Looking for bluetooth headset - opinions welcomed

The wired headset that came with the BolackBerry is useless. The cord is too short, the earbuds keep falling out of my ears and, well, it's not the '90s anymore, right? So I'm looking for good deals on a nice headset. I'm being very, very cautious. Very recently I almost jumped at this Plantronics Voyager 520, on sale (now) at Amazon.ca for $35, down from $130. Luckily, I found out before I ordered it that it has *no* mute function. That is absolutely essential for me. As well, talked to some people who had tried other headsets where there *was* a mute function but, unfortunately, that function also came with a very annoying beep that reminded you of the mute. I realize there needs to be *some* indication, but given that the mute status is clearly displayed on your phone's screen if you need it, the beeping could be very annoying. At the very least, it should not be too loud or too frequent (and, hopefully, configurable).

So, suggest away, but be aware that I am *not* going to be spending a lot of money on this.

Here are a couple of current deals:

Plantronics M100 Bluetooth Headset, $40 (half off). C/Net Editor's rating: 3.5 (out of 5), Amazon.com average rating: 4/5
GTMax (?) headset at Amazon.ca: $22 (down from $70), average rating 4/5.

They have another GTMax one for just $16, down from $25. I guess at those prices, as long as it works at all, it's a good deal?

Personally, I'd prefer to stick with known brands, but if someone can vouch for these GTMax ones, then I'm not averse to saving a few bucks either.

Promise you won't walk around in public with the think in your ear. PROMISE ME THAT!!!

tim1_2 wrote:Promise you won't walk around in public with the think in your ear. PROMISE ME THAT!!!

Why bother buying stuff like that if you can't show everyone how cutting edge you are? Imagine little kids seeing you and wondering if you're from the future.

tim1_2 wrote:Promise you won't walk around in public with the think in your ear. PROMISE ME THAT!!!

Relax, it's for the car.

Meh. I'm not a fan of those blue tooth bugs in your ear... never liked 'em. I use the BlackBerry Premium Stereo headset when I'm on the go.

http://ca.crackberry.com/blackberry-premium-stereo-headset-3-5mm/

If it's just for the car... how about a blue tooth speaker? I use a Jabra Cruiser II in my truck.

http://ca.crackberry.com/jabra-cruiser-ii-bluetooth-car-kit-speakerphone/

I am also thinking of using it as a headset for conference calls at work. I have a cheap one I got on eBay that is corded, but I can pretty much only use it on mute, then switch to the deskphone's handset when I need to talk. I could use the Avaya softphone on my laptop and then use the bluetooth headset with that. A wireless headset for the desk phone would be best but the corded ones run for about $200 (except my cheap one from eBay) so you could imagine how much a cordless on would be -- the company won't spring for it. Also there are times when I have to be on an early call before I get to the office -- the portability is necessary to go from car to office.

So I guess the other requirement is I need to pair it with two devices -- the BB and my laptop.

I actually already have a stereo headset that I bought for my kid, but he never uses it. I've already paired it with my laptop, the PS3 and my old cell phone -- I think you can pair it with up-to 5 devices. It just looks dumb driving in the car with an over-the-ear stereo headset. And it would look even worse getting out of the card and walking across the parking lot.

I've seen smaller (in-ear) stereo headsets, so that's another way to go. With those I could use them also to listen to music.

Heh, I wonder if these are bluetooth:

Got a pair of the Plantronics Backbeat 903. On eBay. Just arrived today -- not instructions, just a packing slip, the headset and the AC to micro-USB adaptor. Looked up the manual online and it appears I don't have some buttons that are mentioned in the manual. Oh, well, it's eBay.



Anyhow, the sound (for playing music) is very nice (that's what I read in the reviews and what drew me to them).

I had decided to get a couple of different pairs -- the next ones will be the over-the-ear ones, something not too expensive, like these ones:

Listening to Brothers in Arms now. Niiiice. Why Worry? Exactly.

Well, about two weeks ago I went to eBay and searched for "stereo bluetooth headset" and an auction for a Nokia NH-503 came up. There was just 2 minutes left and no bids. I quickly google the headset to find out its capabilities. Long story short, I ended up getting them for $1.03. Well, that, plus the $19.95 shipping charge. Still, $21 including shipping (and no taxes) is a bargain. These ones are over-the ear (but no over-the-head), very similar to the picture I had a couple of posts pack, but these are a name brand and not the cheap ones.

Set arrived a few days back. Paired it up and tried it out. Sounds pretty good -- better bass than the Plantronics. All the controllers are on the same side and the volume controller is much easier to operate.

However the play/pause and next/previous track buttons don't work, at least not with the Blackberry. So I'm going to pass them on to my kid for his iPod. The search will continue.

Ordered another set from an eBay seller from China. These are the Motorolla S9-HD (read the glowing crackberry review). Box arrived Friday (when I wasn't at home) and I just picked it up from the Canada Post outlet at a local pharmacy.

Interesting. All references to Morotolla are covered up with stickers saying "Bluetooth". It's the same package, down to the picture of David Beckham on the back, which is mentioned in the review. They usually go for around $80 on Amazon.com, although you can usually get a deal in the $45 range. I got these ones for $16 and change, including "free" shipping (on the manifest they list $8 for the product and $8 for shipping).

Unlike my last set which came in a small bubble-wrap envelope with not even a printed set of instructions, this one has the full packaging. Except for the part where they covered up all references to Motorola (the instruction booklet doesn't mention it -- and clearly has not been through a North American editor, the familiar Motorola logo has been removed from the back of the set).

So what kind of market is this? Clearly this is the same set that I would buy here for much more, and just as clearly they are trying to work within some set of rules/laws (they are not fooling anyone with the stickers, but apparently it is enough, so they must be following the letter of some law).

Weird but, hey, if you don't mind waiting three weeks for it to get here, buying this stuff from Chinese sellers on eBay is the way to go.

wprager wrote:Ordered another set from an eBay seller from China. These are the Motorolla S9-HD (read the glowing crackberry review). Box arrived Friday (when I wasn't at home) and I just picked it up from the Canada Post outlet at a local pharmacy.

Interesting. All references to Morotolla are covered up with stickers saying "Bluetooth". It's the same package, down to the picture of David Beckham on the back, which is mentioned in the review. They usually go for around $80 on Amazon.com, although you can usually get a deal in the $45 range. I got these ones for $16 and change, including "free" shipping (on the manifest they list $8 for the product and $8 for shipping).

Unlike my last set which came in a small bubble-wrap envelope with not even a printed set of instructions, this one has the full packaging. Except for the part where they covered up all references to Motorola (the instruction booklet doesn't mention it -- and clearly has not been through a North American editor, the familiar Motorola logo has been removed from the back of the set).

So what kind of market is this? Clearly this is the same set that I would buy here for much more, and just as clearly they are trying to work within some set of rules/laws (they are not fooling anyone with the stickers, but apparently it is enough, so they must be following the letter of some law).

Weird but, hey, if you don't mind waiting three weeks for it to get here, buying this stuff from Chinese sellers on eBay is the way to go.

I bought a nice case for my ereader for under $5 including shipping. I had to wait about 2-3 weeks. It was absolutely worth it. I imagine the same case would cost between $20-30 in a store. You can get some serious bargains from ebay.

I'm known to

from time to time.