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IOGear USB 2.1 Bluetooth Micro Adapter GBU421

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Average Customer Rating:	4.5
Brand:	IOGEAR
Model:	GBU421
Format:	CD
Weight:	0.01 pounds
Dimensions:	0 inches x 0 inches x 0 inches [Width x Length x Height]

Product Categories

Computer Accessories; Electronics: International Shipping Available; USB; Bluetooth; Bluetooth/Hands-Free Phone; Cell Phone; Windows XP; PC; Mac; All Consumer Electronics; Computer Accessories and Software

Product description

IOGear GBU421 Bluetooth 2.1 USB Micro Adapter, the IOGEAR Bluetooth 2.1 USB Micro Adapter offers Bluetooth connectivity at a fraction of the size of normal Bluetooth USB adapters. About the size of an adult fingernail, the IOGEAR Bluetooth 2.1 USB Micro Adapter allows users to connect to all the latest Bluetooth devices like cell phones, PDAs, mice and keyboards. Because the Micro Adapter is so small you can easily plug it into your computer without blocking any surrounding USB ports. The Micro Adapter also features Bluetooth EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) technology for transfer rates that are 3 times faster than traditional Bluetooth 1.1 and 1.2 adapters. The Micro Adapter also allows users to connect up to seven Bluetooth devices together and transfer even the largest files quickly and easily. With the Micro Adapter lower power consumption, you can enjoy longer battery life on your notebook computer. This Bluetooth Class 2 adapter is also compatible with both Mac and PC computers, and offers a wireless range of 30 feet (10 meter). It is great for both home and mobile networking needs.

Features

IOGEAR Bluetooth USB Micro Adapter offers Bluetooth connectivity at a fraction of the size of normal Bluetooth USB adapters

This Bluetooth Class 2 adapter is also compatible with both Mac and PC computers, and offers a wireless range of 30 feet (10 meter)

Customer reviews

« Works Great »

This little dongle installed on a Dell Vostro running Win 7 Pro 64 bit, no problem. Not sure why others have troubles. For the price, it can't be beat, plug it in and forget it!

Rating: (5 out of 5) @ 2010-09-06

« For The Price & Size It's Hard To Fault »

The Good: It's tiny. The stack installed easily on Win 7 64-bit. It paired easily with a phone and stereo/mic headset.

The Bad: Nothing really bad, but if it's not on a laptop, you should probably get a USB extension cable. The range, obviously, is limited. My desktop sits under my desk, and I'm doing well getting it to work in a 17x17 room. But that's ok; it's so small and it can do dual use with my laptop if I needed it.

For the price, it's really hard to go wrong, as long as you don't need the range. But if you put it on a laptop you are working at on your desk, it should be great for range relative to its size. I'd buy it again for sure.

Rating: (5 out of 5) @ 2010-09-05

« Outstanding! »

A wonderful product! It is as small as can be so never necessary to take out and can hook up to several Bluetooth devices at once. Exactly what I was looking for!

Rating: (5 out of 5) @ 2010-09-05

« Love this little bluetooth adapter »

I'm using Windows 7 64 bit and my goal was to use my bluetooth headset as PC speakers..

Step 1 : Download drivers [...]
Step 2 : Run the windows 7 installer
Step 3 : Insert USB bluetooth adapter when prompted to by installer
Step 4 : Reboot
Step 5 : Look for devices via your newly added taskbar bluetooth icon
Step 6 : Pair desired bluetooth device

EASY.

Rating: (5 out of 5) @ 2010-09-02

« Works great on Win7 »

Since I had zero prior experience with bluetooth, I was a little nervous after reading some of the reviews about whether I was going to be able to install this successfully. I got the adapter in order to be to easily transfer pictures from my cellphone to my computer. After some trial and error, I was able to get it properly installed and have already successfully transferred the pictures, so all is well. I am running Windows 7 Home Premium. For those neophytes like me, here's what I did: I first just plugged the adapter in and saw it started searching for drivers on its own so I let it do its thing. Then with my cellphone I tried to add a device and I was able to successfully get the phone to recognize the computer and vice versa, but when I went to transfer pictures it just kept saying there was no device connected. After running the troubleshooter on my computer, it said my phone was connected but had no services. So, even though some reviewers said they didn't need the manufacturer's drivers, in my case I needed them.

Following others' advice, I did not use the enclosed disk but went directly to the Iogear website ([..]), clicked on support, drivers, searched on "bluetooth", then selected model GBU421 and downloaded the Vista & Win7 driver (same one). After the files download & extract, I double-clicked on the Setup_Vista_Win7 file which starts the installation process. (Make sure the adapter is NOT plugged in when you start installation.) Click yes to install and it will do its thing for a few minutes until it reaches a point where it says it cannot detect a bluetooth device and only gives you the option to cancel. At that point, I plugged the adapter in, and it automatically continued installing. After it finished installing, I went back to the Windown bluetooth setup and saw it was searching on some sort of drivers and I noticed it had a long list of services that weren't there before. So I just let it finish doing its thing (took several minutes so be patient) and once it was done, I was able to transfer the pictures no problem.

This may not be the best way to do it, but it worked for me. I also agree with other reviewers that it's a little difficult to take in and out, but it's so tiny that I'm just going to leave it in all the time. One other note - another reviewer mentioned it's a battery drain, but in Win7 you can easily turn Bluetooth on and off, so I intend to leave it off most of the time and just turn it on when I need it. I would think it would only draw power if it's on.