New Costo HA user needs bluetooth BLU RCU help please

Hearing Aids
#1

Hello,

I am a first time user currently in the 3rd week of a trial the Costo Premium Digital RITE aids with bluetooth capabilities (BLU RCU). To purchase the BLU RCU is around $300 and then they enable your HA’s software. Their brochure has a very limited one paragraph description.

I am interested in the BLU RCU to pair with my home phone which is a cordless landline. What kind of adapters are there for the phone, without buying a new phone? We are in a rural “dead zone” so we cannot use a cell phone at home. Most information I have seen is for cell phones. We have to walk 1/4 mile down the street and up a hill to get reception. I am unemployed and need the home phone to be very clear when doing phone interviews. Many employers are going that route now to save money and time.

Can you pair more than one phone to the BLU RCU? In the future, I would want my cell paired also. In other posts I read that you have to wear the remote in the middle of your chest to get adequate reception or it loses connectivity?

If anyone can educate me as I have an appointment at Costco on 3/17 for an adjustment. I would like to go in with some intelligent questions before I buy the unit.

Lastly, has anyone tried the amplified land line phones, for example, Clarity cordless XLC 3.4 Dect 6.0 extra loud big button speaker phone with talking caller ID.

Thank you.

#2

Are your hearing aids the Costco Aid the ReSound Future units? If so, then you can pair up to 8 devices with the Unite Phone Streamer. If it is another brand please list it here and someone else with that unit should be able to answer your question.

As for pairing it with a non-Bluetooth cordless phone. I have seen those late night commercials for the little box that plugs into the headphone jack of devices that gives them Bluetooth capability. If your cordless phone has a headphone jack on it, that might be the way to go.

A quick Google search found this device from Jabra. Much cheaper than buying a new Cordless Phone with Bluetooth built in, and you can move it to other devices, like an MP3 Player. Jabra is a well known maker of Bluetooth headsets, so I would trust it more than that unknown one on the late night TV ads.

As for the device you wear, unfortunately that is a requirement for all models of hearings aids that support Bluetooth connectivity. The hearing aids are not large enough and do not have enough battery power to have the Bluetooth connectivity built into them.

One thing I recommend for HA and phone usage is to keep your external mics on while on a call. Once paired the streamer sends all audio output from the phone to the HA’s. Real irritating to have the world go silent each time you get a text message or an email. Especially if you are in a meeting. And people walk up and start talking cause they can not see a headset hanging off of your ear and do not know you are on a call. With the mics muted you can not hear them.

And no, I have not tried any of the phone amplification devices so can not comment on them.

Good Luck

#3

I just Googled the BLU RCU you mentioned in your post as I did not recognize that term. That is the Costco Rexton unit which is the same as the Siemens Tek. Which means you will have it even easier. The Tek has a jack built into the unit for doing a direct connection from non-Bluetooth devices. All you need to do is go to Radio Shack and buy a cable that has the correct sized jacks (2.5 mm or 3.5 mm) to match both devices.

#4

Reiden,

Yes the HA’s I have are Costco’s version of the Rexton Cobalt 16 which is made by Siemens. Thanks for the link for the Jabra adapter. I have never been a techie gadget person so I have a lot to learn about besides getting accustomed to the HA’s. Some of the Bluetooth posts seemed complicated to me.

#5

Connecting a non-bluetooth landline phone to a bluetooth streamer like the BLU RCU may be more trouble/expense than it’s worth. You can buy a landline cordless phone for $60-80 that has bluetooth. Remember that the bluetooth ability of the landline phone is built into the phone base and not the wireless handset, so you are limited to less than 30 feet from the base.

I don’t think the Jabra device mentioned is for a phone. I think it just transmits and doesn’t receive (not two-way).

Also, the mini version of the BLU RCU, much smaller and cooler looking, is coming to Costco this summer. It should be available other places in April but if you buy it elsewhere I doubt your Costco audiologist will set it up.

The Siemens site has a lot of information about the TEK and the mini-TEK which are the same as the Rexton BLU RCU and the mini-BLU.

