It was working fine and then she went deaf.
Me. select name
Bluetooth Babe. pardon
Me. SELECTNAME
B BAbe. function not possible, cancel
several tries later.
Me. help
Blueface bitch. dialling number.
Me. shutup cancel stop. <presses buttons>
Me. dial number
Bitch. function not possible.
then my phone rang, one touch later the guy was hanging up saying "no your breaking up, I cant hear you just a few scratchy sounds catch you later"

Anyone else suffering?

Are we supposed to be "surprised" or "amazed" at your "conf calls"??

Your pretty reckless to be taking a conf call in the car dude. A car is for concentrating on driving and not for thinking on the fly and conf'ng with your work buddies.

I almost lost a friend in a car accident as he was concentrating on the conf call more than the road ahead...

If it were up to me only short calls would be allowed whilst on the move.

Others advocate no calls whilst driving - and with you and your conf call comment I can see why...

Anything that involves anything more than a "hello I'm late" type conversation is way too much when your rolling along at 70 mph...

Do the decent thing and pull over, concentrate on your call, then resume your drive when complete..

Make the roads a safer place.....

So peegee. I'm all for driving for driving's sake, and I hate to see people doing their driving as a secondary activity. But I have to ask you a question. Do you ever allow your passengers to talk to you while you're driving? With the full-on bluetooth inetgration we have, talking on the phone is less distracting to me than talking to a passenger. There is no need for even momentary eye-contact when on the phone. I do not see talking on the phone as dangerous if your hands are not tied up. But if one is the type who would be distracted by a hands-free phone call, then one will more than likely be the type who is even more distracted by a direct conversation with a passenger.

Just my ten cents worth.

Kinda reminds me of Ozzy osbourne and his radio in his BMW. Really funny and really frustrating.

rebooting the car seems to fix it

What a load of fried sweetbread...

You try and justify this action and fail miserably.

Your point hasnt really got one and I've let a couple of people read your response - and all agree your totally wide of the mark.

Your only concession is that driving should be the primary concern to the driver ! Duh, we all worked that one out.

If your driving a car and there is a conversation going in the car - then you can listen to it (just like the radio), if someone asks for your opinion then you either say "dont bother me i'm concentrating on the road ahead" or "hey there what I think is but I'm kinda busy with other stuff right now"...

This is a whole different league to a conf call where your "participation" is not optional - and your "job" is effectively impacted from your concentrating on the road or the call... You dont have the option to say "hey I cant field that detailled question from you right now as I have a 40 ton Kenworth up my arse and the drivers pretty bothered as I just cut him up!!!"...

So dont bother trying to even relate a casual and optional conversation to a businessmans conf/customer call - you patronise me and all the other people on the road who want a safe driving environment otherwise.

As I said - easiest option would be to time limit the call if your on the road ie for emergencies only ...

This would force silly business people to pull over safely in cases where they want to peruse their business models and fix their customers problems on the hop etc etc etc...

Pardon me, but you appear to be a supersilious arse who wants to remove the freedom of all around you. I made no pretences to justify driving while distracted. Read my message again. Use of a hands-free phone set-up does not necessarily create undue distraction. Should playing I-Spy with your kids while driving be outlawed due to distraction? How about taking a brief glance at that yellow 911 that just blew your doors off - illegal distraction?

As I pointed out, driving should be your primary activity while behind the steering wheel of a moving vehicle, and at times it should be your only activity. No disagreement there. But to tell me that it's okay to talk to a real person sitting next to me while I'm driving is okay, but that it's not okay to have a conversation with a virtual passenger by virtue of having a hands-free phone is complete bollocks. I don't care how many of your cronies you show the message to. If they think you're sane, then you're all mad.

Where the hell did the original thread talk about having a "conf call" where your partipation is not optional? Never mind, I found it. It was the second post in the thread which I had not read. For me, that's not in question. If you have a "virtual meeting" while driving then of course you will be unduly distracted, and I would never consider doing that. However, we live in a virtual world and many of our conversations are not held face-to-face. Ergo the need for cell-phones so we can be reached wherever we are. It is not acceptable for you to tar all those who have convesations on a phone while driving with the same brush. I spent good money on a Bluetooth ear-piece to achieve those conversations more safely (i.e. hands-free) prior to getting my Q7, and I spent good money on adding Bluetooth integration to my wife's A3 Sportback for the same reason.

