Comments on: Review: Plantronics Pulsar 260 Bluetooth Stereo Headset — Nirvana or Near Missa??

By: Unboxing the Plantronics Pulsar� 260 Stereo Bluetooth: The review at Gear Diary

Unboxing the Plantronics Pulsar� 260 Stereo Bluetooth: The review at Gear Diary — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 04:03:33 +0000

[...] For another take on the Plantronics headset, be sure to check out Doug Goldring’s review�over at�JAMM. [...]

By: Menneisyys

Menneisyys — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 05:30:44 +0000

You might also want to take a look at my Pulsar 260 review on my blog.

By: dgoldring

dgoldring — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 02:01:20 +0000

They should work with any phone or device that has BT capabilities.

Doug

By: Po

Po — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 20:47:52 +0000

Are these compatible with the T-Mobile Dash?

By: Justin Patrin

Justin Patrin — Mon, 21 May 2007 18:05:57 +0000

See the Doctor Frankenphones post for more info on the adapters.

By: dgoldring

dgoldring — Wed, 16 May 2007 18:52:11 +0000

Thanks, Justin. I got the adaptoe for the VX8100 as well from PPC Techs (see my Frankenphones article), and I had the same experience. I had to shimmy it about.

Your ebay link is no longer valid. Please let me know what adaptor you found.

Anyway, I think the problem lies with the Pulsar pendant not the adaprtor. I have tried 3 such adaptors and had the same results with all of them. The VX8100 required the least shimmying.

Doug

By: Justin Patrin

Justin Patrin — Wed, 16 May 2007 18:47:34 +0000

The adapter for the VX8100 linked above works, but only if it’s slightly pulled out of the jack. The following adapter, however, works fine:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150119484359

I just got it today and it plugs right in and works like a charm, so all of the contacts are lined up correctly. The VX8100 adapter definately has a slightly different plug.

I’ve also been playing with this headset with Linux and have gotten it to work a little with a2dpd/plugz/bluetooth-alsa:
http://bluetooth-alsa.sourceforge.net/build.html

It also works with Mac OS X with the following workaround:
http://david.connolly.name/blog/hub/mac/2007/02/23/Stereo-Bluetooth-Profile-A2DP-on-Mac-OS-X-Tiger.html?page=comments

By: dgoldring

dgoldring — Fri, 11 May 2007 10:39:11 +0000

JUstin,

I hope you are wrong about that adapter. I just ordered one from PPC Techs. So, hopefully it will work. I am not optomistic, however, because none of the cheap adapters I tried worked.

I think the problems you are experiencing are more likely associated with your device than the headphones. Although I experienced some minor skipping, I have not had any of teh problems you described.

Doug

By: Justin Patrin

Justin Patrin — Fri, 11 May 2007 05:48:03 +0000

I got my Pulsar 260 today and it’s all bad news.
The adapter I linked above for the LG VX8100 only works with the Pulsar 260 if it is slightly out of the jack. On closer inspection the separators for the adapter are slightly closer together than the ones on the Pulsar’s headphone plug. One of these jacks is not standard (or perhaps there are 2 standards). That’s very annoying.

Both of the following *look* about the same as the Pulsar’s plug. I’m going to order the $0.99 one and see if it works. Of course, these don’t have microphones.
http://www.oemcellphone.com/productdetail.asp?productid=2350&refid=shopzilla
http://cgi.ebay.com/2-5mm-to-3-5mm-Adaptor-Earphone-Jack-Cell-Phone-PDA_W0QQitemZ150119484359QQihZ005QQcategoryZ86541QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

The other bad news is the range/reliability of this unit. On my first use it was cutting out quite often. I finally realized that when my arm passed on front of the unit it would cut out. Further testing showed that it worked a decent distance away (although not nearly 33 feet) but only if there was nothing obstructing its “view”. It could only handle very small obstructions, such as a single hand, and only at close range.

Now, this could be because of the MacBook Pro I was testing with, although I doubt it, or because I was using a hack to make A2DP work, although I doubt that as well. More likely it’s because this is only a Class 2 Bluetooth device and not a Class 1 device. I’m going to test with a few other things but if this doesn’t clear up I’m pondering getting a Class 1 device instead (the Motorola S705).