#6

Don, thanks for bringing this to my attention before I bought the Tek. I went on the Siemens site and it looks like the Mini-Tek is the way to go. I am going to Costco on Thursday and I will ask her about it. Hopefully Connecticut stores will have it in April. The manufacturers have you captive now though; you have buy the unit, then the seller will turn on the bluetooth capability of the HA’s. I wonder how much it will cost - the current Tek is $325 through Costco. Someday, I would love to learn the Connex software that Siemens sells to adjust aids, maybe when they simplify it like Turbo Tax! Remember doing taxes on paper?!

#7

I have the TEK and have 90 days to return it to Costco. I’ll do that closer to the end of 90 days and hopefully won’t have to wait too long for the mini-TEK. Looks pretty cool, especially the size.

#8

One thing I notice with the mini-TEK is that the treble cannot be adjusted.

#9

Yes, there are some differences in the TEK and mini-TEK. In the TEK you can go directly from one program to another. In the mini you have to cycle around like you do on the aids. And like you said, no treble adjustment.

From what I have been told, Costco stores will all get the mini about the same time, in early summer (that’s their target). It (the mini) will be released by Rexton in April but Costco will get it in the warehouse a little later. I pushed them a little and got that information back.

Let me know what the local Costco audiologist says. I don’t think they really get the information locally until a week before it is set to be shipped to the warehouse so it would be interesting what the local audiologist tells you.

#10

I recently paid $500 for my Tek from my audiologist. I use it mostly for the volume control. I connect it to my iPhone from time to time. Be sure to charge the Tek on a regular basis. Once the battery indicator starts to show discharge, you have a very short time before it runs out completely. The TV transmitter that comes with the unit is handy. I can hook that to the tv and listen through my aids without having to turn it up too loud for everyone else.

Jeff

Before I buy HAs again, I’m going to have an account at Costco. I wonder where the closest one to Houston is?

#11

http://www.costco.com/Warehouse/locator.aspx?cm_re=1_en--Top_Right_Nav1--Top_locations&topnav=&whse=BC&lang=en-US

#12

Thanks for the Costco link!

Jeff

#13

Do you find there’s a delay? I tried the transmitter with my TV and because the volume on the TV’s up and I get the audio through my HAs too, it was slightly behind. Do you have this problem at all?

#14

I was at Costo in CT for an adjustment yesterday. The specialist did not recommend the Tek. There have been numerous complaints, and thus returns, about compatibility (even with the newest phones), spotting operation, conspicuous size and short battery life.

The Siemens rep was there yesterday and said the mini-tek for Siemens branded HA’s will be out this spring, but the version for the the Kirkland Signatures (Rexton Cobalts 16) may come out in August. The specialist told me that Costco usually gets the new technology 6 months later.

I did not buy the remote either. It was the size of a garage opener and I feel that as I have long hair, I can be more discrete if I pretend I am scratching my head when pressing the button to change programs. Only my husband knows I have HA’s and no one else has noticed. I have had them for a month now and feel way more confident. I have a job interview today; wish me luck!

#15

Good luck! My mom got a pair of Rexton’s last week at Costco, and so far seems to be doing well with them.

#16

Jay-Man2,

Thanks for the good wishes. Interviews are stressful enough without the added stress of wondering if how the HA’s will work. Well, the difference was night and day! I got so involved in the conversation that I even forgot that my voice still sounds a little funny to me.

I think I will research an amplified land line phone for home while waiting for the mini-tek. I can hear great on my cheap Motorola cell phone without a bluetooth.

Good luck to your Mom. She’s lucky to have someone already experienced to help her adjust.

#17

Who sells them? Siemens does not offer them yet - maybe in May according to Siemens customer service

#18

I was told the mini-tek will be released in April and Costco MAY have the Rexton version (mini-BLU?) by early summer. So, not out yet but there may be some pre-release versions around.

I did notice the software at my Costco has the BLU-RCU (TEK) and the mini-BLU pictures on the bluetooth tab, and that was in January so the release dates may hold up, since finished products were already depicted in the software and the software could apparently configure it (or recognize it).

#19

I’m glad to hear the mini-tek is going to make an appearance on the rexton/costco line.

#20

wow… that is GREAT… too bad i already ripped the button out of my wifes d250…

but its an option if she wants bluetooth i doubt she does

but would you mind posting the vista and xp links here?