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Best Hands Phone Free Kit ?


ChasM
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Anyone have any opinions on hands free kits for cars. Seeing as its going to be illegal to even hold your mobile when driving after 1st December I am going to get some sort of hands free kit installed.

As far as I can tell there are two types :

1.Cheaper, plugs into cig lighter, doesn't look as good probably. How does the speaker become amplified with these types ?

2.Proper kit installed. Mosre expensive. How much ?

The former would be my choice if there were any decent ones. However all the ones I ever see in shops look dung.gif I'm really into the ones which turn down the radio and have the voice come out of your stereos speakers but these cost more don't they.

Anyway, I'm rambling, anyone got any thoughts... ?

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Recently had a proper Nokia car kit installed (£190 cash wink.gif) that cuts out the stereo whenever you make/receive a call and comes out of the speakers. Works very well except when travelling at high(ish) speeds on noisy roads, but overall I am delighted with it and can't believe I've managed this long without!

Added benefit is that it charges your phone whilst it's in the cradle!

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[ QUOTE ]

I am delighted with it and can't believe I've managed this long without!

[/ QUOTE ]

I had a nokia one fitted and it's simply the best £150 I have spent. As well as cutting the stereo and charging the battery it has its own ariel so you also get better reception smile.gif

frown.gifthere are a couple of downsides, firstly its not always good to have last nights drunken antics talked about at volume when you girlfriend or mum is a passanger blush.gif you could leave it in the cradle to get nicked frown.gif lastly when you change your phone it doesnt fit frown.gif I have had 2 of the same phone now, but when my new car comes in March I will have a bluetooth one fit, as soon as you turn the ignition it senses your phone and will work like a plug in one. The beauty of this is you leave your phone in your pocket, bag even if its in the boot and when you change phone you just reconfigure the car kit. Sony and Nokia both do one.

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I agree about the 'banter' that's best kept on a one2one level wink.gif My GF always gives me a funny look if I take the phone out of the cradle to chat to someone (only when stationary of course tongue.gif)

If you're the sort of person to forget your phone when leaving the car, then you're going to do so regardless of whether it's in a cradle or not tongue.gif

The kit that I've had fitted allows me to merely change the cradle if I need to for a different phone - the wiring, aerial etc all remains in place and I just plug the existing wiring into the new cradle.

From personal experience with bluetooth, I'm yet to come across a car kit that works particularly well (although I am sure this will change/has changed). One of my colleagues just had his bluetooth kit ripped out of his M3 as it was pretty useless and had the same 'traditional' kit installed that I now have.

Hope this helps a bit!

beerchug.gif

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Hi there,

First of all what type of phone have you got, make - model ect ??

Always go for a fully fitted kit full stop ! don't waste any of your cash on these aftermarket cobble together things they just won't work like your expecting.

Muting the radio and through the speakers is the best way, the Gamma and Beta units have this pre built in and only require an adapter loom to get it up and running.

Just so you know this is my full time job as I work for Vodafone as an Install engineer, Manchester is my main area as well smile.gif

cheers

matt

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A plug-in unit will technically be illegal, as will Bluetooth or wired headsets, as the law states you are not allowed to have to hold the unit to make or receive a call.

Nokia's new kits are very nice, there's the CARK-126 which is a bit of an upgraded version of the CARK-91, so you get a cradle, control box (concealed by your installer) and external arial.

Then there's the new Bluetooth kits, from quite simple single button interfaces up to the wonderfully clever 610, which is a full in-car phone with it's own SIM slot, but it will read a compatible phone's SIM via Bluetooth and sign onto the network as that phone, synch contacts etc and has a little control "pill" that allows you to receive calls, terminate calls, scroll through the phone book and select an entry to call and activate voice dialling. It even has a large (larger than phone display) remote screen that you can place nice and high up in your view. http://www.nokia.co.uk/nokia/0,,19022,00.html

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Oh, and on a slightly-related note: Merc's new phone interface kit for the E Class is superb. I noticed it in the showroom E at my local Merc dealr, and dropped my 6310i into it and immediately, the console display showed my network, signal strength and gubbins from the phone. Very nice.

