List of Hardware that Positively Works with the Prius

[tara]

How about a list that just discusses which phones work the best with the Prius. There is so much info out there it is difficult to really know which phone works the best.

Can any one help to guide me to a good review of just the current phones. I have been to the toyota talk site but that does not really give me the details I need to make a decision.

I would like a phone that will work with my Prius and also my T3 Palm. I need ease of use. I am thinking about going with Cingular because of family members with that same carrier. I would like a camera but don't want to pay more than $400.00 and would really like something that costs less.
Thanks for any help,
Tara

[IsrAmeriPrius]

Cingular, AT&T and T-Mobile, as GSM carriers, have the best selection of Bluetooth enabled cellular phones.

The selection offered by the CDMA carriers, Verizon and Sprint, is paltry and many of the features which work with the Prius are missing or disabled.

You can read reviews of phones at GSM Arena (select PHONE FINDER from the menu on the left).

[ggalanti]

I'm a bit embarrassed to be asking this, but I have a very basic question. How does a bluetooth phone work with the Prius? If it's in my purse, can I make calls from the steering wheel? Does it have to be plugged into something? Do I dial on the phone itself or on the navigation screen? My phone is 2 years old, and doesn't even take pictures, so I'm a bit behind the times on this technology.

Also, will I be able to download my address book from my Mac into a bluetooth phone?

[NiMH]

ggalanti:

First you have to go through a simple process to "pair" your bluetooth phone with the interface in the car. You can set it up so that the car "discovers" the phone when it is present and automatically connects to it. From then on you can either initiate a call from the touch screen or answer a call from the touch screen or steering wheel.

A few notes:
- The bluetooth is a short range radio connection (frequency-hopping spread spectrum actually!) so you don't need to physically connect anything. I just leave my phone on my belt clip.
- You have to have the bluetooth feature that comes with the navigation package.
- Some phones can download their phonebook into the Prius phone book. Unfortunately this "bluetooth profile" is not present on my Blackberry 7290 and someother phones. There is no way to manually enter the numbers into the Prius phone book so I can't use it.
- You can store some (18?) speed dial numbers on the Prius
- Much of the user interface is disabled while the car is moving, though you can still answer calls.
- The range of the connection is pretty good. My Prius has connected to my phone while parked in the garage with the phone in the house.
- You can dial a call from the handset or the prius and it will route the audio through the handsfree in either case.
- I have walked into my car while on a phone call to find that once the phone connects to the car the audio switches over the the handsfree in mid-call.

[bluefish]

some more general info for geri-ann:

as mentioned, you must have the bluetooth feature w/ your prius... i think that only the full package includes this. you don't actually make the call from your steering wheel, but rather with your nav screen (you can receive a call and hang up from your steering wheel). yes, you can leave it in your purse. you dial on the nav screen, or you can scroll through your phone book on the nav screen... but both of these features are disabled while you're moving. the quick-dial/speed dial feature, around 20 (?) of your favorite numbers on an easy-access screen list, CAN be accessed while driving. your phone doesn't have to be plugged into anything (unless you need power). but the first time that you use the phone w/ your Prius, you will have to sync it up and possibly upload the phone book.

as for downloading your addresses from your Mac to the phone, that is specific to the phone (as are all of these features)... my Sony-Ericsson can do it, but when it uploads to the Prius it only gives one number per listing... for example, only someones home number, not the cell. there is apparently a work-around for my phone, and it does work properly with some phones. the new Motorola V3 can only upload 1 address at a time to the Prius and won't sync to the Mac via bluetooth, but it will sync via USB cable. my phone works fairly well but the sound quality is so poor that i've had to stop using it. every phone seems to work differently with the Prius and Macs/PCs in almost every respect. this is why we're here, to figure it out (and to share our mutual frustration).

my apologies for any duplicate info from NiMH's excellent posting.

[tara]

So taking phone list transfer and audio quality etc into consideration, which phone works the best with the Prius?
Tara

[bobm]

Has anyone tried or had any success with a Jabra A210 Multiconnector to connect their cell phones with their Prius?

It's an add on for a non-bluetooth cell phone to connect between the phone & a headset. Iit uses bluetooth version 1.2 (the prius uses 1.0 from what i've read on this and other discussion groups). The Jabra specs on it states that it is supposed to be downward compatible with other versions of bluetooth.

here's a link to the Jabra website. http://www.jabra.com

I have emailed their support and will post any response i get.

bob

[smackoww]

Sony Ericsson T-637 cell phone works perfectly.
entire phonebook uploads in one shot.

[bookrats]

Since this is a "sticky" thread, I thought I'd put in a pointer to [url=http://www.chrisdragon.com/prius/]Chris Dragon's PDF file describing how to install devices like AUX-PODs, etc., into an '04 Prius.

Haven't done it myself, but this looks like a great article -- incredibly useful for anyone looking to do these modifications themselves (or handing it over to a stereo installation professional who isn't familiar with the 04/05 Prius.)

Thanks Chris!!

[rwithop]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bookrats\";p=\"61369)</div>

Since this is a \"sticky\" thread, I thought I'd put in a pointer to [url=http://www.chrisdragon.com/prius/]Chris Dragon's PDF file describing how to install devices like AUX-PODs, etc., into an '04 Prius.

Haven't done it myself, but this looks like a great article -- incredibly useful for anyone looking to do these modifications themselves (or handing it over to a stereo installation professional who isn't familiar with the 04/05 Prius.)

Thanks Chris!!
[/b]

Thanks, Jeff, for posting this valuable information.