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Handhelds Wireless Networking Hardware

Cell Phone Headsets? 90

Posted by Cliff from the keeping-both-hands-on-the-wheel dept.
stm42 asks: "I drive 45 miles to and from work each day and I have found that a great way to spend the time productively is to use it to make the phone calls I have to make to employees, co-workers, bosses, etc. I want to be safe, however, and would like to find a headset for cell phones (with a regular headphone jack) that works and is fairly comfortable. I currently use a Plantronics over the ear style and it will stay on my head but I usually have to push the earphone to my ear to hear the other person and that pretty much eliminates the usefulness of the headset. Any suggestions?"
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Cell Phone Headsets? More

Cell Phone Headsets?

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  • Next up: (Score:5, Funny)

    by abulafia ( 7826 ) on Friday November 14, 2003 @05:33PM (#7476946)
    "At the grocery store: Paper or plastic?"

    "Should I wear white or green socks with these pants?"

    "Oven ranges: Olive or Off-white?"

    Must be a really slow day over at Slashdot HQ...

  • Earbuds (not jabber eargels) (Score:4, Interesting)

    by JofCoRe ( 315438 ) on Friday November 14, 2003 @05:34PM (#7476952) Journal
    I like the earbud one that I have that came w/my Nokia phone. It's just a simple earbud with a mike on the line, and a clip so i can clip it to my shirt. I tried the jabber ones, but didn't really care for the gel earpiece... much too hard to get in and out of my ear. This simple little nokia one works great for me.

    (personally I like to be unproductive during my 45 min - hour drive in though. I like to take the time to relax and enjoy the drive rather than working every second of the day. but that's just me :)

    oh yeah... FP?

    • Re:Earbuds (not jabber eargels) (Score:4, Interesting)

      by xWeston ( 577162 ) on Friday November 14, 2003 @05:45PM (#7477032)
      I have the Jabra Earbud that has the "gel" earpiece like he said. Mine has the microphone integrated to the earpiece instead of on the line. I've found it to be very easy to get in and out of my ear... it just takes a simple twist as said in the directions.

      The sound quality for the listener is good, but I've had complaints about it not being as good on the other end, or being exceptionally loud.

      It is impossible to drive with the windows down while using the earpiece in my left ear because of the wind noise.

      However, I've killed many hr+ car rides by making phone calls and doing business on the road. It makes it hard when people want you to write something down, but that is what the recording feature on the phone is for!

      Most of the time I use AM Radio to kill the car rides so that at least I'm thinking a little bit.

  • One suggestion (Score:5, Insightful)

    by LordOfYourPants ( 145342 ) on Friday November 14, 2003 @05:36PM (#7476972)
    Using a headset does make using your cell phone safer (it frees up a hand) but the real danger lies in the fact that you're attempting to have a focused conversation while driving at 60 mph.

    I wouldn't have piped up at all had you not said "I wanted to be safe." But based on that, my best advice is to use the cell phone as little as possible while in your car.
    • Is it really so hard to talk and drive at the same time? I've never talked over a cellphone while I drove, but I've never noticed that I take a dangerous amount of attention off of the road while talking to someone else in the vehicle.
      • I would say that the key difference is that your friend in the car can watch your body language and the traffic and can quiet down accordingly during a tense moment. On top of that, they're an extra set of eyes when something bad is about to happen. The person on the phone has no idea what situation you're in at any given time.

        If the guy is using the cell phone to deal with business stuff, then most likely the conversation will be a lot more focused than a car trip with your friend discussing the latest mo
      • A 1997 study by the New England Journal of collisions in Toronto provides the first such evidence. By comparing the times of cellular-telephone calls, obtained from billing data, with the times of collisions, Redelmeier and Tibshirani estimated that the risk of a collision was between 3.0 and 6.5 times as high within 10 minutes after a cellular-telephone call began as when the telephone was not used.

        ABSTRACT [nejm.org]

        Background Because of a belief that the use of cellular telephones while driving may cause col

      • as multitudes of others have already pointed out....Yes!

        try driving during rush hour in a major city and having a conversation on the phone about something serious, like a lawsuit (no, IANAL). I try to avoid answering the phone at all and only do so when traffic is clear enough. Even then I tell them I'm on the road and they can call me back in XX minutes when I can devote proper attention/thought to what they are talking about.
    • If you talk with your hands free on the cell phone, how is it different then having a conversation with your wife/girlfriend/kids/otherpeople in the car?
      • I responded [slashdot.org] to this in a sibling post.

