08-27-2004, 05:40 PM
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Magi
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,186
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Talking Free, Wirelessly: The Tekram-312 Bluetooth Headset
This is the first article in a series of four on using the Pocket PC as a wireless telephone replacement.
Product Category: Bluetooth Headset
Manufacturer: Tekram Systems
Where to Buy: Computer HQ
Price: $61.00 USD
System Requirements: Any device that has bluetooth and the Audio Gateway profile
Specifications: 68.5mm x 26mm x 25.3mm, 19 grams
Pros:- Eye candy;
- Good battery life;
- Comfortable.
Cons:- Average voice quality;
- Blinking light can be annoying;
- Weird recharging behaviour.
Summary:
This is a very good-looking, comfortable Bluetooth headset. Why is Pocket PC Thoughts reviewing a Bluetooth headset? Because they can be used with Pocket PCs!
Read on for the full review!
Thinning the Herd
There seem to be a billion of these Bluetooth headset things on the market now, and more are being introduced all the time. The problem with this is that it�s easy to get lost in the crowd. A time-tested method of getting noticed is to have a pretty face. One of the recent arrivals on the shores of North America is the Tekram-312. Straight lines? We don�t need no straight lines. Make it curvy, said the Tekram designers. Give it a slight hourglass shape, give it some hips. Paint it red and it�d look at home in a �76 Corvette.
Rather than fading into anonymity, the silver Tekram headset jumps out and grabs attention. I wore the thing daily for a few weeks, leaving it on in Starbucks, grocery stores, even the gas station. People actually came up to me and asked me about it on numerous occasions, and I got quite a few stares. Not the kind of stares that precede a non-chalant edging away, but curious stares, and dare I say, a bit of envy.
The Tekram designers managed to cram a lot of functionality into the little device. Let�s take a look from stem to stern.
Let's Get Physical
Figure 1: A) This thing is small.
B) I am not a yeti.
Physically, the unit is small and light, 2 � inches long and 1 inch wide. These are good qualities for something that�s going to be hanging off of your ear for hours at a time. The back of the unit features the earpiece, which is held on by a little rubber�um�sphincter is the best word I can think of, unfortunately. Whatever you call it, it�s useful. To switch ears, you simply tug on the earpiece, and it comes free from the post. You can then flip it over and put it back on the post, and you�re good to go. The default size of the earpiece is pretty comfortable, but you can adjust it by pulling up on the slider, which reveals another � inch of wiggle room. I found that pulling the slider out halfway was the most comfortable, and allowed the microphone to point in the direction of my mouth rather than my eyeballs.
Figure 2: The soft underbelly. Note the
buttons and the slider arm on the earpiece.
At the pointy end of the front of the headset is a little hole for the microphone. I don�t have much else to say about that, except that the unit apparently features noise cancellation. Logically, it would cancel bad noise while letting good noise through. To test this, I held the unit up to the TV when �The Nanny� was on, but sadly, Fran Drescher�s voice came through crystal clear. I think the sheer volume of bad noise overwhelmed the valiant little canceller in the headset, so I�m not going to hold it against Tekram.
Undocumented Feature #1: Headset Hypnosis
The only other feature on the front is a big Bluetooth symbol. In addition to advertising the unit as containing Bluetooth goodness, there are two little LEDs in there, one red and one green. When the �hook� button on the top is pressed for 5 seconds, the green LED turns on and flashes once every 4 seconds, indicating that the unit is on. This doesn�t annoy the operator in the slightest, as most people can�t see the side of their own head, but it may cause slightly glazed looks in the eyes of people you talk to face-to-face for any length of time. I don�t think it�s bad enough to cause seizures, but it could certainly be annoying after awhile.
Pressing the hook button for another 5 seconds triggers the red LED, which flashes to let you know that it�s going to shut the unit down. If you ignore this and continue holding the hook button down for another 5 seconds, you�ll wake up both LEDs, and they�ll flash in sequence. This means that it�s in Discover Mode, and other Bluetooth devices can find it. Once it�s been paired with a device, you don�t need to use Discover Mode again; simply turning on the device is sufficient.
Right next to the hook button is a rocker switch that controls the volume. That�s all it does, and it works fine. The review unit I was given unfortunately had a loose switch, which rattled whenever I moved my head around. I�m not sure if the unit I was given was new or had been a review unit previously, but I would assume that the rattling is an anomaly rather than the rule.
Modes of Transportation
Figure 3: The carrying case is nifty.
One of the cooler things about this headset is the carrying case. It�s a hardshell thingummy, and the headset nests in it like a little plastic hermit crab. I may possibly be taking the simile too far, but you get the idea. The carrying case can accommodate two different modes of portage. A belt-clip is attached by default, and this works well. If belts just aren�t your style, you can remove the clip and wear the case on a lanyard around your neck, courtesy of a little loop on the case. The case is durable and easy to open, but it�s more of a carrying facilitator than an actual case, in that it won�t be very protective if you drop it.
Figure 4: The carrying case with the
belt clip removed.
Charging, Talk Time and Voice Quality
Charging the device is a little quirky. The first thing you have to do is pry open the little rubber flap that covers the power socket. This is not as easy as it seems, and I was frequently worried that I�d rip the thing off trying to get it open. The designers put a little lip on the top edge that (I�m guessing) is supposed to help one get a grip on the flap, but it�s both too small and too flexible to really be of much use. I ended up just digging my fingernail into the thing and it came out just fine.
Figure 5: The power socket. Wow!
