Parrot CK3100 Bluetooth LCD Display Car Kit

by Parrot

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 2 x 0.5 x 3 inches ; 3.8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000621SN0
• Item model number: CK3100
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: December 19, 2005

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

With the Parrot CK3100, you will be able to place and receive calls in comfort and safety, without ever touching your mobile phone. At a time when legislation is tightening up to restrict the use of mobile phones in vehicles due to safety concerns, the Parrot CK3100's benefits are not just for the sake of convenience and comfort -- they are fast becoming a real necessity. The Parrot CK3100 wirelessly connects with all Bluetooth phones on the market and is compatible with all brands. The display of the CK3100 provides the same visual information and functions as your mobile phone, such as caller ID, carrier signal strength, or last calls received, in large well-contrasted digits easy to read at a glance on a screen that can be clipped in the ideal position for the driver to see.

Turn on the car engine and the phone connects wirelessly to the Parrot CK3100 Car Kit. The screen unit has easy-to-navigate menu options just like your phone, and your mobile phone book is wirelessly downloaded to the car kit. Calls can be dialed either through the screen, or by using voice-recognition speed dialing. According to your phone's model and firmware, most features are accessible from the hands free console, including one-touch redial, dual call, and auto-answer.

The Parrot CK3100 Bluetooth car kit can be installed in almost any vehicle, and is designed to automatically mute the radio during use. Incorporating high-quality sound, the CK3100 includes both echo cancellation and noise reduction technology. As with all Parrot car-kit devices, the CK3100 Bluetooth car-kit offers the user seamless, hands-free use without the inconvenience of wires, headsets, or cradles. This unit also features user connection priority management for up to five users, up to 200 voice tags for its voice recognition, multi-user use for up to three phones, private conversation mode, and much more.

Please note this car-kit will not work in cars that use optical cabling. Check with your car dealer before ordering. Also, since this car-kit is installed by hard-wiring to the existing car stereo, professional installation is highly recommended.

What's in the Box
The CK3100 electronic control unit, LCD display with buttons and cable, microphone with cable, radio mute cable with line output (ISO cable), power supply cable, and a user guide in 7 languages.

Product Description

The Parrot CK3100 LCD is the most renowned hands-free car kit on the market. With the Parrot CK3100 LCD, you will be able to place and receive calls in comfort and safety, without ever touching your mobile phone. The wireless connection between the Parrot CK3100 LCD and the Bluetooth phone and its voice recognition system is enabled as long as the phone is turned on. At a time when legislation is tightening up to restrict the use of mobile phones in vehicles due to safety concerns, Parrot CK3100 LCD benefits are not just for the sake of convenience and comfort - they are fast becoming a real necessity.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Real Deal, April 27, 2008

By 

L. Arthur (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Parrot CK3100 Bluetooth LCD Display Car Kit (Electronics)

I played with one of these at Best Buy and thought the display was hard to read and the knob and buttons felt cheap. When I ordered my unit I got the newer all BLACK version display panel and these things have been improved. I chose the 3100 model because I realized I don't have a lot of space on my cars dash to put a lot of displays.

I ordered mine with not just a custom wiring harness for my 1998 Accord EX, but with a custom wiring harness which includes prewired mute configuration (quickconnectproducts dot com). I was dreading having to run the wiring for power until I realized I didn't have too!! The power is also automatically taken via the wiring harness from the power going to the radio. I installed it myself in about 1 hour.

The Parrot has some thoughtful ergonomic design. Very functional. For example, when you turn your key ignition off while on a call, instead of going dead and dropping the call, it continues to to stay on and asks you if you would like to transfer the audio back to the phone! How cool is that.

Audio quality is great. First, unlike my 2008 RAV4 factory bluetooth which is very good, the Parrot is FULL DUPLEX which means both of you can talk at the same time which allows much smoother conversations. It has the magic DSP background noise elimination so callers don't hear the road noise. All the echo is cancelled as well, and your voice is processed to remain strong and loud despite being distant from the microphone. Callers tell me I sound like I am directly talking on the phone and not on a speaker phone. The Parrot audio amp which sends sound to the car speakers does have a small amount of high frequency hiss/noise in the background; however this isn't a problem as you can only hear it when the engine is shut off.

Even though the Parrot doesn't have an interface for your steering wheel controls (I don't have them anyway), you can still operate some of the key functions via voice recognition. Because the Parrot voice recognition limits you to half a dozen voice commands, they actually work!

