Bluetake Bluetooth Adapter, Headphones and Audio Station

Reviews: Multimedia

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Richard Poelling
Kurtis
Bluetake
Dec. 22, 2004

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Interoperability

So each one of these products can stand on its own, but one of the great features of Bluetooth technology is its ability to interoperate. Let the mix-n-matching begin.

USB adapter to Headphones

To me, this was a no-brainer. If the headphones will sync to a cell phone, why not to a computer? The i-Phono does have a built-in microphone for talking on a cell phone, so it would be nice if I could sync it up with a computer and use not only the head phones, but also the mic. I did finally get this set up, although it was by no means quick and easy. Only after several emails back and forth with Bluetake did I actually get sound from them. Unfortunately, whatever sound you do get will not be very good because the USB adapter does not support stereo sound.

Hi-Phono receiver paired with the USB adapter

This pairing went down the same as pairing the headphones with the USB adapter. I was able to recognize the device and set it up as an "audio sink." But really, since the USB adapter does not support stereo sound, the sound you will get isn't worth the hassle to set it up.

I-Phono headphones with Hi-Phono transceiver

We have a winner! By pairing the transceiver of the Hi-phono system with the headphones of the i-phono system, you will now have a very nice set of wireless headphones. The pairing of these two products is really what Bluetooth technology is all about. The pairing of the headphones with the transceiver took less than 10 seconds and the results are great! What makes this pairing so good is the higher power of the Hi-phono transceiver. Rather than the shorter class II of the i-phono transmitter, which comes with the device, the class I transceiver of the Hi-phono system can go up to 50m. Placing this on a computer centrally located in the house, I was able to get good sound throughout my home. I was even able to walk out my backdoor approximately 20 ft before the unit began to produce static. The sound was the same as when using the transmitter which came with the unit, it just had better range. Battery power was much more noticeable when used at longer distances. As the unit began to lose power, your range will slowly start to decrease. Obviously this was much more pronounced when I was at the edge of its effective range.

Obviously, pairing all these devices together was not 100% successful. Thinking I might actually need to call tech support for help I searched Bluetake's website for a phone number to call. The only available phone numbers are located in their "company info" section and non of them are toll free. All support results just led to the online email form. Realizing email was my last chance I attempted to contact Bluetake by this method. So far two emails have received no response, and a third has been submitted so I will see if the third time is a charm. After the third try I did finally receive a response, not from any technical links, but from the "I might be interested to buy" link. I think Bluetake has a great distance to go to beef up their tech support.

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Page 5 of 6

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: First Impressions
Page 3: Getting Started
Page 4: Testing
Page 5: Interoperability
Page 6: Conclusion

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1 User Comment

1 - Posted by jwinograd on May 27, 2005 - 4:46 pm

No one should buy any Bluetake products unless you are willing to live without any technical support. I've had several problems with my i-PHONO BT420 headset and sent them emails on 4-Mar-05, 5-Mar-05, 13-Mar-05, and two on 12-May-05. The emails went to bluetake@bluetake.com, which is the address generated by their End User Enquiry Form on their website. I've tried both techniques -- filling out the form and sending emails directly. I've never gotten a single reply (and I can't find a phone number for them). I just sent a sixth email today asking them if their company is still in business and, if so, how I get technical support. I haven't heard back and, quite frankly, don't expect to. The headset cost me nearly $200 and I'm very angry that it's not working properly, but even angrier that I can't get any help from the company. Caveat emptor! Regards, Joe

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