Customer Reviews

Bluetooth USB 2.0 Micro Adapter Dongle

5 star:		(182)
4 star:		(85)
3 star:		(59)
2 star:		(41)
1 star:		(195)

 

 

This mini 2.0 USB Blue Tooth dongle has potential but the bundled software ruins it. I paid about 5-6 bucks (including shipping) for it - the reseller had it to me in record time. At this price point, really, there was not much for me to lose and my expectations were not that high.

The dongle ships in a plastic pack with a mini CDROM. The mini CDROM has software (Bluesoleil 2.6.0.8) that enables Blue Tooth features that go beyond the basic Windows XP Blue Tooth capabilities, including A2DP (stereo music).

The dongle is tiny. I have an Acer Aspire One netbook and the dongle barely juts out from the side of the netbook - a clear improvement over my Targus Blue Tooth USB dongle, which is 1 1/2 inches long. This improvement, however, was the only improvement to be found.

When using this USB dongle in a Windows XP environment, you really have two choices:

1) Plug it in and let XP detect and install a generic Blue Tooth driver for the device
2) Install the Bluesoleil software

If you go with the XP drivers, you are going to be able to use a decent and stable set of features, such as a reliable Blue Tooth mouse connection.

If you go with the Bluesoleil software, it opens up the functionality of the device and provides additional features that the XP drivers don't support, such as stereo music.

The problem is, the Bluesoleil software is not good. The user interface is ugly and non-intuitive. You'll just have to install it to see for yourself. Additionally, the software is, by design, crippled. Per the help menu, patches and upgrades will cost you. You can purchase a full version that, among other things, removes the data transfer speed-cap so that you can listen to MP3s without hiccups.

Setting aside the fairly annoying and yet not deal-breaking aspects of the software is the fact that the software doesn't play well with the audio drivers of my Acer Aspire One netbook. If I try to open an audio gateway to my Motorola BT stereo headphones, the Aspire RealTek soundchip drivers crash and crash again. And that is if I can even get the software to agree to create an audio gateway; it doesn't seem to be able to do so reliably.

I searched for information regarding the Bluesoleil software and the majority of the search results returned ways to work around the issues and many results even outlined how to reconfigure competitive software packages to work with the dongle in order to circumnavigate the Bluesoleil software altogether. I tried every trick that was described. I found some success in working with different software hacks but the time I spent was not well spent.

Back to my old Targus BT dongle, it was about 25 bucks. I installed the included software (WIDCOMM) and it just works. Five minutes of fiddling and it all works. It's silver and pokes way out and is pretty lame looking, but it gives me no grief.

In the end, I guess if your time is worth nothing than the cheapo BT dongle is for you. However, if you want the BT dongle to just work out of the box with no issues for every application that you expect it to work for, do some research and pay for what you expect to receive.

I have to caveat that this dongle and the included software may be just fine for you. For me however, it did not meet my requirements which are: BT mouse, BT stereo headphones and BT cellphone connections. All at once. Without any issues. The Targus dongle does this and I guess I'll just live with its unfortunate form factor.

First unit received had a manufacturing defect that prevented the dongle from being attached to the usb port.

The replacement could not pair with other devices using Microsoft's bluetooth driver on XP(sp3) clean install. It also did not work with Microsoft's bluetooth driver on Vista x64. Also tried ubuntu linux 9.04 and also did not work.

After troubleshooting in ubuntu, the system log revealed that the device shuts down and restarts each time the bluetooth radio is used. And that was the apparent cause of pairing failures.

update: the device doesn't appear to use the Broadcom 2045 Chipset as stated in the detailed description. I installed the WIDCOMM bluetooth driver from Broadcom and it doesn't recognize the device.

Based on the couple other reviews, I thought that I would take a gamble on it. I needed something to connect my cell phone bluetooth headset to my computer for a VoIP setup needed for work. With little information and having never used bluetooth, I gambled and I won.

The dongle has a small foot print. The software is excellent. I was able to connect all my cell phones and the wireless headsets to the computer with out any problem. Further, I was able to integrate my wireless headsets to my VoIP application (Avaya IP Agent, in case anyone is wondering). I was pleasantly surprised to see that the device packaging says that it is VoIP capable. The software is easy to use.

Over all, I am very pleased with the device. For less than $10 and the small footprint, you can't go wrong using this device.

I recommend it to anyone looking for bluetooth USB adapter.

The dongle just fried when I plugged it into the usb port and ceased to work except as a fingertip warmer.