I completely and absolutely object to people driving while distracted. But for me, distraction due to actually holding a phone, holding a coffee, holding a doughnut, putting on your make-up, having a shave etc. are in a completely different league to talking on my hands-free set-up.

And by the way, if I need to concentrate 100% on driving (something I try to achieve every day by using back roads instead of major highways) then I feel free to tell either my physical or virtual passenger to shut up while I do so.

I have a small fluttering noise from the driver's side rear door that I have yet to diagnose, and vibration above 65mph due to tyre/wheel imbalance that's been there since delivery. Dealer said they could not fix it under warranty until I had 1,000 miles. I've done about 2,600 miles and I'm holding out for the first service (5,000 miles) since the dealer is 25 miles away.

No that it's major concern for me, but fuel mileage was not quite as good as I'd hoped for. My driving involves plenty of stop-lights but also country roads and waiting in car-pool lanes to pick-up and drop-off the kids. My average has been right around 15mpg. Right now I'm experimenting with 87 octane instead of 93. The manual says it's okay to do this, but you will see reduced performance. I can't say that I have seen any drop in performance, and my mileage remains the same despite the 10% decrease in fuel cost. I expect the mileage will improve after the summer when the A/C is off and the oxygenators (ethanol) are removed form our local fuel.

Other than that, the Q7 has been everything I was hoping it would be. A very classy vehicle, plenty of road presence, plenty of space, plenty of luxury etc. I still feel that the AAS is worth the high price of entry, as is the panorama roof and all the other goodies I added.

Re: I have a small fluttering noise from the driver's side rear door....I have one too. As yet to pin-point the issue but moving the seat forward seems to stop it.

Here is a quote from an earlier PeeGee post:

the mode button on the wheel only adjusts the radio stations / cd tracks your in - or mobile phone and people your want to dial!!!

Dumb is as dumb hypocrites do!

Hey Peegee... Grow up...
Merely pointing out how well it works. If you need to make "dumb" comments about other people keep them to yourself. If you've got a legitimate opinion, express it without making personal attacks. Sorry about your friend, but sometimes taking calls on the road is a requirement to keeping my business running.

Please take a look at the rules on the site guys - your breaking them - and should refrain from this type of abuse.

Bottomline is "HAVING TO CONCENTRATE ON A BUSINESS CONF CALL ON A TELEPHONE IN A CAR (BLUE TOOTH OR NOT) - IS JUST PLAIN STUPID AND UNSAFE"

The level of stupidity is in the same orbit as these idiots who prance about with their Bluetooth headseats in their ear to head down to the local Mall/Store or the ones that loudly tell you how fancy their new "phoon" is!!! You know who you are and you should be barred from doing it anymore ;)

Guys - I hope you never have or cause an accident by being so stupid in your car - drive safe and pray someone doesnt sue your sorry hides when they find your on a conf call with a customer after the incident.

Oh - and grow up yourselves...

if you need to take a call that needs you to concentrate for your "business" to succeed - then pull off the road and give it your concentration - and allow the rest of us to drive in safe knowledge that your lost order from customer x will not have any "impact" on the life of me or my family...

Its been proven recently that trying to hold an intense call where you have to concentrate on the phone is as bad as driving drunk - it lowers the concentration and response levels to a driver who is drunk driving...

Now I'm sure you wouldnt cant condone driving drunk - so why do the other!!!???

Maybe the local Kindergarten/Primary School has some openings. You are being extremely childish so you should find it suits you well. Maybe you'll even get to be the school bully so you can tell all the kids what to do. And while you're at it, use a spell-checker on your next post.

If you want your freedom of speech, you must grant it to others too. Nobody has broken any rules of the forum in this thread, unless you mean the use of the word "arse" which you used first by the way.

Oh, and if you want to dictate to everybody else what they should do based on your own standards, why don't you apply for Castro's job. He's on the way out, so they might be looking for a replacement.

