Boneheads at Boss- Impossible handsfree calling

[jeffpas 10+ year member]

Apologies if I sound a little frustrated, but I'm on my 5th car radio installation now.

All I'm looking for is a car radio with a TFT screen, that I could use for handsfree bluetooth calling.

Its illegal to use a cell phone in the car in my state, so this is pretty much a must if you need to make calls.

I need the TFT screen to listen to audio books because I do a lot of driving. The screen allows you to bring up and view chapters.

The first receiver I purchased off of Ebay "SU 4018 Car Mp3 MP5 Player" and waited a month for shipping out of China. The radio was fine, but handsfree calling was a mess.

I could hear the caller clearly, but nobody calling could hear me. Some ended the conversation saying "this can't go on".

I talked to the manufacturer, and they apologized and sent me a replacement, which was just as bad. I then had to fight them for weeks to get my money returned, not to mention doing two radio installations.

USPS wanted twice the cost of the radio to ship it back to China!

Next I bought a DUAL XDVD770BT, and installed that. Again, same thing: callers on the other end of the line couldn't hear me, I was 'in a well'. I was staticy, there was humming. I talked to their tech support and they recommended I get a replacement. So I did, and did a 4th installation. Same problem, no difference.

I then talked to a salesman at Best Buy, who finally informed the last person on Earth who didn't know... apparently in-receiver car radio mics ****, and good radios for handsfree calling have a mic on a wire.

So, I then spent hours searching for a radio receiver with a TFT screen and plug-in mic capability.

I have to have Single DIN, and the folding-out ones are a joke- because everyone knows a cop will see that and pull you over with your screen "extended" and give you at ticket.

I finally talked to Boss Audio support and someone there told me the BV7335B radio could take a plug in mic in its AUX port. So I went and bought an expensive plug in mic, and the radio.

It finally came in and I installed radio #5 . Turns out the support person didn't know what they were talking about. Not only does the radio not take an external mic, but this radio is even worse than the others. I even left a message to my own answering machine and I can't even understand it. The built-in mic is garbage.

So my question is- is there any radio reciever out there single din, with a TFT screen that has an external plug in mic port, so you can buy a decent mic for making phone calls?

Can anyone who really knows, tell me for sure? Because I don't want installation #6 to bomb too....

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[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

1, stay away from boss, dual and all of the cheapo brands if you want anything to work right. Stick to pioneer kenwood, alpine, clarion jvc, nothing else. REPEAT NOTHING ELSE.

It shouldn't be hard at all, any proper head unit will have a mic port in the back designated for the mic along with the mic attachment. This should not even be an issue ever in all the bluetooth head units I installed. However I do stick with the quality brands of head units rather than the notorious junk brands.

I dont see how flip outs are in violation of any laws at all. I dont see any laws prohibiting a flip out radio in the illinois dmv list of traffic laws. Every other state people have flip outs 24/7 and I NEVER heard of anyone getting a ticket for it ever on all the forums.

 

[Jcsaudio]

So do the people with factory double din radios with touch screens also get tickets from the police for having one from the factory? Same as a flip out single din really.

I second jeffpas to stick with the good brands. I would say also buy from only authorized dealers too so forget eBay and Amazon. Try Crutchfield, they have the best return policy, the best free installation gear, and easily the best tech support if you have any installation questions or Bluetooth/microphone issues. Call Crutchfield up and tell them what you want and I'm 100% positive they can help you.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Pay now or pay later. You're learning why these bottom of the gutter brands are so cheap.

 

[tymoto21 10+ year member]

I have a pioneer double din and the wires mic picks up a bit of road noise in my car but works perfectly in my wife's car

 

[bigblank69 10+ year member]

I have had 2 pioneer double dins.... Never had a problem with mic volume... Heck my avh280bt was 180 brand new and Bluetooth was better than my demo from work with factory hands free blue tooth.

 

[jeffpas 10+ year member]

I've been pulled over in Illinois just for looking at my Smartphone. The officer told me he 'saw the glow', and assumed I was making calls. I barely escaped with the explanation that I was using my navigator. Yes, they can be that bad.

The problem with a flip-out is the screen is very visible to drive-bys, and they can see exactly what you are doing.

And, I've also been pulled over and ticketed just for leaving messages on the phone. Everybody does things eventually that they shouldn't. And closing your screen after being pulled over makes it look like you're hiding something, or sitting there sappily with a big TV screen there in front of you just looks guilty, like you're not paying attention to your driving. It seems to be poking the bear, imo.

