Thursday, June 12, 2008

Motorola HS820 Bluetooth


General Performance:
The sound quality is excellent. No delays, no reverberation.
The weight is so insignificant that I often forget I am wearing it. In fact, the only clue I have is that the ambient sound hitting my right ear is slightly muffled.

Outgoing calls:
Keypad dialed: I hear every key-press on the headset.

Voice dialed: After pressing the MFB (Multi-Function Button) once, I hear two tones and then I speak the voice-tag name. I hear a confirmation of the tag and it dials. (Sometimes I don't hear the 2nd tone and have to re-initiate the sequence again.) If the system doesn't recognize the tag, it beeps once.

Network activity:
This struck me as odd the first time I heard it. The only conclusion I can reach is that I must be hearing something to do with "markets" As I travel south on Hwy 680 coming up to 580, I hear several low-tone beeps at about 1 beep per second. I hear the same thing as I am coming into the Tracy area on hwy 205 around the Mountain House exit. Looking at the phone, it shows nothing. In that I am being passed off to several other towers in that 35-mile distance, I am assuming it has something to do with the markets I am traveling through. (Anyone know??) I have never been on a call when this happens so I don't know if I would hear the tone if I were on a call. The phone is on but no activity.

One hiccup:
Once on the way home, I decided to drive the backroads. Its 10 miles longer but (commuters will understand) at least you "feel" like you moving. Anyway, I was in an obvious dead spot when all of sudden the headset turned itself off. When I turned it back on, I couldn't get it sync with the phone. The phone kept demanding the password. Even after entering the correct pswd, it wouldn't link. I finally cycled the phone's power and everything came back just fine.