Hands free on the VIA 120 (change to a GO 1000?)

[sandersra]

Helloooo all!

Well I've just moved over to TomTom from my Garmin device, my primary reason being for the HD Traffic service.

I bought the VIA 120 two days ago and have been somewhat impressed by it, but I'm not convinced. Since having it, I've got stuck in the menu's where back or next doesn't respond, meaning I have to switch the device off and on.

The voice control seems to get my commands wrong quite easily (and I don't speak in a weird manner). Finally, today I phoned a friend using the hands free calling (paired to by Blackberry 9700) - he said he could hear me, but it sounded like I was faaaaaar away. I then called him using my headset which worked perfectly. This doesn't really give me much hope for this device.

Do you think -

a. I am being stupid and should give the device more of a chance; or​

b. I have bought a dud VIA 120 and should swap to for a working unit, or​

c. Hands free calling on the VIA 120 live is not really worthwhile on any unit, or​

d. I should return the VIA 120 and get the GO LIVE 1000​

The GO LIVE is not a huge amount more than the 120 so wouldn't mind doing this. But if the hands free on that is also not going to be that spectacular then I'll probably stay with the 120.

Thank you for any of your helpful advice or insight!

 

[Andy_P]

'c' and not 'd'

I don't think you'll find a huge difference between the Via and the Go on this aspect.

TBH it's a bit unfair comparing a Tomtom on the dashboard with a BT headset as the mic is vastly closer on the headset (sound level follows the "inverse-square" law so if you double the distance to the mic you only get a quarter of the audio power and if you triple it you only get a ninth!)

But that doesn't alter the fact that other dashboard-mounted devices manage a bit better than the TomTom's I've tried.

 

[sandersra]

Hi Andy,

Thanks for your reply, much appreciated. Do you use the hands free on your TomTom? Just needing to get a feel then if there is something wrong with the mic, or if that is just the way it is.

I don't expect to to be the same as my headset, but do expect it to be relatively functional.

Thx!

 

[Andy_P]

I have done in the past and it was never very good.

I got better results just resting the phone on my knee and using it's loudspeaker function and speaking loudly (naughty in the UK I know, but it's nearly "hands free").


But I would think there are a lot of people here with MUCH more experience of this aspect and hands-free in general, so don't take just my word for it.

 

[mvl]

The speaker on the GO models is much much better than the VIA models, so you can hear your calls better.

The microphones on either model aren't great, you have to yell loud to speak over all the background car noise.

I've learned to always yell, and the other line doesn't seem to have much of a problem hearing me.

 

[sandersra]

Made the second call from the VIA this morning and the same call cut issue came up. You're speaking to the caller, then out of the blue, the audio vanishes. You can't hear them , they can't hear you. Grab the phone and switch to the phones speakerphone then all is fine. Hmmm...

Perhaps I should take it back.

Thanks for everyone's advice!

 

[mvl]

Have you updated your via 120 to the latest software app (10.500)? I've seen that problem on earlier apps, but not (yet) on 10.500.

 

[sandersra]

Hi mvl, yup, checked the software version - it definitely was 10.500 (took a photo with my phone in case someone wanted the full version numbers).

Took the VIA 120 back and got the GO 1000 LIVE. Hands free calls from it were much better!

Thanks for everyone's help

 

[Andy_P]

I don't think you'll find a huge difference between the Via and the Go on this aspect.

Took the VIA 120 back and got the GO 1000 LIVE. Hands free calls from it were much better!

Good to hear you're happy with the new one. :thumb:

Glad to be proved wrong on this occasion! (just don't do it too often please )