Bluetooth Technology and Devices

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Is A Bluetooth Mouse Right For You?

April 13th, 2008

If you ever had the problem of getting the wire of your mouse tangled up, then you’ll want to consider a wireless mouse. One of the options is to obtain a bluetooth enabled mouse.

What is the difference between a bluetooth mouse and other wireless technologies such as an infrared mouse? Usually an infrared mouse comes with a cradle with a connection to your computer and the mouse makes wireless contact with the cradle. As opposed to a bluetooth mouse, the space between the cradle and the mouse has to be free of obstruction for the signal to get through. If you set your coffee cup in the path of the infrared signal it can stop your mouse from working.

The benefits of a bluetooth mouse is that the range from your mouse to your computer can be between 10 and 30 feet. This is great if you are using a large LCD screen as your monitor and you want to sit further away from the computer.

What If My Computer Is Not Bluetooth Enabled?

If your computer is not bluetooth enabled, don’t worry. There are bluetooth adapters you can buy that plug into your USB port can make the addition of blue tooth devices possible. Not only can you connect a bluetooth mouse through the adapter, but it can generally handle up to seven devices at once with the use of an adapter, unlike other wireless devices, which requires a separate receiver for each device such as one for the mouse and another for the keyboard. Furthermore, that same adapter can also work with a bluetooth enabled printer as well.

The choice of which blue tooth mouse will most likely be a personal choice as many of the different brands will work pretty much the same way. A main difference, however is in scrolling capabilities. Microsoft has one of the few blue tooth mouse with side scrolling capabilities. A Logitech blue tooth mouse has a scrolling advantage where the user can feel the scroller, while Microsoft’s is an extremely smooth scroll. How beneficial the slanted wheel for side scrolling turns out to be is dependent on individual choice.

There is one thing you should be aware of and that is the scrolling speeds and recovery time of the bluetooth mouse is on average than most wired mice. In addition, you’ll pay more for the bluetooth mouse. The cost is typically between $50 and just over $100. However, as with computers, the prices become cheaper as the technology becomes broadly adopted.