Customer Reviews

Motorola PC850 Adapter and Bluetooth H500 Headset - Skype VoIP Bundle [Motorola Retail Packaging]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I'm a computer professional, and use a lot of other wireless technology for a variety of things - so I finally decided to get a BT headset for use with Skype (which I'm using more often these days). I've tried using this kit with Win XP/SP2 and Mac OS X 10.4.4 - and have toyed a little with it in Linux.

I got suckered in by this kit in a store (headset + dongle), and figured I'd give it a shot, after checking out many favorable reviews of the H500 online. Unfortunately, the reviews I read were all about how it works with BT cellphones - I should have dug deeper.

The headset itself works fairly well - sound quality on my end is decent, volume is usually fine (depends on both sides of the call, of course), and battery life so far has been great. However, every single person I've talked to has complained of a background "buzz" that sometimes makes it difficult to hear me. Also, they note that every once in a while the sound "hiccups", and they hear a repeat of something I just said (ie they hear the same bit twice in a row...and then it skips forward a few secs to catch up with me). I've tested it out a bit with the Skype test account system ("Echo123"), and heard the problems myself...

Since I've been using Skype for a couple of years now (with wired headsets) with no trouble, I'm fairly confident that it's not related to Skype itself or my computers...

I originally suspected the cheap USB dongle (Moto PC850), but my Mac laptop has a built-in BT card, and it has the same problem - so the trouble must be either with the headset itself, or how it all works together with Skype. So it's back to reading reviews for me, to find another solution.

I definitely recommend against this "2-in-1" kit - save yourself the time/hassle and grief and get separate (better quality) pieces.

When I saw this product in the store, I thought it might be a good deal. I have a Motorola blue tooth headset that I've had for about a year, and people can hear me pretty well on it. This has "Skype certified" on it, so I thought I'd be in luck. I've used Skype with a regular ear phones and PC mike before without a problem, but it was too many wires to deal with for long calls.

As soon as I opened the box, I knew to expect trouble. The CD that comes with it is of the mini-disc type, and wouldn't fit into my laptop. So I used my desktop to try it. The desktop is not wireless, so I figured I should get better performance. The instructions were accurate, but cumbersome. The buyer receives two sets of instructions (one for headset use, one for use with Skype) as if this product were not a collaborative effort.

So I got the earpiece working and made a test call. I heard myself relatively clearly, after tinkering with the settings. I left a message on my answering machine, and it was okay when I was within 15 feet of the USB piece. So, I tried it for its intended purpose...an international conference call to a land line at dirt cheap rates. I was able to hear the other person, but they could not hear me over interference. I tried several calls to the same number, without much luck. I tried calling a local cell #, and they heard the same interference. I shut off the bluetooth on my cell phone, and my laptop, but the reception never improved. What good is this thing if I have to turn off other wireless/bluetooth devices and cordless phones?

I have used Skype and know from others that it is somewhat reliable. I searched both Skype's and Motorola's websites, and found only basic information on common causes of interference. I feel like quality fell through the cracks in getting this product out to market. I am going to try IPEVO b/c others have told me about it (I have no association with them). So from the avg. rating of 3, I deduct 1 star for performance and 1 star for support.

I bought this bundle at Fry's. I got it primarily for the H500 headset to use with my cell phone, a Blackberry Pearl 8100. The H500 works fine with it. The sound quality is not great - there are a few cracks and pops, but it serves the purpose well of being able to take calls while driving without having to removing the Blackberry from its holster and press the answer button, which is very dangerous.

The PC850 adapter is another story altogether. I wanted to use it with Yahoo messenger to make voice calls with online buddies. I have tried wired headsets, but I can't use them because my cats keep chewing the headset cable each time I get a new one. So I was hoping this Bluetooth headset would be the solution. But alas, no joy :-( Unlike other posters, my computer is a desktop and I was able to install the software from the miniCD . I was able to start making calls. The sound quality was significantly worse than with the cell phone, even with the H500 located only 3ft away from the PC850. This may be due to the amount of electronics I have in my home office. But what really made it useless is that the PC kept losing the connection to the H500 in the middle of calls, usually with 2-3 minutes. I don't know if the problem lies with the PC850 or its software.

I called Motorola support about this problem. The lady from India wanted to send me another CD. I kept telling her that I could read the CD just fine. I asked if there was a new version to download. After repeating and rephrasing the question multiple times and being put on hold a while, it turned out I already had the latest version, and there is none available for download. I was referred to Widcomm, which I was told makes the PC850. Widcomm was acquired by Broadcom, and they don't offer end-user support - they say that the manufacturer of each device customizes the software and supports it themselves. So, basically, the PC850 software is unsupported. Beware ! I'm considering returning the bundle PC850/H500 and getting only a Bluetooth headset for my phone due to this fact, and looking into separate USB wireless headset for the computer/VoIP use.

