The Best of Both Phone, and Tablet
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"Excellent multipurpose headset!" on by TruenoBoricua
Pros: Great sound, very versitile, personally found better compatibility than advertised, stupendous tech support.
Cons: Context switching not as seamless as advertised, manufacturing defect.
Summary: I was following these headphones when the first preview leaked on the net. When their compatability list showed up it said it was not compatible with my HP 6315 but with the dongle it was suppose to be compatible with anything that the adapter fit into. Since my 6315 supported the headset profile and the headphones did too i decided to take the plunge and bought it once it was available.
Boy do i love these things, it has a better quality then my prior in ear bluetooth handsfree device (G2) and it is extremly versitle. I take phone calls and listen to my music from my 6315 and combined with the MS Voice Commander software i never need to take my phone out of my pocket on those cold NYC winter days.
Playing music by saying "play classical" or "play hip hop" and hearing it come out in stero sound rocks. Getting on Skype and talking to my brother or getting on Vent when i am playing World of Warcraft and never beng disconnected even, if i go on a refrigerator raid, is cool. I could gush for a while about these things.
The two cons i ran into was that switching between devices or functions is not very seemless and i need to manually retrigger connections between different client devices from those devices.
The second was the tension on area around the screws on the headbands led to cracks after about 2 weeks. After about 6 weeks the band broke. I sent it back to Plantronics and the shipped me a replacement with overnight mail, wow business rated customer service i love it. Heres to hoping these dont begin to crack (although i doubt it).
An excellent investment well worth the money i paid. Hopefully these headphones wont crack. -
"Great Headphones (With a Hidden Caveat)" on by mattg
Pros: Excellent sound quality
Cons: Only for music
Summary: Granted, I got these looking for a way to listen to my iPod untethered. And for that purpose, they work beautifully. But once I got them, I started thinking of other ways they could come in handy.
The idea of late night TV watching without waking up my wife came to mind, so I tried it out, only to experience a noticable lag time between the audio and video. You have to really dig around on the Plantronics site before you find them admitting that this is expected.
So these 'phones are excellent for music (and really, the sound quality is as good as any high-quality, over-the-ear wired headphones) but I won't use them for video.
(Alternately, you can plug the wired connector in and listen that way, with no a/v sync problems, but that sort of defeats the purpose of having a wireless headset.) -
"Warning...Not compatable" on by marktscott
Pros: Work barely OK as standard headphones
Cons: Many, see below
Summary: Warning, Plantronics Plusar 590a headsets are not mp3 cell phone player compatible.
My phone is an LG8100 and others are said to be affected. Even though the advertising states they are an “Ultimate Stereo Bluetooth Headset” and as personally stated by an online rep. “Absolutely compatible with the LG8100 cell phone”, they will not work as such with my phone. Unfortunately I purchased these ($250 retail) phones as a solution for allowing good mp3 tunes “in stereo” while puttering around my office while at the same time being able to switch to the phone as they quote “seamlessly”. Not! They will not access the mp3 player on the phone. Their support personnel wrote me this cop out note when, after purchasing, I inquired why they wouldn’t work as their advertising states. “Your phone needs to support the "A2DP" profile (advanced audio distribution) in order to enable full stereo sound and streaming audio with the Pulsar headset. Most currently available phones do not yet support this profile and thus can only make sue of the headset as a mono device for phone calling, not as a media headset for music and other audio outputs.” Sorry to sound so negative but to me this was a real bummer and a waste of money. It’s kind of stupid running around the office wearing a full stereo headphone set just to answer mono phone calls. Be wary,
Mark -
"Good wireless headset but better wired headset" on by Mr.Sadistic
Pros: great accessories, wired and wireless capability, charging via usb or wall, very versatile
Cons: tinsley sound when listening to music, not as high quality sound when using wireless. When connected to computer you cannot have stero headphones when in headset mode, only mono.
