It's time to give up on my old cell phone. She's over three years old and is cracking around the edges and is just generally feeling old.

I've got an MCS showing up with the Bluetooth option enabled. I want to start my new cell search with the phones that work with that option. Other features on my list include:

• On board camera -- I'm a bit of a photography nut, and have often longed to have the capabilities to take shots from my pockets. I've seen shots from other phone cameras and understand some of the limitations. I'd pay more dollars for a phone with a nice camera.
• Simplicity -- I'm capable of jumping through lots of hoops to make stuff work together, but I prefer to spend my time in other ways. Bring on the simple!
• Size -- I waited a few extra years for a small form-factor phone that'd fit in my pocket with ease. I have no desire to fill my pocket with something bulky. A hip-holster is a non-starter.
• Web enabled -- Not a deal-breaker, but I would pay extra for something that'd allow me some surfing.

Items which I don't need are the capablilty of playing audio files or synching with email (I work for a small company that doesn't even have its own exchange server, let alone understand how to snych PDAs).

Relevant issues include an hour spent commuting each day, and a current cell phone on [edit:]Sprint[/edit] (but I'm not locked in with this carrier).

So, what says the NAM community? Is there a phone out there which will fit my needs and communicate with my MCS? Thanks!

 

Most Moto Razr models are said to work with the Mini well, and can charge if you buy the armrest sleeve. They're no good for browsing, but are small, good camera (for a phone). No email. And if you have Verizon you really don't wanna mess with browsers or email anyway. That's not what they do well, and you pay a ton for it too.

 

Appreciate the response, Newt! I'm definitely not locked into [edit:]Sprint[/edit] -- currently I'm thinking I may want to wait until March-ish which is when my buddy who works at an Apple Store expects the upgraded iPhones to be released. I don't think I'd use one to hold music, but I know that I'd surf on it and that I'd snap a few photos (daily) with it.

Does anyone else have any suggestions? Thanks!

 

The iPhone works with the Mini. I'd go with that if I needed a new phone. My BB Pearl works great too. Check it out.

 

You may have already seen this, but just in case, this is the most comprehensive list of armrest snap-in adapters I've come across: http://www.bimmernav.com/snapins.html

I was really hoping to find something that would be compatible with a recent smart phone of some sort, but it looks like the Razr might be the best we get?

I'm not super-excited about the iPhone, so I was going to see if I could hack up a charger adapter from the closest matching snap-in I could find for a Blackberry, since they've been reported as working well also.

 

I'm very happy with my iPhone and it connects with the mini flawlessly. I appreciate the automatic address book download as well. You can keep it in your pocket if you'd like, but it's definitely not a tiny phone.

 

Sure, but does it work with the voice command feature???

I.e. can you press the voice button on the MFSW and have it dial a specific number by voice command without having to manually enter in a voice tag for each number you want to dial? I don't believe that the iPone can do this on the MINI yet whereas many other phones can (such as the Sony Ericsson phones, etc.).

My wife and I use our MINI's voice dialing feature all the time and so this is definitely a MUST have feature for us. iPhone poo poo...

 

I dunno on the voice dialing feature -- I haven't tried it, since I hardly ever drive and talk at the same time. I think I've seen that people have trouble with this on the iphone, though. If it's important to you, then the iphone may not be the best option.

 

TOM, Is it the W810i? How's the 2MP autofocus camera quality? From what I'm looking at on the Amazon reviews, that's a pretty good contender for my list of wants and desires.

 

OfficeMaven you are correct. You can use Bluetooth and the iPhone to voice-dial "By Name" only if you have created a voice tag for each number you want in advance. You can voice-dial "By Number" though without any training or setup.

This is true for the latest iPhone firmware and all Minis built before October. Post-October Minis should work fine though with the iPhone (meaning the iPhone phonebook will correctly populate the Minis phonebook and all functions should work). That last part is just a claim at this point though until the post-October Mini's start to arrive.

 

@pdoyle,

Interesting. I sure do hope they can get it fixed as the iPhone certainly is a nice device and it would be nice to have it fully working with the MINI's OEM Bluetooth set up.

