Jamie's Random Musings
Various thoughts and adventures, including but not limited to Linux, Windows XP and Widows Vista, and assorted bits of hardware new and old.
Sunday 11 October 2009, 8:11 AM
Bluetooth USB Nano Dongle
I have a very strong preference for Bluetooth mice on my netbook and notebook systems. Unfortunately, a couple of them don't have bluetooth adapters - most significantly the HP Pavillion dv2-1010ez, which is becoming my current favorite, and one of the HP 2133 Mini-Notes. It occasionally takes a long time for the solution to a problem to filter through my head, and this was one of those cases. I was just about to go out and buy a new Logitech VX Nano, which I consider to be the next best alternative, when suddenly the light finally came on. What I really need is a Nano-sized bluetooth adapter!
A quick web search confirmed that such a thing does exist, from various suppliers. I made a short trip to the local electronic shop, and picked up a Trust Ultra Small Bluetooth 2.1 USB Adapter for 25 Swiss Francs. I plugged it into the 1010ez, booted up Ubuntu Karmic, and the Bluetooth icon appeared on the panel! Things just don't get any easier than that. By the way, you can tell that it is a bluetooth adapter because it glows blue. I tried it with Jaunty, openSuSE 11.1 and 11.2, and Mandriva 20009.1 and 2010.0, and they all worked. I moved it over to the old Fujitsu-Siemens S2110, and it worked just fine there as well. At that point I threw the Windows Driver CD that came with it in the trash, and declared the Mission Accomplished. I can't try it in the HP Mini-Note at the moment, because that system is on temporary duty in Bosnia (on loan to a friend), but I have no doubt that it will work as well.
There are similar dongles available from a number of other companies, I assume that they would work every bit as well. I'll probably pick up one of them this week, so that I can just leave one plugged into each of the bluetoothless systems.
It's so nice when things just work!
jw 11/9/2009
P.S. I just realized that I didn't explain, for those to whom it is not obvious, the reason I wanted a "Nano"-style dongle is the size, it is not much more than a nub protruding from the usb slot, so I can plug it in and leave it, rather than the older "thumb"-sized dongles, which you have to remove when you want to put the computer into a case. In fact, because the capability and compatibility is essentially the same for most such USB/Bluetooth adapters these days, choosing one is likely to come down to a preference on size and shape.
A quick web search confirmed that such a thing does exist, from various suppliers. I made a short trip to the local electronic shop, and picked up a Trust Ultra Small Bluetooth 2.1 USB Adapter for 25 Swiss Francs. I plugged it into the 1010ez, booted up Ubuntu Karmic, and the Bluetooth icon appeared on the panel! Things just don't get any easier than that. By the way, you can tell that it is a bluetooth adapter because it glows blue. I tried it with Jaunty, openSuSE 11.1 and 11.2, and Mandriva 20009.1 and 2010.0, and they all worked. I moved it over to the old Fujitsu-Siemens S2110, and it worked just fine there as well. At that point I threw the Windows Driver CD that came with it in the trash, and declared the Mission Accomplished. I can't try it in the HP Mini-Note at the moment, because that system is on temporary duty in Bosnia (on loan to a friend), but I have no doubt that it will work as well.
There are similar dongles available from a number of other companies, I assume that they would work every bit as well. I'll probably pick up one of them this week, so that I can just leave one plugged into each of the bluetoothless systems.
It's so nice when things just work!
jw 11/9/2009
P.S. I just realized that I didn't explain, for those to whom it is not obvious, the reason I wanted a "Nano"-style dongle is the size, it is not much more than a nub protruding from the usb slot, so I can plug it in and leave it, rather than the older "thumb"-sized dongles, which you have to remove when you want to put the computer into a case. In fact, because the capability and compatibility is essentially the same for most such USB/Bluetooth adapters these days, choosing one is likely to come down to a preference on size and shape.
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