Customer Reviews

TRENDnet Bluetooth USB Adapter TBW-101UB (Blue)

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

I bought this adapter so I could use it with my PDA Tungsten T3 and cellphone Samsung T-809 bluetooth capabilities. The whole installation did not go flawlessly, however, so I had to download a new version of BlueSoleil program from the web in order to use the device on my laptop. Although this task was cumbersome and time-consuming, after the new version of BlueSoleil 1.6.1.4 was installed, the adapter has been working fine with both of my bluetooth devices and I am satisfied with the overall performance.
However, there are two things that you should concern about the bluetooth before you buy this.
1) Bluetooth is much slower than USB transfer speed. I can synchro files over bluetooth but it takes too much time, so instead of using the bluetooth I usually end up just plugging in USB between the devices.
2) Although not stated, you actually get (well at least I did) different-looking adapter than one that's picture is shown. However, don't worry. The one you get is more compact in size and even more portable.

If you are planning on using the bluetooth to transfer files in between the devices, get this bluetooth adapter. it does what it says. It is best to use bluetooth for your PDA just to surf some simple webs or update your Palm or PocketPC softwares.
However, if you are not a patient person, and if you hate to wait for those "copy..." "move..." boxes to disappear, avoid the bluetooth and go with USB cables. Wireless devices aren't that advanced yet in the connection speed.

I bought this hoping it would work with my mac even though reviewers said it would I couldn't understand why the manufacturer did not say it would. Anyway, plug and play pretty much. I had to do a couple of minutes of configuring, but I haven't had to think about it since and the range is way better than my other non-bluetooth wireless devices. I will never buy another wireless device that doesn't use this technology.

Even though the price is cheap, this bluetooth adapter delivers. I bought it from Amazon.com (with free shipping, it took merely two days to be delivered!).

It comes with a free USB extension cable in case it won't fit into your hub/computer with wires next to it (it is rather wide, but the extension cable more than makes up for it). The range is good: about the standard 10 meters (it has full range over the room that it's in).

Integration with Mac OS X is superb; it's merely plug and play for Macs, though I assume it is a lot less easy/reliable with Windows computers.

The one down point of Bluetooth is its low transfer rates: with it interfacing with my Sony Ericsson T616, it has an average bandwidth of 4KB/s. I suspect that it is the phone's fault (as it's not necessary to have very high bandwidth for such small files). Bluetooth's official rate is about 90 KB/s, so this is vastly underperforming.

However, due to the cheap price, free cable, and reliability of the TRENDware Bluetooth USB adapter, I give it 5 stars and recommend it to anyone with a Mac looking for a decent, cheap way to become Bluetooth-enabled.

Hunting down a Bluetooth USB can seem like a complicated task but is in fact a lot easier than you would expect if you learn two basic things - range and speed. All Bluetooth USB connections do the same thing. They are small dongles that slot into a USB connection. A Bluetooth USB is also sometimes called a Bluetooth Dongle. They will work with USB 1.1 and above. Bluetooth USB connections have a range of 10 meters to 100 meters depending on which brand you choose. 1 meter = 3.2 feet, so we are looking at Bluetooth USB products ranging from 30 feet to 300 feet. You can probably find Bluetooth USB Adaptors that have a longer range than 100 meters but all of this is about reading the product descriptions to find the kind of range you want. 10 meters is a big distance and so is 100 meters. It means you can have a wireless connection with your PC and Bluetooth device all the way down the road depending on the range you want. So after you have worked out the range you want you need to examine the speed. This is where Bluetooth USB adaptors vary considerably between 723Kbps and 3Mbps. The 723Kbps version is known as Bluetooth V1.2 and the 3Mbps is known as Bluetooth V2.0. V1.2 runs just better than half the speed of a standard USB cable connection. V2 is almost instantaneous, however the difference in terms of sending a big email from your PC to your phone is a matter of seconds, so both V1.2 and V2.0 are considered fast wireless Bluetooth connections. If you can get V2.0 you will have a faster Bluetooth connection. No harm owning a V1.2, you will still be using your Bluetooth device with speed. Some Bluetooth USB adaptors offer encryption but some do not work encrypted. They all use security passwords. If you want encryption you need to check that your Bluetooth USB adaptor has it. All Bluetooth USB adaptors simply slot into your USB connection. I do not know about Apple or Linux but with Windows XP SP2 you will have automatic detection; however it will take a few seconds to setup every time you use it unless you have a CD. In most cases the manual asks that you install the software from the CD before you plug-in the Bluetooth USB adaptor but XP may reject it in which case you need the adaptor in the slot before you install from the CD. CD installation will guarantee a onetime setup only and you don't have to install it again. Most Bluetooth USB adaptors will light up blue. The Bluetooth icon looks like a big letter B. It will appear in your notification area of Windows XP. Installation will create a new place in the `Other' section called My Bluetooth Places. Here devices can be detected and displayed as icons. This will usually give you the following abilities Serial Porting, Dial Up Networking, Fax, Headset, PIM Item Transfer, PIM Synchronization, File Transfer, Network Access, Audio Gateway and HID. It can also access more than one device at a time. Mobile phone users can enjoy wireless access to their phones and access their phone with whatever software they have been provided with. I personally own an MSI Star Key Bluetooth USB. The biggest problem is not with the Bluetooth USB adaptor setup or even with starting up Bluetooth on various devices but with setting up software to use your Bluetooth connection. That will only be as good as the software is. And to that I recommend Bluetooth especially for mobile phone users who have that function. You can work your phone from your desktop without wires.

