I have just got then CK3000 evo, but the version is from marts and has some bugs. I’m not satisfied getting this old version, and then have to pay 85,- to get the upgrade cable. Do anybody know the connections inside this cable. It’s just to open and…….

Look foreward to get some news from you

Tvilling

The install was very simple, I would NOT want to try this without the harness from NewMiniStuff. It would not be pretty. Anyway, mine popped in very easily, the big blue Parrot box fits nicely behind the dash end cap by the drivers side, I put the display on the dash panel between the Tach and the center vent with the wire running cleanly down the “channel” in the dash (I don’t have photos yet). I also put the mic just behind the front light cluster in the middle of the headliner (very easy to tuck the wire up into the headliner and down the driver’s side ‘A’ pillar.

Sadly, I’m a bit disappointed with the kit so far. It pairs very easily, syncs up the phone book and does all that stuff. It mutes the stereo, voice rec works and all that good stuff, but there are 2 main problems.

1 – the parrot itself seems a bit buggy, it keeps forgetting preferences, like phone and mic volume, activate/deactive voice commands and spoken menus on/off. Not a huge deal, but very irritiating to have to drag through the Parrot menus to change 5 different settings every time you start the car.

2 – much more serious is the audio quality. It’s great when stationary, but awful to the point that folsk I’m talking to can’t hear me at all when moving. To be fair, my car isn’t quiet. I have a Magnaflow exhaust and an Alta intake, but still it is unusable right now. I am having to unpair the phone and the car kit and go back to using by Jabra headset.

Mikey from NewMiniStuff has been very helpful so far, and I hope to get a response from Parrot on these issues. I’m certainly not giving up on this kit yet, because it has the potential to be great. My primary goal for this thing is the whole “mute the stereo” thing. I like my music loud, and often don’t hear the phone ring. I love the fact that the kit mutes the stereo, shows me who’s calling on an easy-to-read display, and lets me answer with a voice command. Now if my callers could only hear me……

Ian

Also, note that there has been mention by Parrot in their user forums that they are expecting an upgrade for the CK3000 Evo kit’s firmware to make it work with the newer SE & Nokia phones. The upgrade should be available within 3 weeks or so according to Parrot.

However, as gadgeTT mentioned, Parrot is probably not going to support the older CK3000 (non-Evo) kits anymore and so I wouldn’t expect a firmware upgrade for those kits. Thus, please keep this in mind if you are currently considering ordering one of MikeyTheMini’s Parrot CK3000 kits (that works with the extra phone buttons on the MINI’s MFSW) and you want to use it with one of the newer Sony Ericsson phones (like the K750i or the W800i, etc.).

Also, another thing to note is that it appears that only the newer Parrot CK3100 kits are able to be upgraded via a USB Bluetooth dongle. Thus, this might also be a factor in your consideration of which kit you want to buy. I find it very easy to update the CK3100 kit via a Bluetooth dongle which are very easy to obtain at your local computer store. Having to use a proprietary serial cable for firmware updates might be a deal killer for some I’d imagine.

I’ve just finished installing the Parrot CK3100 Advanced Car Kit in my own MINI and so I can tell you first hand that support for the extra phone buttons on the MINI’s MFSW is not really necessary. The controller/LCD display (when mounted properly) is very accessible and I find myself not really needing the buttons on the MFSW. While they would be nice to have/use, they’re not at all necessary.

So… If you’re looking for continued support for the newer Bluetooth phones by Parrot, then you’d be better off going with the Parrot CK3000 Evo kit or the Parrot CK3100 Advanced Car kit instead (unless you’re saying that Parrot is killing off the CK3000 Evo kit as well???).

If MikeyTheMini ever gets the MFSW interface kits finished, you can always add it in later on. BTW, I chose the CK3100 over the CK3000 Evo as I really like being able to see the contacts in my phone’s address book on the LCD display as well as have caller ID, etc. (things you don’t get with the older CK3000 or CK3000 Evo kits).

Lastly, for those who may be interested, I have both a Sony Ericsson K750i and a Sony Ericsson W800i “WALKMAN” phone and I was really struggling with getting them working with my CK3100 kit. However, yesterday morning Parrot released a firmware update (version 4.12) and now both of the phones work flawlessly with the CK3100 kit.

