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IOGEAR USB Adapter with bluetooth Wireless Technology 2.0 Spec Class 1 | List Price: $62.92
Discount Price: $18.92
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Brand: Iogear
Binding: Electronics
Warranty: 3 years warranty
Features: - Product Type - Adapter
- Warranty - 1 year
- Allows any computer with USB connections to become a Bluetooth enabled computer
- Eliminates cables between your computers
Loses connection often [Posted on 2008-05-02]
Range awesome. Nowhere in my house can I go where connectivity to my Jawbone is not flawless. However, the device is OFTEN disconnected and reconnected on the PC even if I am 1 ft from the device. I use this with Skype and World of Warcraft on that machine and it causes focus loss in WoW which basically makes it not useable for that purpose. Anytime it is enabled but not 'on' several applications are looking for it. Everytime I get a google chat message I get a little bubble that says a device has requested it be there and I lose focus. Aggravating as hell. I have just disabled it.
Great Value, Works fairly well. [Posted on 2008-05-04]
I recently decided to create a wireless Audio Network between my PC and my 2 stereo systems. I had been using a little FM Stereo transmitter and then tuning it in on my recievers so I could stream music throughout my home. Not bad, but not quite the fidelity I would like. I did some reading on the audio capabilties of Bluetooth and it claims to be able to sample at 48k or at or near CD quality. I wanted an inexpensive way to accomplish this. I picked up a Jensen Universal Bluetooth Stereo Receiver for about $15 then all I needed was a Transmitter that could be strong enough to cover my entire home. Many transmitters out there are pricey and only are good for about 30-60Ft. line-of-sight so reception between flors might be if-y at best. Then I found the IOGEAR with a 330 ft. broadcast range for about $29! It had some fairly decent reviews, plus I went to the IOGEAR website to get more details on this unit. I needed the ability to have at least 2-3 receivers simultaneously connect so I could pump music throughout the house(this can do 7)and maybe out onto my patio or even to a stereo headset so I could listen while cutting the lawn or waxing the car. The software documentation was pretty good. It left one litle thing out, but thankfully I read a review that mentioned that when creating a 'pair' between devices, it will ask for a 'security code'. The security code is a random number that YOU must create. Initially, I spent some time inspecting my devices and the documentation looking for this security code that I though was provided with them. So I just entered '0000' as the reviewer said and I was connected.
Now this device will do way more than what I am using it for. Besides being an Audio Gateway, it can be used to share files, access resources, to connect a printer and a few more that I can't recall at the moment. You can select which types of wireless functionality you want to allow. I just unslected everything except the Audio Gateway option.
As for the reception, PERFECT. I used the USB Extension cable that came with it to hang it off the back of my PC. My living room stereo is about 30ft. away and the Jensen and the IOGEAR paired easily and never drop connection although when we run our microwave oven in the kitchen I get a few drop-outs. The connection to my stereo in the basement(more than 60ft.) has no problems either. As for sound quality, my iTunes library sound great! Not quite CD quality, but about as clean, & clear with decent fidelity as if I connected my iPod directly to the line input of my stereo. I then tested playing a CD in the CD drive of my PC. I was not as pleased. It did not sound as if it was playing through the CD player of the stereo. Probably the result of an average to poor audio card and processing for the CD drive. I'll stick to playing CD's from the stereo. Now as for Streaming Internet Radio, I was somewhat pleased with the quality. Now, I don't subscribe to any pay internet radio service, so I realized the streaming rate may be limited for the 'free-users' and the better sampling rates are for paying subscribers, but it is good enough to use as background music for parties so I don't have to play DJ all night or for non-stop Holiday music. I will say that sometimesafter I have been connected and using it for awhile and I log off as the user and allow one of my kids to logon and use it, that I will have to restart the PC to get it to reload correctly. Otherwise, I am very pleased with my purchase. I highly recommend this product- at least as an Audio Gateway its a great value.
Works as expected out of the box [Posted on 2008-06-17]
This product worked out of the box with a simple software installation. I am able to connect my plantronics 510 bluetooth headset to my PC and use for calls that I make from MS communicator.
Works well for my simple purposes - ie. enables my PC to be my conference phone as well!
IOGEAR USB Adapter with bluetooth Wireless Technology 2.0 Spec Class [Posted on 2008-06-28]
It seemed to work well when it was first installed, now works only sporadically. Very displeased with this product.
Don't use the included driver [Posted on 2008-06-30]
Have had this product for about a year now, and it has worked flawlessly with my BB Pearl 8100, Plantronics Voyager 510, and Samsung P2 MP3 player. However...I DID NOT use the included driver and software, as they did not work with anything very well. And Windows XP does not have a built-in driver for this device...except that it does, but doesn't know it. This device has a Broadcom chipset (BCM2045) in it, and XP has a builtin Broadcom driver (BCM2033) which are the same file; however, XP doesn't match the two up. So you have to edit the bluetooth driver .ini file manually to make it work. Needless to say it is somewhat involved, so to find out how to make it work, just google search broadcom 2045 XP setup and you should find it. This will enable XP"s bluetooth stack, which works very well. Oh, and while I have not tested range, it is nestled inside my computer, surrounded by cordless phones, routers, and other electronics, and can still communicate through several walls to my devices on the other side of the house. Hope this helps. Thanks.
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