Not everyone has $500 bucks to lay down for a car radio. In any case, I'm fine with everything on the radios I installed except the mic. A simple mic plug would allow a person to just splurge $20 and buy a nice big microphone for a passable $100 radio and be done with it. Apparently, manufacturers aren't letting you get away with that.

 

[bigblank69 10+ year member]

Things must be different in Springfield, they don't give a F up here in Chicago.

 

[jeffpas 10+ year member]

Oh yes, they can be a-holes. Smaller towns: more bored, harassing cops

 

[jeffpas 10+ year member]

Just a final update on this.

I found the perfect radio for me, it was the JVC KD-AV41BT.

It has the external microphone support and a great interface, has worked perfectly for handsfree calling and audio books/MP3s.

What I did was pick up a 3.5" AUX extension with a dashboard flush mount, and mounted a small AUX microphone on the dash. People say they can hear me as clear as using the phone.

Great radio!! and a happy ending after a long struggle.

As for Boss, they were quite horrible. I am still trying to get my money back! They pulled a "We don't issue refunds for installed radios". How was I supposed to know the microphone didn't work like their own support said, without installing it and turning it on first! lol GMFB.

I finally had to file a complaint with the AG office consumer protection and then they suddenly said they were going to give me a refund all along :/ but I sent it back on the 17th and still haven't seen my money.

And now my Boss "account" is frozen so I can't even go in there to see what is happening. Sheesh, what a mess. Never again! :/

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

see why brands matter? Dont ever waste money on garbage brands ever again.

I've been pulled over in Illinois just for looking at my Smartphone. The officer told me he 'saw the glow', and assumed I was making calls. I barely escaped with the explanation that I was using my navigator. Yes, they can be that bad.The problem with a flip-out is the screen is very visible to drive-bys, and they can see exactly what you are doing.

And, I've also been pulled over and ticketed just for leaving messages on the phone. Everybody does things eventually that they shouldn't. And closing your screen after being pulled over makes it look like you're hiding something, or sitting there sappily with a big TV screen there in front of you just looks guilty, like you're not paying attention to your driving. It seems to be poking the bear, imo.

Not everyone has $500 bucks to lay down for a car radio. In any case, I'm fine with everything on the radios I installed except the mic. A simple mic plug would allow a person to just splurge $20 and buy a nice big microphone for a passable $100 radio and be done with it. Apparently, manufacturers aren't letting you get away with that.

sounds like he was just being a d*ck in general. you should not get any ticket at all unless you use your smart phone. You should never get any ticket for head unit screens either Thats completely asinine for you make up that rule all on your own. Literally has been said before, if its like that, then people with factory touch screens should be pulled over left and right. It is just fking stupid for you to even correlate those two.

We arent telling you to throw 500 dollars at a head unit no, there's great pioneer/kenwood/jvc/alpine/clarion head units under 100, and under 200 that get the job done much better, lasting way longer, sounding way better. You would have had that much if you didnt waste it on garbage from the start. Yes everthing you bought from the dual to the boss was garbage, we told you that and you were too d*mn hard headed to accept it.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

only good thing out of this thread is that we can let other noobs reference this thread to see why you never put any money on garbage brands ever again unless they wanna get burned.

 

[los33]

see why brands matter? Dont ever waste money on garbage brands ever again.


sounds like he was just being a d*ck in general. you should not get any ticket at all unless you use your smart phone. You should never get any ticket for head unit screens either Thats completely asinine for you make up that rule all on your own. Literally has been said before, if its like that, then people with factory touch screens should be pulled over left and right. It is just fking stupid for you to even correlate those two.

We arent telling you to throw 500 dollars at a head unit no, there's great pioneer/kenwood/jvc/alpine/clarion head units under 100, and under 200 that get the job done much better, lasting way longer, sounding way better. You would have had that much if you didnt waste it on garbage from the start. Yes everthing you bought from the dual to the boss was garbage, we told you that and you were too d*mn hard headed to accept it.

The states that ban touch screen radios as a category require you to turn the display off during drive.
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[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

The states that ban touch screen radios as a category require you to turn the display off during drive.
Sent from my Moto G4 using Tapatalk

thats about the dumbest thing I've heard a state do in awhile man. His state doesn't ban it though.

 

[los33]

thats about the dumbest thing I've heard a state do in awhile man. His state doesn't ban it though.

It is but that is why most new headunits allow you to turn the display off without turning off the unit. Texas is getting close to banning more due to school wrecks
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