Kudos to Parrot for their efforts in getting their phone kits working so quickly with the newly released (and very popular) Sony Ericsson phones. Note that I’m not sure of either of the phones will work with the CK3000 Evo kit yet though as they don’t appear to have done any updates to its firmware so far – e.g. still v3.16 as gadgeTT mentioned).

– MIKE

Thanks again. My kit from http://www.newministuff.com has been shipped so I’ll wait until it arrives and then if things aren’t obvious, I’ll write to the parrot forums (need a product serial number to do so, I think.)

Hmmm… If you look at the upgrade procedure for the Parrot CK3000 kit that Parrot has posted on their web site, you will see (you have to scroll through the document a bit) that there is a section showing that the CK3000 kit is able to be updated via a Bluetooth dongle. Maybe it’s just a mistake in the documentation though as the procedure appears to be the same as the one for the serial cable update.

CK3000 Upgrade Procedure

Maybe you can post a message on Parrot’s end user forum asking if it is possible to update the CK3000 via Bluetooth, and if not, where to get a serial cable from (or what the pin-outs for the cable are). The forum can be found under the “Customer Care” section on Parrot’s web site (http://www.driveblue.com).

Sorry for the mixup.

Thanks, but as I understand, the 3100 is able to be flashed via BT but not the 3000 – the 3000 must be flashed via a serial cable that is not easy to find or cheap to buy.

Hopefully I’m wrong as both my PowerBook and my ThinkPad have built-in BT.

BTW, I just received my Blitzsafe XM Direct adapter so the pieces are finally coming together for my ‘06 MCS. Now I just have to wait for delivery of the car itself (awaiting transport right now).

Actually, you don’t need the serial cable as you can also do it using a Bluetooth dongle as well…

I’ve just updated my Parrot 3100 kit using an inexpensive USB Bluetooth dongle that I picked up from my local Comp USA computer store for around $20. All you do is plug the Bluetooth dongle into one of the USB ports on your computer, install the software that came with the dongle, and then run Parrot’s “Flash Update Wizard” (which can be downloaded for free from their web site) and follow the instructions given on their web site in order to flash your phone kit’s controller firmware to a newer version.

The USB Bluetooth dongle that I bought has a range of something like 330 feet and so I just rolled the car into my garage and made the Bluetooth connection with my home computer that’s upstairs (it’s even easier if you have a laptop computer that you can take out to your car instead). It worked great for me.

Parrot Bluetooth hands-free car kits updates

I’m hoping that it will work OK in my ‘06 (awaiting shipment over the pond) with the HK stereo and the blitzsafe XM interface box.

Just as an FYI, this phone kit is now up for sale on NAM. See the following link for all of the details:

FS: NewMiniStuff Hands Free Sony Ericsson Phone Kit With Nav/Radio Display

BTW, I’ll be doing another MF review for the replacement Bluetooth kit soon. :-)

Hi Rich,

From what I understand, MikeyTheMini now has the MINI’s MFSW buttons working with the Sony Ericsson HBA-300 Bluetooth kit as well as one of the more recent Nokia Bluetooth kits. However, neither of those two kits will give a display on the NAV or radio like the cradle-type kits do (i.e. like the one I’ve reviewed above). And, as far as I know, there hasn’t been any progress made on updating the cradle-type kits for use with the newer Sony Ericsson & Nokia phones. However, you could drop Mikey an e-mail and ask him for sure.

So you’re interested in the Sony Ericsson K750i eh. That’s an AWESOME phone! I recently picked up one of the new Sony Ericsson W800i “WALKMAN” phones and it’s to die for! The thing is absolutely AMAZING! Built-in Walkman media player, 2 megapixel camera, 2 GB Memory Stick, etc. It’s AWESOME! :-)

The only bad thing about it is that I can no longer use it with my cradle-type car kit. So… If anyone’s interested in purchasing the complete kit I’ve reviewed above. I’ve got it up for sale now. I even have the really cool Sony Ericsson T610/T630 hybrid phone up for sale that works just great with it. Send me an e-mail if you’re interested and I’ll send you back all of the details.

Advanced Vehicle Handsfree HCA-20

FYI… Here’s a link to the HCA-20 handsfree kit on Sony Ericsson’s web site. It shows a much broader list of the mobile phones that the kit is compatible with (including more U.S. models/versions of the Sony phones):

Advanced Vehicle Handsfree HCA-20