Cardo Scala 500

The Cardo Scala 500 I ordered arrived today. After I cancelled my order with DataVision, I went to order from Amazon, which basically redirected me to J&R Music World. Since I didn't want to have to wait too long to get it (not being able to pick up the phone from the headset without having to flip the phone open was starting to be a real drag), I went with their expedited shipping, which was supposed to take about three business days, so I was pleasantly surprised to receive it today, as opposed to getting it tomorrow like I expected.

As per its specs, this headset is really light-weight. What I didn't realize was that it was also quite small... which I like.

Here's a size comparison--next to it are my cellphone (Motorola V551) and mouse (Logitech MX1000)

Getting it "paired" with my phone was quite easy. It came with a quick-reference guide, and a "full" manual in a small-sized CD, and the instructions were easy enough to follow. I was quite relieved to find it to work well without any noticeable static with my phone.

Unfortunately, what I have found out is that Motorola, in their infinite wisdom, has decided that whenever their cellphone users are using a Bluetooth headset, all of the rings will be their default "Continental" tone. There is no way to change it to any other tone. But at least this was still better than some of the earlier Bluetooth models, where the phone wouldn't ring at all, and the ringing would be transferred to the tiny speaker of the Bluetooth headset--I wonder what genius came up with that idea.

So, I'm left with two choices: Either live with not having my personalized ringtones, or use a somewhat convoluted method to answer my calls with the Bluetooth headset.

Once the phone is paired with a BT headset, you can "drop" the phone's connection with it, which can be reactivated when you press the "call/answer" button on the headset. And as long as the phone's not actively connected with a BT headset, you still get your ringtones.

The first caveat is that it takes a little bit of time for the BT connection to be re-established, and then once connected, I'd have to press the "answer" button again to answer the call. Apparently the first action only gets registered as a connection request, not an "answer" command.

Problem with that--the second caveat--is that when I'm using the headset to answer the phone, I might not be able to look at the display on the phone to see if the Bluetooth connection is ready, so if I press the button a second time too quickly, it still won't pick up. And if I press it the second time too slowly--third caveat--the call will have already been transferred to my voice mail.

So the key is to time it just right, and I'll be able to answer the phone. In testing, I'll have to press the button right after I hear the phone ring, while the headset is still hanging on my neck, then put it on my ear, and press the button again. If I hear the phone ring early enough, it won't go to my voice mail. I'll have to see how that goes in actual practice, and if it doesn't work well, I'll have to be stuck with the Continental ringtone.

The final "problem" that I've had in my tests is that sometimes, after I "drop" the connection with the Scala 500, it seems to turn off. So pressing it won't activate the phone's Bluetooth link. I'm not sure if this problem is specific to the Scala 500, or it's because of the cell phone. Either way, I've found that the best way around this problem is simply to turn off the Scala, then turn it back on. Turning it off automatically gets the phone to drop its BT connection, so I can have it on standby and just wait.

In short, the steps to keep my own ringtones on the Motorola phone while still be able to use a Bluetooth headset to answer the phone are:

1. After the phone and the headset are paired, get the phone to "drop" the Bluetooth connection with the device.
2. When the phone rings, press the headset's "answer" button.
3. Put the headset on.
   
4. Press the "answer" button again.
5. When the call is over, hang up.
6. Turn off headset, then turn it back on.
7. Repeat steps 2-6.

As opposed to settling with having to use the "Continental" ringtone for all my calls, for which the steps would only be:

1. Get the phone and the headset paired.
2. Press "answer" button when phone rings.
3. Hang up when conversation is over.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3.

If only Motorola would let us use our own ringtones while the phone is using a Bluetooth headset...