Kensington K33902US Bluetooth USB Micro Adapter
by Kensington
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List Price: Our Price: $15.25 You Save: $4.74 (24%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Kensington K33902US Bluetooth USB Micro Adapter
Customer Review: Works but with a HUGE problem
Summary: 2 Stars
The unit works well with any devices that I personally have paired it with ie. cell phones, headsets, stereo headsets, and another computer.
However, when the radio is on when you turn the computer on, there are 2 processes TOSOBEX.EX and SERVICES.EXE that will take up most if not all your CPU cycle. This slows down the computer very much. This happens even when there are no devices paired with the unit.
I have installed the unit on 2 other machines with the same results. So, somehow the Toshiba Stack that comes with this unit takes up CPU cycles when the bluetooth radio is turned on. This happens on my laptop and 2 desktops.
Once those services are on, there is no way to turn it off except to reboot the machine. However, PRIOR to rebooting the machine, TURN the bluetooth radio off first. That way when the computer is rebooted, those services will not be on.
The one workaround that I did was to RENAME the TOSOBEX.EXE file to something else like BAD_TOSOBEX.EXE_BAD. That way it won't get invoked when you turn the bluetooth radio on. That means that you WILL NOT have OBEX capability.
Kensington Techincal Support so far has been USELESS. But, I'm still trying to get to people there who actually know what they are talking about.
Also, on the cosmetic side, the unit has VERY SHARP corners. Be careful when you are handling your laptop (if you are using it on a laptop); I have been scratched multiple times by its corners.
Customer Review: Excellent- Does it's job- glad I found it
Summary: 5 Stars
I had previously bought a CSR dongle which was a 'throw in' with a cheap Terax bluetooth mouse I bought on EBay. The 'throw in' should have been 'thrown out'. Ha. I wound up returning this combo as it performed inconsistently despite trying different drivers.
Now this Kensington Dongle is a winner. Despite several reviews I read warning about Win 7 incompatibility it (at least now) included a CD containing Toshiba Bluetooth Stack Version 7.00.05. Despite a lengthy install on my 5 and 1/2 year-old Dell Inspiron B130 now running Windows 7 Home Premium, it otherwise performs great. There are no driver warnings of any kind. I also don't have any yellow exclamation marks in Control Panel as I did with BlueSoleil.
I paired it with a Dell PU705 Bluetooth Laser Mouse (sent the Terax one back) and my Verizon Wireless Samsung Reality (SCH-U820). The Toshiba stack gives you much more functionality than the Windows 7 stack and outperformed the Bluesoleil software I had previously tried. I actually like the software. File transfers to and from my phone are much faster than BlueSoleil. Windows 7 didn't allow me to transfer files from my phone to the computer. Toshiba's software does.
The bluetooth functionality of the computer using this dongle now compares similarly to my newer Dell XPS 1640 laptop which has a built-in bluetooth card. In fact, I have the same mouse with the XPS computer with the built-in bluetooth and they perform identically.
Customer Review: Does NOT work in Windows 7.
Summary: 1 Stars
This device does not work in windows 7. I was trying to pair my brand new HP 2160US laptop (why it does not have bluetooth on board I don't know) with my iPhone. This is not a terribly crazy configuration -- to pair an iPhone with a new HP laptop. Here is the deal:
1. Don't use the CD that comes with it. It is meant for XP and Vista OS. If you load it up in Windows 7 you get a "known compatibility issues statement". I uninstalled.
2. I then rebooted and simply plugged in the device. The standard MS drivers found the iPhone but there was an issue that places a big exclaimation point on the device saying that it "needs attention". Selecting that notification shows it as having issues with "no device driver loaded".
3. Kensington tech support was not there until 7:30 pacific time. When they finally answered, it was India. Why in the world would they wait until 7:30 pacific if their call center is in India is beyond me. Wouldn't you want them to be available at 8:00 eastern through 5:00pm pacific. Unbelievable.
4. When they took my call, they were useless. They actually told me that the problem must be the iPhone (3GS), not the Toshiba stack that is documented all over the web as having issues. Classic finger pointing by support.
5. After 35 minutes, I boxed it up and sent it back to Amazon.
DO NOT BUY THIS IF YOU ARE RUNNING Win7. ALL THE GOOD REVIEWS ARE FOR FOLKS RUNNING XP & VISTA!!!!!
Customer Review: Works very well
Summary: 5 Stars
Bought this primarily to use my old Bluetooth headset with Skype through my laptop [Lenovo X61 Tablet] running VISTA Business. It works great. I am very pleased with it and my Skype usage has skyrocketed. Researched a lot before finally getting the right one - including Class I that boast of 'spectacular range'. Finally went with this and am very pleased. This was a replacement for Rocketfish [available at BestBuy] which just did not work.
Pros
Sound quality is great
Good Range - 10-12 feet, after that starts crackling
Automatically detects headset and connects with Skype
Pairing is easy and intuitive
Small form factor, and very non-intrusive
Cons
Cannot switch between headset and laptop speakers(Even if you take it out, the speaker remains on mute. Only way to use the speakers is to remove it from USB, and restart computer without having it the USB)
Small form factor. If you take it out, it is so small that you can lose it. But, not really a big con, as you need to take care of your gadgets.
On the whole, HIGHLY RECOMMEND the product. I would buy this product again.
Customer Review: Works when it wants to!
Summary: 3 Stars
Bought this for a bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Using Windows 7. No issues on the install or anything like that. Usually the software that came with it recognizes my keyboard and mouse pretty easily - but sometimes it does't.
My mouse always stays connected but it likes to drop my keyboard at least once a day. So I changed batteries in the keyboard, same issue. So I changed keyboards (brand and manufacturer) same issue. Actually, sometimes it goes into "keyboard overload" and repeats a key a million times until you unplug the adapter! (It has done this with BOTH keyboards.)
I tried everything - even a new computer! Same issues. This thing is solid on the mouse is why I give it three stars, but keyboards (IMHO) it doesn't like. I even tried placing the adapter right next to the keyboards - no go.
pros:
Rock solid with mouse
Cons:
Will occasionally: drop keyboard and have to manually reconnect or it may go into an endless loop with keys
Overall - buy it if you are using a mouse - look elsewhere for keyboard.