Considering Vostro 1400- bluetooth?

Hi, I came across the Vostro 1400 series which seem to be a phenomenal deal. Also they let you have XP Home which is a plus.

I want to have that "Wireless 355 Bluetooth" but it's telling me I need Vista for it? Is this true? Will I ever be able to have bluetooth with my Vostro? I'd like it for a mouse or my phone.

Also is it worth the extra $25 for the "Dell Wireless 1505 Wireless-N Mini-card"?

Thanks if anyone can help!

 

The bluetooth they'd install would probably only work with Vista; program compatibility. If you really want bluetooth, get Vista. Besides, Vista is great.

 

Thanks, it's just that I've had some experience with it and do not like it.

I noticed they sell the device on their site.

 

I have bluetooth on XP running on vostro 1400...no problem..

 

When you chose it they installed it?

You didn't have to mess with or change anything once you received your laptop?

 

Both XP and Bluetooth 355 can be added to Vostro 1400 after purchase if any of these options are giving you trouble in ordering.

 

I run xp with bluetooth. You can get a refurb bluetooth mouse of ebay for 25 bucks. Cant even tell its a refurb and works fantastic! Really accurate, great battery life and matched the vostro 1400 perfectly. The model number is DH421. Mine works great. I got the vostro before xp was available, wiped it out clean and installed XP. Everything works wonderful. Any questions, PM me.

sOnIc

 

The refurbished BT 355 is only $11 with free shipping right now.

 

The cable routing is a little crazy underneath the mobo, and inbetween the case. Also, you would have to get the black bracket that mounts the 355 card to the front of the case. It sort of fits in there like a puzzle piece.

 

Yep it is true the blutooth will only work with vista

 

i didn't see if it's working but i have installed bluetooth on xp without problems..

 

On my Vostro 1400 with XP, I run bluetooth for two things. 1.) My mouse, which is absolutely awesome not having to connect a receiver into the usb or a wire usb. 2.) My Verizon phone, I created a Dial Up Network and dial the #777 and get 115+kbps wireless internet access anywhere I have cell phone signal for the cost of airtime minutes. Nights and weekends I have 2500 minutes to burn so this is really cool.

The only errors I ever get is if Im connected to both devices at the same time when I shut down, I get the btserverstack.exe error.

Otherwise, G2G.

 

Yep, I can also vouch that the Dell 355 BT works just fine in XP on my Vostro 1400. However, I did have to hack some INI files to get the standard XP Bluetooth stack working. Perhaps they have updated INI files now so you don't have to do that. I'm sure the Widcomm stack also works (and is what most people are running with the 355 and XP).

 

Dell listed the BT355 driver for XP under Vostro 1400 recently. The file name is R161378.exe. There is no reason why it would not work.

 

lol this topic is 6 months old my friend

 

What so funny? This is responding to pdp76 posted a few days ago regarding the updated ini. I guess you must be from UK that thinks 12-06 as June 12 instead of December 6. LOL.

Notice that the OP just registered for this forum in December 2007 and so as you. LOLOL

 

get a BT360 which is better than BT355.

 

Is there a good deal on BT360? The BT355 refurb is only $11 shipped.

 

Where can you find these $11 refurbed BT355s?

 

At Dell US site search for CW725 in Notebook accessory. Free 2 day shipping ends tomorrow.
A link for you.

 

Thanks alot for the info. FYI, I don't know if they changed it but i just checked and the free shipping is good til Thursday December 20.

 

They probably extended the free shipping because of the poor sales. Is it still free 2nd day or just ground shipping? I received my remote control and BT355 today.

 

This is what was offered: 3-5 Day Delivery $0.00($4.99 - $4.99), 2nd Business Day Delivery $0.00($12.00 - $12.00), Next Business Day Delivery $0.00($16.00 - $16.00). It automatically selected "Next Business Day Delivery" for me when I put in my shipping info.

 

So it is even better.

 

For Vostro 1400 with XP, the 355 BT works better with the Anycom 5.1.4200 driver. Make sure you have the BT disabled, installed the driver, shut down, enable the BT, and continue the reboot. Finally I got it to work with my Palm PDA this way.

 

Nice. I think I'm going to pick that up. 11 bucks? Internal? What more could I want

 

Yesterday I tried to order the refurbed 355 bt card online and it was no longer offering free Next Business Day Delivery although it was supposed to expire, alog with free 3-5 Day Delivery and the 2nd Business Day Delivery, on Thursday, 12-20. But when I input my shipping info, it automatically calculated $16 Next Business Day Delivery. I tried several times to get it to calculate the free 3-5 Day Delivery and the 2nd Business Day Delivery, but it wouldn't go through so I gave up. I tried again today and now it only offeres free 3-5 Day Delivery with a new expiration date of Friday, 1-4-2008, but its still automatically calculating $16 Next Business Day Delivery. So I called up CS and they put the order through with free shipping and the CSR said he even upgraded my order to free Next Business Day Delivery. A couple brownie points for Dell. About the everchanging offers, if you read the offer details it says that it is subject to change anytime without notice. I guess they really mean it.

 

This is a kind of typical for Dell. Most of their best coupons expired earlier than they said. Anyway, the 2nd day free shipping deal was originally good through 12/13.

 

been running BT on XP and no problems... everything works down to my Wii controller

 

Works on my Vostro 1400 with Vista.

Remember to enable it in your BIOS!

I spent way too much time figuring that out

 

i hv a noob question...
i want to buy one for my Vostro1500...i just want to know how do you install the card? Do i hv to open the case of my notebook? or do i just need to plug it into whatever slots and it will be fine?

 

It is very simple. You can find the info on Dell's website. I did that on my Vostro 1400 which is in the same compartment for RAM. Since the memory compartment(s) is different in Vostro 1500, it may be different. Anyway, it is a simple plug and play with a few screws involved. Make sure you power off the machine and remove the battery before doing that.

 

Sorry to TTT this thread,

But, can you please explain, what did you hack exactly? what did you do?

 

Did anyone have to buy and "install" the bluetooth cable?

Can you tell me about where that plugs in on a Vostro 1400?

 

From what I know all vostros come with that connection cable, you just have to find it in the slot.

Scroll down the page to see the diagram.
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/vos1400/en/OM/parts.htm#wp1169454

 

I'd really like to know where it is... I held the motherboard in my hand and viewed it from every angle but didn't see a thing...

 

I've answered your question in the other thread. The refurbished BT355 I got from Dell works great on my Vostro 1400 in both XP and Vista SP1.