The scoop: BT-200 Noise Canceling Bluetooth Headset, by Andrea Electronics, about $90.

Click to see: Andrea Electronics' BT-200 headset

What it is: The package includes a mobile phone Bluetooth Headset with noise-cancellation features. The headset can be used with a Bluetooth-enabled cell phone or any VoIP application on your PC. The package comes with a USB Bluetooth Adapter for PCs that don't have Bluetooth already. The headset supports the headset and hands-free Bluetooth profiles (as well as v2.0+EDR specification), and is rated for voice-activated dialing on phones. The headset charges via USB cable, and its rechargeable battery offers up to 10 hours of talk time and up to 150 hours in standby mode.

Why it's cool: I was using a different Bluetooth headset, and my wife commented during one such drive home that it was very hard to hear me with all of that background noise. Switching to the noise-canceling headset helps the person on the other end of a phone call. In my tests of the BT-200, she could hear me a lot better on calls than with the other headset (all things being equal, including the network, AT&T, and the phone, iPhone 3G). There was still some noise when things got really noisy in the car (lots of traffic), but at that point I just raised my voice a bit and moved the microphone closer to my mouth.

Pairing the headset to my iPhone took only a few seconds, it worked on my first attempt (a pretty rare achievement with Bluetooth). The device does have an odd habit of blinking Blue when in standby mode, which causes people to look at you funny when you're in a store, for example.

Some caveats: Andrea Electronics should invest some time and energy into getting the headset to fit better. A flimsy plastic ear loop is the only thing provided to keep the headset connected to your ear, and the lighter weight of the headset tends to keep it jostling around while wearing it. Several times I had to adjust the headset with my hand to make sure it wasn't falling off my ear. In addition, the boom microphone design, while it may be better for noise-canceling features, isn't very stylish compared with other models. One co-worker said I looked like one of Madonna's backup singers. I'd love to have the great noise cancellation features on a device that fits my ear better and is somewhat stylish. I'm not talking about fashion-model style, just something that won't make me look like I should be voguing or taking orders for a Billy Mays "as seen on TV" ad.

Grade: 3 stars (out of five).