Do not buy this product for VOIP applications (Skype, GoogleTalk, YahooVoice.) The buzzing noise will drive you and the receiver of your calls crazy. Multiple attempts to resolve the issue and a replacement unit have not resolved the problem. Tech support acts like they've never heared of a complaint like this --- Ha! You can see from the reviews that it is a persistent problem.

Bought this product thru Amazon and received it yesterday. The installation of the drivers for the laptop is a bit long with Windows poping up messages saying "could not load usb device properly", but however the software installs everything and without a problem. The coupling of the headset to the computer is a breeze and then comes the moment of truth. The bluetooth headset works perfectly with Skype and Yahoo Messenger. It basically is a replacement for you computer speakers and mic. It gives you the freedom to walk around and do other stuff while being in the vicinty of your computer (bluetooth limited by a 30 feet distance). Call clarity is pretty good with static coming in if I go beyond the range of the device. In all am really satisfied with this device and would definitely recommend it.

i can't tell you how much i hated this product. i ended up returning it.
the instructions for the usb key that makes your pc or laptop wireless are poor and don't cover the range of things going on with the key. for the headset they talk about different tones, but not all the tones that you hear on that thing so you never know what's going on.
this thing would kack out on me for no reason and beyond simply trying to re-connected it, i couldn't get it to work. within the first two days the software took out my laptop, and i had to call dell and do a system restore to save my system from being totally frigged.
then when the thing actually did work, there was always a buzzing and people complained about it.
i went to motorola's web site to find more information and the didn't have the instructions up. how about this, how about a guide, with the sound files that you'd hear for different things, e.g., click here for this sound, this is what you're supposed to hear when you're connected, this sound is what you hear when you have a call on hold, this sound etc etc
i used to work at a mobility carrier and motorola had a bad rep for user design.
overall this product wasted about 6 hours of my life in the first 2 weeks i had it and really pissed me off. would not recommend.

Even though it all install correctly - it does not work. No sound will go through the device. THis is really bad - i bought it to eliminate these probs as it was SKYPE certified. NOT!

Unhappy with the Motorola product. Headset is noisy, poor bluetooth connectivity, both with the dongle and with my PDA. The software to the dongle slows down my computer drastically. Skype plus this headset is very very poor quality .. am sticking to my normal phone.

I got this specific item for the USB adapater to use VoIP on my PC. The USB adapter came with a CD that contained only drivers, no instructions. The headset had no setup instructions. My PC cannot detect the headset. It detected my cell phone from 50 feet away, but not the headset that's within 3 inches of the PC's bluetooth antenna. And the power plug is European with a US adapter.

When I unplugged the USB adapter, my PC crashed -- blue screened. That means a bad driver, bad software. I know being a Microsoft developer is challenging (no standard drivers nor APIs yet), but I'm surprised that MOTO did such a bad job.

Bottom line, the USB adapter didn't work for me.

So, shall I keep the headset only for talking on my cell phone? It interfaced with the phone with no setup. The sound quality is so-so.

And what's with the pricing for the headset? My husband got the nickel colored one, I the bubble gum pink. There's a light green one that I would have gotten, had I seen it. The pricing is different for different colors, same model number (no USB adapter). The price difference can be as great as fifty bucks. ????

I knew I was in trouble when the driver CD was one of those mini disks that have trouble fitting into the disk tray. After fumbling with the small size, the installation process kept giving me error messages. I finally struggled through that and got the software installed. Then I went directly to Device Manager and downloaded the most recent software updates. Thinking that was done, I tried the pairing of the headset device to the bluetooth. No problem here, pairing went off without any troubles. Connecting too was a breeze. I was able to get the little icon to turn from red to green, the headset beeped and the little BT icon in the system tray turned colors. I thought I was connected. Then the first Skype call. Nothing. I went to the Tools>Options>Audio Settings in Skype and tried to find some kind of drop down or interface that would connect the headset to the program but nothing. I unplugged my speakers, turned my mobile phone off, and unplugged another BT device in my office thinking there might be interference somewhere. Nothing. No matter what I do, nothing will get the two things connected. BTW, the headset works fine with my Blackberry and Skype works great with the wired headset as usual. The worst part is you're all alone. Motorola wants to offload the situation to the manufacturer and the manufacturer asks if you've downloaded the most current software. Is it any wonder why Motorola has lost its way. For me the Moto PC850 is a piece of junk and Motorola a sinking ship.