Plantronics Foldable USB Stereo Headset (Optimized for Laptop Use) (Audio 470 USB)
by Plantronics
Our Price: $129.99
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $49.95 (click here)
Category: CE
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: PlantronicsFormat: CD
Model: .AUDIO 470 USB
Product features:
- Compatible with Windows & Macintosh
- Optimized for laptop use - engineered for Skype, Windows Live, Yahoo Messenger -- Voice, Music, Games
- Connect with an analog connection or use the included USB connection to ensure consistent sound quality on every call and for every application.
- Adjust the headset to personalize the fit, the lightweight and ergonomic design deliver extraordinary comfort for hours. The microphone minimizes background noise.
- Easily fold and fit the headset into a crowded briefcase. Make internet calls, watch DVD's, or listen to music and Podcasts-- it's the only headet you need.
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Plantronics Foldable USB Stereo Headset (Optimized for Laptop Use) (Audio 470 USB)
Customer Review: My Second Pair
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought these headphones one day after a particularly awful experience at Best Buy trying to trade in my extended warranty for the umpteenth time and encountering some of the worst customer service and policy use I've ever witnessed. I was actually told I was buying a USB headset from someone who claimed to have looked it up when, in fact, I was not. It was wasted money and time.
So I came home and looked on Amazon to see if I could find something better and so I did. I even price-checked this set against other places online and when you factor in the free shipping it really is the best deal for them. Thirty dollars for a headset that is not only USB but it doesn't squish my head!
Maybe I have a big head. Maybe my ears stick out too far. I wouldn't think so, normally, but I seem to have an issue many different designs of headphones that the inside ridges of my ears get rubbed funny or pushed towards my head and that results, at the very least, in a gradually increasing discomfort and, at worst, immediate pain that worsens over time. Even the soft cushioned ones have a tendency to squeeze too tight and I have a delicate jaw that doesn't react well to being caught in a clamp.
Ideally, I would prefer a pair of headphones that are light enough to wear for several hours at a time padded in fabric (anyone who spends long amounts of time chatting online knows that your ears get sweaty and plastic or leather padding just gets funky after a short while) and enclose the ear without squeezing the head, have in-line volume control and a cord long enough to lean back in my chair a little or stand up and grab something from a high shelf without taking them off. I would like an adjustable, noise-canceling microphone that is unnoticeable when it's tilted up (or "holstered", as I like to call it) and a little button on it to call a manservant to freshen my lemonade with exactly four perfect cubes of ice.
This headset does not enclose the ears but the sound is really quite good so I don't need them to. They're padded with mesh (so they don't get too warm) and very comfortable, have in-line volume and mute and a cord that's so long I actually end up bundling it up a little so my chair doesn't roll over it, and still have room to move around. This would be ideal if I wanted to sit somewhere else while talking on my computer and, someday, I just might.
It also does not have a button to call a manservant, nor does a manservant come included, but I suppose it's just as well; that model would cost way more.
It does have this handy-dandy collapsible feature that seems very unstable at first but can take quite a beating despite appearances and actually contributes to the comfort of the device (watch the hinges around your hair, though). Although I don't use a laptop, the space-saving design is still appreciated because it lets me store them in my desk drawer when not in use, even when they're still plugged in. Headphones are difficult to store neatly and these are designed to do just that.
I'm very hard on a pair of headphones. I work and play at this machine so I use them for everything I do, from listening to music and watching video to using voice chat programs and games (on Windows XP Media Center) such as Second Life, Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2, Steam Community chat, Skype and Yahoo, and filming program tutorials. The microphone quality is fantastic. Nobody complains of shrill or disturbing sounds (unless I make them), and believe me when I say that the people I talk to would most certainly complain if some innocent plastic bag rustling in the background became shrill to their ears. That has happened with other headsets, though usually those that only offer copper plugs and are not USB.
That's the other thing about them. They have USB and copper plug connections (and the USB connection is compatible with all the other Plantronics USB connections of this kind, too) so if I did take them somewhere, I'd be covered no matter what I'd need to plug them into.
These headphones lasted a really long time, too. I bought my first pair in September and even after accidentally splitting the rubber on the cord (not advised) in a few places, they still managed to hold out eight months and that's better than even my most expensive pair of headphones ever ($110, six months). I am not nice to my headphones, as hard as I might try. They get dropped, kicked, chewed on (by the cat, not me), squished between cushions, sat on, and loud music pushed through the speakers at top volume for long periods of time. Occasionally, they even get a little damp when I accidentally duck my microphone into my icy fresh lemonade. This set keeps going. In the end, the sound in the left ear gave out and that's how most of them finally go. No set of headphones is meant to last forever, but I've gotten some very impressive value out of this pair.
I bought my first set of headphones when I was nine for the purpose of listening to my Walkman (they were actually still called that, back then) and I've been going through them like paper ever since. This is the only pair I've actually wanted to replace with the same model and I'll do it again when this new pair gives out. I'm confident that will take a while.
In short (too late, I know), they're light, comfortable, durable, good sound quality for both listening and making others listen, and all for thirty dollars. Free shipping, too (although they took a week to ship it).
PS - The collapsible mechanism seems stiff at first but after some use will loosen up and become more fluid. I've found the best way to do it is to hold the headphones upright in both hands, facing you (with the microphone to your left) and brace your thumbs beneath the hinges. Then, use your index fingers to ease the top of them until they are about halfway bent. Now gently bring the ear pieces towards each other and everything will kind of fold together on its own. They open in much the same way, only in reverse.
Followup Edit:
The second pair lasted me another eight months. I'm now on my third, and still just as happy with them. At this point, I'm making an effort to outfit the people I speak to regularly with their own sets, because none of them get the sound quality I do.
More Plantronics Foldable USB Stereo Headset (Optimized for Laptop Use) (Audio 470 USB) reviews:
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Description of Plantronics Foldable USB Stereo Headset (Optimized for Laptop Use) (Audio 470 USB)
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