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MOBILE EXTRAS
INTRO
This month Rick Maybury muses over a phone
battery with a built-in mains charger, two new hands-free kits, and a 12 volt car
adaptor
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ERICSSON PO 2000, HANDS-FREE KIT, £50
They say it’s one of the first signs of
madness... However, if you don’t mind the odd looks you sometimes get, when
people think you’re talking to yourself, the Ericsson PO 2000 hands-free kit is
a very convenient way of making and taking calls. Unlike most of the accessories
we see, this one is made in Sweden and marketed by the phone manufacturer
themselves. That is reflected in the slightly higher than usual price, but that
buys added peace of mind, at least you know it’s going to work with one of
their phones.
The kit is designed to work with any 200 or
300 series phone and comes with it’s own cute little carry pouch; inside
there’s an adaptor module, that clips on to the base of the phone. A set of
gold-plated spring-loaded contacts mates with the phone’s accessory connector.
It’s a very secure fit and shouldn’t come away, even if it’s knocked. On the
base of the module there’s an American-style phone socket, presumably for
connection to a charger, though no mention is made of it in the virtually
non-existent instructions. In fact the only clue as to how to use the kit fits
together, is a simple diagram on the back. Nevertheless, it’s fairly clear that
the earpiece, with it’s in-line microphone, plugs into a jack socket on the
side of the module, and the accompanying plastic clip, is to stop the cable
from swinging around.
There’s no set-up or installation procedures
to worry about, the phone automatically switches over to the external earphone
and mike, and it operates as normal. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be any
way of routing the ringer through to the earphone, at least if there is it’s
not explained in the instructions, nor is there any more details about the
option for voice -activated answering; it appears this may only be possible on
ETACS models.
The earphone/mike cable is a reasonable
length, long enough for the phone to be worn on a belt, or kept in a jacket
pocket. At first glance the microphone doesn’t seem to be far enough down the
cable, to be close enough to the users mouth. On most normally proportioned
adult heads it remains at about cheek height. Operationally this is not a
problem, it could even be an advantage as it’s sensitive enough to pick up the
user’s voice, at normal conversational volume, but it’s out of the line of fire
of heavy breathing, huffing and puffing. Receive speech quality is good, and
the mike is sufficiently non-directional to ignore most background noises.
Earphone volume is adequate, though a little more wouldn’t have gone amiss.
Overall performance and build quality are
both good. The price is a little on the high side for what it is, but that’s to
be expected on a manufacturer’s own-brand accessory, that’s guaranteed to fit!
THE FACTS
Typical Price £50
Features connection
module with combined earpiece and in-line microphone, supplied with carry case
To fit Ericsson 200 & 300 series
Contact Ericsson
Telecommunications, telephone (01483) 3033666
WHAT CELLPHONE VERDICT 82%
PAMA HASSLE-FREE HANDS-FREE, £50
The day is coming -- and it may not be too
far away -- when it will be illegal to use a mobile phone in a moving vehicle,
without a hands-free kit or adaptor. A good full-spec car kit will set you back
in the region of £200, which puts a lot of people off buying one, but there are
cheaper alternatives, like the ‘Hassle Free Hands Free from Pama, costing from
around £50.
It’s a new variation on the simple car kit
theme, with an amplifier and speaker built into the charger module, that fits
into the vehicle’s lighter socket. However, unlike previous versions, this one is
very compact, and the microphone is fitted to the cable, that runs between the
charger/loudspeaker module, and the plug that connects to the phone. It also
comes with an unusual dashboard mounting clip. It’s very small, about half the
size of a matchbox, with a set of screws and double-sided sticky tape to keep
it in place. The open-ended box-like construction is designed to fit the belt
clip on a carry-case. If you don’t use a case it also comes with a stud-shaped
clip, that fits on the back of the phone battery. The stud is held in place by
a pad of double-sided tape.
Installation is simple, some phones might
need to have the appropriate operating mode selected on the menu but that’s
about it. We’re not very happy about double-sided sticky tape used on the dash
holder. The adhesive has a tendency to go soft in hot weather, but if you
can’t, or won’t drill holes in your dashboard it’s probably a good idea to
check it occasionally, or put a cushion underneath, to catch the phone...
