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New Motorola V551, Bluetooth & Prius?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by spencer999, Nov 26, 2004.

  1. spencer999

    spencer999 New Member

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    I see that the Motorola V600 is on the Letstalk website as a compatible Bluetooth phone for the Prius... but I went into the Cingular shop today (in Los Angeles, CA) and they told me that the phone has been discontinued.

    The compatible option would now be the V551.... has anyone tried this phone with the Prius? Does it work? Full function? Partial?

    Any help or advice would be great. It seems to be the only bluetooth phone that I like, and that's a clamshell.

    thanks!

    lawrence


    p.s. I hope this is the correct forum for this kind of question....
     
  2. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    It "should" work fine...It is very similar to the v505 that I have that is 98% compatible (doesn't allow the entire phonelist to be uploaded at one time). It was very much like the v600.
     
  3. DHJ

    DHJ New Member

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    [font=Arial:58d23a3aa1] [/font:58d23a3aa1] </span><span style=\'color:#\'> I have a V551 which I got a few days ago. I works fine with the Bulutooth system with a couple of glitches.

    The first problem is that the Prius manual says that I can download the phonebook. I have tried and can only seem to download one entry at a time. A real pain if one has a lot of entries.

    The second is that the phonebook in the car reverses the names in the phonebook in the phone. That is, "Brad, cell" in the phone becomes "Cell Brad" in the car. Havn't figured out to correct this, if it is possible at all.

    Any ideas on this would be appreciated.
     
  4. Mitchla

    Mitchla New Member

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    I got a V551 last week and am happy with it. But I'm having the same trouble as the person above -- the Prius reverses the first and last names (or words) and there doesn't appear to be any setting to change that. My workaround to is just have it all be one word. So "Jim Smith-work" is now merely Jim-w. (And I hope I don't meet any new Jims.)

    I'm a Mac user and getting the info into my V551--and configured as above or any other way I want--has been easy thanks to a program called OnSync. And I'm doing this from my Mac using Bluetooth. Even Apple's iSync won't do that--it requires a USB cable.
     
  5. spencer999

    spencer999 New Member

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    So I've had the phone for about a week, and the car for 3 days... I love them both.

    The V551 works very well with the prius... the connection is great, simple, easy and sounds good.

    The only flaw is the uploading of the phone book must be done one at a time, and they do come up backwards (last name, first name)... just like you said.

    I'm going to try to send them from my computer this time if i can get a bluetooth connection between the two.

    Oh, FYI there are a bad batch of these phones. They will randomly give you a white screen when you open them up. If you have one of these phones, take it back and they will swap it out for you.

    Lawrence
     
  6. redhen

    redhen New Member

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    Good to know! I'm also in LA, and hated my Sony Ericsson T616. Everyone I would talk via my Bluetooth to would beg me to use my headset. I can't seem to find too many people on this site who had a similar problem, so i hope I just had a wonky phone - and that a new one will be perfect. So, I'm switching to Cingular tomorrow, and I'll try the Motorola V551!
     
  7. spencer999

    spencer999 New Member

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    Yeah, it works great... still working on uploading the contacts though... my computer is not connecting, so i have to go visit my friend who got his to connect.

    Also i've realized that Caller ID isn't showing up on the screen, and the ring isn't coming through the speaker.... it's a loud, and different ring but i think it's coming from my phone... although the stereo does mute and the screen changes to "incoming call".

    regardless, it's great.

    oh, i can also dial a call on my phone (rather than on the screen) while driving and when it rings, it connects to the bluetooth and is on the speakers... so if the speed cancellation thing is not really an issue.

    good luck!

    lawrence
     
  8. jaguaraja

    jaguaraja New Member

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    The moto V710 is still being a pain. No software update as of yet.
     
  9. DHJ

    DHJ New Member

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    I also found that I can dial from my phone, rather than from the car, but the connection is not made "quickly" as it is when dialing from the car. If I dial from the phone, the connection to the car is often not made until after the party has answered and said "hello" a few times. When I dial from the car, the connection to the car is made immediately, and I can hear the ringing.

    I have installed a dial lockout override circuit, and love it!
     
  10. spencer999

    spencer999 New Member

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    Okay, sorry i was wrong about it not ringing... it does ring.... but somehow it's not through the speakers... it seems to come out from the middle of the car somewhere... hm...

    anyhow... it's a good thing.. i had my phone in my bag in the back seat and it still rang loud and clear somewhere up in the front seat area... no caller id though.

    lawrence
     
  11. prplrain68

    prplrain68 New Member

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    I was also curious about the new Motorola, keep me posted! My cingular contract is about to expire and I'm going to be looking for a new phone. At the moment I also have the Sony T616 and have had mixed feelings. Unlike the problems with the Motorola, I was able to load my ENTIRE phoenbook. However, I am also begged by my friends to NOT use my bluetooth connection. Apparently everybody says the connection (via bluetooth) is awful and they can barely understand me. On my end I notice the sound does cut out a bit (noticed the same thing with the prius rental on the same phone). Sad to say I have one friend who will not answer the phone if he knows I'm in my prius. *sigh* Again, keep me posted on your results (sound quality, convenience, etc). Thank you...everyone here is so helpful ;)
     
  12. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    I had a T610 (nearly identical to the T616) and switched to the v505 (nearly identical to the v551)--I think the sound quality is way better.

    But, you have to watch, since the audio is only 1/2 duplex if your speaker volume is too high it'll feedback and cut out badly.
     
  13. DHJ

    DHJ New Member

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    The first 551 I got was one of the "bad" 551's that was mentioned earlier in this thread (random blank screen). The Cingular store traded it for a new one with no hesitation. The new 551 is terrific when used direct and also when used through the Bluetooth connection in the car. I can hear people that I call very well, and they never complain that they can't hear me. They never even mention that I seem to be on some sort of speaker phone. I am delighted with the phone and the Bluetooth system in the car.

    Dennis
     
  14. DHJ

    DHJ New Member

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    BTW, an alternative to using the Bluetooth system in the car is to get a Bluetooth headset. I bought a Plantronics M2500 Mobile Headset today -- I liked it better than the Motorola headsets, and it was less expensive. I plan to use it at home, but it can certainly be used in the car and avoid the need to defeat the speed lock-out of dialing with the car system. It will also probably sound better than the car system since the mike of the headset is much closer to my mouth than the mike in the car.

    Dennis
     
  15. secondmiler

    secondmiler New Member

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    Bluetooth Connection Problems - Motorola V551. Help!!

    I just bought a v551. The phone works fine and I have gotten the connection to work, but about half of the time, the Prius says "Bluetooth Connection Failed". Any ideas?

    Secondmiler
     
  16. mark_hamrick

    mark_hamrick New Member

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    Never had this happen...always connects like a champ. Really a great phone except for the phonebook quirks mentioned earlier...
     
  17. exhuman

    exhuman Member

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    I like that workaround. Do you suppose it will only work for "Jim"s or will it work for my other friends, too? :roll:

    Now I will hate it if I meet any one who dares to have the same name as an existing friend!
     
  18. tag

    tag Senior Member

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  19. jofo

    jofo Junior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DHJ\";p=\"56484)</div>

    Anyone know of any workarounds or fixes for the issue of starting a call on the phone, and it not picking until it's been connected for several seconds (quoted above)? Sometimes, you gotta call someone who ain't in your Prius' Speed dial. :(

    Also secondmiller, is there something else connected to your phone at that moment? Are you able to connect something else? Your BT could be temporarily borked so that nothing can connect; cycling the phone's power ususally cures that. Or some other device is connected. AFAIK, the v551 is limited to exactly one BT device at a time. :(