I'm trying to find a headset that works for me to no avail. Can someone tell me if I'm doing something wrong? Is it me, the phone, the carrier? Here are the headsets I've tried:

Jabra Jawbone - People hear me very clear and well. I hear people faintly and have a hard time making out what they say. At higher volumes their voices distort if they speak loudly. I have to shut the thing off in about 30% of my conversations so that me and the other party can hear ourselves well enough to carry a conversation.

Motorolla - H700 - I can hear people crystal clear. People complain they can't hear me very well or make out what I say. It picked up way too much background noise, drowning out my voice. I have to shut the thing off in about 100% of my conversations so that me and the other party can hear ourselves well enough to carry a conversation.

Plantronics Voyager 520 - People hear me ok. The headset heavily distorted if the volume was any higher than the minimum, and at the minimum volume, I couldn't always make out what people said. At the lowest volume setting, the headset was waaay too loud! I have to shut the thing off in about 60% of my conversations so that me and the other party can hear ourselves well enough to carry a conversation.

LG 730Z - People hear me ok and I can hear them ok, but never well enough to be a long term solution at both ends. Sound distorted at higher volumes. I have to shut the thing off in about 50% of my conversations so that me and the other party can hear ourselves well enough to carry a conversation.

In general, save the motorolla model, all headsets distort heavily at higher volumes. Is this normal? Am I doing something wrong?

In all other electronics (tv's, radios, stereos, phones, etc), the minimum volume is zero (quiet), the maximum volume is as loud as it gets, and everything in-between is a gradient. However, on bluetooth headsets, the lowest volume is loud (on all models) and then goes up from there. Is this normal?

On all models buttons where persnickety and hard to hit and often doubled in functionality making the devices hard to use. In the Jawbone, I kept hanging up on people when I tried to adjust the volume. The only model that fit comfortably in my ear was the Plantronics one - all others could fall off if I shook my head at all. Is this normal?

As a test I bought a $10 wired headset and that worked fine. I could hear people and they could hear me to the same extent as the handset. This is the best solution (and cheapest) so far, but I was hoping for a wireless solution. The wired headset was the regular ear bud kind.

I tried the headsets on a Blackberry Curve, but also a Voyager to see if the problems were unique to the phone. Is it the phone(s)? I noticed both phones distort a little bit at the highest volume; though not nearly as bad as with the bluetooth headsets. Am I doing something wrong?

Most headset's volumes were tied to the phone volume, but I tried messing with the headset volume vs. the phone volumes but it didn't seem to be related to that.

Maybe that's just how bluetooth headsets are and people put up with it?

THIS IS JUST FROM WHAT I HAVE USED:

Motorola: not that loud, bad battery life, cheap (broke after 3months of daily use HS850). very low at highest volumes.
i have the HF800, HS500, HS850

Jabra: very good device. works well in different conditions. very good battery life. There were time when i had to repeat myself or the other end had to repeat. some that i have are couple years old and still kicking.
i have the BT250, BT800, BT135(2), JX10

LG: HBM 730....Very nice, leight weight, after couple minutes of weaing it cant tell it is there. loud but not muffled. very little problems hearing. one of the best it have.

Jawbone: This is the best device out right now. i have called everyone i know about it so they can hear me on it. driving a jeep on highway gets little loud for the person on other side. i have been told that it sounds like a sound proof room. fairly light for it size, good battery. One thing i have also done that has greatly impacted the performance is changed the eargel to one from Jabra's. no i dont have to used the ear hook.

One thing i noticed a lot is when the person on the other side has the phone on their chin, straight down, or just not somewhere that the phone can pick up clearly will greatly impact what you hear on your side. One thing you might want to try is having the other person move the phone around and see if you get the same issues or if it clears up a little for you.

Hope this kinda helps.

I have an LG headset but i can't seem to pair it with my phone, how do i do this?

I just bought the Plantronics Voyager 855 headset over the weekend and I love it. I can hear people real clear and they can hear me without problems too.

Could be your BB. I highly recommend the Voyager 510 even though it's an older model at this point.

Try posting new questions in their own thread so they don't get lost.

I have had the Jawbone for about 2 months now and everyone that I talk to with it says I sound crystal clear like I'm next to them. The battery life on it is great, I can get it to last almost a week before charging it up again.