Bluetooth annoyances

[TheStu]

Why o why are there so few bluetooth notebook mice?

Take the new logitech VX Revolution for example. Lots of very nice features, the scroll wheel is awesome, but why the hell does it not use bluetooth? If you are selling a notebook mouse, especially an $80 one, don't you think that it makes sense to have it be bluetooth capable? I know that I may just be ranting, but I think that if you are going to charge that kind of money for a peripheral (especially a mouse) you really should market toward that price level of the market.

What I mean is that not everyone is going to buy an $80 mouse. Those that do are more likely to have spent more money on their computers and especially for a laptop mouse, they are more likely to have the requisite connectivity for Bluetooth to work. Besides, we are talking about a laptop mouse here... laptops have few enough USB ports as it is, and they want to have me occupy one of them with a dongle to connect my mouse.. at that point why don't I just buy a corded mouse?

I am seriously considering it since it would be handy for gaming and hte like (I love the trackpad on my macbook for everything else... but not so much in windows, and not for games) but I only have 2 USB ports as it is, and I use at least one of them for my external drive (can use both of them, but only do that when I am using it heavily) I do have a 4 port hub in my laptop bag, but it is only USB 1.1, so either would sacrifice transfer rates on my drive, or would more than likely cripple this mouse.

So yea, I know that I am just ranting, but does anyone know of some good bluetooth capable laptop mice?

 

[VisionxOrb]

Why do you need it to be bluetooth mouse over a standard wireless mouse? the only thing you gain with bluetooth is 30+ feet range vs 5-15ft. On top of that bluetooth operates in the same band as 802.11b/g so interferance is possible.

 

[TheStu]

The reason I want bluetooth is because i only have 2 USB ports.... but I have built-in bluetooth, so I wouldn't need to use up one of the two with a dongle... plus I could sell the blutooth dongle that the mouse would come with .

It is mostly convenience.

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: TheStu
Why o why are there so few bluetooth notebook mice?

Apparently there are enough to satisfy the market. There really is little demand for them in that they are really not necessary. A regular wireless mouse is much better - not likely to cause interference. Who needs a mouse 30 feet away from a laptop?

BT

As for connecting an external HDD via USB to a laptop - that is not a good choice either. Best with Firewire.

 

[IEC]

That's why they need laptops to come with at least 4 USB ports standard. A printer and a mouse fill up 2 already.

 

[TheStu]

I would connect it over firewire, but the enclosures that I had available to me at the time were USB only. And a firewire enclosure is significantly more expensive... and yes I know that strikes a strange dichotomy with me having said that I am willing to pay $80 for a mouse... but I like the way the revolution feels in my hand, and the scroll wheel on it is topnotch.

And i care less about the range than I do about the fact that I wouldn't need to have a dongle plugged into my USB port.

 

[Fraggable]

Isn't the BT Mac Mighty Mouse $70? Why not just get that?

 

[TheStu]

I do not like the feel of the mighty mouse in my hand (we have a previous generation apple mouse for the powermac in the lab at school... and I know that the mighty mouse doesn't change much in the way of design, just features) whereas the VX feels great in my hand, and the free-spin scrolling is just too hot for words. I did break down and get it ($65 shipped at amazon) and I love the feel and everything, but i still wish it was bluetooth.

And on the terms of bluetooth... why don't more manufacturers make their bluetooth products OS X compatible?

 

[AmigaMan]

Amen brother! Been looking forever for a decent bluetooth mouse. The reason I want BT over another wireless product is because of the dongle. I really couldn't care less about BT vs. 2.4Ghz wireless, just build me a mouse for whatever is in my laptop. Maybe laptop manufacturers should build in 2.4Ghz wireless instead of bluetooth

 

[TheStu]

I have thought the same thing about the built-in 2.4GHz... I am just wondering how that would interfere less (earlier comment) with things since quite a few of them operate in that range.

And although the VX Revolution is not bluetooth, it is still a damn fine mouse. I just wish it had the application sensing scroll wheel like it's big brother, but i guess the electronics to control that either took up too much space or too much power.

 

[han405]

dongles, I hate dongles with a passion too.

I am using a Logitech MX 900 BT mouse with my XPS M170, and I am still looking for a smaller BT mouse with at least five buttons for my new A8JS.


uhhh, someone please help me....

thanks

 

[han405]

Originally posted by: han405
dongles, I hate dongles with a passion too.

I am using a Logitech MX 900 BT mouse with my XPS M170, and I am still looking for a smaller BT mouse with at least five buttons for my new A8JS.


uhhh, someone please help me....

thanks

Oh, did I mention that I want a small Laser bluetooth 5 buttons mouse?

man, that's hard to find.

 

[TheStu]

see, if the vx revolution (how revolutionary is 2.4 GHz RF?) was bluetooth that would be the winner

 

[hmsrolst]

Originally posted by: han405
dongles, I hate dongles with a passion too.

Ditto! Installed a BT module in my laptop and am loving it.

