Printer Friendly Forum Posts - bluetooth adapters

Parrot will give you the best value, by far. The bad sides are the very weak support and the fact that they sell to anyone who has a pulse and don't give much of a thought of what happens next, thus you likely can buy the kit online retail for almost as much as your friendly distributor will charge you wholesale. Parrot also has a number of models to choose from and a good mute relay. Voice reco for names and the kits are upgradeable.

Motorola has only 2 products these days. IHF1000 has a good number voice dialing function, but in my book is very expensive for what it does. It will be replaced with IHF1700 next month, so the bargains may come soon as they did with HF850. T605 became a good value lately after the dropped the price and is a good choice for somebody looking for a basic kit with A2DP (stereo Bluetooth). No models with LCD - after 4 years of Parrot CK3100 being the best selling kits in the world, Motorola is still studying the market. No mute relays for Motorolas, unless the car has a Mute Input in the radio you'll have to use a harness with a realy which will add to the cost. Great brand for North America thus maybe easier to sell to ignorant customers.

Funkwerk (previously known as Raytel) - great design, exceptionally good voice recognition for number and name (limited_ dialing, mute relay of a bad design (muting only one speaker it uses in some cars), very week mute signal, high cost. Will not find it online or it will be reasonably expensive. With a lower price would be a best seller. Good model choice. Tellphone 5000vi, if you'll be able to still find one, is the only kit with video output (made by PAC), allowing to view your phonebook, etc on the OEM nav screen with video inputs. all Ego models support A2DP and are upgradeable.

Nokia - solid products, but only 2 models (1 with (A2DP) and 1 without LCD)in the US and high cost. Limited availability through very few distributors, i.e Mito and select Products. Good design, limited functionality, high price, good brand.

Bluetouch - VERY high price (MSRP $399.99), but unbeatable feature wise. Voice reco for names and numbers, thousands of names in the phonebook, touchscreen, iPod cable and access to menu, voice commands for music, SD card clot, USB port, 3.5 mm Jack, A2DP - it is more of a multimedia product than just a hands free kit. Mute relay, available wired FM modulator, upgradeable.

Cartel - the old fashioned car phone with a privacy handset + Bluetooth. A very interesting solution for fleets, although expensive.

Smaller players on the market include THB Bury, Fonexion, Sony Ericsson, mr. handsfree, etc.