Tiny Bluetooth adapter/ Stowable mouse

Hey All,
I'm a staunch touchpad hater, so I searched around for a truly Toughbook Friendly solution. This is what I came up with.

I have had my eye on the Billionton bluetooth adapter that Seller 'Boteq' on E-bay has, but needed a solution whilst he (they?) were on vacation and ended up with a Cirago BTA-3210 USB bluetooth adapter. It's Tiny, had good reviews except for one noted problem with the shield around the usb pins separating from the body, and it fits into the CF-28 with the port cover closed. I have been using it for about a week now and for running the mouse (below) it functions fine with the port cover in the closed position.

And for the mouse I went with a MoGo Bluetooth PCMCIA cordless mouse.

It works excellent, stows comfortably in the PCMCIA slot (with the cover closed) where it charges within an hour and lasts for 8-10 hours of constant usage. The Mouse doesn't feel "cheap", which considering the overall size of it, and the thickness ( PCMCIA card thickness ) is quite impressive. Another thing that's kind of cool is that the color scheme on the mouse makes it look as though it's meant to be together with the toughbook. All in all for anyone with a normally empty PCMCIA slot and bluetooth in their rig I would wholeheartedly recommend this piece of kit.


Overall I'm very pleased with the combination. The only problem I can foresee is having a place to stow the bluetooth adapter when the USB port is needed for another purpose. I haven't checked into it, but it appears as though it will fit behind the main port cover door when not in use. As the mouse is the only bluetooth peripheral I own at the moment I haven't had the opportunity to test the adapter for range and whatnot, however it did pick up my bosses bluetooth printer through two office walls the other day, but I didn't print to it for lack of the correct drivers on my end.

 

Seems like a fast way to install bluetooth.

If you use the cf-28 model you could just use the 3rd PCMCIA slot under the hard drive but it requires you to take apart your toughbook.

 

Yeah,
I am more interested in the internal option, but an upgrade isn't impossible, just wasn't available at the time.

 

TB4me.. if you are unhappy in the LEAST!.. Go to www.boteq.com and order directly! (No... I'm just a happy customer!... 45-46 to date from them!) Look up (on ebay) "Targus Bluetooth Mouse"... This is the most reliable combo I have yet used...

It does NOT stow in the PCMCIA slot though... But it IS a great combo/mouse!

Just my too scents!

 

I don't know where to get it but a customer once sent in their laptop with a PCMCIA rechargeable mouse. There's a card that fits into the PC slot and the mouse goes in & out of that card. It charges up through the PC slot and communicates wirelessly through that card plus that means there's already a nice storage place. Pretty sweet deal.

 

Yeah, I was kindof wondering about that myself - It seemed extra sucky that the MoGo unit not only sucked up a PCMCIA slot but also a USB slot as well... both are precious real estate on ANY laptop, but especially on a Toughbook.

mnem<~~~ NOT a touchpad hater... LOVES being able to use his laptop on... his lap.*

 

I'm not at all unhappy with the combination. I probably will get the Billionton card from boteq, purely to free up the usb port, but as is it works very well. I don't have a handful of pc cards that need to be plugged in all the time, and the mouse comes out to use it, so if the slot is needed chances are I'll be using the mouse anyway.
I'd be interested in testing the tiny bluetooth adapter inside the mod board area to see if there was any signal there, I can get about 10' out of it with the mouse while the adapter is closed up in the usb slot. It might provide a usable albeit localized solution for linking to cell phone for synchronizing contacts, feeding a set of 'phones, or headset for skyping ... I'll wait till Modly gets his board circulating and give it a whirl.

 

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing about it being an xcellent idea to tag team with an internal USB, or a USB 2.0 PCMCIA card...

mnem
Oooohhh... computer chips Honey, pass the sili-con queso dip...