 

[TheStu]

And as a further bluetooth annoyance.. why the hell are there so few bluetooth devices compatible with OS X? I mean practically every machine that apple has shipped in the past 2-3 years has had it built in... so why not write the drivers for OS X as well when you are marketing your very cool looking, very col sounding very expensive bluetooth keyboard (logitech, I am looking right at you and your dinovo edge)

 

[AmigaMan]

Originally posted by: TheStu
And as a further bluetooth annoyance.. why the hell are there so few bluetooth devices compatible with OS X? I mean practically every machine that apple has shipped in the past 2-3 years has had it built in... so why not write the drivers for OS X as well when you are marketing your very cool looking, very col sounding very expensive bluetooth keyboard (logitech, I am looking right at you and your dinovo edge)

Do you have it and it doesn't work or are you just not sure if it would work? Most things I've tried just automagically work in OSX...

 

[TheStu]

I do not yet have it, since I dont think it is actually out yes (this is the new dinovo, with the backlit touch controls and the touchdisc). I am reticent about spending $200 dollars on a keyboard on the off chance that it automagically works. I really would like the G15, but i dont need the left side macro keys. I like the adjustable display, and I like the backlit keys, but past that, am not too over the moon about it.

 

[HomeyFoos]

I am the 'proud' owner of the Logitech MX5000 Bluetooth combo. It is the worst perhipheral(s) I have ever owned. The problems were so rampant that I will need to list them...

1. The mouse would stop tracking...sometimes lifting it in the air and putting it back down would work, other times it wouldn't. I'd have to reboot the machine to regain function.
2. The keyboard would spontaneously drop connection. There was no recovering from this. I would have to uninstall the software and reinstall it to regain function.
3. The mouse would completely stop working. Again, the only way to restore function was to reinstall the software.
4. The dongle would lock up. Both the keyboard and the mouse would stop working. The only way to get this to restore was to remove the dongle, and then remove all the batteries from the keyboard. For some reason, if you did not do this, you would not be able to connect the keyboard to the dongle when you got the software reinstalled (which would also be required when the dongle locked up).
5. Because of all of these issues, I needed to have a wired keyboard and mouse connected to my machine at all times.
6. You need a secondary mouse with any wireless peripheral because the manufacturers haven't figured out how to make the charging cable plug into the mouse so it will charge while you use it.

There were other problems...sometimes when I would be typing, the keys would repeat like 8 or 9 times. So like 'Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeello' would appear when you typed 'hello'. Other times, the keystrokes would fall behind by almost 2 full seconds. You would stop to see if it was working or not and while you waited, you'd see all the keystrokes come rolling in. This was annoying since I type so much. And all these little quirks really kept you on edge. You stayed upset with it.

I did some research before I bought the product and many people had these difficulties. Others said it worked great. I bought it anyway because I wanted to check it out. All the bad things are/were true. Kinda makes you wonder if there are logitech Viral Marketing people flling up the review sections of retailer websites.

I checked out some reviews for the Microsoft BT products and they were almost identical. 4 bad reviews, 1 glowing review. 4 bad, 1 glowing. Also, I noticed that all the people slamming it would say 'save your money and buy logitech' and the people slamming logitech would say 'save your money and buy Microsoft'. So I think these issues are more with BlueTooth as opposed to manufacturer lines.

I ended up buying a corded Microsoft Ergo (love it) and a corded Razer Copperhead (love it as well). I moved the MX5000 set to my HTPC and it works quite well in that capacity. As long as you don't need every-day use from it, it is quite handy. You can be on the couch and the keyboard/mouse works well enough to navigate MCE. It's just not going to satisfy your daily requirements for the price. The problem seems to stem from the manufacturer's drivers. If you just stick with the Windows BTStack and forfeit all the cool features/extra buttons/lcd screen, then your stuff will work with greater regularity. But if you do away with that stuff, what are you paying for? There aren't many dumbed-down, affordable, full-sized bluetooth mice (meeces?) or keyboards. I also bought the Plantronics BT Stereo Headset. I just cannot get it to work properly with Ventrillo, regardless of what I do. I have the 2.0 BT adapter and that includes full stereo duplex but the device will just not cooperate. I can use it as headphones and I can use it to take calls but I cannot use it as a stereo headset/mic.

So I think the technology needs to mature but it's been out a while. And all of the existing peripherals are pretty quirky/problematic. There will probably be a replacement technology before you see more BT stuff, unless the iron out the many problems that exist.

Sorry for the length, but my experience was pretty disappointing for what it cost. Had to get that off my chest.

 

[TheStu]

I have personally never really used bluetooth for any amount of time. I do know that the bluetooth mouse and keyboard that we have 'attached' to the powermac at my school seem to work just great. The only problems I have had with them thus far (i use the machine the most out of anyone in my class, and any time i have lots of work to do, i tend to do it on it) were caused by the batteries going out.

But those were apple products being used with apple products. I do not klnowif they would work as well in windows, or if logitech devices would work as well in OS X... i think the only real choice i have would be to suck it up, buy the product, and then if i dont like it,return it.