Bluetooth is being promoted as a technology that will eliminate cables between your netbook and its peripherals. As a result many netbooks are coming with Bluetooth built-in these days and, if it is not built-in, it is not hard to add Bluetooth support via an adapter. The use of a USB Bluetooth adapter provides a low-cost way to add Bluetooth capabilities to a netbook.
Bluetooth adapters usually come in the form of a small USB dongle about the size of your thumb. They are often so small you can leave it installed in your netbook even while traveling. In addition most of them have their antenna integrated into the packaging, making it impossible to accidentally break off.
All USB Bluetooth adapters are not equal though. First, Bluetooth radios are classified as either Class 1 or Class 2. Class 1 radios support up to 300 yards, while Class 2 radios only support up to 30 yards. The second aspect that distinguishes some Bluetooth adapters from others is the number of profiles it can support. Bluetooth profiles, which are definitions of possible applications, specify general behaviors that Bluetooth enabled devices use to communicate with other Bluetooth devices.
Most modern USB Bluetooth Adapters support a wide variety of Bluetooth Profiles including input device, imaging, info synchronization and Personal Area Networking.
The problem with Bluetooth is that there is no standard way to activate and access operation between products. You will have to read the manual on how to access and use Bluetooth across products. Unlike Wireless/Wired Ethernet products, the user interface is not embedded in the Bluetooth unit and each product usually has its own graphic user interface. The Bluetooth product is only a vessel. The actual operation is dependent on the netbook and interface it has been programmed to interact with Bluetooth.
As good as Bluetooth may sound, it has many shortcomings. First, it’s slow; the maximum throughout is about 1Mbps while in practice the speed falls between 50 and 80kbps. It’s probably best to leave the heavy data exchanging tasks to Wired/Wireless connection and use it for synchronizing PDA data, transferring small files from netbook to PC, and casual Web browsing.
The following USB Bluetooth adapters bring Bluetooth functionality to your netbooks.
D-Link DBT-120 Wireless Bluetooth 2.0 USB Adapter
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IOGear USB 2.1 Bluetooth Micro Adapter GBU421
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Bluetooth USB 2.0 Micro Adapter Dongle
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Kensington K33902US Bluetooth USB Micro Adapter
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Tiny Bluetooth USB Adapter Dongle (Black)
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Cirago Bluetooth BTA3210 v2.1 EDR Class 2 Micro Bluetooth Adapter
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2.4GHz Bluetooth v2.0 USB Dongle Adapter EDR for Windows Vista/XP/2000
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IOGEAR USB Adapter with bluetooth Wireless Technology 2.0 Spec Class 1
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KENSINGTON 33348 Bluetooth USB 2.0 Adapter
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100m Wireless Bluetooth USB Dongle for PDA/PC/cellphone
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Ipremeirtek BT-XSM Ultra Small mini Bluetooth 2.0 Dongle 100M Range
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