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: Works great on Win7
Summary: 5 Stars
Since I had zero prior experience with bluetooth, I was a little nervous after reading some of the reviews about whether I was going to be able to install this successfully. I got the adapter in order to be to easily transfer pictures from my cellphone to my computer. After some trial and error, I was able to get it properly installed and have already successfully transferred the pictures, so all is well. I am running Windows 7 Home Premium. For those neophytes like me, here's what I did: I first just plugged the adapter in and saw it started searching for drivers on its own so I let it do its thing. Then with my cellphone I tried to add a device and I was able to successfully get the phone to recognize the computer and vice versa, but when I went to transfer pictures it just kept saying there was no device connected. After running the troubleshooter on my computer, it said my phone was connected but had no services. So, even though some reviewers said they didn't need the manufacturer's drivers, in my case I needed them.
Following others' advice, I did not use the enclosed disk but went directly to the Iogear website ([..]), clicked on support, drivers, searched on "bluetooth", then selected model GBU421 and downloaded the Vista & Win7 driver (same one). After the files download & extract, I double-clicked on the Setup_Vista_Win7 file which starts the installation process. (Make sure the adapter is NOT plugged in when you start installation.) Click yes to install and it will do its thing for a few minutes until it reaches a point where it says it cannot detect a bluetooth device and only gives you the option to cancel. At that point, I plugged the adapter in, and it automatically continued installing. After it finished installing, I went back to the Windown bluetooth setup and saw it was searching on some sort of drivers and I noticed it had a long list of services that weren't there before. So I just let it finish doing its thing (took several minutes so be patient) and once it was done, I was able to transfer the pictures no problem.
This may not be the best way to do it, but it worked for me. I also agree with other reviewers that it's a little difficult to take in and out, but it's so tiny that I'm just going to leave it in all the time. One other note - another reviewer mentioned it's a battery drain, but in Win7 you can easily turn Bluetooth on and off, so I intend to leave it off most of the time and just turn it on when I need it. I would think it would only draw power if it's on.
Customer Review: Amazing size - works great with my netbook
Summary: 5 Stars
Decided my Acer Aspire One needed bluetooth, but size was critical. My Aspire is small and I wanted to keep the advantage this highy portable device. I found this bluetooth adapter. It looked small in the pictures. I ordered it and got it super fast in two days (yea Amazon). The adapter is even smaller than I thought. Barely sticks out from the USB port at all. Fits in the netbook sleeve that comes with the netbook even sticking out a tad. Perfect for my netbook. Worked flawlessly, and had it up and working in short order. Mini CD is included, so everything you need is in the package. Don't throw away the instructions without first getting that little CD out of the instruction booklet. Install the software and go for it. My Phone is an HTC shadow so I quickly paired the two, activated the internet sharing on the phone and was able to surf using my phones connectivity. Its slower but the point is that now, no matter where I am I have internet connectivity for my netbook. I also have a bluetooth GPS device I use with my phone (HTC Shadow didn't come with GPS built in), so I paired it with my netbook and the had GPS capability for my netbook. Downloaded free GPS software and now have navigation on my little netbook with full maps and everything. Tons of fun, and that was just during the first evening with it. Software is impressive as installing the drives you can activate several device options from headsets, fax, printers, etc.
Only CON might be the range. About three feet away I get a mid-range GOOD bar on my netbook software. Seems to drop off pretty fast. Not a problem for me, but might be for someone else.
I've already ordered a bluetooth mouse so I can ditch the honkin huge wireless mouse dongle I have that sticks out from the USB port two inches at least. With the new mouse I won't need anything else plugged in.
This is an awesome device. Tiny and highly functional. So small it won't block any other ports with it plugged in, as was a complaint of other adapter products I checked.
Highly recommended.
[Additional - 4/8/2009]
I ran a test specifically with a bluetooth mouse and this time it didn't drop off nearly as fast as the first time. Not really sure why it did that time, because it now appears pretty stable at a distant. So, distances may not be so much of a problem. I'm getting a bluetooth headset and that should give me a really good test at a distance. As before, I highly recommend it. Has worked flawlessly.
Customer Review: Solved Bluetooth range problems with my 2008 MacBook Pro
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently bought a new MacBook Pro and decided to hook my early 2008 model up to the big screen TV in the bedroom media cabinet for use as a gaming console and watching videos over the internet. I had never tried to connect any of the multiple Bluetooth headsets that I own to the Mac prior to that, but now needed to in order to chat with online friends from across the room while playing games. It was during this process that I discovered my MacBook Pro would pair and connect to all of the headsets that I own, but would disconnect if I moved more than a foot away from the laptop.
