After my post about in-ear earbuds with mics, I thought I should counterbalance with a few words on what happens when I’ve got serious conversations to make.

Oregon went hands free this year. To celebrate, Plantronics sent me a Plantronics Discovery 975 Bluetooth Headset. I had been a Jawbone guy up until that point and I figured I’d let you know why.

Yes, it’s always great to get a new piece of gear but here are two things about the Plantronics Discovery 975 Bluetooth Headset that set it apart for me. One is painfully obvious (and I wonder why every bluetooth headset company isn’t doing this) and the other is an issue of design that just “works” for me.

The thing comes with a case that not only uses a standard miniusb chord, but also stores an additional battery inside. So, in short, then I put the thing in it’s case, it charges. So nice. Throw in a little standard chord action and I can quickly charge both battery and case on the same chord I charge my mifi or Kindle with.

As much as these things need to be about quality and battery life, they also need to be about convenience. This one excels at that. Game changer for me – and just pleasant to deal with.

The second issue is the design. If you click on this link, you’ll see that this is one of those bluetooth headsets that just connects into the inner ear. For me, it worked out of the box, but it came with a bunch of fitting pieces to (I assume) fit whatever kind of ear you might throw her way.

This is very subjective, but I like the feel of the thing. It’s so small (light) that it can stick right in the ear and not feel like it’s going to fall off. I’ve been surprised at how it stays in regardless of what I throw at it, and now feel completely comfortable with it. By not being some over the ear thing, I can pop it in and out quickly (I’m not the type who likes to show off how cool I am by wearing it everywhere).

Throw in the fact that I can put it in the super cool charging case and I simply can’t tell you how long the battery lasts, having never let it charge down. I did spend nearly three hours on a car trip to Seattle chatting on the thing so I know it is as least that good.

How good is the noise cancellation? I haven’t subjected it to a rock concert or anything else so dramatic, but I’ve used it in a loud car and during a conversation and had no problems at all.

It fits, it works, the battery pack makes a ton of sense and it’s easy to charge and use. Doesn’t get much better than that.

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