Navigation & Audio Bluetooth Car Kits: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

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Apr 6, 2005 | 06:32 PM

#26

etickt

2nd Gear

Joined: Nov 2004

Posts: 95

Likes: 0

From: Washington, DC

directional mike

Quote:

Originally Posted by supergimp

So, thanks to Mikey, I've had my S-E HCB-300 installed for a couple of weeks now. It works ok, but people on the other end complain about how awful I sound. "Echoey", "Distorted", and "Distant" come to mind. I have the microphone mounted between my tacho and speedo (I have NAV) on the top of my steering colum. I know I need to play with different mounting positions, but has anyone had good luck with anyplace in particular. Given the complaints of my callers, I am afraid that in the headliner by the sunroof switch may not make a big enought difference.

Any other suggestions? Maybe there is a better microphone I could be using?

Thanks.

Steve

I put mine in that spot, and it sucks too. I have a feeling that the mike is very directional. It may need to have the right part pointing at you. I will be moving it to somewhere near the mirror.

Andy

Apr 6, 2005 | 08:38 PM

#27

mini doc

1st Gear

Joined: Nov 2004

Posts: 16

Likes: 0

I had the same problem with my current hands free kit but I rotated the Mike 180 degrees and It worked better. Now the sound is going from my mouth to the mike. The guy who installed it put it the wrong way and the sound had to bounce off the front window to enter the mike. My 1 second fix solved the whole problem! Relocating your mike will solve the problem.

Tim

Quote:

Originally Posted by supergimp

Apr 7, 2005 | 11:24 AM

#28

andromcs

3rd Gear

Joined: Sep 2004

Posts: 296

Likes: 1

From: Ojai, CA

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbabischkin

No it's not. You also need the MINI Bluetooth kit that is compatible with those buttons. Rumor has it that kit will be out this summer

Thanks for the info.

Apr 7, 2005 | 12:56 PM

#29

mikeythemini

Former Vendor

Joined: May 2004

Posts: 269

Likes: 0

With a little magic box it is possble to get the parrot blurtooth kit to work with the 2 buttons

Quote:

Originally Posted by andromcs

I got the BT buttons on my '05 MCS's steering wheel. I was told that all I needed was a BT phone and to program it. Is this so?

Jun 25, 2005 | 04:58 PM

#30

chows4us

6th Gear

Joined: May 2005

Posts: 15,478

Likes: 2

Hi

I had installed a motorola IHF1000 from car-kits.com. Here is the control unit.

Mike is where the MINI mike would have went in the doohickey

As to the rest of the questions, see below ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbabischkin

Plays well with others: Most importantly it needs to be able to pair with multiple phones.

Handles up to four phones, ANY with BT 1, and of course all moto

Price:

I think it was $300 plus to install they come to ur house

Functionality:

Manually specifically says you shouldnt use the stereo because the calls won't sound right. Something about the speaker and frequencies. Use the included speaker.

Sound Quality:

Location of Mike could be better. A bit high for my wife. Unless she's paying attention to talk UP

Compatibility: This one might need to be higher up. We're going to be getting Moto V600's

Non-issue

Ease of Use: I can tolerate with having to fiddle with a device to get it to work well. My wife however won't. If it doesn't work well without having to mess with it she will get frustrated and not use it.

Good question. When first installed, my wife hated it. Too many voice menus. Now, she loves it. Its actually simple to use and its one command to the address book.

Further, if your cell is on, as soon she gets in the car with her cell in her pocketbook, the controller mates with cells and tells hers its ready to talk. Very cool.

Jun 25, 2005 | 06:55 PM

#31

miniFX

1st Gear

Joined: Apr 2005

Posts: 38

Likes: 0

From: Pasadena, CA

Bluetooth Car Kits: The Good

The following thread in Mini Talk, I think, will be particularly interesting -

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...highlight=MFSW

In the thread is a link to a great BT set-up.

Jul 15, 2005 | 03:52 PM

#32

advnavles

1st Gear

Joined: Jul 2005

Posts: 49

Likes: 0

We are a new sponsor to NAM. Please research our site www.advancednavigation.com/mini I believe you will find a great bluetooth product solution for you on our site. The name of our bluetooth system is Vcontrol and does all that you mentioned. Thank You forum members

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbabischkin

First, if you don't have a Bluetooth kit, don't want a Bluetooth kit, etc please move along. I'm not interested in your opinion so save yourself the time of posting.