      • Re:One suggestion (Score:3, Insightful)

        by stoolpigeon ( 454276 )
        For what it's worth (not much I know) I don't talk a lot with passengers in my car when I drive.

        Now sometimes I do - like when my Dad visited me and I hadn't seen him in a long time. I was so excited to see him that I was just chatting away after I picked him up at the airport. I was so involved in the discussion I drove through a red light. We almost got hit by a semi.

        I don't doubt there are people out there who are better at focusing on 2 things at once - but I think a lot of accidents happen because

    • +1 (Score:3, Insightful)

      by mcmonkey ( 96054 )
      Shut up and drive.
    • Using a headset does make using your cell phone safer (it frees up a hand) but the real danger...

      ... is when the phone rings, and you're trying to get the headset out, pull back the little rubber cover, insert the headset adapter into the 2.5mm hole, and put the headset on before the call goes to voicemail. :)

      Really though, if I get a call while driving, I check the caller ID first.. if it's one of my friends, then I'll usually answer and have a quick (fairly) mindless conversation ("Whats going on tonig

  • The real problem (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I drive 45 miles to and from work each day...Any suggestions?

    Yes, move closer to work or work closer to home.

  • Suggestions (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    I drive 45 miles to and from work each day and I have found that a great way to spend the time productively is to use it to make the phone calls I have to make to employees, co-workers, bosses, etc.

    I hate you.

    I want to be safe, however, and would like to find a headset for cell phones (with a regular headphone jack) that works and is fairly comfortable.

    So you're one of those people who think that the problems with cell-phone driving are solely because of not having both hands on the wheel, eh? Or ma

    • "... fanasize about Pamela Anderson, etc."

      No way. Then I would be dangerous and still only have one hand on the wheel...

      wurst sig evr
    • I'm sorry to hear you hate me even though you don't know me at all.

      I'm fully aware that part of the danger of talking on a cell phone while driving lies is the conversation itself. I believe I'm capable of multi-tasking. Maybe you aren't

      Oh and for those who say move closer - I have trouble giving up a good job with the job market the way it is know.

      Please people, if you don't have a legitimate response for an askslashdot question and are just going to flame the poster, stay the hell off the board.
      • They arent flaming you they are just trying to pound into your head that the safest way to drive is to not use a cellphone at all, because if you get hurt chances are you are going to hurt one of us in the process. All we are trying to do is protecting ourselves. If the posters take that serious then I'm sorry
        • My point is that an askslashdot post about headsets is not the place to preach about something like that. If the question was about whether or not one should talk on a cell phone while driving it would make sense. Otherwise, it's just a waste of space.
          • Exactly the best headset is NO HEADSET NO CELLPHONE
            • No cellphone? Try telling my boss that.
              • so driving recklessly is more important to make your boss happy is more important than your health. man what i world we live in. NOTE: I meant no cellphones while driving not anywhere.
                • 1. I DON'T drive recklessly when I talk on my cell phone

                  2. If my boss isn't happy I lose my job which is very bad for my health
                  • and you know you don't drive reclessly how because you havent gotten into a car accident YET. Im sure your boss is happy that you arespending all this time arguing on slashdot.

                  • 1. I DON'T drive recklessly when I talk on my cell phone

                    How do you know? Maybe you don't notice, but the guy behind you may beg to differ.

                    2. If my boss isn't happy I lose my job which is very bad for my health

                    And accidents (you're 4x more likely to be involved in one, regardless of whether it's hands-free or not) are bad for your health too.

                    Solution: Tell the boss that if he wants you on the cell phone, you'll be quite happy to pull over to the side of the road and do any talking he wants, but you

    • > carpool with someone from your office and get to know them

      How is having a conversation with someone in the car any safer than talking on a headset?? Especially since the person in the car also adds the temptation to look over at them occasionally to see the expression on their face.

      This is the argument I always pull out when people suggest cellphone-while-driving bans.

      Cellphones aren't the problem. Distraction is. And you can't outlaw everything that might distract you.

      (Now besides that part, I ag
  • If you have a bluetooth enabled phone they make devices where it plays through your car stereo and they mount a mic. on the dash.

