Motorola H375 Bluetooth Headset and my Treo 650

So in switching cars from my TL to a slightly older MDX, one of the things I’m losing is my built-in Bluetooth speakerphone.  I used it constantly.  The 2004 TL was one of the first cars to have it built in.  At the time, I didn’t even own a Bluetooth anything.

Anyways, now that the MDX doesn’t have one, I began looking for a Bluetooth headset to go with my Treo 650 (yeah, it’s getting a bit old).  I’ve tried a Bluetooth headset in the past and wasn’t happy with it at all.  I was never sure if the problem was the Treo BT radio or if it was the headset, so I have never owned one since - preferring corded ones instead.  After trying out a more modern headset, I’m happy to say it looks like it may have mostly been a bad headset choice.

I bought my Motorola H375 in a combo set at Costco ($50-$60, I can’t recall).  It came with a wall charger, the H375 headset, and a car charger.  Bottomline, it works pretty well - from a Bluetooth perspective.  Dial a call on my Treo, and the headset automatically connects once dialing begins.  Incoming call and a quick press of the H375 button answers the phone; a second button press hangs up.  The volume buttons are easy and intuitive to press, and you can press both to mute the headset (or press mute on the Treo 650 itself).   Unfortunately, the headset does not seem to be loud enough in some “noisy room” situations.  Normal room situations (okay, fairly quiet situations) seem to be no problem at all.  I was even okay in an airport - at least until the PA system came on.

Battery life is advertised as 6 hrs talk, 8 days standby.  That’s somewhat misleading.  I have not talked enough to push the 6 hr talk limit, but I’d say you can easily get at least 4 in my experience.  8 days of standby is probably true, but the headset has some interesting power-saving “features”.  It seems to turn itself off after about 30-60 minutes of inactivity. When a new call comes in, I’ve got to press the POWER button to turn it back on.  Seems a little weak if you ask me.  Maybe it’s user error, but I don’t think so.

Overall, I’m keeping it - but it’s not perfect.

3 Car Seats in a Car - Required

Alice recently got a new role at work and has had to move offices.  Her commute has increased by 10-15 min each way, which puts even more strain on getting back in time to pick up the kids.  We tend to be one of the last parents to pick up at the daycare/pre-school on a semi-regular basis.  We need more flexibility.

One of the big issues has been we only have the mini-van which can haul 3 kids around with.  Yesterday that changed.  We are getting rid of my lovely Acura TL  (have loved this car) and took a trip to Car Max.  We had a very good experience at Car Max, although they didn’t offer us as much as we’d like for our TL  so we kept it.  We ended up leaving with a 2003 Acura MDX.  It has all the bells and whistles we’re used to and then some…  It also has about the same mileage as my TL and is in good condition.  It’s also relatively inexpensive, so we won’t be suffering financially.  Plus it has 3rd row seating, so we’ve got another car that can handle 3 car seats - without having a 2nd mini-van.

On the way home I picked up 3 more car seats - (make sure you remember to ask for that Twin’s discount at Babies R Us) - and installed them that night.  I bought 3 Graco Cargo car seats.   Since these are our 4th or 5th ones, we know what features to look for now (ones that are important to us, I mean)…  These were relatively easy to adjust and are a good value as far as we’re concerned.  BUT, their true value showed up later in the evening.

We figured out we didn’t need to use the 3rd row seats afterall… All 3 car seats fit in the back seat (middle row) of the Acura MDX, side-by-side, easily!  SWEET!!!

We have not been able to find a vehicle that can do it, except for the largest SUVs or a mini-van.  MDX is neither and works for us!