For the rest of you, I'm interested in adding a Bluetooth phone kit to our car.

What I'm looking for in a kit:

Plays well with others: Most importantly it needs to be able to pair with multiple phones. My wife and I will both have BT phones in a few weeks and we're both just as likely to be driving the MINI. To not have to re-pair the device on entering the car because the other person drove it would be a major plus. Anybody know what kits besides the Sony HCB-300 does this?
Price: To me the biggest killer for the MINI kit isn't the looks, but the insane price for the kit even without installation. In the end it doesn't matter how good the kit is, if I can't afford it then it does me no good.
Functionality: Idealy I'd like it to pipe the sound through the radio, I know that out of the box few kits beside the MINI kits do this. Although I've heard that New MINI stuff has a cable for the HCB-30. Hey Mikey, got one for the HCB-300 that will work with the 03 and 05 HK systems? Any other kits play along with the HK?
Sound Quality: I've got a Jabra BT headset for my T-610, I love it and I have great sound quality on my end, except to the people I'm calling it sounds like I'm calling from the far side of a pipe.
Compatibility: This one might need to be higher up. We're going to be getting Moto V600's whatever BT kit we get has to work with the Motos... I know there may be better BT capable phones out there, but they meet some important points on our power curve... BT, flip phones, camera, and we can get them dirt cheap....
Ease of Use: I can tolerate with having to fiddle with a device to get it to work well. My wife however won't. If it doesn't work well without having to mess with it she will get frustrated and not use it.

As for aesthetics, I'm not really all that concerned if it doesn't match the color scheme of the car as long as the device works. My other thought is that if we get a car kit that works well in the MINI, we might buy a matching kit to put in our Subaru as well...

So with that in mind, please share what you have, what you'd like to have and your experiences. Did you do it yourself or did you have somebody else do it?

Jul 15, 2005 | 04:07 PM

#33

mbabischkin

Thread Starter

6th Gear

Joined: Jan 2003

Posts: 4,406

Likes: 0

From: Northeast Ohio

I've heard of VControl, a former member of our local club uses it for navigation and raves about it. However, I've find a kit that met my needs so I'm all set now.

Welcome to NAM

Jul 15, 2005 | 09:20 PM

#34

z3bum

5th Gear

Joined: Mar 2003

Posts: 739

Likes: 0

From: Alexandria, VA - Old Town

The inventor of the VCommand is a friend of mine! Chris Kaminsky and I both have one in our MINIs... it's a cool voice-activated nav system that even plays blackjack.

Jul 15, 2005 | 10:53 PM

#35

supergimp

4th Gear

Joined: Nov 2004

Posts: 345

Likes: 0

From: Los Angeles

I've been to the site. It's not clear at all what the level of Mini integration is. Where is the list of compatible phones? (Treo 650?) Does it integrate with the MFSW? The kit shows a speaker. Does it integrate with the head unit? Does it show caller ID on the NAV or Headunit? How does it work with NAV?

I have Mikey's kit with the HCB-300 and it works great. I just wish I had MFSW control (which he offers with the Parrot 3000). I plan to upgrade soon and am curious if this has the same functionality.

Steve

Jul 16, 2005 | 12:09 AM

#36

advnavles

1st Gear

Joined: Jul 2005

Posts: 49

Likes: 0

I appreciate your coment and evaluation. Our company Advanced Navigation Inc. is now the exclusive web vendor for Vcontrol Bluetooth by Vcommand Inc.. We are a new sponsor to this forum. Our site only represents Vcommand products and we have added a special web page for NDA members at www.advancednavigation.com/mini I believe you will find the Vcommand products on our site a perfect fit for the challenges faced by Mini owners in finding cost effective, funtional, aftermarket products for gps navigation, bluetooth and Ipod connectivity to the Mini stereo head unit. Your comments and suggestions are appreciated.
Les

Quote:

Originally Posted by z3bum

The inventor of the VCommand is a friend of mine! Chris Kaminsky and I both have one in our MINIs... it's a cool voice-activated nav system that even plays blackjack.