A2DP sound is breaking up with Bluesoleil 6.2, Widcomm 5.1 and Toshiba 6.3 stacks. It is recognized as a CSR based generic dongle (VID 0A12 and PID 0001) but the actual chipset is Broadcom BCM2045 (non upgradeable ROM). Firmware is 2.2.11.0 Basic profiles work w/o 3rd party drivers but the transfer rates are low.
Bottom line is it has some basic functionality but nothing close to the description. If you need to sync contacts etc. it is OK. If you need stereo sound - find something else. You get what you pay for
I have tested 3 of those dongles on 3 PCs ( XP SP2, Vista and Windows 7 RC) with disappointing results. A legitimate CSR dongle with same mfg ID(vid 0a12 pid 0001) works w/o any issues and excellent stereo sound with Jabra 620s and a generic A2DP headphones.
Edit 07/28/11: I bought a handful of these at some point. About 70% of them failed within half a year. It is a disposable piece of very low quality and questionable origin ( as I mentioned , it reports a bogus ID to the system that prevents legitimate Broadcom drivers from recognizing it)

I purchased this to enable my PC laptop to use a bluetooth mouse. I chose this over other bluetooth adapters because of 1. size and 2. price. Both are extremely compelling reasons to purchase this particular item.

Being mere fractions (1/4 to 1/6) the price of other bluetooth adapters, it was irresistable, and I'm glad to say that it works fine. Of course, I do not use it for anything other than a bluetooth mouse at this point, so I am not aware of its speed in transmitting data. The dongle itself is exactly as pictured, very small and unobtrusive, much smaller than more expensive and branded dongles. It looks a little cheap, but then I remind myself that yes, it was indeed cheap...and it works fine.

As another reviewer says, I recommend that anyone who purchases this use the software CD that comes with the device. I would not trust Microsoft Windows to do a good job with the driver. It seems to be very good software, too. It recognized my mouse immediately, and was easy to set up.

I know you're tempted by a bargain (I was!), but put the money towards a better adapter.

This might work for some, but on a 64-bit Windows 7 machine, the default drivers from Windows Update don't work (can't get through the pairing process). The version of BlueSoleil shipped with the product is obsolete and also doesn't work. BlueSoleil does have a nice working version on their website, but to get a full version without the shady data transfer limit, you'll need to shell out another $20 or so, at which point it's no longer worth it. Lastly either the dongle is NOT based on a Broadcom chipset, or Broadcom didn't write any 64-bit drivers, but their Bluetooth setup utility cannot detect the device either.

I feel like maybe if I keep digging around the web I'll eventually figure it out, but at this point I'm ready to throw in the towel. At least it's only a couple bucks down the drain.

I've been using this for a week now and, contrary to most reviews I read before buying this product, I have no complaints whatsoever.

I have to admit I was a little bit skeptical at first but I had to try it... I mean, it's $0.99! I went ahead and got it thinking I wasn't losing much if it didn't work. Well, to my surprise, I had no problem since I plugged this baby into a USB slot. Windows recognized as soon as it was in and I didn't even have to install the software it came with. Pairing my BT keyboard, mouse and headset was a breeze. The packaging says it has a 100 meter (330 feet)range... I haven't been able to test it that far but it has worked great around 15 meters (aprox. 48 feet) with no loss of data... and that's a whole lot more than most $20+ BT dongles out there.

So, in short... get it... it's great!

I bought this to replace my large Kensington adapter since this is much smaller and I could leave it in the laptop. It works OK for a mouse or keyboard, but not stereo headset. If you simply want to connect a bluetooth mouse (I recommend the Microsoft Notebook Mouse 5000) there are few choices this small and inexpensive. If you want to run more than a mouse, look elsewhere as this adapter cannot handle multiple connections and everything studders and skips.

I run Windowws XP, which has basic capability to support a mouse, but not advanced profiles like headset with microphone or stereo headset. So you can just plug it in and let windows recognize it, you do not need to use the driver CD. The Driver CD includes a very old version of BlueSoleil software (V 1). This will add additional bluetooth profiles to Windows XP. I tried this software to enable my Plantronics 855 stereo headset. I was able to pair but playback was studdering, and unusable if I moved the mouse at the same time. My old Kensington 333348 adapter worked flawlessly with both devices.

If you prefer Widcomm software over BlueSoleil you are out of luck, as Widcomm only supports their own Broadcom chipsets. This adapter uses Cambridge Silicon Radio hardware, so you are stuck with BlueSoleil for advanced profiles in Windows XP. BlueSoleil wants you to upgrade the free software on the CD (V 1) to the latest (V 6) for $20. Version 6 is very good, to bad this is not distributed with the adapter.

The package states 300 foor range, which is a class 1 transmitter. Your device must also be a class 1 to reach this limit. All my devices are Class 2 (30 feet), so I was not able to test the claim. My devices worked to 30 feet successfully.

Bottom line, this tiny, inexpensive adapter will work fine for a mouse with or without the driver CD in Windows XP. While adequate for simple needs it cannot stream stereo audio without skipping.

The dongle is small and unobtrusive. Plugged it into my Acer Aspire One running Linux Mint Gloria and the Bluetooth icon came on right away. Connected to my Verbatim bluetooth mouse easily. I haven't gotten it to work to stream music to my Motorokr BT headphonesyet. But it maybe because Linux doesn't support that yet. Satisfied with the product, the price was great! Should've bought a dozen more! I think it'll make a nice gift for people who haven't discovered this product yet.