Summary: This headset has its high points and its low points. If your looking for a decent bluetooth headset with a lot of options this is it! Bluetooth capability or wired capability. If you don't have a bluetooth dongle or capability for a device, including your computer, just use the included adaptor and plug it into any stereo jack and you have your bluetooth. If you run out of batteries or are on a plane, simply use the wire adaptor and you have normal wired headphones, keep in mind that when using wired mode, the mic does not work.
This headset is GREAT for doing phone conversations via skype, other voip services, or with cell phones. the mic does pull out and retract, which is a great feature to have, not many bluetooth headsets put the mic closer to your mouth. In headset mode this device is very good for talking, however gaming is thrown out the window.
My second biggest problem with this headset is no stero headphones when in headset mode. There should at least be an option for stereo or mono when in headset mode, but there isn't. So something like gaming sucks with this headset unless you want to use mono sound. Another down side is that this headset has a bit of a delay when using stereo mode. If anyone plays video games, especially first person shooters, expect a slight delay in sound, it's not huge but somewhere around 1/8 to 1/4 of a second delay. It's not a HUGE deal but an inconvience. However i don't think this headset was geered towards gamers.
My biggest complaint with this headset is the music quality when in stereo mode. It's not awful, but mediocre. I expected a little better for the price tag, but what can you do. When in wired mode the headphones sound very crisp, what I would expect to hear.
Despite a few flaws this headset all in all is a pretty good product. The case and accessories is a big plus. The BT technology needs to be improved before devices like this can compete with wired headsets in quality. If your looking for a decent bluetooth headset i would recommend it.
Last but not least, I read every review for this headset on CNET before buying it. Some people complained about it not working with their computer very well, as well as their cell phones. MAKE SURE YOUR DONGLE WILL SUPPORT BT 2.0. I had a cheap BT dongle and the headset worked like crap with it. I was lucky if I could get any connectivity with it. I bought another dongle and everything works PERFECT. This is the dongle I got (http://www.uxcell.com/uxcell/retail/item/show
ItemLayout.php?action=showItem&id=a06030300ux0
001)
it doesn't come with great documentation but it works perfect with the 590a and all other BT devices I have. As for cell phones...MAKE SURE YOUR CELL PHONE SUPPORTS STEREO HEADPHONES FOR BT. Many cell phones do not, others do. Some phones, especially PDA and Smart phones need firmware upgrades, others just have real poor BT adaptors and won't work well with a headset like this in stereo mode. Do some research on the BT adaptors you have before buying this headset so you can use it to it's full potential once you have it.
Hope this review helps you out! -
"The only stereo headset for the frequent traveller for phone, tunes and in-flight use." on by tgalambv
Pros: Sound quality and bass. Distance much greater than the 33 ft. spec. Complete package with almost every accessory you could imagine. Outstanding battery life. No battery necessary while in-flight.
Cons: Ears get warm after about 20-30 minutes. Oddly missing the in-flight splitter.
Summary: This product has it all. The futuristic look is a signal that you are buying high tech. The sound is quite good considering there is no noise cancelling and the muffs are not enclosed (neither one would make this a better product and would simply add bulk). The battery will outlast your iPod (10-12 hrs.) with a 2 hour recharge. The accessory kit has nearly everything you could want as a traveller and is very compact with room for some extra gadgets. I'm glad I did my research in advance since this is one of the few headsets that has an in-flight feature that does not require the battery but does require a wire but it still beats ear buds. The FAA prohibits wireless devices on all aircraft so if you opted with a cheaper headset, you go back to ear buds in the air anyway - bummer. The universal adapter pairs first shot, every time, working with anything that has a 3.5 mm jack for listening only. If you have a bluetooth computer, it sets up quick and easy for either tunes or VOI. Each requires a seperate profile that is easily setup and can be toggled on the PC. Microphone is very clear but will not work through the universal adapter. The headset is a normal over the top of the head style. I find this more comfortable then buds or behind the head types. Great buy.
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