By: dgoldring

dgoldring — Tue, 08 May 2007 10:40:46 +0000

Justin, thanks for that explanation. I have tried several adapters, none of which worked. Your explanation that it requires a 4 contact connection makes perfect sense. I will have to give the one you mentioned here a try.

Doug

By: Justin Patrin

Justin Patrin — Tue, 08 May 2007 05:54:42 +0000

Here’s one more I found which doesn’t have a microphone.
http://www.oemcellphone.com/productdetail.asp?productid=2350&refid=shopzilla

By: Justin Patrin

Justin Patrin — Tue, 08 May 2007 05:50:13 +0000

The 2.5mm connector is a special 4-contact plug, which is of course needed since you have stereo headphones, a microphone, and ground. The LG VX8100 has a similar connector, which *could* be the same one. If the layout is the same then this adapter should allow you to use your own headphones:
http://www.pocketpctechs.com/main~unit~Verizon_LG_VX8100-556~area~accessories~item~PPCPADPT18~name~Verizon LG VX8100 3.5mm Stereo Headphone Adapter with Built-In Mic & Answer Button.htm

By: dgoldring

dgoldring — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 02:25:13 +0000

Matt. You heard correctly. The Razr does not have A2DP. Frankly, I am not sure why Verizon bothered including BT at all in their phones if they are going to horribly disable it.

If you notice, I used my Dell Axim for music, I did not listen to music over my phone. Actually, it was too dang complicated for me to get tunes from their online store. I onlt tested them on my Razr with the phone functions, which worked very well.

Doug

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 02:21:57 +0000

I also have the Verizon Razr V3M, but I was told it did not have the A2DP capability. How did you get that to work?

By: dgoldring

dgoldring — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 02:56:59 +0000

UPDATE: I have had a recent experience which I feel warrants an update to this review.

As many of you who read the review noticed, I had significant problems with the AVRCP controls, however, I was unable to determine whether that was attributable to the headset or my device/software.

Earlier today, I was forced to do a hard reset of my Axim. After the hard reset, I loaded Pocket Player back in and repaired the Pulsar. Lo and behold the AVRCP controls now work perfectly. So, I am pleased to say that after continued testing, the AVRCP controls now work perfectly with Conduits Pocket Player on my Axim x50v.

Doug

By: dgoldring

dgoldring — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 12:08:55 +0000

That is true, bargearse. And I tested them that way. However, I did not feel this made a difference. The short cord was constantly getting tugged in a disproportionate manner, regardless of how I arranged it. This may be an example of a good idea which just doesn’t work out the way it was intended. I would much have preferred the cords to be the same length.

Doug

By: Bargearse

Bargearse — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 03:38:43 +0000

The longer cord is so you can wrap the cord around the back of your neck, so when you take them out you can let them dangle without dropping on the ground.

By: PocketBrain

PocketBrain — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 15:22:17 +0000

Nice to see there’s something that does a good job at that price. I like the ear-fit style headphones, and need a decent bluetooth phone headset, as well. My LG CU-500 (supports A2DP, and connects perfectly with my logitech BT stereo headphones) takes a microSD (I have a 1GB) so that serves well as a media player for the gym and such (okay, so you have to pop the memory card out to change music). This would make a dandy combo. Now I just need to find a good, cheap 4GB micro card! Myyeahhhhhh, that’ll happen.

By: Steve Laser

Steve Laser — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 00:59:12 +0000

Hey Doogie, my bro-in-law has similar in-ear headphones. When I stuck them in my ear (after thoroughly cleansing them), I felt like they were touching my brain b/c they go in so deep. Did you feel that way too? Did you have to get used to them?

Great review.

By: Kerry

Kerry — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 14:57:33 +0000

Doug, that’s a great in-depth review. I primarily focused on the music aspect of the Pulsar 260, so I was interested to hear about the call quality experience you had.
I agree on the battery life - for me there was no loss on the sound quality as the battery life on the Samsung was expiring.
And last I agree on the cable management. I’ve become quite fond of ziploc bags!
Doug, what’s really fun is when I’m in the market for a multimedia phone, I can now use the Pulsar 260 to test drive the device.