@The_Meal,

I've got a W800i sitting right here and it has the same 2 MP camera in it as the W810i does (or the W810a which is the American version that has the 850 band). The camera is fine. I don't use it too much because IMHO all cameras on all mobile phones stink when compared to even the cheapest of digital cameras. When I want to take pictures, I just use a nice little digital camera who's primary purpose is taking photos. However, the camera on the W8xx is good as long as you understand its limitations (like poor performance in dim light situations, etc.).

As a phone and a music player, it rocks though. I use my W800 as my workout phone. I have a remote control for it that I use to switch songs and answer the phone while the phone itself stays safely in my cammelback. My main phone is a W950i UIQ3 smartphone. Both of them (as well as my wife's older K750i) work great with ALL functions in the MINI. Much to my surprise.

 

Okay, I just checked on my way home from work the voice dial with the iphone. It works perfectly! I was amazed -- I have no "voice tag" on my address book -- I just said "Call Joe Smith Home" and off it went (it wasn't really Joe Smith, of course). So, at least as of week 39, the iphone does support voice dial.

 

Well, I'm leaning towards the Moto RAZR2 V9m. Do we have folks with direct experience using this setup through the Bluetooth connection?

Thanks,
~Neal

 

I don't know if the RAZR V9m will work with the RAZR armrest insert. I had a LG 8600 but I swapped it out for a RAZR V3m and got the insert from Classic Mini in Ohio. It works like a charm. When you place the phone into the armrest insert it charges the phone and it also connects it to the vehicles antenna system which should give it better signal strength.

Sure, it doesn't have all of the newer features, it records smaller video clips than my LG did but it was worth the switch to be able to use an armrest insert.

 

Does the armrest charger need any installation or does it just snap in?

 

iPhone

 

It snaps in. It took longer to get the base insert out than it did to put the new one in.

 

I think I'm back to my original plan -- wait for the iPhone refresh later this winter. I checked out the RAZR2's at my Sprint store and found out that my 4-year contract upgrade would get me a discount equal to... the amount a person off the street would be paying. I've got no particular love for Sprint (in fact, just the opposite), and the thought of migrating to AT&T down the road appeals.

The only two downsides to the iPhone are the size of that form factor, and (in a distant second place) the fact that it's an iPhone and carries the smugness associated with carrying around Apple products. However, I do know that it hits my wants list without giving me too much crap that I'm not interested in, and I know that it will feed my love for quality user interfaces and simplicity. So if folks want to lump in with the rest of the smarmy Apple-folks, well I suppose I'll just have to go out and get myself a pair of them square black glasses...

Thanks everyone for the discussion. I wish there were a product available right now today that'd hit my wants and needs (a feature list that I don't think deviates too far from that of the average thirty-something). If anyone else has any ideas that haven't yet been presented, I'm all ears (or eyes, as the case may be).

Happy motoring,
~Neal

 

Gary,

I'm glad that worked out for you. I'm having to adjust to not having the bluetooth system in my loaner. I keep looking for the tray to place my phone in.

 

Hopefully you won't have to have the loaner for very long. But yes, it has worked out great! Thanks again for the part number for the insert. It is nice not to have carry around a car charger .

 

They sent me home with a brand-new cabrio, barely beyond break-in mileage, so I'm not complaining. First time I've ever driven a convertible. I told them that if it warms up some, I may find some excuses to keep it for a while.

 

Here's an interesting development: work may be able to get me a deal on the (Verizon) Samsung SCH-i760. From the "what works based on first-hand-experience" thread, I saw hit-and-miss experiences with Samsung phones. Does anyone have any direct experience with this phone w.r.t. all bluetooth functionality?

TIA,
~Neal

 

Has anyone attempted to pair the MINI (June '07 build) with the Motorola Razr V3xx or the KRZR K1?

 

Everybody else may have seen something like this already, but I hadn't come across it yet:

http://www.mini.com/com/en/bluetooth...4_en_us_ca.pdf

From mini.com/bluetooth- oddly enough there's no United States option in the countries list, but selecting Canada brings up the one above that seems to suggest US and Canada by the URL.

 

That's an interesting pdf, but doesn't seem to be totally up-to-date with some of the phones listed in the wireless4mini site. If a newer sheet (which is claimed to be SOP) were made available, that'd be super useful.

~Neal