I am going to get a handfree system put in the car as I'm forever out of the office and wondered what veiws/experiences people have had with these.
When I bought the car in November I made the silly mistake of not opting for the Merc built in kit which you basically either operate by voice commands or by the buttons on the steering wheel. All you phone book numbers come up on a display in the dash and it is absolutely brilliant, now I feel a right muppet.
To have this system installed will cost 1,700 quid.
To have a basic system installed that is not intergrated with the car will cost about 150-200 quid.
Now I know you will all say go for the cheap one but I have used the Merc kit on another car and it is just effortless and brilliant.
What would you do?
Bear in mind that my company will pay so I look at it as less profit, so less tax for Mr Blair to collect.
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For me, it'd have to be a bit more than a good phone kit for the additional £1500, especially as you'll probably change the car within 3 years or less...
You keep paying your high taxes, helps keep mine down a bit!
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I have the Nokia full duplex kit installed in my car and it's great. it does all the things you need - mutes stereo when it rings or when you dial out, my Nokia 6310i has voice activated dialling, it answers itself after a couple of rings. I recommend it. I installed it myself and the kit cost £120.
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I've got the Nokia Bluetooth car kit in mine and it works really well, I've got voice dials set up for the main numbers including 999 which I have actually used successfully!
I would recommend it, if only for the fact that *all* of my friends think it's wonderful and were stunned when I first answered a call in the car, they didn't even notice I had a hands free kit until the radio cut out and a friends voice came over the speakers. :-)
Blue
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Had a similar kit to v8man installed in 1997. Does everything.
For those interested in voice operated messages, dialling etc. Orange Wildfire works a treat for me. This is driven by the network, not the phone.
H.
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Wildfire is brilliant, but there are times when she doesn't seem to understand me and does my head in!! It amuses me that people who leave a message think that they are talking to a real person.
I remember when she was new, the developers had left a few jokes in there. If you asked her what sound a cow makes, she would say "moo"
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v8man,
how easy was it to fit yourself and how long did it take? I had the kit taken out of my Golf when we parted company last November and haven't bothered putting it into the new car yet.
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I have the Nokia full duplex kit installed in my car and it's great. it does all the things you need - mutes stereo when it rings or when you dial out, my Nokia 6310i has voice activated dialling, it answers itself after a couple of rings. I recommend it. I installed it myself and the kit cost £120.
I have a Nokia kit installed in my car that takes my Nokia 6210. It is pre Bluetooth. I am looking to upgrade to a Nokia 6310i as I have been informed that is the last Nokia phone produced to fit my in car holder.
>>Wildfire is brilliant
I assume this is a joke. It may be brilliant for kids but I would be very reluctant to do business with anyone who had this awful system answering their phone.
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The non-integrated one will look absolutely dreadful. The built in kit works wonderfully.
Bite the bullet, get the built-in kit.
M.
ps. don't forget you may need to change your phone.
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Is this a company financed car that you pay tax on? If it is adding the merc kit will add £1500 to the p11d price of the car upon which you pay tax. Adding the nokia kit does not constitute addition to the base price of the car. Just a thought.
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In response to Mark I have just upgraded the phone to a 6310i which is sized like a brick, but is apparently the only phone to work with the built in kit.
As for the p11d price, it wont bother me as they will never find out, I hope.
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I don't think it will affect the p11d price. I'm not completely sure since I don't know if there is a different tax approach between an add-on car kit and an in-built car kit.
However, with mine it was stated that this was for work use, was still owned by the company, and would be removed from the car before it was disposed of. Tax man said no problem and ignored it.
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I have just bought a new Siemens mobile with Bluetooth headset - exactly for the reason of using in the car and would recommend it wholeheartedly. The bluetooth that is not necessarily Siemens phones. It will do all you want and you dont have to hack the car about at all.
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I've used the Nokia bluetooth handsfree car kit and it is excellent. See www.nokia.com/nokia/0,5184,4916,00.html
Nokia are bringing out a new bluetooth carphone with a dash mounted LCD display.
Have a look at www.nokia.com/nokia/0,5184,5778,00.html
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Thanks for all the replys,
I think I'll go for the fully intergrated Merc kit as nothing is visible within the car and I can access any of the phone menus just by using the steering wheel.
The fact that I wont actually pay for it has helped my decision too.
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