Although the loudspeaker is tiny -- just over
an inch across -- it is surprisingly loud, loud enough in fact to make itself
heard over a moderate amount of road and engine noise. Obviously it’s not going
to be as loud as a purpose-designed car kit with a separate loudspeaker, but in
most family saloons it should be adequate. The microphone, on the other hand is
a bit variable. Part of the problem is the distance between the mike and the
user’s mouth, which could be anything up to a couple of feet, moreover the
microphone is moderately sensitive and quite directional. It cannot be easily
aimed or positioned as it’s part of the cable. The caller on the other end
hears a cocktail of sounds, that may or may not contain the user’s voice,
depending which direction the microphone happens to be facing. In a reasonably
quiet car that’s not a problem, but in a noisy vehicle, van or truck, it may
involve a lot of shouting.
This kit gets a qualified thumbs-up for the
price, neatness of the design, the dash mount kit, and the gutsy little speaker.
The microphone on the other hand is a bit of a compromise. It should be just
about okay in most moderately well-insulated saloon, but you may struggle to
make yourself heard.
THE FACTS
Typical Price £50
Features external
microphone and loudspeaker, battery charger, dash-mount clip
To fit most popular makes and models
Contact Pama
and Co., (0161) 248 5555
WHAT CELLPHONE VERDICT 85%
GSM CHARGER-FREE BATTERIES, £50
Genuine innovations in phone battery design
are few and far between, but here’s one. It comes from GSM Inter-Rent, and the
key feature is a built-in mains battery charger. Clearly that’s a major benefit
to anyone who prefers to travel light, or simply wants to re-charge their phone
battery in the office, or when they’re away from home.
The pack has a fold-away mains plug, that
simply slots into a mains outlet, charging the cells inside, in between 6 to 12
hours, depending on the supply voltage. They can be used on any mains voltage,
between 110 to 240 VAC, the pack comes with an adaptor plug, designed to accept
the flat two-pin connectors. A pair of LED indicators on the back of the pack
show power-on and charging in progress. Inside the pack there’s a set of
memory-free nickel metal hydride or nicad cells, stated capacities are 580 or 900
mAh for NiMh batteries, and 1000, 900 and 700 mAh for nicad types.
A sequence of three charge/discharge cycles
is recommended, to get the cells up to full capacity. We put our samples
through the standard What Cellphone test routine; the Motorola pack came out
best, managing a creditable 860 mAh; the Ericsson battery’s best effort was 520
mAh, which isn’t brilliant, but about what we’d expect from the Chinese-made
cells. In view of the mains voltages floating around inside the case we thought
it prudent to carry out some voltage checks on exposed terminals; we’re happy to report they passed all our
tests. Perhaps the most impressive feature though, is the small size. Despite
of the charger circuitry and plug, they’re only marginally larger than normal
packs of equivalent capacity. The price is fair too -- we’re told they could be
even cheaper on the street, in which case they stack up very well against the
competition. Recommended.
THE FACTS
Typical Price £50
Features phone
batteries with built-in mains charger
To fit Ericsson, Motorola and Nokia phones
Contact GSM
Inter-Rent Ltd, (07020) 987848
WHAT CELLPHONE VERDICT 88%
AMT CAR MAINS ADAPTOR, £15
Should you want to charge your phone battery
when you’re away from home, or in the office, you have several choices. You
could take the battery charger with you, buy a second one, for work, or use
your car charger cord, though finding a suitable car lighter socket in most
offices might be a bit difficult... Here’s a solution, it’s a mains adaptor, fitted with a standard lighter
socket.
The supply is rated at 13.5 volts, 1 amp DC,
which is more than adequate for most phone charger cords. It might conceivably come
in handy for a range of other devices, that use the same sort of connector,
though we can’t imagine too many people will want to use car vacuum cleaners or
map reading lights in the office.
It’s quite compact -- roughly the same size
as a normal mains adaptor, with a captive lead and moulded three-pin mains
plug. We recommend the latter be chopped off and replaced -- if it’s the same as
the one fitted to our sample -- it’s an
unapproved type, that doesn’t have a built-in fuse.
The output is well regulated, and stable,
moreover it only gets slightly warm on full load. A simple, problem-solving
gadget that’s bound to be precisely the sort of thing a lot of people have been
looking for.
THE FACTS
Typical Price £15
Features 12-volt
DC mains power adaptor, with car lighter socket
To fit any standard car power cord
Contact AMT,
telephone (01323) 505252
WHAT CELLPHONE VERDICT 85%
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Ó R. Maybury 1997 1103
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