Er.... Bluetooth?

Well I talked to someone today at the local Compusa about internal bluetooth, whether it's worth it and all. I got a surprising answer.

He said that bluetooth was a data transfer protocol, but didn't have any innate software to interpret the signals. Bluetooth headsets that are designed for cell phones will only work WITH cell phones. And all of the bluetooth headsets that were compatible with computers came with their own USB bluetooth plug-in, making bluetooth in the computer worthless.

He said that just about the only thing that WAS compatible were printers, and even then you had to contact the manufacturer and do all sorts of crap to get it to work. Cell phones with bluetooth data transfer worked with it too, but since I don't have any cell phones I wouldn't get too much use out of that.

He did note that there would be more bluetooth enabled stuff for laptops, but when, only the shadow knows.


So what do you guys think of bluetooth enabled laptops? Is this guy a crackpot? Should I get the bluetooth option in the new 5760 I'm getting?

 

Take what I am about to say with a grain of salt as I do not have Bluetooth yet and this is just based from what i have read.

From what I read, you should be able to use various Bluetooth devices if the pairing unit is Bluetooth capable.
Many users have stated having their Cellphones transfer data true the Bluetooth device of their PC.
Some users will require what is called a "dongle" (yes funny word isn't it? laugh with me ).
This "dongle" is something you stick into your USB port, looks like one of those flash cards.
I think having 1 "dongle" should be able to receive and send data to all your various BlueTooth devices (but Bluetooth has a VERY short range I think).
goodthing about an internal Bluetooth is you free 1 of your USB port from the dongle.
(man I hope I spelled dongle right lol)

I personally am getting the internal Bluetooth option for the 5760 just so I can have this option when I may need it.
I like having options.
If I never use it, oh well I wasted $50.
If I decide to use it then thats a good thing that I chose to have it installed instead of having a Bluetooth Dongle taking 1 of my USB ports.
Never know when I may have a Bluetooth enabled Cellphone/Mouse/Keyboard/HeadPhone/Porta-potty/Etc.
Of course have to realize also the most important part of Bluetooth, they are EXPENSIVE usually.

I have yet to read anything similar to what this salesman stated to you from reading various boards.
I think the most I have read is that you "may" need to do soem tweeking on some Bluetooth devices to work properly.
But of course I could all be wrong and I may have just wasted 5 minutes typing non-sense

 

The range on Bluetooth is 30-32 feet, depending on the version.

I'd say if you have to ask, you probably don't need it. A lot of smartphones, PDAs, plus bluetooth headsets and printers as mentioned are bluetooth-enabled, meaning they can talk to each other.

Think of bluetooth as a Personal Area Network - your computer acts as the router, and everything else connects to it that is able to.

Chaz

 

I read some where that wireless USB would likly replace Bluetooth in PCs?

 

I think Wireless USB (WUSB) is only in its Pre-Infancy stage.
Would be great once it gets implemented.
I think it should be faster and better than Bluetooth if I read the plans for it correctly.

Here is the site for it:
http://www.usb.org/developers/wusb/

And a short article about it:

 

To get back to topic, here is an excellent read about Bluetooth:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth

 

How common are bluetooth headsets (headphones+mic) that will work with the inrernal bluetooth in this laptop?

And are there any bluetooth mice?

 

Here is an example of Bluetooth related Products:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...Ntk=all&N=0&minPrice=&maxPrice=&Go.x=0&Go.y=0

And here is another good article that has info on Bluetooth (its at teh bottom of the original 1st post):
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=30162

Hope that helps.

 

Thanks guys for the history lesson on bluetooth!


insert worshippy smiley here.

 

I have a Clevo M570A with internal bluetooth. I use a Motorola HS850 headset as well as a Plantronics one with it with no problems at all.

 

Say, it says on powernotebooks that you can buy the internal bluetooth component for the 5710/5720 notebooks as an accessory. Will that piece of hardware work if I dont buy it with the laptop at first, and find out i need it later?

 

Nix that, talked to Pally on the phone. They arent intigrated, the bluetooth is a card. I can buy it later if I really want it.

 

You can buy the card later on, I am contemplating the idea myself.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=33715&highlight=bluetooth

 

I guess the Salesman you talked to @ CompUSA was just high or soemthing ...

 

I never completely write off what people say. He is right in saying there are painfully few bluetooth laptop stuff that I'd want to use. That's why I held off geting the bluetooth card.