Bluetooth Car Kits

Car Kits

On the first of December 2003, a law came into effect stating that it would be illegal to use hand held mobile phone whilst driving. The law also extends to allowing a driver to use a phone, for example a passenger holding the phone for the driver, and also for someone accompanying a driver with a provisional licence, and this is why car kits become useful. Initially the penalty was £30 for anyone caught however from 27th February, the penalty has gone up to £60 and also 3 penalty points will be issued on the driver’s licence. The introduction of this law had caused many people to question the need to use a phone in a car whilst driving. Some people have opted not to use their mobile phone altogether while driving, others have chosen to ignore the law and continue to use a handheld phone while driving.

Enter Bluetooth... Initially created for business people to connect their phones to their computers the idea of the technology took off in a huge way and now as a result, the majority phones that are offered come with Bluetooth. This technological advancement has allowed people to use their mobile phone to communicate with a variety of accessories for example connecting to a computer or sending files to another Bluetooth enabled mobile phone.

Bluetooth car kits utilise the Bluetooth radio to transmit and receive audio as well as control certain parts of your phone should your phone support the features. This means that you can initiate conservation with your friends or family using your phone without even taking the phone out of your pocket!

From my research and experience with car kits, I’ve found that the quality of the components used in the Bluetooth Car Kits manufactured by Parrot come out on top purely for the features on offer. Unlike the other car kits on offer, the Parrot kits offer features such as USB flash drive support, direct control of your iPod or iPhone, some of the kits also allow you to utilise the 3.5mm headphone jack as another form of input.

There are a lot of other car kits, and recently, it has become much more affordable to get hold of head units with integrated Bluetooth. Most of these head units actually feature parrot’s wireless technologies and as a result, not only will you be able to enjoy high quality music but also be able to converse over the phone in a legal fashion all within one stereo unit. Such kits have other features such as direct iPod control, which means that you can actually control your iPod from the stereo (a must, as it is also against the law to use any hand held device that could be said to distract the driver). All of the Parrot kits also feature A2DP, which for you and I means that if you had a song on your phone, you (providing your phone supports streaming) would be able to play the song through your car’s speakers via the car kit, and all without any wires!

Whenever people ask me about installing anything in their car, the issue of security is a major factor. People want to have everything, but don’t want their cars to become a thieves’ pay day, and so I recommend that they keep everything simple, however those products often lack feature and are as a result don’t meet all of the requirements, however Parrot have released the state of the art Mki-9200. This unit offers all the features anyone could possibly want, with the benefit of a detachable screen for security, so to any preying eyes, they won’t see anything!

If you’re interested in replacing your whole head unit, there are a lot of solutions that you have to choose from. If you want the no expenses spared full works unit, I recommend the Pioneer DEH-P8100BT. This unit features all the latest technologies as well as that superb Pioneer sound processing sound qualities!

Whenever you’re purchasing these kind of items for your car, I highly recommend you get it installed by professionals, especially the parrot car kits. Although it might seem a fairly easy process, I know that personally, I’d rather have it installed by a Parrot certified installer. Parrot trained technicians would have benefited from all the knowledge passed on from the manufacturer and would have seen a wide range of cars as well as problems, so if there were to be a problem, you can be assured your car is in safe hands!

I hope this has given you a good insight into Bluetooth hands free kits , and remember, it’s good to talk...safely!

-Neil Patel-