As my AppleCare had expired, it was a lot cheaper to buy this USB Bluetooth dongle than to pay for Apple service to replace the integrated Bluetooth chip inside the laptop. When it arrived, I just plugged it into the laptop and of course OS X 10.6 automatically found and configured it in seconds. I've had no problem using several different types of Bluetooth headsets with it, including the Jawbone ICON Series Thinker Bluetooth Headset (Black) and the Plantronics BackBeat 906 Stereo Bluetooth Headset. I've even paired my iHome App-Enhanced Alarm Clock with Bluetooth and FM Radio for iPad, iPhone and iPod with it from 20 feet away on the nightstand beside the bed and used it as a speakerphone and had no issues whatsoever. I currently have it, and several other peripherals, plugged into my laptop through the Belkin USB 2.0 4-Port Ultra Mini Hub F5U407 since the MacBook Pro only has 2 USB ports, and it has also worked perfectly like that as well.
I highly recommend this Bluetooth adapter for size (it's tiny), price, quality, and ease of installation and use!
Customer Review: IOGear USB 2.1 Bluetooth Micro Adapter GBU421
Summary: 5 Stars
So pleased to have this! Was enjoying recent laptop purchase with one exception, no bluetooth. This addressed that problem for me.
The physical item looks nice, flickers a blue light that is not distracting at all. Streamlined shape has not snagged on bag as I pull laptop out of bag or return. Thought the smooth, curved surface might make it difficult to extract from the USB slot if desired, although I prefer to leave it in place. It was actually easier to remove than the small adapter that accompanies the MS wireless mouse 3500, and felt sturdier.
The functionality has been a pleasure. It installed readily on a Windows 7 Home Premium laptop. It immediately located my personal cell, my work cell, my son's cell. I haven't been able to use it to connect the MS mouse, but suspect that this is a function of the mouse rather than this device.
I expect it to connect, so I'm not overwhelmed by the fact that it does. But the range is better than I expected. In my case, this extended my cell phone options nicely.
I can get a decent cell phone signal on the first floor, but typically not in the basement rec room. Had cell on charger on 1st floor, was downstairs with laptop. Opened the pc suite software (Nokia's Ovi) for my cell phone and was able to sync phone.
Showing my technological naivete . . . I had not realized that I could reply to my phone's text messages through the phone by typing on computer (through the pc suite Ovi software) . . . I've sent texts from my e-mail account, but it is inconvenient for recipient to reply. Being able to use the laptop keyboard for texting from phone was also a nice change from the smaller phone keypad.
So the net result was that I could leave cell phone on first floor, in decent signal range, and reply to text messages from laptop downstairs, thanks to this device. If cell had been downstairs, it would not have had signal.
I'm pleased, was worth the price.
Customer Review: Fantastic!
Summary: 5 Stars
IOGear USB 2.1 Bluetooth Micro Adapter GBU421
This product is fantastic! I bought it so I could transfer pictures from my cell phone to my laptop since my cell phone does not have a memory card in it. When I received it, I didn't bother with the CD that it came with. I went to the IOGear website and downloaded the drivers for Windows XP, which is the operating system I have. The instructions are to download the drivers and install the software first before inserting the bluetooth adapter into the laptop. After the drivers and software are installed, you restart the laptop and then connect the bluetooth adapter. It worked perfectly!. I then clicked on the option to add a bluetooth device and it found my cell phone right away. The set up was simple and quick. The transferring of pictures takes seconds. I use to do it through email which took a while and would not let me transfer pictures through email if the pictures were too large. The bluetooth has no problem with this. I also transferred pictures from my laptop to my cell phone which took seconds. It does this and so much more. I havent tried all the other things it can do yet.
I would recommend this product to everyone. You will not be disappointed. It is worth every penny.
P.S. The IOGear manual that comes with the product says if you have Win XP installed with service pack 2 you could go to the microsoft website and get the generic bluetooth drivers. I tried that first and that was not sucessful. I contacted IOGear through tech support Live Chat which is on their website and they were very helpful in telling me to download the drivers from their page instead of from Microsoft even though I have Win XP with service pack 3. That was excellent advice since the product worked after I did that.