When the unit has a low battery and it�s plugged in, the red LED will flash. If, however, the unit determines that the battery is just fine, thank you very much, it�ll just sit there, and will NOT charge. I found this a bit confusing, as it would refuse to charge after I�d used it for an hour or two, when the battery would obviously have been somewhat depleted. This could be a problem if you use the unit for 2 hours one day and need to use it for 5 hours the next.
The good news is that you won�t need to charge the unit all that often � I averaged about 5 hours of talk time per charge, which is pretty good. The battery is a Lithium Polymer 170 mAh unit, and standby time is rated at approximately 190 hours. Voice quality is decent � nothing spectacular, but not terrible, either. You won�t write home about it, because you won�t notice it. That�s good enough for me.
Undocumented Feature #2: Headset can be used with PocketSkype
This headset is a Class 2, version 1.1 compliant unit that supports the Headset Profile. This means that with a bit of registry hacking, it can be made to work with most Pocket PCs. The iPaq line in particular includes the headset profile but has it turned off by default. If you turn it on, you�ll be able to route the sound from your Pocket PC to your bluetooth headset. This is handy if you want to use a program like PocketSkype, which allows you to make free phone calls with your Pocket PC over a WiFi connection. Hacking the registry to turn on the headset profile is the focus of the next article in this series.
Conclusions
The Tekram-312 Bluetooth headset is a great looking, comfortable headset with decent voice quality. Highly recommended!
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08-27-2004, 06:33 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 270
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Great review. It would nice if a group like howardforums would review all the Bluetooth head sets as they came out. A lot of the headsets have a lot of issues like bad audio quality, or super bright LEDs, or they just do not fit on the ear. I wish I had the money to do the reviews. Here are a few reviews I did on headsets. http://www.mbu.com/headsets/ I purchased every one of the headsets and took them back if they did not work well. I have been able to use most of the headsets with my Laptop as an audio device (speaker and mic) but I do not have a PDA with Bluetooth yet. I am still waiting for that VGA PDA the size of the 4150 with out a CF slot.
Sean
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08-27-2004, 07:23 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 171
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I like this...too bad I just got the Plantronics M3000 (heavier and more expensive  and no carrying case.
I was hoping that I could pair a BT headset to my laptop and/or PDA and listen to MP3's wirelessly. Does it work or can I only use it for my phone?
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08-27-2004, 07:30 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 270
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by bkerrins
I was hoping that I could pair a BT headset to my laptop and/or PDA and listen to MP3's wirelessly. Does it work or can I only use it for my phone or can I only use it for my phone?
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Most software for Bluetooth dongles or built in Bluetooth on a laptop support mapping the headset profile to the a Audio device on the laptop. This will work with any headset. It shows up as a second sound card and a second microphone. You tell the OS to use that audio device and apps like windows media players will play mp3�s through your headset. It�s easier then it sounds. Bluetooth does not allow multiple audio streams to on one headset. It would be really cool to play MP3�s from the PDA and when a call comes in on the cell it would mute the PDA. I heard the 6315 will do that but that is because the 6315 is the player and the phone.
Sean
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08-27-2004, 08:03 PM
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Magi
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,186
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by bkerrins
I was hoping that I could pair a BT headset to my laptop and/or PDA and listen to MP3's wirelessly. Does it work or can I only use it for my phone?
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The next article in this series will show you how to hack the registry to enable the Audio Gateway profile. :wink:
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08-27-2004, 08:12 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 141
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Pat Logsdon
Quote:
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Originally Posted by bkerrins
I was hoping that I could pair a BT headset to my laptop and/or PDA and listen to MP3's wirelessly. Does it work or can I only use it for my phone?
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The next article in this series will show you how to hack the registry to enable the Audio Gateway profile. :wink: |
I tried the hack on my 2210, next thing I know I've got a flat battery :? Fortunately I had just done a backup before trying the hack.
I can't find Audio Gateway on my laptop and theres no option in the registry like the 2210 has, any ideas? It uses the Widcomm driver version 1.3.2.7
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08-27-2004, 08:30 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 270
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Dazbot
I can't find Audio Gateway on my laptop and there is no option in the registry like the 2210 has, any ideas? It uses the Widcomm driver version 1.3.2.7
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Some Bluetooth solutions on a laptop do not support audio and some do. With the ones that do you should not have to modify the registry like you do on PPC. I wish MS would spend more time integrating Bluetooth into there PDA OS and Desktop OS. There is a lot of hardware out there.
Sean
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08-27-2004, 09:18 PM
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5000+ Posts? I Should OWN This Site!
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,616
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Does this block most/all external sound from entering the ear the headset is on?
__________________
iPhone 4! ☠☠☠ Mid-2010 15" MacBook Pro! ☠☠☠ Gateway LT2102h! ☠☠☠ Dell XPS M1210!
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08-27-2004, 09:33 PM
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Magi
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,186
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by ctmagnus
Does this block most/all external sound from entering the ear the headset is on?
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Yeah, it's a pretty solid fit - almost as good as my Sony Fontopia in-ear headphones. Volume goes up HIGH , too, so you don't have to push the earpiece all the way in if you find that uncomfortable.
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08-27-2004, 09:46 PM
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5000+ Posts? I Should OWN This Site!
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,616
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:bad-words: I can't use it then. I have only one functioning ear.
__________________
iPhone 4! ☠☠☠ Mid-2010 15" MacBook Pro! ☠☠☠ Gateway LT2102h! ☠☠☠ Dell XPS M1210!
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Linear Mode