I will continue to use my Bluetooth hands-free phone in my Q7 whenever I choose, and you can choose not to. But do us all a favour and never mess with your radio or CD changer while driving. That's distracting too. But we know you will.............

After reading most of PeeGee's posts - I wonder if there is ANYTHING about your car (and the car we all have chosen) that you like. As opposed to ranting about what driver's you don't know and have never met do on the road, tell us about something special - mods, additions, little tech discoveries; correctible flaws, etc. THAT, according to your pompous dictums, is what this site is about.

Obviously I am the best driver in the world so I expect every other drive to be inferior and I have to make allowances accordingly. I cannot and do not expect every other driver to live by my rules. it might help if you ALL just show a bit of respect for each other.
The point of airing my phone problem was to forarm everyone else with the info. Our strength is in our numbers and our accumulative knowlege.
Glad no one else is experiencing similar problems.

The purpose of your initial post got lost among the verbal assaults in this thread. I apologize to you for that. It just bugs the heck out of me when one individual expresses their prejudices in such a strong manner, by calling people dumb, and I lost control of my keyboard. I think that mojohio was trying to get me back on track when he asked me about my Q7.

I have had no trouble at all with my Bluetooth, nor my voice activation system which sounds to be your real issue. You mentioned that a "reboot" solved the problem. I have some suspicions about this that I'll try to check into. It is a little known fact that numerous companies making consumer computer-based devices have been using Windows CE (originally invented for handheld devices) as their core operating system. I have heard that some car makers are too. We all know that software is completely predictable in that it behaves the same way every time given the same starting point, and the same set of inputs. However, when the software becomes complex enough, bugs will inevitably be created when the code is written. Testing is done to try to find them, but some are quite subtle and are not found in testing because there are just too many starting points and sets of inputs that could be tested to be feasible. Therefore, we consumers sometimes find that software seems to behave unpredictably. In fact it's not the case at all. But it sure seems that way. I suspect that the OS for the MMI got into a "dead-end" in the code and couldn't find a way out. The reboot would have been like resetting a video game, bringing the code back to the beginning again.

My guess is that we'll all have some finite chance of seeing a similar situation. Unfortunately it is normal for high-end software such as that now used in the ever increasing complexity of the modern automobile.

Fortunately for all of us, the major control systems for the car do not use this type of OS, so this should only show up as a nuisance, not a danger. The MMI software will doubtless be revisioned to remove bugs like this as they're reported. It's relatively easy to determine what rev of MMI software you're running (it's a menu selection). Check with the dealer to see if there's an update.

I hope this post was more insightful. Thanks for the smack upside the head, and your words of sanity.

Yea Snow -

keep out if you cant add to the thread...

Are we now saying we should neuter the forum to just good things - and "mods" for those who want to play at Boy Racing??

Sorry - but if people are stupid enough to carry on full scale business meetings whilst trying to drive a 2.5 ton beast of a car - then scuse me for being a bit concerned.

I had my view and was happy to hear on the stupid concall meetings people love to show off with - as long as they dont try and stop me putting my view as to the severe safety issues related to this action.

Overall "captainy" has the problems and certainly trying to "liken" a press of a button to holding a 30 minute meeting in the car whilst driving just shows how selfish most modern motorist are these days...

I've added one of the links out there that outlines how stupid and selfish you really are being... Get a life and save a few others whilst your at it.

http://www.emailwire.com/news/aut2429.shtml

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/1777346.stm

the first comment on this bbc site says it all.<ul><li><a href="http://www.emailwire.com/news/aut2429.shtml">http://www.emailwire.com/news/aut2429.shtml</a</li></ul>

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn2077

If one is dumb then so is the other.

I have no problem with people who want to phone and call someone to say "hi - I'm going to be late"

But we all have a concern if your actually making yourself worse than a drunk driver by taking your "conf call" in the car...

I think this speaks for itself.

We all agree that driving while incapable of properly controlling your vehicle is a bad thing to do. But people do it every day. So why do you want to single out hands-free phone users? What about people not paying attention due to other reasons? People where I live are regularly seen driving while shaving, putting on make-up, eating, drinking, heck even having sex. There is already a law against that. It's called driving without due care and attention. I neither condone it, not indulge in it.

