Phone and phone cradle advice please

[corned]

Hi all.

I have been having reception problems with my phone for quite a while now. This is the phone itself, nothing to do with the car and cradle. Ironically, when the phone is in the car cradle, it works far better than at any time when it is out of the car!

The problem is, I am approaching contract renewal time, and I have spoken to my service provider regarding the unsatisfactory reception of the current handset, and what options are available to me. It seems the best option would be to wait a month and get a free upgrade to a new handset. The question is - which one, and how can you tell if M-B will be bringing out a cradle to match?

I prefer the idea of a fully-integrated cradle (like my current one) where the phone physically plugs in and charges up as well as the aerial and other connections. However, I do see the advantage of going with the HFP unit where I can upgrade the handset at will and not have to change the car hardware every time. Obviously I would still need a separate car charger and wires all over the place.

For the record, my current handset is a Moto V8 - a mastery of style over substance. But it works really well with the dedicated cradle and integrates nicely in with the COMAND unit.

What's to be done?

 

[crockers]

Have you considered a phone with rSAP protocol? This will transfer the phone to the car and goes into hibernation therefore not using much battery life when the car system takes over. I believe that Nokia and Siemens offer these - not sure about other makes.

Have a word with VW and SKoda main dealers as the intergrated phone systems in their cars use rSAP and they should be able to offer you a full list of compatible handsets.

 

[Diesel Benz]

I've never seen MB releasing info about coming cradles for new phone models. I'm afraid it would be safest to consider a phone model where the cradle already has been released.

Another option would be the MB BT SAP adapter instead of the HF profile adapter. You would have the same advantage from the external car antenna as with a phone cradle (often even better, instead of using an antenna coupler, this one would use a galvanic connection). You would not need charger cables for the phone even if you keep it in your pocket because the phone does not consume any significant power when the transmission actually comes from the BT SAP adapter. Of course you don't have a fully charged phone when you leave the car if it was empty when you started driving, unlike with a real phone cradle.

Edited: a bit redundant comments over crockers, I was typing while he had already replied.

 

[corned]

Ah - I hadn't even considered that option. That's the one with the silver F1/SL/SLK proboscis, right?

I was looking at what phones were on offer in the upgrade lists, and Nokias such as the N85 were looking favourable. I note that would work with this SAP cradle.

Many thanks for the advice chaps - I think that option makes the most sense.

Cheers,


Corned

 

[Diesel Benz]

There are actually two variants of the BT SAP adapter. The one you are referring to and another one with a privacy handset. I find the privacy handset useful if there are others in the car who don't mind listening the phone conversation or if you don't want others to hear what the other party is saying (of course difficult to avoid others in the car hearing what you say).

Privacy conversation is possible with the other adapter too but only with a separate BT headset.

 

[corned]

Cheers again, D-B. I have seen that one too. However I wouldn't go for that particular one as surely it has legality issues if you have your hands full of the privacy handset when on the move?

 

[Diesel Benz]

Cheers again, D-B. I have seen that one too. However I wouldn't go for that particular one as surely it has legality issues if you have your hands full of the privacy handset when on the move?

You mean you are afraid of it being illegal to keep the handset at your ear? I assume the rules are the same within EU, believe me or not, at least at my place it is illegal to hold a small phone at your ear and talk but if you pick up a handset of a fixed car phone, or the one from the SAP adapter, all becomes legal. Our rules state that you have to be able to dial without keeping hold of the phone, meaning the phone has to be on a cradle and you are not allowed to pick it up after dialling.

The cord on the handset may make using the phone more difficult than a small phone alone but "rules are rules". I guess there is a bit of sense too, it is easier to get rid of the handset at a critical traffic scenario than your favourite phone (you may say you can throw the phone away if needed but it may not work out if your brains are busy with the traffic).

I'm not really trying to defend those who made the rules, just trying to explain that at least for us it is absolutely legal to use the handset at traffic while driving.