recommendations for bluetooth headset and adapter

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ihcned

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#1649 2-Jun-2004 09:19

Hi, I'm new to bluetooth, and I'm planning to buy a headset/adapter so that I can use the headset with my desktop/laptop. I've read through the "How to configure your desktop/laptop to use the bluetooth headset" guide, and I've read through the numerous threads discussing the problems/solutions. So now I'm just wondering which headsets/adapters would you recommend?

Headsets:
It seems like the Jabra BT200 and the Ericsson HBH-20/HBH-35 work the best (most of the time). Should I just buy one of these, or maybe look into some other ones (BT250, Plantronics, Sonorix,...)?

Adapters:
It seems like the main issues with the adapters is to have the right drivers. As long as I dl the widcomm v1.4.2.10 drivers, would any adapter suffice? Do all the bluetooth adapters/dongles use these same drivers? It seems like the TDK USB Bluetooth Adapter+ and the D-Link DBT-120 are the most popular/successful. Should I look into any other brands/models (Belkin, ...)? Also, is it the drivers that determine which bluetooth profiles are supported? Obviously, I need to make sure that the headset profile is supported. Should I worry about the handsfree profile, or the audio gateway profile?

thanks for the help/suggestions.

freitasm

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#6221 2-Jun-2004 10:32

You're pretty much right in you conclusions. I'd go for the BT250 because of longer battery life. And TDK, Bluetake and Belkin are my personal choices for USB adapters.

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mike

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#6241 2-Jun-2004 16:20

I have one of these for sale here

It's still boxed and hardly used but I've paired it successfully with my T68i and powerbook.
includes headset, audio/data usb adaptor, drivers and charger (box claims 3hrs talk/24hrs standby).

If you're interested...

ihcned

4 posts

Wannabe Geek
Inactive user

#6242 2-Jun-2004 17:34

Thanks, but I'm planning to buy something else.

Also, can anyone provide some quick answers to my questions from the first post:

As long as I dl the widcomm v1.4.2.10 drivers, would any adapter suffice?
Do all the bluetooth adapters/dongles use these same drivers?
Also, is it the drivers that determine which bluetooth profiles are supported?
Should I worry about the handsfree profile or the audio gateway profile, or are those supported in 1.4.2.10?

Thanks again.

freitasm

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#6243 2-Jun-2004 17:43

As long as I dl the widcomm v1.4.2.10 drivers, would any adapter suffice?

Nope. Each adapter will come with its own version of the drivers. Drivers are pretty much the same, but each O&M will customise as needed. The .inf files contain information that tie the driver to a specific adapter. It can be hacked though, but we do not have the instructions here.

Do all the bluetooth adapters/dongles use these same drivers?

As per previous answer.

Also, is it the drivers that determine which bluetooth profiles are supported?

Yes, and no. Sometimes the drivers support a specific profile, but the hardware does not provide some required controls. This happened before with old Belkin adapters, where headset wouldn't work at all, even though it existed on the drivers.

Should I worry about the handsfree profile or the audio gateway profile, or are those supported in 1.4.2.10?

Drivers 1.3 and up support these profiles, but the caveat from the previous answer still applies.

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ihcned

4 posts

Wannabe Geek
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#6251 3-Jun-2004 05:53

So for TDK, D-link, Bluetake, and Belkin adapters, this should work as long as I dl the latest drivers from their websites, right?

Also, has anyone had success doing this using linux, rather than windows. I'm just wondering how difficult it would be to set up, or if the bluetooth stack/drivers for linux are advanced enough yet to handle this sort of setup. I've read some stuff about getting bluetooth to work with linux, but I wanted to see if anyone else has actually gotten this to work.

Thanks.

freitasm

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#6253 3-Jun-2004 07:26

Yes, for these brands it will work ok. Be aware that audio is still not 100% good in terms of quality, and only mono, under Bluetooth 1.1. Bluetooth 1.2 promisses more in terms of quality, but products are just started to being rolled out now.

About Linux... I'm sure someone else can help with BlueZ.

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neophred

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#6489 10-Jun-2004 23:50

Hello,
Is the latest 1.4.2.10 driver now working correctly on the DBT-120 ? I just got a working 1.4.2.6 driver (thanks to freitasm!) now and am a little reluctant on installing the latest drivers considering all the trouble it involves.

What is going to be the benefit compared to 1.4.2.6 ? I'm interested in getting a usable sound in VOIP (skype, MSN, net2phone) because right now it's very bad. Should I then install the 1.4.2.10 ?
Thanks

Fred André

freitasm

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#6491 11-Jun-2004 01:11

I'm not sure of the differences between these minor versions - no new features AFAIK. Sound is heavily influenced by available CPU and memory.

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