Then there's the issue of your baseline driving skill. Why should Driver A, a well-skilled driver who can hold a conversation with a passenger or his hands-free while still paying attention to his main duty be penalized compared to Driver B who has poor driving skills and is easily distracted by a passing bird? That ain't democratic. But it is supported by government busy-bodies who are looking for an issue to latch onto to show what a good little public servant they are.

Peegee, you know absolutely nothing about me. You have no idea where I live or drive, nor where I'm from. You don't know how old I am You don't know my baseline driving skills, you don't know how much alcohol I drink, you don't know how often I use my hands-free phone whilst driving, or for how long I use it when I do. In fact you nothing at all. Yet you feel qualified, due to your ability to read a study which happens to support how you feel about something, to tell me what my problems are? For every study you show me to support your position, there will be several others I could find, should I choose to so waste my time, which refute it. Where's their data on how much worse a driver you are when you wife is nagging you from the passenger seat? Huh? Huh?

So kindly focus your posts on telling us something useful. We don't care if it's about boy racer stuff, nice accessories you found, or something else. But please stop using this forum as your political soapbox.

It is all about the driver's individual ability to simply drive, to concentrate through distractions, to stay awake, and too avoid dangerous predicaments.
The Q7 offers a multitude of features to help in making driving safer, not only those that help keep our eyes on the road, but also those that assist us once we do get into trouble. Hands-free Bluetooth phones is one of the features that I use extensively, not for general chat, but as an integral part of my business - a business that must be successful to afford the damn Q7!
I have always been critical of our Australian road laws that prohibit the use of hand held phones. I feel that, like speeding, it is an easy and clearcut way for the police to raise revenue.
There is no argument that using the phone is a distraction, but it is how the individual driver can cope with that distraction that is in question. I have avoided accidents for all my 32 years of driving, but 2 family members have had accidents - one while stubbing out a cigarette and one while reading a street directory (both legal activities).
Any talk of banning using phones in cars is simply ridiculous. Let those of us that can maintain concentration while talking and driving carry on doing so.

Just saw a news report from Brisbane where car owners have had their car tyres slashed and a note stuck on their windscreen stating that they were seen using their phone while driving!
Are we sure Peegee is not on an overseas holiday?;-)

In the urls' there is a trend that people are in denial and have a selfish attitude of needing to use the phone in the car at all costs.

If you've been driving for 32 years then your about 50 now - and will be heading into the older league that find it more difficult to "juggle" complex tasks ;) Commonly known as sogs...

Anyway - you and others parade your waffle about this and that - so why shouldnt I take a moment to educate others on the error of their ways. If you find it so offensive - then dont read my post - simple.

Otherwise we will continue to get these "defensive" rants trying to "justify" your stupidity. Anyone holding a business conf call from a car is kidding themselves if they are fully in control and safe with they're car - they have only one thing on their side!!!

LUCK...

just like your argument for driving and carrying out business conf calls ;)

....and you will find that I have never even mentioned driving and carrying out business conf calls. Only you and others have.

But I do object to being called stupid or dumb by you because you believe that it's okay for you to use your phone to distract yourself while dialing somebody to tell them you'll be late home for dinner, but the rest of us can't use our phones because we can't be trusted not to talk for longer than 30 seconds or manage our distraction level. I find using the MMI to dial a call (or do anything else) distracting, so I never use it while moving. Typically I use my hands-free only to receive calls and it's never for business. For me, driving time is my time. But I still don't agree with outlawing in-car phone use, otherwise you'd also have to have a law preventing any passengers from talking to the driver too.

My point is that you cannot arbitrarily say that it's okay to use your phone while driving as long as it's just to say hi and you're going to be late. What if that 30 seconds of conversation happens right as a large lorry cuts in front of you? Just bad luck? What if that 30 seconds delivers devastating news to you like your grandma just died? Distracting or not? These are some of the reasons why you cannot say that it's okay for you to have short conversations, but otherwise it should be banned.

So, based on your British url's and choice of words, can we assume that you're in England? Please let it be so as I'd like to visit with you on my vacation back home to see my parents and in-laws the next 2 weeks and debate this with you further over a beer or two (provided we don't drive afterwards). I'm sure that you'll find that we have a lot more in common than you think. You'll find me in Haverfordwest week 1 and in Devizes week 2. Let me know.