The 2-3 line display of the Parrot CK3100 is plenty of display for me. Some users may not even need a model with a display. The display indicates phone battery charge and cellular signal strength, although on my Palm Treo 700p with Verizon the cell signal strength is not accurate as displayed on the CK3100 display.

Mounting the display and microphone for these types of devices in a car is always a challenge. However, the Parrot kit includes several different mounts for both the display and microphone. Some quite unique and helpful. The best assortment of actually useful mounting hardware I have seen.

When talking on my cell phone while driving, I am aware that my attention is diverted. I don't like it. So for some time now I have used a Plantronics headset (great product). That improved the situation some but then I tried talking via bluetooth speakerphone in our 2008 RAV4. Talking on speakerphone is VERY different. It is much safer in my opinion. It is just like talking to the person sitting next to you in the car. I would encourage everyone who wants to be a safer less distracted driver while on the cell to get a GOOD QUALITY FULL DUPLEX speakerphone for their car. The Parrot 3100 fits the bill.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Parrot car kit, great product, March 7, 2007

By 

Longboarder (Boynton Beach, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Parrot CK3100 Bluetooth LCD Display Car Kit (Electronics)

I just completed the installation of this unit in my Chevrolet Avalanche. The one thing that was not known to me prior to purchase is the need for an aftermarket wiring harness adapter to hook the Parrot unit to my factory Bose system. I did some research online and found only one company who provided the harness for $80.00 so do your research before buying. The harness that comes with the unit is based on european ISO connectors found in mercedes benz, volkswagen and other cars, you could splice into your existing system but it is NOT recommended what so ever.

Once the harness arrived the install was easy for me since I have previous experience with removing the factory system, avoiding the theftlock etc. The unit was easy to mount on the dashboard with the provided double sided tape, the microphone also has many different adapters for different locations, I used the smallest self sticking pad placing the mic on the top of the steering column between the steering wheel and instrument cluster. The main unit is hidden within my center console so the overall installtion is very clean.

The unit hooked up to my Verizon VX8300 phone with no problems, the phone book and voice activation system works great. The volume is very loud but adjustable and so far anyone I have talked to did not know I was on a hands free system even at 70-75 mph interstate speeds.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Works great with the HTC Touch ... 90% of the time, April 28, 2008

By 

ProVideoEditor "oilcan1000" (Orange, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Parrot CK3100 Bluetooth LCD Display Car Kit (Electronics)

If you're anything like me, you've probably been coaxed (or coerced) by you're friendly local law enforcement into buying a bluetooth solution for your car. I've owned bluetooth headsets for about 3 years, but the newest California State law mandates that by July 1, 2008, drivers must be handsfree or they WILL be ticketed (with exceptions of course i.e. emergencies). My habitual forgetfulness, namely me leaving my BT headset at home a couple days a week, led me to insist on a solution that was impossible to forget. Enter the Parrot CK3100.

Be prepared to spend -AT LEAST- $250 for purchase AND installation. And again, if you're anything like me, for the love of god DON'T try this install yourself. Complicated is an understatement.

Professional installation takes about 2 hours. Once complete, ask to sync your phone with the unit BEFORE you leave. Good technicians will have already tested their own BT devices during install. If everything goes well, the unit will sync and download your contacts database and call log. Then just record your "keywords" into the device, and you're off and running.

Calls have never been easier or distraction-free to place while behind the wheel. Simply speak "PHONE", your stereo will mute, then either the Parrot -OR- your phone (depending on your preference -AND- whether your phone supports voice-dialing) will prompt you for a voice-dial entry. Speak, and the device places the call. To hang up, merely speak "HANG UP". Couldn't be easier.

There are, however, a couple of cons with the device.

First, after you startup your car, speak "PHONE" and every time you could be waiting as long as 20 seconds until the unit prompts you for a voice input. I've just gotten used to saying "PHONE" when I get in my car, to activate the unit. Just unnecessary considering how well the unit performs otherwise.

Second, and thankfully NOT in the middle of a call, the unit stalls and then resets ... usually right after I say "PHONE". Irksome.

Third, think of good keywords to use, PLEASE. People start to wonder about you when, at the end of your conversation, you exclaim "HANG UP". ... What? No not you, HANG UP! Why? Why what? No, it's this darn thing I have to talk to it to hang up HANG UP!! Okay!!! NO!!! WHAT!?!?! HANG UP!!!! WHADDYA WANT ME TA DO!!?!?! NO HANG UP!!!!! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!?!?!! You'll find yourself in the next Abbott and Costello routine.

Save some lives, save your own, save the time it takes to dial a number, and buy yourself a Parrot CK3100. Worth it.