Parrot CK3100 LCD Bluetooth Car Kit | List Price: $249.99
Discount Price: Too low to display
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Brand: Parrot
Binding: Wireless Phone Accessory
Features: - Connects to Bluetooth Enableds Phones
- Never needs charging
- Voice recognition dialer
- Uses the car speakers
- Easy to install and to use
The Real Deal [Posted on 2008-04-27]
I played with one of these at Best Buy and thought the display was hard to read and the knob and buttons felt cheap. When I ordered my unit I got the newer all BLACK version display panel and these things have been improved. I chose the 3100 model because I realized I don't have a lot of space on my cars dash to put a lot of displays.
I ordered mine with not just a custom wiring harness for my 1998 Accord EX, but with a custom wiring harness which includes prewired mute configuration (quickconnectproducts dot com). I was dreading having to run the wiring for power until I realized I didn't have too!! The power is also automatically taken via the wiring harness from the power going to the radio. I installed it myself in about 1 hour.
The Parrot has some thoughtful ergonomic design. Very functional. For example, when you turn your key ignition off while on a call, instead of going dead and dropping the call, it continues to to stay on and asks you if you would like to transfer the audio back to the phone! How cool is that.
Audio quality is great. First, unlike my 2008 RAV4 factory bluetooth which is very good, the Parrot is FULL DUPLEX which means both of you can talk at the same time which allows much smoother conversations. It has the magic DSP background noise elimination so callers don't hear the road noise. All the echo is cancelled as well, and your voice is processed to remain strong and loud despite being distant from the microphone. Callers tell me I sound like I am directly talking on the phone and not on a speaker phone. The Parrot audio amp which sends sound to the car speakers does have a small amount of high frequency hiss/noise in the background; however this isn't a problem as you can only hear it when the engine is shut off.
Even though the Parrot doesn't have an interface for your steering wheel controls (I don't have them anyway), you can still operate some of the key functions via voice recognition. Because the Parrot voice recognition limits you to half a dozen voice commands, they actually work!
The 2-3 line display of the Parrot CK3100 is plenty of display for me. Some users may not even need a model with a display. The display indicates phone battery charge and cellular signal strength, although on my Palm Treo 700p with Verizon the cell signal strength is not accurate as displayed on the CK3100 display.
Mounting the display and microphone for these types of devices in a car is always a challenge. However, the Parrot kit includes several different mounts for both the display and microphone. Some quite unique and helpful. The best assortment of actually useful mounting hardware I have seen.
When talking on my cell phone while driving, I am aware that my attention is diverted. I don't like it. So for some time now I have used a Plantronics headset (great product). That improved the situation some but then I tried talking via bluetooth speakerphone in our 2008 RAV4. Talking on speakerphone is VERY different. It is much safer in my opinion. It is just like talking to the person sitting next to you in the car. I would encourage everyone who wants to be a safer less distracted driver while on the cell to get a GOOD QUALITY FULL DUPLEX speakerphone for their car. The Parrot 3100 fits the bill.
Works great with the HTC Touch ... 90% of the time [Posted on 2008-04-28]
If you're anything like me, you've probably been coaxed (or coerced) by you're friendly local law enforcement into buying a bluetooth solution for your car. I've owned bluetooth headsets for about 3 years, but the newest California State law mandates that by July 1, 2008, drivers must be handsfree or they WILL be ticketed (with exceptions of course i.e. emergencies). My habitual forgetfulness, namely me leaving my BT headset at home a couple days a week, led me to insist on a solution that was impossible to forget. Enter the Parrot CK3100.
Be prepared to spend -AT LEAST- $250 for purchase AND installation. And again, if you're anything like me, for the love of god DON'T try this install yourself. Complicated is an understatement.
Professional installation takes about 2 hours. Once complete, ask to sync your phone with the unit BEFORE you leave. Good technicians will have already tested their own BT devices during install. If everything goes well, the unit will sync and download your contacts database and call log. Then just record your "keywords" into the device, and you're off and running.
Calls have never been easier or distraction-free to place while behind the wheel. Simply speak "PHONE", your stereo will mute, then either the Parrot -OR- your phone (depending on your preference -AND- whether your phone supports voice-dialing) will prompt you for a voice-dial entry. Speak, and the device places the call. To hang up, merely speak "HANG UP". Couldn't be easier.
There are, however, a couple of cons with the device.
First, after you startup your car, speak "PHONE" and every time you could be waiting as long as 20 seconds until the unit prompts you for a voice input. I've just gotten used to saying "PHONE" when I get in my car, to activate the unit. Just unnecessary considering how well the unit performs otherwise.
Second, and thankfully NOT in the middle of a call, the unit stalls and then resets ... usually right after I say "PHONE". Irksome.
Third, think of good keywords to use, PLEASE. People start to wonder about you when, at the end of your conversation, you exclaim "HANG UP". ... What? No not you, HANG UP! Why? Why what? No, it's this darn thing I have to talk to it to hang up HANG UP!! Okay!!! NO!!! WHAT!?!?! HANG UP!!!! WHADDYA WANT ME TA DO!!?!?! NO HANG UP!!!!! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!?!?!! You'll find yourself in the next Abbott and Costello routine.
Save some lives, save your own, save the time it takes to dial a number, and buy yourself a Parrot CK3100. Worth it.
Great product with sound system integration [Posted on 2008-06-27]
I bought this product based on several reviews when I was researching this. My main criteria was good sound quality and ease of installation.
The installation was very straightforward going into our 2009 Toyota Corolla. The wire harnesses it comes with are designed for European cars (mostly VW), so don't expect everything to just plug in. If you want to use the car speakers for sound (and not get an external speaker), you'll have to cut wires on the Parrot and the car radio harness in order to interrupt the speaker inputs going to radio. You'll also need to find the radio mute wire if you want the sound system to mute when the phone rings (for cars that don't have a mute input, you can use a relay to interrupt the accessory to the radio).
The installation took about 3 hours, and the system worked flawlessly. When the phone rings or when I make a call (either through phone or Parrot device), and car stereo sound mutes, and the call goes through the front car speakers and sounds crystal clear. I was so please that I bought another one for our other car, which I haven't installed yet.
Laith Sinawi Web Development
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Great Product [Posted on 2008-06-27]
I have 3 of these devices (1 professionally installed and 2 installed personally). All units work very well. The voice dial feature is excellent. I have also had a Motorola bluetooth car kit and the Parrot works much better than the Moto kit. I have these units working with a Blackberry and a Treo with no issues. I would recommend these to anyone. My only issue was the self-install is very complex. I would only recommend self install to those accustomed to car electronics installations.
easy to install and use [Posted on 2008-07-07]
I made sure to get the fancy adapter harness so that the unit would plug directly in to the stereo (read: no splicing or wiring, just plugging connectors) of a 2005 Toyota Tacoma, unit works like a charm!
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