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I must admit that my experiences with Bluetooth have not always been totally successful. This wireless technology, originally developed back in 1994 by the mobile phone company Ericsson and named after a tenth century Viking king called Harald "Bluetooth" Blatand, has probably been responsible for a number ( I was tempted to say 'fair number' but decided against the pun) of my grey hairs.

Just why a method of allowing devices to communicate with each other over short distances, typically around ten metres, should cause me problems is one of life's mysteries. After all this technology can be found in a range of devices such as mobile phones, handheld computers, laptops, printers, PDAs, headset plus even keyboards and mice. With such a range of devices and fairly wide acceptance, you would think that cross-platform and cross-manufacturer issues would have been totally ironed out within the last decade or so. Maybe I am just been unlucky but maybe not.

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While pairing headsets and mobile phones caused me no problems, when a computer became part of the equation it seemed to be the catalyst for various trials and tribulations. However with the introduction of a new device from Belkin working in conjunction with Microsoft Windows XP software, the days of my struggling with Bluetooth seem to be over (hurriedly touching wood so as not to tempt fate).

The Belkin Bluetooth adapter acts as a dongle that sits in a USB port on your computer, laptop or USB hub. Measuring just 58 x 18 x 8mm (L x W x H), this USB device weighs 7g and fully supports USB 2.0, whether on the Windows or Macintosh platform, and is also compatible with USB 1.1. Using an operating frequency of 2.4 to 2.4835 GHz, the adapter has a range of up to 10 metres with the range being depended on the environment and other wireless devices that are within the immediate vicinity. (There is also a 100 metre version of this USB device). The product supports EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) which means you can expect a data rate of 2.1Mbps. Built-in to the device is 128-bit encryption and authentication to help with security.

Set up of the device is just a matter of loading the appropriate drivers supplied on the software CD. Those using Windows XP Service Pack 2 will already have the necessary drivers present on the system. The Belkin adapter will then scan for the presence of any Bluetooth-aware peripherals and you can then pair with the desired device. The actual pairing process should take around five seconds. I was certainly impressed with the ease-of-use and results I achieved with the Belkin Bluetooth USB adapter using a selection of Bluetooth-aware peripherals. Problems encountered previously were now a distant memory.

Expect to pay £19.99 for this excellent piece of kit which does not require an external power source and adds Bluetooth functionality to your computer. It should work fine on any version of Windows from 98 onwards and Macintosh OS X v10.3 and higher.

http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=198322