Bluetooth headphone rant

[ToLiveIsToFly]

So I recently bent to the technology of the age and have bought two of those bluetooth thingies for my cell phone. The first one I had to replace because the thingie that holds it onto your ear broke and I couldn't find anyplace to buy those things separately without buying a whole new thing.

The new one is driving me batshit. I only really use it when I'm driving or those few times when I'm on the phone and need both hands to type with. So I keep it shut off the rest of the time. But the on-off mechanism is this ridiculously large button, and whenever it's in my pocket, eventually it'll jostle enough that it'll turn itself on. And then when I pull my phone out of my pocket and dial someone's number, nothing will happen. I'm a little slow, so every single time I hang up and call the person again before I realize the bluetooth thingie must be on, and I have to dig through my pocket and shut it off. My wife has the same thingie, but her phone has an option for "disconnect bluetooth" on the main screen when she's on a call. I have a more expensive phone, and I confirmed with the Blackberry folks this morning that the only way to do that is to surf through about 5 different menus. It reached a boiling point yesterday evening when I called my wife from the airport and had to dig the thing out of my luggage to find out that she wasn't going to pick me up because she and Frankie were on their way to the ER (more on that later, but everything's fine now) and I had to take a cab to meet them there.

So I called Plantronics today, and spoke with a supervisor there. She said she'd never heard of such a problem (which I find hard to believe - I had the exact same problem with the last one, but at least on that one I could take the AAA batter out when I wasn't using it. This one has a nonremoveable rechargeable battery). On the plus side she said there must be something wrong with the particular one I have and they're sending me a replacement, and she says if I have the same problem with the replacement she'll work with me to find a different model.

That's pretty nice of them, so I guess I'm railing against the technology rather than the company.

Or am I just nuts? Has anyone else had this problem?

[kayrharris]

Your Blackberry should have a "turn Bluetooth off" option on the main
menu screen. It stays off until you "turn Bluetooth on" again when you're ready to use
the Bluetooth. It shouldn't take 5 different menus...mine is the last one on the main
menu screen.

I would think that would help solve the problem of it connecting accidentally.

[ToLiveIsToFly]

Your Blackberry should have a "turn Bluetooth off" option on the main
menu screen.

Not me. I have to get from the call screen to the main menu, expand the main menu, go to "set up bluetooth", tell it I don't want to connect a new device, then choose the earphone, then choose disconnect.

There IS an option on this menu to make the phone ask me first before it allows the BT device to connect, but I tried that and it's even worse - when I'm driving and I want to make a call or even answer the phone, I have to pull out the phone and tell it 'yes' to allow the BT thing to connect. Kind of defeats the purpose of "hands-free".

the last thing on my main BB menu turns the phone off.

[kayrharris]

Sorry I wasn't any help then. My bluetooth connects in my car and
works through the radio, so I don't need a headset of any kind. However, if someone
is riding with me and doesn't care to hear my phone conversations, I can turn it
off before I ever start the car.

Maybe a trip to the cell phone provider place might be able to help you find a
"shortcut" for it. Maybe...

[cindy.wellman]

Your Blackberry should have a "turn Bluetooth off" option on the main
menu screen.

Not me. I have to get from the call screen to the main menu, expand the main menu, go to "set up bluetooth", tell it I don't want to connect a new device, then choose the earphone, then choose disconnect.

There IS an option on this menu to make the phone ask me first before it allows the BT device to connect, but I tried that and it's even worse - when I'm driving and I want to make a call or even answer the phone, I have to pull out the phone and tell it 'yes' to allow the BT thing to connect. Kind of defeats the purpose of "hands-free".

the last thing on my main BB menu turns the phone off.

I had a similar problem wirh the number of screens to get to the bluetooth on/off function with my phone. I needed the bluetooth on my phone turned off because it depleted my battery when left on. I finally ended up creating a shortcut to the on/off switch. I like the time it has saved.