Acer 5103 and bluetooth

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StPie

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#21837 8-May-2008 13:01

I have the above laptop and there is a button that indicates that it has bluetooth but I cannot get it activated. Any tips? It's not to be found in the control panel, so what do I do?

Thanks muchly,
StPie

freitasm

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Geekzone

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#129352 8-May-2008 13:26

Not all Acer laptops have Bluetooth - they are "ready" but the actual Bluetooth module is optional.

StPie

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#129398 8-May-2008 15:57

Thanks for that. Does that mean I have to get a bluetooth dongle and install it or can I download driver or whatever it's called off the internet? Can you point me in the right direction?

Thanks so much,
St Pie

freitasm

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#129406 8-May-2008 16:04

You will have to purchase a USB Dongle and install its software. There's nothing you can download that will make your laptop work without purchasing the hardware,

sbiddle

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#129408 8-May-2008 16:04

StPie: Thanks for that. Does that mean I have to get a bluetooth dongle and install it or can I download driver or whatever it's called off the internet? Can you point me in the right direction?

Thanks so much,
St Pie

You can get an Acer Bluetooth module that fits inside the machine and uses the standard XP SP2 or Vista Bluetooth stack. Somebody told me at one stage they are around NZ$80ish or so to buy from Acer but you can pick them up on eBay for around US$30 if you look.

The cheapest way however is to buy and buy a USB Bluetooth module - there are plenty around for less than NZ$30 on Trademe, there are some very small USB ones that are hardly noticeable.

StPie

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Wannabe Geek

#129409 8-May-2008 16:09

Thanks you guys, you've been very helpful:)

Cheers,
St. Pie

rphenix

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#131095 15-May-2008 19:09

watch the trademe ones, alot of them come with bluesoleil thats cracked, since the original vendor didnt license the bluetooth stack from the software provider you can end up with a popup from the bluesoleil software saying something like this software is an illegal version every 5 minutes as well as running in "crippled" mode.

Personally I would make sure whatever bluetooth device I purchased came with widcomm bt stack instead since your less likely to have the above problems and I find the widcomm bt stack better in general.