Canon Puts Efficiency On Press-
"Needs more heat tolerance" on by pjhenry1216
Pros: For a third of the year, this thing would be pretty awesome. Fall, Winter, and Spring. Depending on how often you talk in the car, you may never have to take the thing out of the holster to charge it.
Cons: Not too heat tolerant. Left it in the window during summer and it appears the inner bag of coolant expands too much. The buttons get stuck pressed against the board inside, so either you can't hit talk or you can't hit power (or both).
Summary: Pretty cool. Don't leave it in the window on hot summer days or it may never return to normal working condition physically. If buttons get stuck, try throwing it in the freezer before popping it open. That may actually fix the symptom as opposed to opening it to try to unstick the buttons and finding you can't fit it back together again 'cause of the coolant bag (or whatever it is).
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"Pretty good but sunny day fried it" on by chanur
Pros: Loud
Never once had to take it of window to charge it
Effortless pairingCons: 90 degree sunny day fried unit
Summary: 90 degree sunny weather appears to have fried the unit. The answer button was frozen solid, power button rarely works. When it can be convinced to be turned on, if the unit is even moderately hot it will not work. It can be cooled down via AC flow, and fighting with the power button you can eventually get it turn on... but it can take minutes. so, its basically unusable.
Anecdotal: Friend who bought same unit weeks after me had his unit fried same day as mine, with same symptoms. 90 - 95 degrees on hot dry day.
Seems a solar powered device should be more heat tolerant.
YMMV. -
"Works Brilliantly!" on by rhatchell
Pros: This product - no problems. It syncs easily, the sound quality is very good, stays charged, has a long talk time; contrary to the other reviews, it has not fried on me yet. I live in OK and it made it through the very hot summer.
Cons: The only thing that I don't like is that it does not work with my phones voice commands. It would be nice if I culd hit the phone button and state a voice command (I.e. dial mom).
Summary: I purchased this product reluctantly. I don't care for a lot of the bluetooth items out there because there is always something that will not work as well as stated. This product on the other hand, no problems. It syncs easily, the sound quality is very good, stays charged, has a long talk time; contrary to the other reviews, it has not fried on me yet. I have had it since April 2010 and it has made it through a very hot Oklahoma summer (trust me - OK summers are treacherous!).
IN other words I absolutely love it. -
"Solar but not heat tolerant." on by grillsgt47
Pros: In cooler weather this is a great hands free unit, solar power keeps it charged very well, mounts on windshield, tap it to take a call. Received sound is excellent and plenty loud to be heard throughout the car even at highway speeds.
Cons: , but now in the heat of the summer, the plastic swells enough that the controls don't work and I either can't get it to turn on, or conversly, can't get it to turn off.
Summary: The heat insensitvity is a major issue, which has made the unit unusable the past few weeks this summer and we're having a mild summer with mid to high nineties so far. I would only recommend it for cooler climates.
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"Barely adequate" on by fried_calamari
Pros: The solar is a great feature;.I live in LA so I stick it and forget it. The physical design is excellent, with easy to see buttons, excellent suction cups, a nice case, and a great look. Easy to pair and operate.
Cons: I can't hear it very well at highway speeds. You have to mount it right in front of you--I tried mounting it behind the mirror so it wouldn't obstruct my view but I had a very hard time hearing anyone. Max volume is tinny sounding and insufficient
Summary: The design is great, it works as intended, but the speaker is just not good up to the task. I have mine at max volume and it sounds like the little speaker is clipping. Turn it down a notch and it's too soft to hear. Great idea, needs a little improvement for it to work really well. I love the fact that you charge it once, put it in your window and forget it, but it's difficult to actually hear the person on the other end at higher speeds.
LG HFB-500 Bluetooth Solar Car Kit user reviews