I had no setup issues whatsoever. I bought it to use with my Motorola V600 mobile phone. I installed the Trendware software and drivers on my desktop which uses Windows XP Home Edition and my laptop which uses Windows 2000 Professional. After an easy setup my computers & phone recognized each other. It couldn't have been simpler.

I'm afraid this is going to be an incredibly dull review; what makes a review interesting are the odd problems, idiosyncrasies, and difficulties you experience with a product.

The TrendNet USB adapter doesn't have any.

I bought this for my G3 iBook, to sync my Address Book with my cell phone. I plugged it in, and it worked. No drivers to install. No software CD to load. You just plug it in, run the Bluetooth setup wiz, and You've Got Bluetooth.

In fact, it was more reliable than the built-in Bluetooth in my iBook G4, which, until the most recent OS 10.4.7 patch, would randomly disappear and require a reboot.

What more could you ask for?

I bought this based on another readers review concerning this adaptor with osX and yes, it's perfect! I have no idea why Mac compatibility isn't listed but with OSX you just plug it in and it works. I'm running 10.3.4 as of this writing and absolutely no issues to speak of. And it's 15 bucks less than the adaptor that Apple recommends. Choice is good!....

Just ordered it and I am quite pleased. It works on my PowerBook G4 running Mac OS 10.3.1. I was able to sync (using iSync) with my Sony Ericsson T616. No problems at all.

Additionally, it is a good value.

I recently bought this item through Amazon, and the bottom line is that it works fine on my Windows XP laptop and has been compatible when paired with my Samsung T509 phone.

Getting to the bottom line, however, was a pain. Before you get to the stage of physically installing the adapter, the instructions have you install the included software from BlueSoleil (version 1.6). About 80% of the way through the software installation, the program hung--just stopped, and never picked up again. I ended up having to physically restart my computer (hard boot--cringe!), and when it resumed, the software was nowhere to be found, and my Windows device manager was full of partially installed device drivers that popped up with errors across the board. I searched the web for a fix, and it turns out that a whole lot of people had the same problem (just try searching "bluesoleil installation problem"). I have tried downloading the newest version (currently 2.3) from BlueSoleil's website (free, but with some minor limitations unless you pay to register), and I had the same problems. To date, BlueSoleil hasn't been able to provide any information on a fix. The bottom line with the software is that I have been unable to get it to work, despite trying a variety of versions and installations.

But the bottom line with the adapter is that you can get it to work just fine without the software. After cleaning BlueSoleil (manually) off of my computer, I just tried plugging in the adapter and seeing what happened. Windows XP detected it just fine and installed its own drivers. I can use the standard bluetooth interface built into XP to send and receive files with my cell phone, which is the only reason I wanted bluetooth anyway. The XP interface is basic, but it works. (I can't speak to compatibility with bluetooth keyboards or mice since I haven't tried either.)

I'm going to keep the adapter because it was pretty inexpensive, and it's too much hassle to try to return/exchange (once cut out of its tamper-proof packaging). But I would go with another brand next time around to avoid the BlueSoleil eclipse. Apparently there are other reviewers who did not have the same problem with the software, so if you're considering buying this adapter, you'll have to take your chances.

(PS: I have noticed that at least one reviewer found that the version of Bluetooth supported by the adapter was not compatible with the version on his phone. You should check Trendnet's website for exact specifications on each adapter--they make several--but the item featured here (TBW-101UB) supports Bluetooth 1.1 and 1.2 for Class II operations.)

Cant beat this price, ease of use, installation, connectiivty to my cellphone. oh if only all things electronic were so easy!