The phone works great. Pairs up every time without incident. Don't know if it's still valid, but they had a buy 1 get 1 free offer. So my wife and I got new VX8300 phones for $49.
Thanks, Orcrone. My wife has a new Razr, it is slim, it pairs well with the camry's system, and nobody she talked to complained of anything as long as the ventilation inside the car is set low. But I don't think it is a great phone. The signal strength and battery charge are much better in my old LG and probably even better in the VX8300.
I use an iMate JASJAR (HTC Universal), which runs Windows Mobile 5.0. Its technically not a smartphone, since its PocketPC phone edition. It works fine, except that the phone turns itself off (unrelated to the camry BT integration), and when making a call, I have to wake it up first, which is inconvinient.
I have also used an SMT-5600 (HTC Typhoon), which runs smartphone OS, and it worked perfectly.
Phonebook transfer, battery, and signal strength are not supported in the phones I have tried.
For anyone considering a Cingular 2125, it seems to pair well with the Bluetooth system, but be forewarned that it conflicts big-time with your key fob. When I have both my keys and my phone in my pocket, then half the time the doors will not unlock. And once I get into the car, very often the remote start says "keys not detected". As soon as I remove my phone from my pocket (but leave my keys), then all is good, and the car detects the fob immediately. I've started carrying my phone and my keys in different pockets.
For anyone considering a Cingular 2125, it seems to pair well with the Bluetooth system, but be forewarned that it conflicts big-time with your key fob. When I have both my keys and my phone in my pocket, then half the time the doors will not unlock. And once I get into the car, very often the remote start says "keys not detected". As soon as I remove my phone from my pocket (but leave my keys), then all is good, and the car detects the fob immediately. I've started carrying my phone and my keys in different pockets.
Read the manual. It specifically states that the SmartKey Fob should not be kept near cell phones. Besides your problems, doing so will cause the Fob's battery to wear out prematurely.
J
Hi all, I have a Camry as a rental right now. I have some bluetooth questions that maybe somebody can answer...
Anyhow, with the current cheesy little battery-powered Motorola bluetooth handsfree device, I access my phone's (Motorola V710) voice dialing and phonebook directly, just as I do when using the handset directly. However, I've paired with the Camry, and it seems the only way to use a phonebook is to either tranfser my phonebook to the car or to create one from scratch.
Does anyone know if there is a way to bypass all this and use my phone's features directly, just like I do with the Motorola device??? Thanks.
I got the new (released in July 2006) Sanyo Katana. It's not as feature-rich as the Samsung A-900 "Blade" or the Motorola Razr, but it does basics EXTREMELY well. The battery on my Samsung wouldn't even last from morning until night, even when I didn't use the phone. The Sanyo's reception range is about 50 percent farther than the Samsung's, and I haven't had a dropped call yet, in comparison to endless dropped calls with Samsung. So what if it doesn't have an MP3 player? At least I can carry on an audible and relaxed conversaton in the Camry with the Sanyo. I like the menus and programming better, too, but that's personal preference. Not sure which services have the Katana available... I use Sprint. However, EVERY Sanyo I've ever had has worked far better than ANY Samsung I've ever had. Good luck. By the way, Costco's return policy makes it simple to try a phone and return it if it doesn't work in your car or for any other reason.
Steve, are you still satisfied with your Sanyo Katana? I plan to order a TCH this week and need to upgrade my Sprint Sayno 8200 phone to a bluetooth phone. Based on your postings, it looks like a Katana will preform better with the TCH than a Samsung A-900. Thanks...
Hybrids: Former '02 Insight and '07 TCH owner; now drive a smart
Posts: 526
Re: Major, major Bluetooth improvement
I've talked to numerous people who have the new Sanyo Katana, and many who have the Samsung A-900 that I dumped. The conclusion: I never met anyone who didn't love the Katana, and never met anyone who could stand the A-900. The Katana has been an exellent phone so far, and my past Sanyos have been very good. Sprint reps routinely tell me that Sanyo has better reception and quality. The Katana integrates flawlessly with the Camry, allowing all Bluetooth features to be accessed, and its reception and battery life are infinitely better than the Samsung piece-of-@#$%. Even basic features such as the speakerphone are much better with the Katana. Think Costco, if possible, due to their liberal return policy. Glad that my post may have helped someone.
Does anyone know if there is a way to bypass all this and use my phone's features directly, just like I do with the Motorola device??? Thanks.
Neither my TCH or XLE let me do what you ask. It's a function of the BT implementation Toyota chose and not the BT design in general.
As you have found, some HF devices let you access the features on the phone directly probably because they don't have those features in the HF device.
Toyota's BT has a phonebook and voicedial command set of it's own so I suspect that's the reason they chose to not include the ability to access your phone's equivalents.
J
Re: Major, major Bluetooth improvement
Re: Major, major Bluetooth improvement
Steve Villatoro
