Two Bluetooth speakerphone options for your car

California's hands-free cell phone law is now in effect, so if you're rollin' down 101 you need to either get a headset or a speakerphone system pronto.

I covered three new headset options last week. Today I turn to two freestanding speakerphones that stay in your car and let you escape the fashion tragedy that comes with a hunk of plastic wedged in your ear.

I've been using GoldLantern's VisorTalk speakerphone for several months now, and it's a capable, if bulky unit. (Best feature: Caller ID is built right into the display.) If the VisorTalk isn't to your liking, check out one of these two options.

EGO Cup

This new speakerphone, as the name implies, sits in your car's cup holder and requires permanent tethering to the 12V cigarette lighter adapter for power. The lack of a rechargeable battery has pros and cons: The good news is that you never run out of juice and have to deal with recharging (with the VisorTalk, it must be frequently taken down from the visor and plugged into the lighter, which makes it periodically less useful as it sits in the passenger seat). The bad news is that you lose a 12V plug permanently. Depending on your car you could end up with cables snaking around in unsightly places, too.

I had worried that being in the cup holder, audio quality wouldn't be as good as with a visor mount (which puts the microphone right by your face), but the EGO Cup was just as good as VisorTalk on both outgoing and incoming audio, likely due to the giant mic that attaches to the back of the Cup. Color me impressed. Setup is very simple, and the controls are easily accessed and intuitive (answer/end call/volume... that's it). There's no caller ID function, which is a shame, but since you'd have to take your eyes off the road to check out who's calling, maybe that's intentional. Price: Not bad, about $90 to $110.

BlueAnt SuperTooth Light

I immediately liked the SuperTooth for one reason: It can be recharged via your car's 12V socket or via standard wall power. That may sound silly, but I often drive only short distances, so it can take days of driving with something plugged into the cigarette lighter adapter for it to charge up, whereas if I just bring it in the house, I can recharge the device in one afternoon. No-brainer.

The SuperTooth is a visor-mount kit, and like the VisorTalk it includes a magnetic attachment for easy removal. But using the SuperTooth isn't quite as simple as some of the other sets I've tested. For starters there's a weird telescoping microphone that also controls power to the device. Push the mic in and it's completely off, though it's natural to want to push the microphone in to hang up on a call. Answering calls can even be tricky: Hold down the green answer button for too long and the phone won't pick up. Another bummer: No caller ID.

Still, you can get used to all of these issues, and considering the price (as little as $66 online), perhaps you should. As a side note, the device is also aavailable in black or white to match your interior (or your iPod).