vB Easy Archive - 7290 bluetooth w/ Acura

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7290 bluetooth w/ Acura
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Posted by: tech4stars

When I place a call on my 7290 in my car it goes to BT but the car doesn't pick it up. I have to click the wheel, activate handset, then click it again and activate bluetooth to get it to work. I'm running 4.1 but it was the same with 4.2

Posted by: eimajuno

Which acura do you have?

Posted by: tech4stars

Quote:

Originally Posted by eimajuno

Which acura do you have?

2006 TSX but I imagine the BT is the same across the line.

Posted by: cleveman

I have an '05 TL and an 8700 with the exact same behavior (although I can just click the wheel, and select "activate HandFreeLink")... I actually came to the board today to ask the same question! small world.

What's really crappy about this is that you actually have to wait until the call is connected to transfer it to the handsfree - which means I have to wait for the person to pick up, then ask them to hang on a sec while I transfer the call to the car system.

I'm hoping I'm just missing a setting somewhere... the 8700 behaved exactly as expected with my SonyEricsson HCB-30 handsfee, so it's obviously an issue with the combination of BB units and the Acura HandsFreeLink.

Anyone have any thoughts?

Posted by: Timsta

i think its due to the Acura's inability to handle BT well. I have a TL but i rarely use bt with it.. not a big fan of its ease to use.. i rather just use my bluespoon or my phone's speakerphone.

while ranting on TL.. i dislike.. the dvd audio.

Posted by: cleveman

anyone have any guidance on this? the more I use the combination of my 8700c and the Acura bluetooth implementation, the more irritated I get. I now realize that not only doesn't the car pick up a call that is initiated from the phone, but I actually can't hear anything on the phone or the car system until the caller picks up - ie, I can't hear the called-phone ringing! complete silence on both the phone and the car until someone picks up at the other end, and I hear that on the phone.

help!

Posted by: tech4stars

Quote:

Originally Posted by cleveman

anyone have any guidance on this?

I would never buy another Acura. The Bluetooth doesn't work right. The Ipod link doesn't work right. It's got all the right technologies but none of them are implemented properly.

Posted by: i-mod

I have the same problem with my 8700, have to wait for the other side to pickup and sometimes it drops the bluetooth on me. It's not the car though, I have had other BB devices that worked flawlessly on my 2005 TL's system. Once I changed to the 8700 I had problems. It's the phone not the car.

D.

Posted by: tech4stars

Quote:

Originally Posted by i-mod

I have the same problem with my 8700, have to wait for the other side to pickup and sometimes it drops the bluetooth on me. It's not the car though, I have had other BB devices that worked flawlessly on my 2005 TL's system. Once I changed to the 8700 I had problems. It's the phone not the car.

D.

Then someone should let BB know?

Anyway still hate Acura - wanted a Lexus or BMW but tried to save a few bucks. Acura sucks - will never buy another. It's a compromise car. No one buys Acura because it's the best... only because it's cheap.

Posted by: i-mod

LOL, as a mechanic I have to laugh at your statement. BMW's have some of the highest repair costs and I see 10 fold more BMW's in my shop then i do Acura's. Sure they might not have as much luxury but they are very reliable and take the abuse far better then BMW or Lexus. I guess BMW wants you to be comfortable while you wait for the tow truck.

I see pissed customers every day with BMW's when they find out their "Ultimate Driving Machine" is broken again and will cost them thousands to fix. Rant all you want about your Acura, facts show it's a far better car then most on the road.

Oh yea, on another note...didn't Honda cars and trucks take most of the car and truck of the year awards recently as well.

Please don't take that as a personal attack, I just hear the Honda/Acura cracks all the time from my fellow mechanic at the shop who works on our Euro's that come in. He thinks they are great.....my guess is because they keep him very busy with repair work.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tech4stars

Posted by: tech4stars

Quote:

Originally Posted by i-mod

LOL, as a mechanic I have to laugh at your statement.

Then you didn't understand it. Acura is a fine car, but it's a POOR luxury car. It just can't hang with BMW and Lexus, even Infiniti. They *all* are reliable cars enough. Most owners don't keep them over 4 years anway... reliability is a non-issue.

Quote:

Originally Posted by i-mod

I see pissed customers every day with BMW's when they find out their "Ultimate Driving Machine" is broken again and will cost them thousands to fix.