Jul 16, 2005 | 12:13 AM

#37

advnavles

1st Gear

Joined: Jul 2005

Posts: 49

Likes: 0

All bluetooth enabled phones work with Vcontrol, but caller ID is not shown or intergrateable to the stock Mini nav or stereo head unit. You can program up to 4 Bluetooth enabled mobile phones and #s to the Vcontrol Bluetooth unit and no cradle is needed.
Les from www.advancednavigation.com/mini

Quote:

Originally Posted by supergimp

Last edited by advnavles; Jul 16, 2005 at 12:33 AM.

Jul 16, 2005 | 12:17 AM

#38

advnavles

1st Gear

Joined: Jul 2005

Posts: 49

Likes: 0

Thank you for your comments

We agree, that is why we started a company that exclusively sells and services Vcommand products at www.advancednavigation.com/mini
Les

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbabischkin

I've heard of VControl, a former member of our local club uses it for navigation and raves about it. However, I've find a kit that met my needs so I'm all set now.

Welcome to NAM

Jul 16, 2005 | 04:51 AM

#39

mikeythemini

Former Vendor

Joined: May 2004

Posts: 269

Likes: 0

Quote:

Originally Posted by supergimp

Do you have the 3 spoke with phone buttons? As we have now managed similar to the parrot for nokia & should have HCB300 sorted next week

Jul 16, 2005 | 08:39 AM

#40

supergimp

4th Gear

Joined: Nov 2004

Posts: 345

Likes: 0

From: Los Angeles

Yea, Mike. I have your harness with the HCB300 and the 2005 3-spoke MFSW. I love Mikey's harness because it DOES mute the stereo and play through the speakers (no kludgey external speaker - yuck!) and integrates with the head-unit like factory. And - no cradle necessary with bluetooth of course. Buying my new HCB-300 on eBay and Mikey's harness the whole install was right around 200 bucks and completely plug-and-play.

I can't say enough for Mikey's support and for the money - there's no comparison. With the Parrot kit you can get voice dial as well.

I was thinking of switching to Parrot because some people complain about the sound quality of the HCB-300. Let me know, though, when you have MFSW control and maybe I'll just upgrade what I have.

Steve

Jul 16, 2005 | 12:13 PM

#41

advnavles

1st Gear

Joined: Jul 2005

Posts: 49

Likes: 0

I can help you; we are a sponsor of NAM, we have a voice interactive Bluetooth system that you can program up to 4 wireless phones and #s to. It also functions with any Bluetooth enabled phone on the market. Please review our NAM sponsor site www.advancednavigation.com/mini
The system is called Vcontrol and I have found some very satisfied users on this forum that use the system in their Minis now.
Les

Quote:

Originally Posted by bonz

I hear ya. Has anyone bluetooth to aftermarket Ice? I need bluetooth for my baby. Currently i am using my Motorola Bluetooth Headset HS810 with my Sony Eric T610 but I am wondering if a car kit would be more convient. Or ..... it may not be the best option because my mini can be pretty loud especially with the sunroof open.

This only come up because, I just ordered a new primary vehicle and I am getting bluetooth installed in that car but I am in that car about 6 hrs a day.

Sorry for the rambling

Nice

PS. Bluetooth Enable Devices .....
Sony Eric T610
Motorola HS810
Sony Clie UX50 ..... RIP being replaced with Dell Axim X50v
Logitech diNovo Keyboards & Mouse
Uconnect ( MoPar in car bluetooth )

Jul 16, 2005 | 12:30 PM

#42

chows4us

6th Gear

Joined: May 2005

Posts: 15,478

Likes: 2

Quote:

Originally Posted by supergimp

... play through the speakers (no kludgey external speaker - yuck!)

Actually, when I had mine installed, it said specifically that that the external speaker in the kit was made for the human voice frequencies where, of course, your car speakers are like 20 - 20Khz. and that it would NOT sound as good using the car speakers.

Just passing on what the manual said.

Nov 10, 2005 | 02:05 PM

#43

770 KOF

3rd Gear

Joined: Oct 2004

Posts: 171

Likes: 0

Mute Function

Does the VControl system have a 2004MCS (no-SATNAV) harness? If yes can I just use the mute function by cutting and taping the VOL up/down wires?
Alan