My experience is pretty much the same as eberger's. I had an Original which I bought on the strength of the reviews. I thought it was OK, although difficult to use. I also had fit problems with it, both the ear buds and the ear loops. Eventually I put a Jabra ear gel on it and that made it better. The ear loop was so poorly designed I couldn't get it on easily, so I took to wearing it without the ear loop. (I lost it when it fell out of my pocket in a parking lot and got run over.)
I got a New JB hoping that my experience would be better. It hasn't been. Here are my issues:
1) The placement of the on/off button is just stupid, especially considering all of the fit problems people have. I can't count the number of times I've cut people off while trying to snug the JB back into my ear.
2) Because of the location and sensitivity of the on-off button, like other owners I've had it turn itself on in my pocket or briefcase literally dozens of times. I can sort of accept this when I'm wearing jeans that are pretty tight, but when wearing loose dress pants? Come on! This has happened so many times that I have to believe it happened during development/testing. So it should have been dealt with either by making the switch less sensitive or by putting a small slide switch on the side.
3) Because the "turn itself on" problem is so prevalent, there clearly should have been a carrying case from Day 1. How could this have been missed? Yet when I called CS and asked about it, and the response I got was "We don't MAKE carrying cases for the Jawbone. You can probably get one at Walgreen's " (which you can't, BTW).
4) I've again bought aftermarket ear gels. Shouldn't have to, but had to. I'm currently using it with a Jabra mini gel. I will say that once I got the right gel on the JB, it stays in constant touch with my cheek, so people have stopped complaining about my voice cutting in and out. But as the messages on this forum and elsewhere on the web make abundantly clear, Aliph hasn't done nearly enough to make the device fit properly. That is inexcusable considering that in this "fit properly" is a necessary precursor to "work properly."
5) Short battery life. New JB promises "up to 4 hours of talk time." I haven't measured precisely, but I'd say I get 1.5 hours at best (device is <1 year old). Also, I notice that performance weakens considerably when the battery starts to get low.
6) Why in the world would you make a noise-cancelling headset and then include the option to turn noise cancellation OFF? Again, this is just stupid. If your customer doesn't want NC, they won't buy your product. While jockeying the device to get it to fit (while driving, of course), I've turned noise cancellation off a couple of times. Of course, you have to be on a call to turn it back on. . .so I wind up doing things like calling my own voicemail just so that the device is active.
7) Clearly, the New JB was designed for appearance over function. I totally agree with the comment about that being great for people who are going to wear it all day. I bought it to make phone calls. It lives in my car.
8) I also agree with those who say that the noise cancellation isn't as good as advertised (and also agree that, at least based on my experience, the video was a huge oversell - I can't use mine (Original or New) in any wind, and can barely use it outside at all). It may be the case that my car has an amount of road noise (or noise at a particular frequency) that is tough for the JB to handle. I don't know (or know how I could know). It certainly performs better when not in the car (although indoors) and when I'm not on the freeway. The only way I can evaluate the NC performance is by the accuracy with which my phone picks up voice commands. I get MUCH lower accuracy when using the JB than when speaking directly into the phone (on the order of 50% worse). This has been true with both a Blackberry Pearl and now an iPhone 3GS.
So my overall assessment is: "Great concept. Technology may be good, but the company was obsessed with design and executed very poorly on the details that determine whether the technology will actually work in the hands of the user. Overall, way (!!!) overpriced for what it actually delivers."
Like others, I am puzzled at the great reviews JB has gotten. The fit issues are clearly individual, but the other issues aren't.
To the person who said to someone else, "Why are you complaining? Just go buy something else," my answer is that I spend a lot of time in my car and it's often the best place for me to make calls, so this is an important device for me. I shelled out a lot of money for not one but two JB's, and having done that I'd rather not spend more. Great companies try to create not just satisifed customers but ambassadors. I'd like to be an ambassador for the JB - to be able to say to people, "Yeah, it's pricey but it's worth every penny." But the unfortunate reality is that when I when I even see it in my car I'm pissed off at it, and I think the people who made it ought to know that.
Laurel, are you listening? I would like to see something more from you than, "We care."