Hmmm... they should check http://www.bmwusa.com/owners/owners...its/maintenance

Posted by: i-mod

I think it's quite a stretch to call it a poor luxury car. I work on lots of makes and models and it's by far nowhere near a poor anything. For the money spent it's an outstanding value. If you spent as much on the Acura as you did a BMW I'm sure the Acura would be equal if not better. For thousands less, I'll stick with the Acura and give up a few cup holders in favor of a better performing engine

On the BMW link...that's all good.....until you hit the 50K mile mark and a routine tune up costs you $1500

Quote:

Originally Posted by tech4stars

Posted by: Number13

I have a 2005 Acura RL (same Johnson Controls BT unit as the other Acuras and Hondas). I have used a Motorola A780, SonyEricsson S710a, Motorola RAZR, a Nokia N80 and currently a BB 8700 with the HandsFreeLink. All have worked flawlessly and I have NEVER needed to pick the phone up and transfer an incoming or outgoing call from the handset to the HFL. This is the wrong forum to praise or trash Acura, BMW, Lexus, etc. or defend Acuras implementation of the technology in their automobiles so I digress.

What I will do is tell you that the problems the 8700 users are having with their BT handsfree are probably the result of a bad BT radio in the 8700. Search the forums here or BBforums and you'll find people talking about this very thing. This is most definitely not due to the HFL system in the car. It's easy to blame the HFL system because it seems like the more complex part of the hands free system. However most of the problems you are having are either id 10t errors or a hardware problem with the phone or a combination of the both.

Posted by: gfunkdave

Let's see here...

1. I've never had a phone that automatically connected to the HandsfreeLink system when I place a call from it. I've always got to place the call from the system. I solve that problem by making a call from the phone and then hanging up. Then I tell the Handsfreelink to redial.

2. I test drove the Lexus and Infiniti, in addition to the Acura. The Infiniti felt cheap inside, and Lexus just strikes me as an old man's car. The TL has (as Consumer Reports puts it) a near ideal blend of sportiness, aesthetics, and luxury. And since it's a Honda you know it'll last. That's why I bought an Acura. You get the most bang for your buck. Along with a bigger engine and more features, for about $10k less than a comparably equipped BMW 3 series or Audi A4.

Posted by: i-mod

Thanks for the info, I'll get the phone looked at. With my 7100g everything worked flawlessly on my headset and the HF link in the TL. Guess my sporty new 8700 isn't all it's cracked up to be

Oh yea....nice car! I almost got the RL but got over ruled by the wife so we would have extra money to trade in her 05 MDX for the new RDX that's coming out. Given that it's gonna have a turbo in this model I'm not to upset about not getting the RL

Posted by: Number13

Quote:

Originally Posted by i-mod

Thanks for the info, I'll get the phone looked at. With my 7100g everything worked flawlessly on my headset and the HF link in the TL. Guess my sporty new 8700 isn't all it's cracked up to be

The HFL unit that Honda uses is very straightforward. It's been BT certified for over 4 years now. I see a lot of people pointing the finger at the HFL and most of the time this is just not the case. Can the HFL unit be faulty? Of course it can, but most of the time it's the crappy/buggy BT implementation on the phone.

And yeah, the RL is a "in the park" home run for Acura. Still no V8 but the AWD on this car is excellent. It is just, IMHO, a little underpowered to be so heavy; the car deserves a V8. BTW, the RDX has the same AWD system and steering wheel mounted paddle shifters as the RL, so that will be a bonus for you. They did choose the correct vehicle for their first adventure into turbos. I hope you enjoy it.

Posted by: gfunkdave

So to clarify, ARE there phones that transfer the call automatically to the HFL when you initiate a call from the phone instead of the HFL? I've not seen one.

Posted by: Number13

Quote:

Originally Posted by gfunkdave

So to clarify, ARE there phones that transfer the call automatically to the HFL when you initiate a call from the phone instead of the HFL? I've not seen one.

The BBerrys do not. As I'm sure you know, after the call is connected, you can click the thumbwheel and select 'Transfer to HandsFreeLink'. The SonyEricssons that run UIQ (i.e. the P910) have multiple handsfree profiles that seem to want to act like what you describe. I never used those profiles. I would rather do ALL dialing, answering, hanging up from the handsfree anyway (in this case the HandsFreeLink controls on the steering wheel).

Posted by: baker

When I was running an older version of the software I think 3.0 something the 7100t would pick up while it was dialing. The new software version 4.1.0 eliminated that feature for some reason.

Posted by: tech4stars

Quote:

Originally Posted by baker

When I was running an older version of the software I think 3.0 something the 7100t would pick up while it was dialing. The new software version 4.1.0 eliminated that feature for some reason.

Does anyone know how to report this "bug"?

