Bluetooth Car Audio System Worth Every Dollar!

Introduction

The Parrot CK-3200LS is the best bluetooth car system for your car that's on the market currently (3/2006). I've investigated a number of bluetooth car systems offered by other well known companies (ie, Motorola) and took a chance with a company I never heard of (Parrot), and boy was it a great decision! In summary, this device allows the car to use your cell phone via bluetooth to make or receive calls using your car's own audio system. It automatically turns on the speakers if the music is off OR automatically mutes the music if the music is on whenever a call is made/received. Flawless execution on these abilities. However, there are some caveats on installation that the buyer should be aware of before purchasing I will go into later.

Specifics
This review is based on the cell phone I use (Verizon Treo 650) and my car (2001 Toyota Camry). Regarding my car, it does have an alarm system installed with a 6-CD/radio/tape audio system. I have been using the Parrot for about 3 months now. Not one problem yet!

Installation
The product comes with all the necessary wiring, cables, power unit, microphone, etc. I did think about installing it on my own, but realized that it is WAY too complicated for me to do so. As such, I STRONGLY recommend that a professional car audio shop do the installation... Even then, it took them about 2 hours AND 2 tries to get it all working smoothly. I had mine installed at Best Buy which is nice as they have a lifetime warranty on the installation itself. The only problem that came to light during installation of the hardware was that it came packaged only with Volkswagen plugs which was not compatible with my Toyota Camry. Therefore, I had to purchase Toyota plugs (4 of them) in order to have the unit installed. In the end, I had to pay for the unit, the installation, and the Toyota plugs which probably totalled to around $300.

End User Hardware
It comes with a microphone that is wired to the color LCD display. I have my microphone wired along the driver side of my windshield in the crease and up onto the visor. It comes with a clip so that it'll stay in place on the visor. The LCD display comes with a VERY bright screen. Even on bright days, it does not appear washed out and the color is very vibrant. The screen specs are TFT 160 x 128 pixels with 262,144 colors. The brightness is adjustable.

I have the display mounted on the center of my dash. It is compact and comes with a stand that uses a sticky bottom to stay in place. You can remove the display from this stand. The display has 3 buttons: Green, Red, and a central dial that also is a button you can press. The Green button is to make or answer a phone call. The red is to exit or hang up a phone call. The central dial is to either change the volume or navigate through menus and by pressing it, is a button to select a menu item. The buttons are crisp and solid feeling. Nothing cheap to the tactile feedback.

Software
The menu system is as follows (indents are the sub-menus):

Phonebook
Calls
--Missed Calls
--Received Calls
--Calls Made
Dial Number
Settings
--Contacts Management
----Phonebook
----Delete All Contacts
----Receive Contact
----Sort Order
--Paired Devices
--Pair With Phone
--Language
--Voice Commands
--Display
--Sound
--Auto Answer
--Information
--Software Update

The names are pretty self-explanatory.

Pairing
To pair my phone with the Parrot, I just went to Settings-->Pair With Phone and followed the on-screen step-by-step instructions. It took less than 10 seconds. Once paired, all my favorite contacts automatically downloaded into the Parrot phonebook. That's it!

After that initial setup, my Treo 650 automatically links with the Parrot whenever the engine is turned on. It takes about 5 seconds for the pairing to occur. From what I understand, 5 other cell phones can be paired, though I haven't tried that. To prevent unauthorized pairing, the Parrot will prompt for a passkey to be punched into your cell phone before finalizing the process.

The screen displays the reception strength on the top. It auto dims itself after 10 seconds of inactivity and will auto turn on when you touch the buttons or if a call comes in.

Making and Receiving Calls
When making a phone call, there are several options that's similar to the features available on most cell phones. One can just dial a number using the Dial Number menu. One can go through the Phonebook or Calls menu. Finally, one can just hit the green button and make a verbal command to dial someone. Of course, to use voice commands, it requires you to first create a voice imprint for each contact under the "Settings-->Voice Commands" as well as "Settings-->Contact Management-->Phonebook". However it works great once it is all finished. Finally, you can just use your cell phone to make a call, though all audio will be coming in through the car's audio system.

When your cell phone receives a phone call, it automatically is shunted to the Parrot which than turns on the car speakers (if the music is off) or mutes the music automatically and has all audio coming in through the car audio system. The screen also displays caller ID information. You can set the device to automatically answer when it rings or you can set it to answer only after you push the green button.

The quality of the sound is on par with what you would hear from the cell phone directly. From the feedback I have received, the person calling you can't tell if you are speaking directly into the cell phone versus via the Parrot...even when driving with the car engine and wind noise in the environment. It does advertise that it does use some type of noise-cancelling technology...whatever it is, it works.

Drawbacks Summarized
1. Professional installation required.
2. Comes with Volkswagen plugs only (no option to purchase plugs for other types of cars).
3. Once you install, you CANNOT return it (even if it is broken...mine, thankfully, works perfectly).

In summary
After some issues with installation and getting the quirks resolved, the Parrot worked flawlessly with excellent audio from both the caller and receiver ends. The display is perfect in size and a very useful feature being able to provide cell phone reception feedback, phonebook information, Caller ID, etc. The display also allows for customization that otherwise would not be possible. All in all, highly recommended. The highest complement was probably when the car audio technician installing the Parrot in my car called all of his buddies to come and check it out and than you hear them saying that they want one too.