IMHO, all car manufacturer's phone offering should work as an extension of your existing mobile. Audi have something to learn here as the new A8's kit is a car-phone with a seperate SIM.

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[ QUOTE ]

Nokia's new kits are very nice, there's the CARK-126 which is a bit of an upgraded version of the CARK-91, so you get a cradle, control box (concealed by your installer) and external arial.

Then there's the new Bluetooth kits, from quite simple single button interfaces up to the wonderfully clever 610, which is a full in-car phone with it's own SIM slot, but it will read a compatible phone's SIM via Bluetooth and sign onto the network as that phone, synch contacts etc and has a little control "pill" that allows you to receive calls, terminate calls, scroll through the phone book and select an entry to call and activate voice dialling. It even has a large (larger than phone display) remote screen that you can place nice and high up in your view. http://www.nokia.co.uk/nokia/0,,19022,00.html

[/ QUOTE ]

That link doesn't work for me somehow... confused.gif

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[ QUOTE ]

JHT have you had a "System 8" THB kit fitted ?

cheers

matt

[/ QUOTE ]

Errr......wouldn't have a clue Matt !?! What's that then...?

Fairly sure this is what I've had fitted..:

Nokia Car Installation Kit CARK126 and it's routed through my stereo.

Just looked at the Nokia 610 Car Kit Phone - it looks awesome and would revise my opinion of Bluetooth if it works well!

beerchug.gif

JT

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The 610 is a very nice kit yes but sadly only works with 3 handsets (all the facilitys) so far and the cost is going to be roughly £250 just for the hardware crazy.gif

I run both kits though, I have a Nokia 112 and 91 in my work van and there both fine, I also have another 112 in my Golf R32.

There have been all sorts of problems with this bluetooth kit and I have to say most of it has been down to bad fitting ect. Even I have had to fine tweek my own kit by moving bits around.

cheers

matt

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Thanks for al your inputs. My phone is an old Nokia 3210. I know !, its a dinosaur of a phone but it works just fine and I like it.

mattcony, you say you do this for a living and Manchester is your main area ! Well thats simply splendid, sent you a message.

Cheers.

Chas.

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  • 3 weeks later...

JHT

I've just had a CARK-91 for my 6310i fitted professionally - seems like a top quality bit of kit but do you find that other people find you sounding a little bit distant when they talk to you??? I got a mate to sit in my car whilst I rang him and I thought he sounded very quiet. My mic is fitted to the right of the driver sun-visor on the door pillar.

I was told by the fitter that all car kits sound like that - having never had one before or ever used one I just wondered if yours was the same. I suppose the mic can't be too sensitive or it would pick up the sound from the speakers and the ambient road noise!?!

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Hey there SMS, I had the same kit installed in my first R32 (and am waiting to put it into the new one). The first install caried out was useless, as soon as I got any speed up (around 50mph+ or on motorway etc tongue.gif) I couldn't hear & callers couldn't hear me. An additional loom was added (god knows what this was) but it improved the kit significantly, but at a cost. People did mention that at times I was quiet, but that is realatively normal, especially when you drive a car like the R32. I have spoken to JHT & vice versa when in the car (both of us, therefore worst case scene) & I could hear him well enough & vice versa etc etc.

Hope this helps.

Al.

beerchug.gif

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Yup - agree with Al's comments. One thing to note - my 'mic' is up by my lights near the rear view mirror and the fitters told me that they had found this the best place for it - however I should enure that the 'windscreen' option on the heater/aircon was not on when I made calls as the mic will pick up some of the wind noise. True enough I've experimented with this and it's much better when I remember to turn it off! Apart from this it works very well and I've no idea how I managed without a car kit all this time..... shocked.gif

beerchug.gif

JT

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Thanks guys, I think it's more a case of me getting used to the kit - which after a few more calls made last night I think is absolutely stunning - I'm not sure how I managed without one either confused.gif

Did you both (like me) opt for the audio mute lead from dashmount to use the front speakers for audio? - top quality sound - although I think the lead was a rip of at 45 + VAT rocketwhore.gif

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