    -
    • Or you can buy the Audi A8L.

      It has bluetooth and the phone pairs with the car, synchronizing phonebooks as well.

      This allows you to make calls from the cars system instead of the phone, as well as use the stereo speakers for the phone. I'm not sure where the microphone is located but i'd assume somewhere near the drivers head/face.

  • It's not the phone, it's the conversation. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by orthogonal ( 588627 ) on Friday November 14, 2003 @05:47PM (#7477054) Journal
    I want to be safe, however, and would like to find a headset for cell phones

    Let's be clear. Part of the danger of using a cell phone while driving is the distraction caused by having to juggle the phone, having to look down at it to dial, and having to take at least one hand off the steering wheel to hold it.

    Getting a hands-free headset will mostly remove these distractions.

    But the majority of the distraction is caused by having the conversation in the first place. That the degree of distraction is similar to that caused by talking to someone physically in the car is often offered as a justification of using the phone while driving, but even if both equal distractions, the cell phone conversation is an additional and unnecessary distraction.

    So don't fool yourself: headset or not, you'll be distracted, and you'll be driving less safely. Drive this way once or twice, and your number probably won't come up. Do it every morning, five mornings a week, 50 weeks a years, and eventually your number -- or the number of some kid darting across the road on his way to school -- will come up.

    • ... at least you have an additional pair of eyes scanning dangers.

      Cell phones should be banned on cars, Period.
      • Or do it like the phones integrated into Volvo cars (and I'm sure many other brands). You can't dial out when the car is moving, only accept incomming calls. While that isn't the entire solution, it's a step on the way.

        Another example is cars that reduce the amount of distractions when you appear to be in a attentive situation. (Turning, breaking those things.)
    • I drove for 2 years like this, an hour to and from work every day, headset on. I started doing this after i nearly fell asleep on one of the twisty roads early in the morning, and nearly drove into a lake.

  • check out the Bluespoon [howardchui.com] if your phone supports Bluetooth. Glorious.
  • Your calls can wait. Drive the damn car.

  • Speakerphone (Score:5, Informative)

    by linuxwrangler ( 582055 ) on Friday November 14, 2003 @05:59PM (#7477155)
    As others have mentioned, studies indicate that the fact that you are concentrating on something other than driving is the real safety factor, not the fact that you are holding a phone.

    Studies also indicate that cell-phone use is unfairly singled out as it is generally less of a safety factor than other things drivers are known to do. (IIRC, adjusting the radio/changing tapes or CDs was #1. Others included eating, checking maps, shaving, getting distracted by kids or pets.) Cell phones aren't worse, just more visible.

    Having said that, my sister has a very nice speakerphone that attaches to the rods on the headrest. It is a horizontal rod with a speaker on each end and a flexible microphone holder. I generally can't tell that she is in the car (well, except for the squealing tires, screaming passengers, shattering glass and other side-effects of Cell Phone While Driving Syndrome). I don't know if this is the exact model but it looks similar:
    http://www.herringtoncatalog.com/m112.ht ml

    • Studies also indicate that cell-phone use is unfairly singled out as it is generally less of a safety factor than other things drivers are known to do. (IIRC, adjusting the radio/changing tapes or CDs was #1. Others included eating, checking maps, shaving, getting distracted by kids or pets.) Cell phones aren't worse, just more visible.

      Nobody spends 45 minutes adjusting the radio. Cellphones cause a problem because they distract the driver for an extended period of time.

      GMD

    • Changing the radio station is, for most of us, an act that lasts but a moment.

      Yacking on the cellphone for forty-five fucking minutes makes you a hazard several orders of magnitude longer than the radio-changing dude.

      Cell-phone use is not unfairly singled out.
  • I'm not advocating that conversation should be illegal while driving, but as other people have pointed out, the act of holding it is secondary to the distraction of having an intense conversation. So, having a discussion about what flavor Grape Nuts you had for breakfast won't likely distract you as much as, say, your new crypto scheme you're designing in transit.

    Even worse, wearing a headset will probably make you feel like you have to be talking on the phone.

    Honestly, have you ever noticed what happens

    • Doable? (Score:1, Troll)

      by GuyMannDude ( 574364 )

      But seriously, try listening to a book, the news, learning a language on disc, using public transportation, riding a bike (45 miles a day is totally doable)...

