mike_fern2001

I know this has subject jas been beaten to death but i have hours ot make a decision-
My car arrives at the MB Prep center in the states in days.

I have been debating whether or not to have the hands free MB phone installed- I believe its $1500-non voice activated.

I have read not such good things about this unit-

I would appreiate some readers/owners feedbackk whether or not to have this installed.

marksatex

Our salesman talked it down so much even when I was ready to buy it that I opted out of it. He contended that it has some flaws, which he left undefined, but more importantly, he contended that for the $1500, it was really a poor investment in a fancy cell phone that will limit your ability to upgrade cell phones or service as that sector changes. Made sense to me. In a few years we are all going to be on digital satellite phones with web applications.

Otto

mike_fern2001,

if you use cell more than 3 times a day while you are driving then you should invest this option; otherwise, save this money or install an inexpensive one, see gareeb's sugguestion

http://www.discountcell.com/cellular/star/90801.asp

if your car is driven by you and your wife (more than one people), and all of you have v60 phones then you can consider to invest this option as well, all v60 phones share one cradle (but not all v60 phones can perform all features as mb v60 phone), see mb_newbie's tests

otto

abhansali

I am leaning toward removing the phone from my order also. The main thing is that I have read a lot about the bluetooth capability of the navigation and want to wait for that. Based on what I have read, you will be able to have "any" GSM/GPRS phone (I read an article that MB wants to move away from proprietary phones), keep it in your pocket, and the phone will automatically integrate with the system. Considering GSM/GPRS is the future and TDMA/CDMA is not, this seems like a better way to go.

If this feature does not work as described, you can always have the phone installed later. The dealer will typically charge $400 more for the installation than getting it done at the factory. However, I have seen many phone kits being sold on e-bay (especially for 2002 models) for around $800, so even adding the $400 installation, it may come out cheaper than having the phone put in at the factory.

Bottom line is that I am thinking of waiting for the Nav...see what it can do with the GPRS phone and worse case pay a little extra at that time to have a V60 installed if the Nav+GPRS does not work. Just my $0.02.

Gethen

This question passed unnoticed within another thread, so here I go again... The Manual warns against using radio transmitting devices (cell phones, CBs, whatnot) without connecting them to external antenna. If you do, your engine may stall.

Is that warning substantiated? What do passengers do if they want to speak on own cell phones? What about devices which cannot hook into external antennas - I've got a Blackberry 2-way communicator.

Thanks!

W210

I agree with Otto, if you use it a couple of times when you're driving between office and home, it's worth it.

I find it very convenient checking various voice mail accounts from the steering wheel and love not having to mute the radio when fishing for the phone. Sometimes with the music, I can't hear the phone ringing in my pocket.

Of course, the incoming caller on the dash is also very cool.

Mr. Xristo

You can purchase the Motorola OEM Hands-Free kit for under $200.00... Much better deal IMHO.

jim256

Gethen: Regarding the "...connecting them to external antenna", this has been in the MB manuals as early as my '98 E, and I've seen it discussed in several forums. I was interested at the time I first read it, too. Yes, apparently there are circumstances in which the transmitter could interfere with something electronic. Have I ever seen anyone write that "I used my phone and my car died, or my radio, etc., etc., died?"

No, I have never read a case on any forums where the warning bore out. Some people have written that "they heard about a problem...." but no specifics. I expect there are circumstances where something could go amiss, but I've used a cell phone and a handheld radio (3w) in the '98 E, '01C and '03 E with no problems. I think this warning is becoming standard fare in all car manuals as manufacturer CYA.

ctouhey

Gethen,

My cell phone and Blackberry work fine. Passenger's cell phones work fine. No observable problems to date.

jhb

As to SL55AMG's comment on the Motorola OEM hands free car kit for a V60, I understand they have problems and some or all have been recalled (not MB's-Motorola's generic one).

We have the MB hands free, voice activated V60 on our SL500 and love it. We are awaiting the same for the E500. It is my understanding that the E500 will be even better as it has more than one microphone. We have only had trouble using voice activation in the SL with the top down (duh, we also have trouble hearing ourselves talk with the top down!!).

It is a great safety feature. Pull back the phone stalk on the steering column and say "dial number". The response: "The number please". You tell it the number and the phone repeats to be sure it got it right and then you say "Dial" and it does it all. Alternatively, you can pull the stalk and say "Dial name" and the phone responds "The name please". You say the name and "dial" and it does the rest. Bottom line, you never have to take your attention from the road to look to dial or to fiddle with the handset.

With the top down on the SL, I have learned to say the numbers in segments of three at a time. That way, if the phone didn't catch a group of 3 the first time, you can say "Correction" after the incorrect group and the phone repeats the groups of numbers not "corrected" and says "go on" after which you just complete the numbers and say "dial".

There are even more features like turning on the radio, etc. that we haven't learned yet. But we actually drive very little. We have had the SL since March 10 and have only 3500 miles on it!!

I think the OEM V60 with voice activation is absolutely well worth it. I can't wait for it on the E500 as I am still dialing the hard way, for the time being!!!!

vdimemmo

Is option available as an accessory to be installed by the dealer? My local dealer did not have a straight answer.

If yes, has anyone gone through the experience? Does it integrate easily?

reb13

Mike,
Here's my 2 cents: The phone is great to have for checking voicemail from the steering wheel and its nice to have the radio cut out when you get a call. But the phone I have (02 CLK430 Cab) is single duplex (as I believe all MB V60s are right now) and, as a result, the hands free feature is virtually worthless to me during conversation, particularly with the top down. For any significant conversation, I always end up picking up the handset. For a nearly $2000 option its kind of a pain to have to do that. I have heard that many have complained about the single duplex and that MB and Motorola were possibly going to change that for future phones but I don't think they have yet.

That said, I have ordered the phone for the E55 that I have on order -- don't ask me why. In the end, you can probably save the money and use your own phone but if you like to have all of the options then go ahead and get it; its not a complete waste of money.

pat a.

i Have the factory v.60 phone and there is no quesiton in my mind that I would order it again. The convenience of being able to scroll through my phone book and dial a number without removing my hands from the steering wheel is very significant. Plus, the handsfree through the audio system is great and produces top quality sound both in transmitting my voice and receiving. If you make any volume of phonw calls, I say this is very muhc worth the clearly high price.

jkelley

I know of at least one MV V60c that is full duplex - mine! I can't imagine what it would be like to go back to the "old days" of single duplex....

As someone who spends way to much time in the car - the hands free option is wonderful. Biggest single advantage to me is that I can "attend" my weekly Finnish teleconference (7:00 am my time/5:00 pm Oulu time) while I'm driving to work!

reb13

Oh now I'm curious, anyone else have full duplex? And when did you get yours? I had one of the early ones (got it in either December 2001 or January 2002 when they first came out). If the V60 in the new E is full duplex and you don't have to wait for the other side to stop talking then I whole heartedly endorse it.

reb13

By the way, the option is available from the dealer. That's how I got mine. I did not want the old timeport phone when I got my car in November, 2001 so I waited for the release of the V60. The dealer then installed (I got a "we owe" from the dealer when I purchased the car). They did a good job installing -- I can't tell that it was not installed at the VPC where the others are. It is more expensive from the dealer, however.

jkelley

Got my V60c installed in January '02, first week my dealer had them available. This was an upgrade from a Timeport installation, though I can't imagine that would make any difference.

tmangus

I had the hands free kit installed at the dealer and it works great. I paid for the Voice control part, But is on backorder like the NAV system.