O2 XDA II Car Kit Query

[David Young]

Hi all

Has anyone any experience of the O2 Car Kit like this one

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=57252&item=6382293875

I'm well past the stage where I should have installed and be using one, (the car is a Diesel L/R Disovery Tdi, and not exactly quiet), but I'd like any opinions on the best to use, or any problems that might arise.

Althogh I have a BT GPS Unit, I dont use any Route Planning S'Ware, cause few have any usefull maps of Northern Ireland, so its the call audio I'm really interested in.

TIA for any opinions

[edsub]

Based on the pictures this carkit is the same as the QTek2020 / T-Mobile MDAII carkit.
It is said to be of very good quality.
BUT: It is also said that when using ie TomTom Navigator (or the like) your car-audio will be muted permanently.
This carkit was sold in Germany for approx 170 euro (about 110 gbp). So I would say the current auction price is rather high . . . .


I was not aware that O2 sold this carkit. I am using the XDAII carkit that is/was sold by ie. Expansys. The quality of that thing is not as good. Especially the mic sound is horrible for 'the other side'

BTW there are many threads on this (all approx 1 yr old)

[David Young]

Hi Ed

>>Based on the pictures this carkit is the same as the QTek2020 / T-Mobile MDAII carkit. It is said to be of very good quality.

Yes I agree, part of what drew me towards this one is the look of it.

>>BUT: It is also said that when using ie TomTom Navigator (or the like) your car-audio will be muted permanently.

I have considered this, and I'm not sure when or if I would use anything other than 'Pocket Streets', (and its maps of this area aren't that good either).

Most of the mapping I have been able to view provide street level detail, only in Larger Built up areas, and main routes connecting these.

Fortunately I already know my way between Belfast and other towns, As a result I dont know if TT or indeed any of the others would be of any real use. As a result, I really am more curious about the Call audio from the Speaker and Mic, during calls.

>>This carkit was sold in Germany for approx 170 euro (about 110 gbp). So I would say the current auction price is rather high . . . .

yes I found it on the T'mobile (D) site still on sale,
fully agree re the price but .... if it works ... then ... maybe ..

>>BTW there are many threads on this (all approx 1 yr old)

Yes and I think I managed to read most of them, I was sorta looking to see if someone else has lived with one of these for while, and have a experienced opinion on the it, any Rom Upgrades needed etc ...

I'm not sure how much more stress I am prepared to endure to get various aspects of this great unit to work as I hoped it would, (can't afford to be pulling on my hair much more these days)

[macca]

I have yesterday just bought this car kit from the company advertising it on ebay, first of all the compnay are absolutly brilliant to deal with and would recommend them highly.

As for the car kit i have found three little niggles:

1) it isn't as easy as other car phone kits to place the xda2 into the holder, this is probably the case for most xda2 car kits due to the body of the xda2 itself.

2) any sound from the pda will mute the car radio, this so far hasn't been too much of an issue, but you can always just disconnect the car radio mute lead, but side effect of course is that you would have to turn the radio down when you recieve a call, however it is nice that the tomtom directions etc come out the car phone speaker loud and clear.

3) now this one may not be the car kit itself and maybe just that i haven't managed to find optimal settings or have missed a setting up procedure (if there is one). Basically there is a lot of background noise through the microphone, speech can be heard ok but i haven't experienced this amount of noise from any other kit, however i am going to try and relocate the mic to the middle of the car instead of up the windscreen frame near the driver door, this may solve this.

Apart from that it is a very easy kit to install (would recommend a professional install due to problems of bodged installs and car air bags!), it is of a very good physical quality and have seen it advertised for over £150 in the UK.

[David Young]

see now thats what I was hoping for.

thanks macca

I'm just about convinced

now just need to know where my wife hid my c'card ???

[edsub]

macca: Just a tip for the mic: Make sure the airstream from then vents does not reach the mic. I read several threads on background noise and most of them appeared to be created by the airstream blowing over the mic.

[macca]

thanks edsub, i'll investigate that furthur, i maybe moving over to a orange m2000 soon as i have been offered an upgrade, unfortunatly it won't fit in my car kit, so i may have to sell it and get a xda2i instead. xda2 is great, i just miss the wlan.

david young, glad to have helped.

[forumjunky]

I wonder if anyone has any experience of these Brodit Car Kits at pdahut? I do like the idea of ProClip Brodit have so you don't have to drill holes anywhere in your car. Any other suggestion?

http://www.pdahut.com/store/home.php?cat=378

[griffog]

I have Brodit (www.brodit.com) and Carcomm (www.carcomm.nl) cradles installed and they are both excellent. At the moment I have my XDAII in a Carcomm cradle which is powered and has a serial input cable to which you can connect a GPS Mouse or charge a BT GPS.

The Brodit cradles also have the option of an amplified speaker, in the photos you'll see my 2210 on the right of the steering wheel is connected to this type.

In the UK TotalPDA (www.totalpda.co.uk) sell Carcomm and Handnav (www.handnav.co.uk) are the appointed Brodit resellers.

See here (http://www.griffinnet.co.uk/ppgps.htm) for images of the cradles in my car.

[edsub]

I too liked the idea of not drilling in my (leasecar) dashboard.
Afaik there are two options then:
Brodit Procip (plastic)
MTU dashmount (metal)

I opted for the MTU and decided to imitate it myself from a metal plate strip. Its quite easy from the MTU specifications:
http://www.mtu.no/english/DashMount/DM_pdf/70224.pdf

I managed the get the cables through the airvent that is now blocked by the carkit.

[cruisin-thru]

Now did I get a bargain or did I get a bargain.


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5196552992&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1

[griffog]

So long as you want it for an XDA rather than an XDAII then yes.

[Anton.Valleyman]

I have my 2i in a Brodit kit connected to the cigarette lighter and then a bluetooth Motorola HS810...works a treat. Luckily the 2i fits perfect as I got the cradle originally for the XDA2.

I've also got my TomTom wireless BT receiver on the dash...all work nicely (other than ongoing issues with phone mast transfers causing TT lockups)

Aww hell, I'll just take a picture and show you...my only wish is that on the Mini the holder was locked in a bit higher to show off when people drive past ;)

A

PS - yes that IS a Care Bear...that my girlfriend puts there to "watch over me". I have one of those little dog things that Clintons Cards do (the ones with the big heads and little bodies) in the other cup holder. Thought I'd get that in now to avoid the "errr....is that a care bear?" questions!!

[Anton.Valleyman]

See here (http://www.griffinnet.co.uk/ppgps.htm) for images of the cradles in my car.

Errr....just how many PDAs and phones do you want in your car?? Hehe...

[griffog]

They're not all used all of the time but I need them when performin comparison testing :)

Actually I tend to use TT Mobile 5 on a C500 most of the time now!

[cruisin-thru]

Griffog, yes it is for xda however I had an official car kit, the original I think for xda in the past and that would take an xda 2 quite happily although I never tried it out in the car it charged the xda 2 on the bench ok, what are the issues, is there a wiring difference preventing it working?