      When referring to "doable" athletic feats, please keep in mind this *is* slashdot we're talking about.

      • You're right, perhaps I should replace "bike" with "Segway"...oh wait, that's the couch that moves on the sidewalk, but at least you have to stand up.
    • If you leave three car lengths between you and another car, you get a call and suddenly it's four car lengths. Multiply that times just about every car you see, and what do you get?
      I don't know, what we get? Four car lengths is a good thing. And, if we're following you're argument, if everyone talked on their cell phone, everyone would drive four car lengths apart, which again is a good thing.

      Traffic may be composed of "mostly the space between cars" but accidents happen because we don't leave enoug
    • ..riding a bike (45 miles a day is totally doable)..

      I ride a bike too, but 45 miles each way, every day, is a bit much.

      5 centuries a week?
    • Where on earth do you live, that people actually leave more than 3 inches of space between bumpers? *boggle*

  • I don't understand why cellphones have become such a scapegoat. I can dial without looking at the phone and dont even have to take my eyes off the phone. A comversation with a passenger is just about as distracting. Personally, I've found myself driving into the other lane a *LOT* more often when playing with the navigation system, or changing CDs in the CD changer. I don't hear anyone talking about making it illegal to listen to CDs in the car, though.
    • Personally, I've found myself driving into the other lane a *LOT* more often when...

      Maybe you should reasess your driving skills.
    • What would be your opinion of somebody using a cellphone while using a gun?

      Well, let me brake these news to you, your car is a lethal weapon that can cause death and destruction for many people in one go (actually it can be far more devastating than a regular gun).

      I don't want you or anybody else using a potentially dangerous contraption while distracted discussing why your marketing department screwed up.

      There is a point where you have to draw a line, a line that your job responsibilities should not cro
  • I know you're asking about headsets, BUT...

    I just purchased an 2004 Acura TL [acura.com]. It's the first car that has internal Bluetooth... which means I can use voice activated dialing (available on the TL w/Navi model) to call people while my SonyEricsson T616 [sonyericsson.com] stays in my briefcase.

    Once the pairing is done it's simple to use and the sound quality is exceptional.
  • Hang up and drive the car.
    The rest of us sharing the public roads with you do not care about your 'increased productivity', or multitasking.
  • I have been using a sony ericsson HBH-60 bluetooth headset with my sony ericsson T616. The HBH-60 is an over-the-ear type with a short, stylish boom (my manger calls it my Borg implant.) The bluetooth combination has worked well for me. I have a '94 Corvette coupe which I drive with the lid off most of the time (I love this Arizona weather!) and the radio cranked. I used to miss voice calls from friends and collegues, and text pages from my servers on a regular basis. The wind noise made it impossible t
  • It's dangerous to have any kind of headset while driving. You need to be able to hear sounds from the traffic around you, and using any earpiece (even an earpiece that covers only one ear) will block those sounds.

    I suggest installing a real handsfree kit.

    It typically includes a dedicated speaker aimed directly at you (not going through your car radio), and a handsfree microphone near your head. The microphone should have a built-in echo canceler, tuned to match the speaker, so you can talk without the "

  • As for the actual question at hand, I've had great luck with Plantronics headsets. Unfortunately, a decent one (that isn't cheaply made and won't fall apart) will run you at least $40. The cheap ones are quiet, and don't work well in noisy environments. I bought mine at Radio Shack, and spent $50 on the headset, plus $15 on the extended warranty. This was absolutely worth the added cost. Over the course of the three years covered by the warranty, I replaced that headset about 15 times.

    In my experienc

  • I've been quite happy with my Jabra. I like that teh mic and peaker are all in one and I'm told by those I con call that voice quality is good and that the background/road noise isn't heard by others on the call. It comes with diff. size gel ear pieces for either ear so there's flexibility and comfort too. Leaves me hands free to manage the wheel and pay attention to the road. Only gripe? I wish the wire between the phone and my ear was longer. /bm
  • From 1st December, it will be illegal to drive in the UK whilst holding your phone (or using a PDA etc. to access the 'net). Handsfree kits are allowed (AFAIK including headsets) as long as the phone is held in a cradle, not your hands. See here [dft.gov.uk] for the FAQs.
  • ..is a sms-to-web client so you can send your trolls to slashdot from the car.

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