Hacks and Gadgets by HJL

I recently decided to give another try to using a Bluetooth headset, and this time around I’m quite happy. I last tried using a Bluetooth headset a few years ago and was unimpressed, both by the high price and by the poor usability. My usual handsfree solution since then has been to use the speakerphone mode on my phone. This works well in the car if you’re by yourself, but can be problematic if others are riding with you.

I wanted a headset that would work with my Nokia 6820 as well as voice applications on my notebook computer, and found the Plantronics Voyager 510, which is able to pair with two devices supporting either the Bluetooth handsfree or headset device profile. The sound quality is good, comparable to a wired headset, it’s comfortable enough to leave on for hours at a time, and the battery life lasts more than a day. The wireless connection works from my desk to anywhere in my office, I’ve tried it to 15-20 feet or so, and also stays connected if I leave the phone in the car and walk around to fill the gas.

The headset can be set up for use on either the right or left, and comes with three eartips of different sizes along with a pair of microphone windscreens.

I’ve been using the headset for the past few days, including several hours of driving between Palo Alto and Los Angeles, and so far am impressed with the improvement over the early Bluetooth headsets, which were expensive, bulkier, sounded worse, and didn’t work well with the cell phones. This may push me back in the direction of getting a smarter phone / PDA device again.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 10th, 2006 at 4:23 pm and is filed under gadgets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.