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pgrier

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  • Lexus Model
    2002 LS430 SE

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  1. There is a setting in one of the menus to change the distance that each bleep sounds, so you can tell the parking display to sound the final, solid beep at a variety of distances. Hope this answers your question! All the best Paul
  2. OK, here's some feedback on the Parrot CK3000 Bluetooth carkit. The system is fairly awesome. It consists of a microphone, a box of tricks that does all the work, a speaker, and a small (2 cm wide by 1 cm high) two-button switchbox with a "dial" and a "hangup" button. It works pretty much seamlessly with the Ericsson T68i. First thing to do is set up the "in-car" profile on the T68i with specific words for "activate phone", "home", "work", "mobile", and "end call". Then pair the phone with the carkit, which was dead easy and outlined in great detail in the instruction manual. Then set up voice commands for all the numbers you want to be able to dial or recognise as incoming calls. The advantage of the Ericsson is that you can have up to 100 of these I think, as opposed to a much lower number on the Nokia. Finally configure the "in car" profile on the phone to use Voice Assisted commands. The way it works on a day to day basis is: Get into the car, and switch your phone to "in car" and "Bluetooth on" (assuming it's not always on). Turn on the engine of the car. After 10 seconds or so, the speaker beeps to indicate it's paired with your phone, and the phone list in the car synchronises with the list on the phone. To dial, you say the word that you've associated with the "activate phone" setting (in my case "voldemort" :) ). The radio then turns off, and the speaker beeps to say that it's heard you. You then say the name of the person you want to call, which causes the car to repeat the name if it's understood it, or say "name not recorded" if it hasn't, and then beep again. If there's only one number stored in the phone for the contact, it then dials the number. If there is more than one, you say "work", "home" or "mobile" to choose the relevant number associated with that contact in your phonebook (another advantage of the Ericsson is the ability to store multiple numbers against each phonebook entry). The car then repeats the number type you've chosen. and dials the number. At the end of the call, you just say the phrase that you've associated with the "end call" function. The two-button keypad in my LS430 has been mounted just in front of the main central armrest (photo to come soon), and acts as an alternative to the "activate phone" and "end call" voice commands where needed. I've only once needed to use the "activate call" button, which was when my radio was so loud that I couldn't hear myself speak, so the phone system had no chance! I've used the "hang up" button a few times, when for example I've been leaving an answerphone message for someone, and don't want the message to finish with me saying "terminate call". :) The sound quality from the speaker is good and clear, if ever so slightly muffled. On the LS430 it can't be put through the sound system for some reason, although on other models it can apparently. Similarly the quality as heard by the person you're calling is perfectly clear. On an incoming call, the radio turns off automatically, and if you've recorded a name associated with the incoming number, the speakerphone says that name. If not, it just rings. You can then say "end call" to move the call to answerphone, or say nothing for the call to be answered automatically. Finally, an initial concern of mine about the phone itself not being charged, which it would be under normal circumstances in one of those nasty phone brackets, has been sorted by mounting a charging bracket in the main armrest compartment, using the power socket that is in that compartment. To sum up, I'm dead chuffed with the system, and would recommend it to anyone. How it works in noisier cars than the LS430, I don't know, but I wouldn't think that this would be a problem. It's certainly the safest model I've used, with no handset in sight to distract. The install cost me £420, though I'm sure this can be done more cheaply. I'm very pleased with the way that it integrates with the car though, so don't regret having spent this amount of money. Hopefully I'll make it to a meet sooner or later so that anyone interested can have a play with it. If you have any questions, post them here and I'll try and answer them asap. A review of the LS430 as well as some photos will be up on the site some time in the next two weeks after my holiday in Scotland (cue photos of car against barren highland wilderness :) ). Paul
  3. Take delivery of my new LS430 on Monday (day after tomorrow), so will be the first to post a review of that model a few days later. :-) Paul
  4. The problem with the RAC product and the Tracker product is that if someone either steals your carkeys and then the car, or if you're carjacked, the monitoring service isn't alerted, because of course they think that the car is being driven as normal. This happened to a mate of mine whose house was broken into while he slept, his keys stolen, and his brand new BMW M5 stolen from his driveway. I think the best product on the market at the moment is NavTrak. This involves you carrying a card in, say, your wallet, which interacts with a chip in the car. If someone steals the keys (assuming they don't steal your wallet at the same time!), and drives the car away, as soon as the car gets 30 feet from the card, the monitoring system is alerted. Works as well if you're carjacked - as long as you get out of the car with the card, as soon as the carjacker drives 30 feet away from you, again the monitoring kicks in. The other issue to be aware of is that some of these products - e.g. the basic Tracker systems - are radio and not GPS based. This means that, unlike their advertising implies, the car is only found if it happens to pass near a police car. It doesn't mean (as I thought) that there was some magic system that lit up a screen at the monitoring centre saying exactly where your car is. Tracker Horizon (their top level product) is now GPS based, but if you're serious about wanting to retrieve your car if it is stolen, then consider both a security model that covers key theft, and a GPS based system. :-) Paul
  5. Well, my new LS430 arrives on Monday, and I'm just a little excited! As far as phone kits go, I've upgraded my Nokia 6210e handset to the Sony/Ericsson T68i (free upgrade as I've been with Orange for 30 months with no upgrade in that time). I've had the Parrot Bluetooth hands-free kit installed. This seemed to be the best option, as (a) it is completely hands free (the Nokia requires a button to be pressed before dialling a number, even using voice tags), and (B) the Ericsson stores up to 150 numbers with voice tags, as against the Nokia's 10 or so. The kit cost £400 to buy and install (which is on the expensive side, but read on), and is completely invisible (not even a microphone to be seen). Integrates with the stereo as well so that volume dips on an incoming or outgoing call. The price also includes a properly mounted charging bracket located in the huge central armrest storage bin between the front seats, so the phone can charge while I'm driving. I'll let you know what the quality is like after I pick up the car on Monday! :-) Paul
  6. I've got a 2001 RX300SE satnav, and I love it to bits. Makes such a change to be driving a car which turns heads, rather than the BMW / Merc equivalents which are so common around London!
  7. My 2001 RX300SE had Tracker fitted to it as an extra. The dealer didn't even mention the RAC product. I'm happy with Tracker as I've had it in previous cars. Can't say whether it's good or not, as (fortunately!) I've never had cause to use it...
  8. Many thanks for that suggestion. Bluetooth is certainly the future - the concept of getting into the car and the integrated hands-free, audio-linked, factory-installed, fully integrated telephone system picks up the SIM in the phone in my pocket and immediately ensures that all my phonebook entries are available through the voice-activated dialling system is very attractive. Unfortunately the idea of having to wear a headset to get round this is a bit of a turnoff! I'm keen to see if there's a solution that, for example, links into the audio system, or at any rate is just a bit more integrated into the advanced electronics of this obviously-amazing vehicle. For example, BMW's new 7 series has a built-in phone system as standard, even with a cordless handset that can be passed around the car. I'm not assuming that Lexus will have something similar, but it seems astonishing that a car costing more than £50,000 that is aimed at the executive market doesn't have an option for a factory-fitted handset.
  9. I'm looking at buying a new LS 430, but understand that there is no Lexus-approved option to have an integrated hands free kit. This seems strange given that this is an option offered by the car's competitors from BMW/Mercedes et al and given both the spec and the target market of the car. Is this right? If so, does anyone know of a way around it, other than having an ugly bracket screwed to the passenger-side footwell by a third party? Thanks! Paul
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