Bluetooth vs. non-Bluetooth wireless mice

Other than the convenience factor of not needing a USB dongle for Bluetooth, what are the tradeoffs between wireless Bluetooth and non-Bluetooth mice?

- Is there a difference in performance/smoothness?

- Is there a difference in battery draw on the laptop?

For use with a laptop, I don't suppose distance is an issue. We're talking about always using it within 3 ft or so of the laptop.

Any other considerations?

 

For the most part, performance is about the same. Bluetooth will draw slightly more power on both the laptop and the mouse itself than comparable wireless non-Bluetooth mice.

The other consideration is by far the best wireless mouse, Bluetooth or non-blueooth, IMO is the Dell Bluetooth Travel mouse. It is portable, affordable, 5 buttons and a tilting scroll wheel. You won't find a better portable mouse at it's price.

Cin usually has a link floating around with good deals for the mouse. Usually it's about $20 -$30 bucks.

 

Bluetooth = no dongle. The newer wireless mice have really small dongles, so not much of a problem compared to before.

 

^^^ Even better....The Dell BT Travel Mouse is $10 Today! And, Free shipping!

LINKY

Cin...

 

And just like a Goddess, she hears everything and responds to the pleas of mice users where ever they may be.

 

HA! Well...The deal sold out already!

I'm sure it will come back soon..based on it just being $14.99, then $10 today. Perhaps, the Business Segment will do something similar in pricing.


Cin...

 

Or, with the Microsoft Mobile Memory Mouse 8000 ( $23.79 at Amazon), you can try it on either Bluetooth or wireless dongle mode

I find simple wireless dongle mice more reliable, but then, the downside is that it eats up one USB slot. So, it's nice to be able to switch between the modes as necessary.

 

It's mostly battery life isn't it?

 

Well... sometimes randomly it may not connect... happens on my Vaio every now and then - switch off the Bluetooth on the laptop, switch off the mouse, switch on on latpop, switch on mouse and it works? (that's after I disconnected the mouse while it was running and have not restarted...)

Battery life - I think Bluetooth eats somewhere around 0,5-1W (according to Battery bar & my estimate)

 

The more I look into it, the more I find people saying that. In what ways do you find them more reliable?

No problem with that for me. Even most entry level netbooks these days have three USB ports, and for mobile use I'd be using none of them. I'd probably go with one of the mice with a tiny dongle so that I could always keep it plugged in to the laptop.

 

Connection - and Bluetooth devices may "sleep" when they aren't used, and that could cause short unresponsiveness... else lag...

Simple things that don't matter much to the general user but matter a lot to gamers.

 

Bluetooth devices generally have shorter battery life than comparable wireless devices.

Wait, didn't I just post that earlier?

 

I haven't found much of a difference in response time between my Dell 5-button bt travel mouse and the other wireless mice I have used. While the mouse does go to sleep after a while, it wakes up quickly and the batteries are good for quite a while.

 

Ya response times are generally a non factor here.

 

With my Mobile Mouse 8000 on wireless dongle mode, I plug in the dongle, wait a second, and it works. With it on Bluetooth mode, sometimes even when I turn on my laptop's BT, then turn on my mouse, it still cannot find it. Plus, it's more of a hassle pairing a BT device than simply using a dongle.

 

I bounce between both a Nano Receiver & BT Mouse. I like both! I like the freedom of a Bluetooth Mouse, and I also like the ability to use a Mouse with a tiny "receiver" when, and where I want. Just depends on "ones needs & wants".

I have never, had a problem "syncing" my BT Mice to either my Lappy or my Netbook on all 3 of the BT Mice that I own. The install was quick and simple. Battery life has been as expected. Buy "cheap" batt's for your BT mice, and they will not last long. Purchase good ones and they will last longer. Same go's for your Nano Receiver/Dongle Mice, and of it all depends on your "usage".

When my Mice do "fall asleep" it's a simple tap of the mouse and it's fairly quick to wake back up. Things like that don't bother me.

What I rely on is the swiftness & movement of the mouse to do what I want for me on screen at any given moment! I want to be able to control the mouse. "Lag time" when I am trying complete something is probably my biggest complaint.

Cin...

 

I also have (and like) both!
the only complaint for bluetooth mouse is the wake up time after mouse idle/sleep.. the cursor freeze in a blink of an eye..
for non-bluetooth I really don't have any problem

have been using rechargeable batteries for both, the bluetooth one does consume more battery life..
but with orochi's dual mode, I can still using it with cable when recharging the batteries.. so no problem at all

 

I have a Microsoft Bluetooth Mouse 5000 and it's fast. Battery life is really long and it connects quickly as well. That being said, I don't turn off bluetooth on my laptop.
The one thing about Wireless mouse is that I might forget or lose the dongle somewhere, then that'll be a problem. Although there are dongles you can attach with the mice.

 

I guess I have a different take on this than others.

I use a wired mini travel mouse when I'm traveling.
I don't _ever_ want the mouse to be unuseable because the battery is dead.
Ever.

 

Carry a spare? - Problem solved.

 

I agree - for a long time, I have been using a wired notebook mouse. But, seeing as the Mobile Memory Mouse 8000 can recharge over USB during use, it seems to be a win-win situation.

 

and don't forget about the dual mode mice (that's why I like it )
out of batteries? just plug into your usb cable and you're good to go

 

If the batteries die, you still have the trackpad to fall on until you find a 7-eleven.

 

LoL..and still good batt's will always help!

I like Energizer Bunny ones.... They keep going...and going...

Sariously, they seem to last along time for me!
I use them in my NB mice!


Cin...

 

I've been using eneloops in mine (in fact I use em in anything that takes AA batteries) and have had decent life. Battery life is a tiny bit less than using my old mouse (V450 nano). Performance is identical, the v470 is just sexier.

I'll be getting the Anywhere MX soon. That thing looks awesome and has the darkfield tech so it can be used anywhere. Sounds good to me. The extra buttons are a plus too.

 

I've always had horrible experience with bluetooth in Windows, stuff disconnecting, not connecting, dropping in and out, etc. But on my MacBook the bluetooth works flawless all the time (I use a Microsoft bluetooth notebook mouse with it).

 

same here they're nice batteries

 

VX Nano is being blown out b/c the replacement Anywhere MX mouse has the "unified receiver", which allows you to use their tiny receiver for multiple devices.


$30AR from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Cord...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1260263283&sr=8-1

FWIW, Bluetooth mice are neat when they work (95% of the time), but cause anguish when they don't. The non-BT wireless mice always work.