cleblanc

I just bought a new ES350 and now want to buy a bluetooth cell phone to pair with it. I use Verizon. Any recommendations on which phone I should purchase that would work well. It would also help to know the pros and cons of each. I hear that the bluetooth works much better with the Gen 5 navigation system so hopefully I won't have any problems.

oneeyejack

verizon phones SUCK when it comes to bluetooth because a lot of their capabilities are limited and turned off by verizon. you should be fine though if you're just using it to connect to the car. can't really recommend one over another cuz i've never tried with the gen 5 but try the phone out. if it doesn't work then find another one that will connect better. it's usually the firmware of the phone that will determine how well the bluetooth works.

subparrnd

TRUE to all that was said. Verizon turns off the capability of transfering data, whether through bluetooth or through infared. My suggestions would be to go with another cell provider like cingular or t-mobile if you want to be able to use the data tranfer that's available in the Lexus nav systems.

cleblanc

I just read that Verizon is now enabling the OBEX profile in the Motorola Razr phone. Does anyone know if this is true? If so, sounds like this would be a good choice.

dp5

When I bought my last cell phone, I bought an unlocked phone from a local cellular store that was not affiliated with my service provider. The phone I bought is actually a European phone. Their phones can be used with different provider by just switching the SIM card and they have all of the features unlocked. As a bonus, your phone will worked in other parts of the world when on vacation or business. I know that these phones work with Cingular and AT&T. I'd check to see if they work with Verizon and it may solve your problem.

SPES350

I also just bought my es350, have verizon, and want to upgrade to a bluetooth phone. my dealer has a verizon phone and said you can't transfer the phone book and there's some other limitations, but he offered to set it up for me. He says everything else is fine including sound quality, dialing, etc with his LG phone.
I have also heard the RAZR upgrades but the OBEX issue doesn't sound completely solved -- see the discussion here or others like it on the web
http://cavemonkey50.com/2006/04/veri...fers-on-razrs/

qliu34

Verizon does NOT use SIM cards in their phones. Different types of network.

dp5

Well.........never mind, then.

revlis240

to anyone that says verizon phone suck, you sir are misinformed.

heres the benefits of the verizon phones, ESPECIALLY with GenV nav..

1) no delay when making calls from the phone
2) no DROPPED CALL ON CALL WAITING (this will happen with your cingular/tmob motorola)

since GenV gives you the ability to add numbers one by one anyway, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain..

consider going with the Verizon E815, its working the very best with the cars right now..

-Abe
SyncWireless

Rockville

Bluetooth feature limitations have been solved by the new Lexus bluetooth interface. You can make your own phonebook independently in the ES350 (also IS250/350, GS450h, RX3350). It gives you icons to select if it's a home, work, mobile phone etc. and you can arrange numbers into groups. The Motorola phones work the best with Verizon. The LG phones are not as reliable. The PDA phones will work but have mixed performance and speech quality. You can't buy an "unlocked" GSM phone and use it with CDMA type systems like Verizon and Sprint. The Samsung phones on Sprint do not work well with the Lexus system though they might be good phones otherwise. I've had complaints on three different Samsung models after pairing so I would stay away from them.

Rock

ikey78

How do you make your own phonebook independently without transferring from the phone? Is there a way to type the phone number and name on the Nav screen? Also is the dialing keypad still disabled while the car is moving?

oneeyejack

no it's not true but you CAN hack the razr to enable a LOT of their feature including obex and browser capabilities.

oneeyejack

misinformed in what way???? verizon limits EVERY feature in their phones because they want to charge people to download ringtones, wallpapers, themes, etc.

i've never had a delay with my tmobile phone dialing through the navi.

yeah i'm sure people want to add 500+ contacts in their phones one by one. that's a lot of fun.

their service on the other hand is great.

cleblanc

So which Motorola phone would be better with Verizon - the E815 for the Razr. I have read that you can put firmware version 2 back on the Razr that would enable OBEX and then upgrade to version 4. But going straight to 4 would not give you the OBEX.
I'm assuming that the E815 does not allow OBEX at all. If I don't have a lot of contacts to transfer to the phone, which would be the better phone to use with the ES350. I plan on getting either of these phones and want to make the best choice.

revlis240

Verizon may disable OBEX and what not (not that u cant get around that) but what do you need OBEX for? are you planning on sending pics to your nav?

anyway, step into a GenIV car and try making a call from your tmobile phone, it will cut the first 5-10 seconds of the conversation. then, when youre talking to someone, have someone call you, and ignore the incoming call and it will drop your CURRENT call.

your tmobile razr only lets you send one contact at a time, the same bindings that are found with verizon + genV, so there is essentially no difference.

to answer your question as to E815 or RAZR, go with the E815 because the razr will NOT let you do pauses in the system, where are the 815 will.

trust me guys i own a company that does these connections everyday, we have done thousands and are coming up on a year with these systems, so i assure you its all been tested

Abe