You didnt get the post - and certainly didnt respond to the point I made earlier. Please do as I'm amazed how simple the "control" was.

Just a quick example of the diffs I spotted - on our car - a quick press of the steering wheel can "repeat" the sat nav instruction!!! Can MMI do that ------ NOPE = I'd have to look away from the road to do that on q7.

I'm certainly not advocating that anyone should try programming these devices on the move?? I never said I'd be driving and twiddling with setup of the stuff in my post!!

DID I???

SO WHY QUOTE ME OUT OF "CONTEXT"!!!

MY ONLY CONCERN WAS THAT THE AUDI MMI OFFERING WAS ACTUALLY INFERIOR TO THAT PROVIDED ON OUR GM RUN OF THE MILL CAR... A CAR THAT COST A QUARTER OF THE Q7's UK VALUE&gt;&gt;&gt;

For programming the SatNav on the mmi they chose a clockface style of showing the alphabet - unfortunately this makes the satnav pretty intense on the eyes. On most others there is a more easy to read "tabular" form thats easier on the eyes.

TO BOOT THE GM OFFERING ACTUALLY WARNS THE MOTORIST "NOT TO USE THE "ENHANCED" OPTIONS WHEN MOVING AND TO ABIDE BY LAWS OF THE COUNTRY/REGION YOUR TRAVELLING THRU"

I WAS GETTING AT THE POINT THAT THE AUDI "STEERING" WHEEL CONTROLS WERE ACTUALLY PRETTY RUBBISH CONSIDERING HOW EXPENSIVE and "ADVANCED" EVERYONE SAYS THE CAR IS.

Frankly I was greatly disappointed with the SAT NAV - and the data wasnt even up to date - over 1 years out of date in areas citys in UK we encountered and disc was also marked 2005.

The other thing that was most confusing was the auto scale option - which confused everyone on board as I said on the earlier post.

If you pay top dollar you expect a "top" product and not an inferior one. As others have pointed out "some" shortcuts here and there - See posts on mp3 and ipod for example...

Hi Captainy

we'll have to take a rain check on the drinks as I'm 8hrs north of where you'll be staying - and 16hrs is a long round trip for a beer ;) Thanks anyway...

Your point below is missing my point - I'm saying that most quick phonecalls that involve low concentration ie. I'm going to be late - are pretty much low taxation on the "brain" cells - this is 1000 miles away from having to listen, concentrate and contribute to a business call that may last for 15,30,60 mins or more. I dont want people to be unable to make calls in a car and I dont want any arbitrarily set "limit" - more a case for people having the sense and the responsibilty to be up front and see they arent being smart taking business conf calls on the move - especially when its proven to be worse than being drunk when driving... To avoid this is like saying "cigarettes dont cause cancer!!! we all know they do - but people are all in denial that they dont".

Captainy said - "My point is that you cannot arbitrarily say that it's okay to use your phone while driving as long as it's just to say hi and you're going to be late."

Thankyou for dropping the stupid and dumb monikers in this post. Let's keep our future debates "clean". I see that we both enjoy a good debate.

Now, this debate has gone on long enough that I can't even remember if you even have a Q7 or not. If you do, let's see some pictures. If not, then let's see some pictures of what you do have.

Peegee, in defence of those other 50 year old drivers out there, our experience and greater patience can balance our reduction in reaction time and reduced ability to multi-task. These new cars with all their easily accessible controls and Bluetooth etc are there to be taken advantage of.
There is no denying that a phone (or any)conversation can reduce a driver's ability, but until someone can prove that it affects us to a dangerous level or until I feel it is affecting my driving to a dangerous level, I will continue talking to my clients and making sales while driving.

stupid and dumb - its very tongue in cheek - and possibly the mirth is lost in translation.

There was no malice in the comments - but the subject is very serious - and people should take it so. Thanks too for the good debate on this.

All the best with your trip to uk...

Regards.

ps. with all the recent faults appearing on this and other sites - I'm glad I remember I havent bought one yet ;)