Cell Phone Headsets?

stm42 asks: "I drive 45 miles to and from work each day and I have found that a great way to spend the time productively is to use it to make the phone calls I have to make to employees, co-workers, bosses, etc. I want to be safe, however, and would like to find a headset for cell phones (with a regular headphone jack) that works and is fairly comfortable. I currently use a Plantronics over the ear style and it will stay on my head but I usually have to push the earphone to my ear to hear the other person and that pretty much eliminates the usefulness of the headset. Any suggestions?"

Comments

Next up:

[abulafia]

"At the grocery store: Paper or plastic?"

"Should I wear white or green socks with these pants?"

"Oven ranges: Olive or Off-white?"

Must be a really slow day over at Slashdot HQ...

Earbuds (not jabber eargels)

[JofCoRe]

I like the earbud one that I have that came w/my Nokia phone. It's just a simple earbud with a mike on the line, and a clip so i can clip it to my shirt. I tried the jabber ones, but didn't really care for the gel earpiece... much too hard to get in and out of my ear. This simple little nokia one works great for me.

(personally I like to be unproductive during my 45 min - hour drive in though. I like to take the time to relax and enjoy the drive rather than working every second of the day. but that's just me :)

oh yeah... FP?

Re:Earbuds (not jabber eargels)

[xWeston]

I have the Jabra Earbud that has the "gel" earpiece like he said. Mine has the microphone integrated to the earpiece instead of on the line. I've found it to be very easy to get in and out of my ear... it just takes a simple twist as said in the directions.

The sound quality for the listener is good, but I've had complaints about it not being as good on the other end, or being exceptionally loud.

It is impossible to drive with the windows down while using the earpiece in my left ear because of the wind noise.

However, I've killed many hr+ car rides by making phone calls and doing business on the road. It makes it hard when people want you to write something down, but that is what the recording feature on the phone is for!

Most of the time I use AM Radio to kill the car rides so that at least I'm thinking a little bit.

One suggestion

[LordOfYourPants]

Using a headset does make using your cell phone safer (it frees up a hand) but the real danger lies in the fact that you're attempting to have a focused conversation while driving at 60 mph.

I wouldn't have piped up at all had you not said "I wanted to be safe." But based on that, my best advice is to use the cell phone as little as possible while in your car.

Speakerphone

[linuxwrangler]

As others have mentioned, studies indicate that the fact that you are concentrating on something other than driving is the real safety factor, not the fact that you are holding a phone.

Studies also indicate that cell-phone use is unfairly singled out as it is generally less of a safety factor than other things drivers are known to do. (IIRC, adjusting the radio/changing tapes or CDs was #1. Others included eating, checking maps, shaving, getting distracted by kids or pets.) Cell phones aren't worse, just more visible.

Having said that, my sister has a very nice speakerphone that attaches to the rods on the headrest. It is a horizontal rod with a speaker on each end and a flexible microphone holder. I generally can't tell that she is in the car (well, except for the squealing tires, screaming passengers, shattering glass and other side-effects of Cell Phone While Driving Syndrome). I don't know if this is the exact model but it looks similar:
http://www.herringtoncatalog.com/m112.ht ml

+1

[mcmonkey]

Shut up and drive.