Posted by: baker

I have the 7130c on T-mobile now and when dialing if I press the jog wheel, there is an option to transfer to Handfree link, which is the Acura TL bluetooth and it will transfer while still ringing. I guess that is as good as it gets if I am dialing from the 7130c address book.

Posted by: flar

Quote:

Originally Posted by Number13

I would rather do ALL dialing, answering, hanging up from the handsfree anyway (in this case the HandsFreeLink controls on the steering wheel).

But the HFL voice dialing only works with the contacts that you've bothered to manually enter into the HFL database. Even ignoring all of the pain of doing that, it can only hold 50 of the 482 phonebook entries I store on my Pearl (which got there by me syncing with my computer, not by me typing them all in).

With any BT headset that I've tried and with the HCB-300 that I installed in my previous car 3 years ago, I can push the call button on the unit and my phone will prompt "Say a command" and I could dial any of the 482 entries (and to any of their several phone numbers) with ease (and no need to train it). With HFL, I am stuck only being able to dial the 50 entries that I might painstakingly enter. Also, I haven't bothered to enter any entries into the HFL yet, but from what I read in the instructions it matches based on matching to a recording of my own voice which is similar to the "trainable" voice dialing I've used on other phones. The speech recognition on the Pearl has been even more accurate for me than any of those systems, so I'm skeptical how accurate the HFL might be if that is the case. If HFL does allow you to enter names as text and does do speech recognition on them then it is still a few hundred contacts short of what my Pearl can do.

Give me the Pearl's rock solid built-in voice dialing over the bargain basement HFL implementation any day.

Further, I have other applications on my Pearl that can initiate dialing. Google maps, for example, gives me options for searching businesses that go way beyond the Acura GPS system and I can dial them from the phone. But if I do, then the HFL won't pick up the call until I manually transfer it - hardly convenient. The HCB-300 had no trouble auto-connecting whenever the phone initiated one of these calls as well. I can also dial numbers from web pages and emails that I receive which I can't do with HFL. I can also instantly map any of the home or work addresses of any of the 482 contacts in my Pearl phonebook on the built-in maps application and it can even give me directions turn by turn with my BT GPS unit - albeit on a 2 inch screen, but good luck getting those into the Acura GPS system without my fingers falling off.

I do love the phone number, battery, and signal strength meters on the RDX display, though, if only I could get the RDX to just connect to the phone and let me voice dial or pick up the connection when the phone initiates. The Pearl so completely blows away every usability aspect of HFL that I really need it to just get out of the way and act as a speaker and microphone, otherwise I'm back to shopping for a headset to enjoy greater functionality, but having to bother with putting it on and taking it off...

Blackberry Pearl - $149 with a 2 year contract
typical BT GPS receiver - $70 to $100
ability to synch 482 contacts over USB in 5 minutes - priceless
ability to immediately dial any number on any contact by voice - priceless
ability to map (and GPS navigate to) any contact address - priceless

Acura RDX with tech package - $37K MSRP with a 3 or 5 year financing contract
need to manually enter up to 50 out of 482 contact numbers - an hour or two?
need to manually enter up to 200 out of 482 contact addresses in a separate database - a few days?
look on owner's face when he realizes what he got for nearly 100 times the price - priceless

Posted by: kerrglen

I guess when you are all referring to Acura you are actually talking about Honda!?!
I have the same issue on my Honda HFT where I have to manually transfer a call to the HFT which really sucks.
My two previous phones, a Samsung D500 and Samsung D900 did not suffer from this issue. Initiate a call from the phone and it would automatically transfer to the HFT. So as previously stated it's not the HFT but the BB at fault.

Anyone know how to raise this with RIM?

Oh and by the way, as you say - my two cents. Living in Europe and having owned European cars and Jap cars I can deffo say from a reliabilty point of view and cost basis the Japs win hands down every time.

-Kerr

Posted by: flar

Acura is the upmarket brand of Honda so we are talking about cars manufactured by the same parent company. But, I am specifically referring to my experiences with an Acura model as I'm sure are others in this thread.

The HFL on the Acura is probably very close in design and implementation to the HFT on your Honda so I would think it is likely that your experiences have a practical bearing on ours. I hope so as that would increase the leverage we have in getting RIM to take this issue seriously if it affects Honda owners too...

Posted by: kerrglen

OIC.
Well in Europe Honda don't operate under two brands, although Toyota do with Lexus. I am pretty sure the Acura components will be identical to the Honda components.
So does anyone have an open case with RIM that I can call them about to add more weight? Or should we just send a mail to open a case?

-Kerr