Like everyone in California, I have to go hands-free by 7/1/08. I rarely talk on my phone in the car, but I need a solution for those occasions. I'm not interested in a Star Trek headset, so I'm looking at inexpensive speakerphones.

This thread could be helpful for the various folks trying to figure an alternative to retrofitting Mini bluetooth installations.

Anyone have any experience with any of these?

Blue Ant Supertooth Light goes for around $65.


Blue Ant Supertooth 3 goes for around $100, but has text-to-speech to announce who is calling, and it looks better, has bigger buttons and doesn't have an extending microphone that looks like it could be difficult to deal with while driving (it's the on/off switch).


Jabra also is highly rated, and much sleeker, but it can only be charged in the car, and my lighter is powering my Sirius receiver so that won't work for me.

 

i vote for supertooth 3. sound quality (sending and receiving) are both very clear. the green and red buttons make it very ez to use. the text to speech feature is also very nice. i previously tried out the jabra and i couldnt get used to the "mouse" button. the sound quality was also not as good as the supertooth 3

 

I have the Motorola MotorokerT505

Liked it so much got more for the rest of the family

hands free and will sinc with a bluetooth ipod to play through your sterio

MOTOROKR™ T505 Bluetooth® In-Car Speakerphone with Digital FM Transmitter



Optimized for the car, the MOTOROKR T505 lets you take and make calls hands-free and listen to your tunes with features like echo/noise reduction and Audio CallerID. Portable and powerful, the MOTOROKR T505 is an innovation for the in-car experience.
FEATURES AND BENEFITS
Your music and calls over your car speakers
Enjoy your music and calls with the clarity and loudness of your car stereo system. Innovative Bluetooth® technology streams music from your compatible Bluetooth phone or MP3 player to the MOTOROKR T505. The built-in digital FM transmitter lets you make & take calls and hear your tunes loud and clear over your car stereo. So you can optimize your calls and tunes, your music will pause if you take an incoming call. You can hear the call loud and clear over the car speakers, and the caller will hear you loud and clear thanks to the echo and noise reduction technology.
StationFinder™ Technology
Get an optimal connection with your car radio. StationFinder™ technology searches the FM dial for you, to find the best station. Press a button, and StationFinder™ finds and announces the best FM station for you to tune to.
Portable, No installation
This portable solution clips to the visor, so that it can be taken from car to car. All the convenience of wireless hands-free and music, without the need for installation. Simply clip-tune-and-go.
SUMMARY OF FEATURES

• Volume, Volume, Volume. It's your choice – use the powerful internal speaker or get as much volume as you can handle by routing calls & music to your car stereo via the built-in Digital FM transmitter.
• Take your music everywhere. Wirelessly link your music to your car stereo from a compatible Bluetooth stereo enabled phone or music device.
• Clip-tune-and-go. Hooks to the visor and can be taken from car to car. No installation.
• StationFinder™. Breakthrough technology does the work for you – finds and announces the best FM station for a clear FM connection and minimal static.
• Audio CallerID.** Hear the number of the person calling
• Easy Pairing. Exclusive technology simplifies connecting to your Bluetooth devices
• Works with compatible Bluetooth enabled music phones, iPods® and other MP3 players
• Car charger included
• Long battery life

 

This things sounds cool Now i'm gizmo illiterate. What is a "bluetooth ipod" And how would you sinc that to the radio? Would a "iphone" work inlieu of the "ipod"? BTW, I have a 2003 MCS, thanks for any help .

 

you sinc your bluetooth capable music device to the T505...then the T505 broadcasts through a FM station on you car radio.

No wires, good sound

 

I went for the cheaper BlueAnt option. Sound is pretty good through the speaker, and other people report they can tell I'm on a speakerphone, but it is better than most.

I like the magnetic attachment to the visor clip. It makes it very easy to place and remove. I wish the unit weren't so heavy.

 

Hey COR, I'm assuming you need to have a "Bluetooth" capable radio to do this, correct? I have a stock radio, not even a HK. Thanks.

 

No ...not a bluetooth radio.

for phone and / or music, that device must be BT capable, or pluged into a BT converter

The 505 recieves that signal... and converts it to FM.... then sends it to ANY FM radio (you preset the station

So...I have hands free phone and digital music plying through the OEM HK radio... with no wires (other than a charge cable when needed)

moveable from car to car

 

Ohhhhhh gotcha You have to smack me kinda hard , now I understand I'm will definitely be checking on this, thanks.

 

I only use a small wired ear bud. Sure beats spending lots more money.

 

i didnt know they made bluetooth ipods...that is hot! So if you have a car that has bluetooth built in you can just link your ipod directly to your car and just play the music that way huh?? that would be pretty sweet.

 

some "music devices" are stock BT capable.. the ipod (older versions) can be hacked to support BT

 

wow I didn't know that....something to do a little research on as I have an old 20gb white color only ipod. If that's possible i could link my LG Voyager to the ipod and transfer songs onto my cellphone without having to hook up any wires. sweet

 

google "ipod bluetooth hack"