[Tizzy]

My new 320d has the OEM bluetooth kit and I currently use a Nokia 6021 with the snap-in adaptor in the armrest. I'm very pleased with this arrangement, it's discrete, charges the phone and links it to the car's external aerial. Now I have just been given a Blackberry 8100 Pearl by work to trial, and if I like it, it will replace my Nokia. After having had it for a week and just using it for email and schedules (it has a different SIM) I'm really impressed with it. However although it has bluetooth, it seems to have no car kit connections like a Nokia, so no snap-in cradle option and no in-car charging. Also as far as I know, if it's not in the cradle, then a bluetooth phone will also not be linked into the car's external aerial - or will it? A colleague at work swears blind that if a car has an OEM bluetooth connection with an external aerial, then the phone will still be linked to the external aerial as part of the pairing with the car. Personally I don't really see how this can be the case without a hard connection, but can anyone here shed any light on this? I seem to recall that one or two of you are using Blackberry's with your car bluetooth kits.

Thanks, Chris

[London320d]

Have a search around the "Audio/Video+Bluetooth..." forum for general compatibility info on the Blackberry, I've not been around here so much recently as to take in the latest there. I seem to recall some trickery is required to get the phonebook to sync.

As for the aerial question, the external aerial will only be used by phones in their own snap-in adapter. Bluetooth will only link in in the mic/speakers, call control, call progress and if you are lucky phonebook. Yes, a hard link (or induction system as used with the Motos) is needed to link in the aerial signal - you only get this by the snap-in adapter.

Also (thinking back to the dim and distant past when I had the time to keep up with these things) I think there is a pecking order of multiple paired bluetooth devices. Ie if two paired devices are present one will be preferred, but I also vaguely recall that this is not 100% reliable, as if dev 2 is paired and dev 1 comes in range, it may or may not switch to dev 1.

[SoYank]

Most phones have an external antenna jack. When the phone is connected to the adapter it connects to the coaxial cable which goes to the antenna. You need some connectivity between the phone and the adapter for it to utilize the fin aerial. Having said that, my Nokia 6320i doesn't have a jack so the adapter uses some form of induction coil to make the connection to the fin. It seems to work.

As for the pecking order, the last phone to be paired has the highest priority followed by then one paired before that in a Last In, First Out arrangement. Up to four phones can be paired and if a fifth phone is then paired, the first is dropped.

[NFS]

Originally Posted by Tizzy

A colleague at work swears blind that if a car has an OEM bluetooth connection with an external aerial, then the phone will still be linked to the external aerial as part of the pairing with the car. Personally I don't really see how this can be the case without a hard connection, but can anyone here shed any light on this?

He's wrong. The phone is transmitting the call not the car. It's just relaying the sound to the car via bluetooth.

[ShereKhan]

My previous kit had its own aerial and it was being used rather than the phone based aerial.

My new kit a Parrot relies on the phone aerial.

So the question you need to ask if the aerial is relayed via bluetooth as my old kit was making the calls - the process was called SIM access mode by my old kit.

[normanh]

whats the problem are you getting a bad reception with Blackberry or is it the same I have had SE's and samsung D900 which do not have in car kits reception fine, adddress/contacts fine everything fine in fact BMW are so far behind with kits for the phones its a joke. Buy an in car charger thats all you need if at all and put the phone in your pocket