5 Comments so far
Leave a reply
Partner Ads
Chatting Corner
Search This Site
Subscribe
Categories
Archives
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- June 2008
- May 2008
Blogroll
Live Stats
I anxiously awaited my new Jabra Stone bluetooth headset because I am not a fan of driving and holding a phone in one hand. Once I finally got the thing out of the container; which is a work of art, mind you, then I realized something terrible. You can only wear it in your right ear! I am a right handed person, and hold a phone to my left ear with my left hand, so that I may use my right hand for tasks such as writing, etc. I have never worn a bluetooth in my right ear. So when I tried to do it, it was just not going to work for me.
I called my husband using it, and we spoke cell phone to cell phone, and he said he heard a lot of noise, which is one of the main selling points of this headset. True, I was washing dishes and using my the fan over my cooktop, but it was not like I was using a vacuum cleaner or something really noisy. He hates when I talk to him on my bluetooth and can’t hang up on me fast enough. Same problem with this Stone, unfortunately.
I really think Jabra should offer this in Left Ear and Right Ear models because it really does matter. Anyone with an eye for design would immediately love it like me, but I can’t get past the ear thing to even use it. I would rather just wait to make my call until I get somewhere than to try to put it on my ear.
Rating: 2 / 5
Overall, a pretty good product.
Pluses:
1. It was easy to connect to my PocketPC, which is a plus. I hate having to finagle with things; it’s such a waste of time.
2. It looks great.
3. It fits comfortably. I’ve had various “clip over the ear items,” such as earbuds and headsets with such clips. They usually are not easy to get into place. This just slid on and twisted right in place.
4. It has some extra boots for a different fit, but I found it fit just fine right out of the box.
5. The idea of an external battery (the stone) is excellent. Charge that up, and you have plenty of reserve. Except in my case, this didn’t seem to work.
Minuses:
1. The standby time on this is poor. I charged it up on Thursday and on Saturday went to set it up. It was dead (and so was the stone, which has also been fully charged). I hadn’t connected it to anything. I understand mobile devices do use their batteries at all times and you can’t go days on end without a charge. But this seemed extremely quick.
2. The charging cord is so short the pod hangs off the floor if I plug it in to a wall receptacle. I guess this was meant to be plugged into a surge strip on a desk?
3. It doesn’t charge via standard mini-USB. Instead, there’s a connector that is much thinner. So if I go on a trip, it’s probably going to stay home. I don’t want to have to bring yet another charger. I carry one USB charger for all of my devices and they take turns.
4. I find the controls frustrating. There’s no tactile feedback. Maybe I am just built wierd, but my ears on on the side of my head and my eyes are in the front. So, I can’t see what I’m doing with the device and rely on feel–but there really isn’t any. If you’re not hearing anything, does that mean the volume is too low or you didn’t answer the call? Guess wrong, and you could blast your eardrum out or disconnect. A person could get accustomed to this via frequent use I suppose, but I’m just not one to take a lot of calls. And adding a mechanical switch does add weight, so the approach take here is probably best. I just found it frustrating to work with.
5. I had hoped to play MP3s from my PocketPC through this, but couldn’t get that to work.
6. Unfortunately, I have to reconnect it every time I charge it. And that is pretty much every time I use it, due to the poor standby time and the fact I’m not constantly wired. I think if you’re a user who is on the phone constantly throughout the day, this isn’t an issue because you’ll charge it up each night. If you just want to use it a couple of times a week, it then becomes one more thing you have to prep before heading out the door. That makes it inconvenient, which (to me) defeats the purpose of having it.
Rating: 3 / 5
I sooooo wanted to like this….I got it the week it came out…returned it 2 days later.
Plus: Beautiful Design, Easy to use/Setup
Bad: Hurts your ear after only one hour of wearing with no adjustability, Noise Canceling is useless – if you are in any environment with noise…the person on the other end can barely hear you.
I went back to my Jawbone which I can wear all day without any discomfort and noise canceling actually works
Rating: 1 / 5
Wow. My original review is below. Then I gave this thing to my wife. In less than a week, it was malfunctioning, and now it doesn’t work at all. I am very disapointed now. I’ve never had a review become so inaccurate, so fast. Truly disappointed. Don’t buy!!!
First, let me tell you a little about my cell phone use. Predominantly, my calls are less than thirty minutes, and I tend to use my phone for less than two hours a day. As such, the battery life on this is not an issue for me. I can put it in the charger overnight and then use it again the next day. Perfect!
Second, it is worthwhile to note that I have used this for a couple of weeks, and I haven’t had any major problems with it yet.
That said, there are many reasons that I like this headset. First, the noise-cancelling seems much better than on the Plantronics headset that my significant other and I also share. When someone is speaking to me through that headset, I sometimes have a hard time hearing what is being said, but with this, we haven’t had any problems yet. Second, the earpiece is actually small enough! I have had a hard time finding one that doesn’t hurt my ear after a while, but I can wear this all day with no problems. Beautiful! Third, the volume feature makes the nerd in me squeal with joy every time I use it (which is pretty often, trying to turn the volume up on incoming calls). You basically slide your finger up or down the body and a sweet little series of clicks tells you whether you were successful. Fourth, unlike many others, I like the Call Answer/Power button. Careful insertion at the beginning of the day prevents any problems (it only turns off if you hold it for 3-4 seconds anyway), and answering is a snap (particularly compared to some other models that I have used).
The downsides for this lovely little piece of technology? It only resides in your right ear, and the incoming volume doesn’t go quite high enough. The charge in the charger doesn’t last a week, but…would you really expect it to?
All told, I was very pleased. Considering buying another one, so that we both have one!
Grade: A
Harkius
Rating: 1 / 5
This is my second Jabra Bluetooth headset- my first came free with my phone 4 years ago and was only used twice before I switched back to a wired headset (the Bluetooth was just too uncomfortable). My trusty wired headset has been giving me problems in the last couple of weeks and my husband has been pushing the utility of a wireless headset so I decided to give this one a try, and boy am I glad I did.
From the moment the package arrived, I knew this product was something special. Despite the seemingly elaborate showcase packaging, the unit was quick to charge and easy to set up. Even better, it is easy to use and incredibly comfortable. When I put it on, I can barely feel it in place which made me a bit paranoid at first that it might be falling out, but it isn’t. Sound quality is excellent and the unit does a magnificent job of masking road and wind noise.
I love that the tiny headset nestles into it’s plastic stone base, simultaneously turning itself off and making it easy to store in my pocket or purse without fear that it will get battered or turn on accidentally. I love this thing, and I really didn’t expect to even like it- I was only trying it out to appease my husband before heading out to pick up a new wired headset, but now I’m a Bluetooth convert!
Rating: 5 / 5