WhipLash
18-06-2004, 10:36 AM
As many of the Irish members here already know, there's a chance of currently getting 5 (!) penalty points for using a mobile phone (by hand?) in the car. This will supposedly be changed to just 1 penalty point (3 on lost appeal) some time in the autumn. To me the exact details of what exactly constitutes an infringement of the law is unclear, but it appears that the wired headsets are not allowed. Anyone know the exact details?
Anyhow, not wanting to accrue any more points, I looked for a budget option which should help avoid the dreaded 5 points penalty. I went on the bases that if the solution was legal in the UK then its probably OK for using here for the time being (and if any of the solutions suggested below are in fact illegal in Ireland, then don't blame me - buyer beware!). And if the solution is deemed illegal in the autumn then a budget solution won't be too much money wasted.
Anyhow, most solutions I found on the Net and are available to order from the UK. Here's a few of them worth mentioning:
http://handsfree-uk.com/index.htm
http://www.portable-power.co.uk/products/mobile_handsfree.html
http://www.mobilefun.co.uk/product/2835.htm
ORA Safe2Talk (http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/mobile-phone-hands-free-kits/ora-safe2talk-in-car-3xxx.asp)
Ora Safe2Talk review (http://www.coolsmartphone.com/index.php?option=articles&task=viewarticle&artid=14&Itemid=3)
Pama UK (http://www.pama.co.uk) (many different solutions)
Best solution appears to be the Ora Safe2Talk, but if you need to use it in more than one car then its advised to buy more then one mic - see where it is positioned in the review to see why. Other disadvantage is that you must specify your model of phone and therefore get a specific lead for that model, so if you change phones then you have to hunt down a compatable lead to use with it. Also the Pama 4 in 1 plug in solutions are very good also, but priced around the €60 mark.
What I wanted was a solution which would be universal to most phones and also easily transferable to another car. In the end I decided on the Pama Clip'N'Go. Cheapest price I found was on mobilefun.co.uk at £9.95 + £4.50 delivery. Not a bad price at all.
However, I managed to source a place that sells this in Ireland – Maplin Electronics (http://www.maplin.co.uk). See their UK website and click on the 'UK Stores' link at the top of the page to find the store locations in Ireland (2 Dublin, 1 Galway).
I paid €19.99, and for that I got a holder with 2 clips, external speaker powered by cig lighter and a private earpiece which cuts out the speaker.
The holder can attach to the air vent (worked fine on the Honda). If your air vents have thick vanes then it may not fit (tried a Yaris and it didn't fit, also read that it didn't fit a Picasso). However you also get an additional attachment which will stick to the top of the dash and then the holder clips onto it, so even if the air vent attachment doesn't fit you are still not out of luck. You then get the speaker which plugs into the cig lighter. This has volume control (need to leave this at full as its not too powerful), LED light to signal power and a private earpiece socket (the earpiece is also supplied - however these are not legal to use if you are driving). There is then a wire from the speaker with a clip on the other end. You place this clip over the phones own speaker. There is no microphone supplied nor can you attach one - it simply uses the phones own mic. However from using it on my Nokia 3510 this solutions works fine.
I was dubious as to whether the Nokia’s voice tag number dialing would work when the phone was positioned so far away. However it worked like a charm, so its easy to phone a stored voice tag number by holding down the 'name' button and then speaking the appropriate voice tag when prompted. This is a really cool feature to have on your phone right now :cool:
Overall, if you don't use the phone too much on the road (i.e. you are not a sales rep) and need a Universal budget solution, then IMHO for €19.99 you can't go too far wrong with the Pama Clip'N'Go.
Heh, but if you want one then hurry cause the Jervis Street branch had only 1 left! :D
Well I hope you've found this review of use. Let us know if you have used any other good solutions, or if you’ve purchased in Clip’N’Go car kit and what your opinion of it is.
Good luck!
Anyhow, not wanting to accrue any more points, I looked for a budget option which should help avoid the dreaded 5 points penalty. I went on the bases that if the solution was legal in the UK then its probably OK for using here for the time being (and if any of the solutions suggested below are in fact illegal in Ireland, then don't blame me - buyer beware!). And if the solution is deemed illegal in the autumn then a budget solution won't be too much money wasted.
Anyhow, most solutions I found on the Net and are available to order from the UK. Here's a few of them worth mentioning:
http://handsfree-uk.com/index.htm
http://www.portable-power.co.uk/products/mobile_handsfree.html
http://www.mobilefun.co.uk/product/2835.htm
ORA Safe2Talk (http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/mobile-phone-hands-free-kits/ora-safe2talk-in-car-3xxx.asp)
Ora Safe2Talk review (http://www.coolsmartphone.com/index.php?option=articles&task=viewarticle&artid=14&Itemid=3)
Pama UK (http://www.pama.co.uk) (many different solutions)
Best solution appears to be the Ora Safe2Talk, but if you need to use it in more than one car then its advised to buy more then one mic - see where it is positioned in the review to see why. Other disadvantage is that you must specify your model of phone and therefore get a specific lead for that model, so if you change phones then you have to hunt down a compatable lead to use with it. Also the Pama 4 in 1 plug in solutions are very good also, but priced around the €60 mark.
What I wanted was a solution which would be universal to most phones and also easily transferable to another car. In the end I decided on the Pama Clip'N'Go. Cheapest price I found was on mobilefun.co.uk at £9.95 + £4.50 delivery. Not a bad price at all.
However, I managed to source a place that sells this in Ireland – Maplin Electronics (http://www.maplin.co.uk). See their UK website and click on the 'UK Stores' link at the top of the page to find the store locations in Ireland (2 Dublin, 1 Galway).
I paid €19.99, and for that I got a holder with 2 clips, external speaker powered by cig lighter and a private earpiece which cuts out the speaker.
The holder can attach to the air vent (worked fine on the Honda). If your air vents have thick vanes then it may not fit (tried a Yaris and it didn't fit, also read that it didn't fit a Picasso). However you also get an additional attachment which will stick to the top of the dash and then the holder clips onto it, so even if the air vent attachment doesn't fit you are still not out of luck. You then get the speaker which plugs into the cig lighter. This has volume control (need to leave this at full as its not too powerful), LED light to signal power and a private earpiece socket (the earpiece is also supplied - however these are not legal to use if you are driving). There is then a wire from the speaker with a clip on the other end. You place this clip over the phones own speaker. There is no microphone supplied nor can you attach one - it simply uses the phones own mic. However from using it on my Nokia 3510 this solutions works fine.
I was dubious as to whether the Nokia’s voice tag number dialing would work when the phone was positioned so far away. However it worked like a charm, so its easy to phone a stored voice tag number by holding down the 'name' button and then speaking the appropriate voice tag when prompted. This is a really cool feature to have on your phone right now :cool:
Overall, if you don't use the phone too much on the road (i.e. you are not a sales rep) and need a Universal budget solution, then IMHO for €19.99 you can't go too far wrong with the Pama Clip'N'Go.
Heh, but if you want one then hurry cause the Jervis Street branch had only 1 left! :D
Well I hope you've found this review of use. Let us know if you have used any other good solutions, or if you’ve purchased in Clip’N’Go car kit and what your opinion of it is.
Good luck!