Can it be too good?
By Terry Currier
February 2011
The SuperTooth Buddy is
a hands free Bluetooth speakerphone (bar) for your car. On the back is a strong
round magnet, and it comes with a metal clip you put over your sun visor. You
simply “attach” the unit to the metal clip. Pairing it to my phone was very
easy. It can be paired with two mobile phones simultaneously, if both wish to
use it at the same time it will default to the last one paired. In fact it will
remember and pair up to eight phones.
While driving you are facing the microphone so it picks up your speaking very well. In testing it my wife said I sounded very clear. The microphone is designed to absorb noise and vibrations to enhance outgoing voice quality. It has full duplex audio with echo canceling and a double noise canceller. The speaker produced good sound with plenty of volume. If your phone supports it you can also use call waiting, and voice dialing.
I tested it with a Samsung phone. It uses Bluetooth version 2.1, they say it is compatible with all Bluetooth phones, including iPhone, Blackberry and smartphones (Android O.S., Windows Mobile).
You may be temped to turn it off when not in use, but the SuperTooth Buddy has a standby charge of 40 days (1,000 hours.) Talk time is up to 20 hours. It was easy to just leave it on all the time and have it automatically reconnect with my cell phone when I got into the car. Note: it did take a couple of minutes for the reconnect, it was not instant. When the charge is low it gives a steady red light behind the multi-function button. With the adapter they supply you plug it into the cigarette lighter socket and it will charge in three hours. If you want it can also be charged from a PC via USB Cable.
I really did like the SuperTooth Buddy for its clarity, so why did I ask can it be too good? Well the strength of the connection is actually too strong. It says it will connect up to 30 feet away from the unit, and it’s true. I can have the car parked on my driveway walk in, and in the back of the house hear the phone and read the message on the phone saying Bluetooth was disconnected. That would not be so bad, but I can actually walk to the front of the house and have my cell phone reconnect to the unit on the driveway. And of course the microphone and sound functions are transferred to the SuperTooth Buddy – in the car. I have parked the car and in a straight line get about 50 feet away before it finally disconnects.
Dial2Do www.dial2do.com
While not exclusive to SuperTooth Buddy a new service was listed on their website since I started the review. Dial2Do allows the subscriber to create reminders, send texts, listen to and send email, and access your favorite 3rd party services - all while keeping your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road. They say it will work with any phone, but have extra features on Smartphones.
When you subscribe to the service you are given a number to call. When you do call a voice will ask you what do you want to do. Some of the other things you can do is check your calendar, Toodledo task list, Post to your blog on Wordpress, weather, news, and yes you can even Twitter. You can try a free 30 day trial of their basic service – create and listen to reminders, voice to text transcription, and Smartphone applications. The Basic will cost you $2.49/month or $24.99/year. With the pro version you can do all the other neat things at a cost of $5.99/month or $59.99/year.
Price: $59.99 at http://www.hypercel.com/Z004088E
Company Website: www.supertooth.net
Membership in WINNERS is $20 annually for individuals with $5 for each additional family member. The newsletter is emailed to the members in PDF format.
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