IOGEAR USB 2.1 Bluetooth Micro Adapter (GBU421)
by IOGEAR
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List Price: Our Price: $9.99 You Save: $6.96 (41%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of IOGEAR USB 2.1 Bluetooth Micro Adapter (GBU421)
Customer Review: Great if you want to experience the blue screen of death periodically
Summary: 1 Stars
I wanted to give no stars on some of the attributes, that option should be available Amazon.
Bought this because I thought the HP one for laptop was a bit steep in price--$50.00. Never fails, every time I try to save money buying other than manufacturer suggested item, it comes back and bites me in the tushy. First, the mini cd DID NOT work in my dvd/cd drive. So went to website and tried to download that way. Didn't work, so then called tech support, got a tech that was obviously bothered by my call, kept callling me sir, (female here) after letting him know several times that he was incorrect, finally gave up. So I download drivers, oh btw, the adapter was VERY hard to insert into UBS slot, and I did inform the tech of this and asked if it was normal, after several "umm, umm's," he said "oh yeah that's ok." For some reason his reply didn't leave a warm and fuzzy feeling inside me.
So get it installed, and after having to resolve several "error" messages finally send test page to printer from approximately 15-20 feet away. Well lo and behold, it worked just fine printing the test page. Never printed any document again, unless of course I was sitting right next to printer with laptop in lap sending document to printer.
Would I recommend it??? Not in this lifetime or any other.
Customer Review: Ok Product
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought this to pair with a set of wireless headphones (with built in microphone) [motorola s305 bluetooth stereo headset]. I use to be an early adopter and thought it was fun to mess around with gadgets / computers - but now my life is busy enough I just want something that works out of the box. I installed the software / plugged it into my computer as directed (windows vista) - and then tried to pair with my headphones (which by the way paired no problems / easily with my iphone).
The computer was able to pair with the listening side of the headphones, but not with the microphone side (so I could listen, but not talk). I spent about 15 minutes fooling around with it - couldn't get it to work - and have since just ignored it. I suppose I will get back to fixing it at some point (since I bought it), but no time right now. It might not be the product's fault (could be windows, headphones, or me following directions poorly) - but for just sharing my experience (for what it is worth). Also - this thing is tiny - which may be great for a laptop (my laptop already has built in bluetooth) - but my desktop is under my desk - and it is a pain to get this thing back out of the usb slot when you want to remove it. You have to get a good grip on it which is hard to do when you're reaching under the desk.
Customer Review: Seems to work with Ubuntu
Summary: 3 Stars
Just got this and it seems to work with the two Ubuntu computers I have tired it on. It would still not link those computers with a Motorola headset (H17txt), but I don't know whether that is the headset or Ubuntu. More testing is in progress.
The dongle did give indications of adding Blutooth capability to my older Dell Mini 9 (with Ubuntu), but since the headset is the only Bluetooth device I have to test with right now, I can't say with certainty that it is working okay with that machine. I will try it with some other devices, a keyboard, for example, and see if that works. All this testing with Linux is out-of-the-box, with no additional software installed (which is the way it should be for devices like this).
The dongle is small and only sticks out about 3/8ths of an inch from the port. It has rounded corners that will not snag easily on things. It also fits in very tightly, and is extremely difficult to remove, which is a good thing if you intend to plug it in and leave - kind of a nuisance if you want to remove it, but on balance I like that they have made it fit so snugly. I would rather have a minor inconvenience once in a while than worry about losing the thing on a daily basis. Good design choice!
I will update as I test with other gear. So far, I like it.
Customer Review: Cheap, small, and effective.
Summary: 4 Stars
Not much to say here. It's a bluetooth adapter, it's small, and it let's your laptop or desktop computer connect wirelessly to all kinds of bluetooth enabled gadgets. Best of all, if you have a laptop, it's even better because it's small size makes it difficult to bend the adapter whilst accidentally putting it down on top of non-flat surfaces. This happened to my inch-long usb wireless mouth receiver and I had to buy a new one.
Installation was easy. Worked instantly on my Windows 7 PC. My Windows 7 netbook however didn't automatically install, so I went on the company's site for drivers and haven't had a problem since. It also comes with a CD, but it's kind of hard to install it on a laptop with no disc drive, so luckily, the required drivers are available online.
My only real complaint is that it's kind of stiff, so pulling it out of the usb slot is a bit difficult and makes me feel like I'm going to crush the thing trying to get a grip on its smooth surface. Given that it's likely going to be left in my netbook for the majority of its use, this is neglectible.
I own a bluetooth stereo headset, smart phone, and a few bluetooth controllers. Enabling me to connect to all of these things for $12 was hard to pass up. I'm real glad I bought this.
Customer Review: Installs easily, works great on my Mac Pro
Summary: 5 Stars
I have a early 2007 Mac Pro and I didn't have the foresight (or, at the time the need) for getting the Build to Order option of Bluetooth. It hasn't really become much of an issue but I recently was given an Apple Magic Mouse as a gift and wanted to give it a spin so I picked up this due to it's size and ability to plug and play.
Currently it's installed on the side USB port of one of my Dell 2407 monitors. Works great and the blue blinking indicator is hidden from my view. I plugged it in and it immediately was picked up by Mac OS X (I'm using 10.6 for reference). I paired my mouse to it and was off and running. Didn't need to install drivers or anything. Plugged it in and forgot about it. So far, after a month or two of usage it's as if it's not even there. The only annoying thing is when I reboot the computer (which is rarely) the system says a new network device has been detected and asks if I want to configure it. The problem is there's nothing to configure (it's just a USB dongle after all). Other than that minor annoyance I can't even tell it's there.
I can't speak for PC users (haven't tried it under Boot Camp yet) but if you're a Mac user who doesn't have Bluetooth on-board I'd highly suggest this little device. Cheap, works great, nice and small.