its a better deal and does everything the raytel does even voice dialing. Actually it stores more numbers then the freakin raytel. As soon as this dude on ebay who bought my NAV Unit pays me i'm going to order the CK3100. I have a Nokia 6620 phone.

Posted

Has anyone tried to wire these bluetooth devices into the phone input on the radios, I believe this input is not muted when the mute wire is activated and then it sends the audio only to the driver side door speaker.

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted
Has anyone tried to wire these bluetooth devices into the phone input on the radios, I believe this input is not muted when the mute wire is activated and then it sends the audio only to the driver side door speaker.

 

 

 

 

I'd also like to know if anyone got this to work.

 

BTW, I updated my pic in one of the above posts. It's the one of the Motorola interface. I took a shot today of mine as it sits on the face of my dash. Take a look. It looks like it belongs there. Ignore the other switch in the picture. It has nothing to do with the bluetooth setup.

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

 

If you think that product is comparable to the bluetooth kits, then you're not fully understanding their features. Your kit requires that you physically hook it up to your phone every time you use it. Furthermore, it uses FM transmission of the other party's voice, so you have to tune your radio to the correct frequency every time you use it. Further still, it uses your phone's microphone for your voice, which will not pick up well at all from more than a few inches away from your mouth.

 

You get what you pay for. If you want to see how the bluetooth kit is different from the $9.99 special, then just read the above posts.

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