Bluetooth Woes

Chris Green · 21-11-2005, 07:51

I've just found out the hard way that not all Bluetooth phones are created equal (my fault for hating the damned things and therefore not knowing enough about them). My wife is now the unsuspecting owner of an O2 X1b, bought in Tescos. Why? Coz it said it was Bluetooth.

However, when I get it home, I find that this only means that it will work with Bluetooth headsets - nothing else. (Never mind, I was wondering what to get her for Christmas!).

My PC's Bluetooth dongle doesn't want to know, if you'll pardon the expression.

What I'm after is a recommendation for a phone that isn't going to break the bank, even when bought for PAYG, that will talk to PCs, preferably acting as a modem to allow a laptop access to my Blueyonder Roaming 0845 number to collect my e-mails when I'm out of touch. I went off the idea of a GPRS card when I saw the charges! Outrageous.

Am I barking up the wrong tree, or should 'real' Bluetooth phones be able to do this?

I'm thinking it should work, as my dongle detected my neighbour's phone through the wall, and but for the lack of the requisite security code was all set to dial through it using a virtual Com port 5 on my PC

dominoid · 21-11-2005, 10:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Green

What I'm after is a recommendation for a phone that isn't going to break the bank, even when bought for PAYG, that will talk to PCs, preferably acting as a modem to allow a laptop access to my Blueyonder Roaming 0845 number to collect my e-mails when I'm out of touch. I went off the idea of a GPRS card when I saw the charges! Outrageous.

To my knowledge, there are no other phones currenty available that only offer bluetooth audio as oposed to audio and data so every other brand name mobile should be plausible.

I would recommend checking the call costs of 0845 numbers from your provider though. Remember you'll be stuck at 9.6kb/s connection speed on dial up so if you're paying ten pence per minute for that it'll be likely to be more expensive than a GPRS bundle. I don't think any provider allows 0845 calls as part of their free minutes and some of them will charge you a higher price for 0845 data calls as opposed to voice calls. If it works out more economical to use GPRS (and in my experience it almost always does) you can get your phone set up as a GPRS modem anyway, you don't need a data card, it's just more convenient for some people to have a card rather than use their phone.

actfia · 22-11-2005, 08:32

I use a virgin pay as you go sim with a gprs card and costs are reasonable and it works well. Think its 0.5p per kb.

21-11-2005, 07:51	#1
Chris Green Forum Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Hounslow Posts: 260	Bluetooth Woes I've just found out the hard way that not all Bluetooth phones are created equal (my fault for hating the damned things and therefore not knowing enough about them). My wife is now the unsuspecting owner of an O2 X1b, bought in Tescos. Why? Coz it said it was Bluetooth. However, when I get it home, I find that this only means that it will work with Bluetooth headsets - nothing else. (Never mind, I was wondering what to get her for Christmas!). My PC's Bluetooth dongle doesn't want to know, if you'll pardon the expression. What I'm after is a recommendation for a phone that isn't going to break the bank, even when bought for PAYG, that will talk to PCs, preferably acting as a modem to allow a laptop access to my Blueyonder Roaming 0845 number to collect my e-mails when I'm out of touch. I went off the idea of a GPRS card when I saw the charges! Outrageous. Am I barking up the wrong tree, or should 'real' Bluetooth phones be able to do this? I'm thinking it should work, as my dongle detected my neighbour's phone through the wall, and but for the lack of the requisite security code was all set to dial through it using a virtual Com port 5 on my PC

21-11-2005, 10:23	#2
dominoid Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Plymouth Posts: 581	Quote: Originally Posted by Chris Green What I'm after is a recommendation for a phone that isn't going to break the bank, even when bought for PAYG, that will talk to PCs, preferably acting as a modem to allow a laptop access to my Blueyonder Roaming 0845 number to collect my e-mails when I'm out of touch. I went off the idea of a GPRS card when I saw the charges! Outrageous. To my knowledge, there are no other phones currenty available that only offer bluetooth audio as oposed to audio and data so every other brand name mobile should be plausible. I would recommend checking the call costs of 0845 numbers from your provider though. Remember you'll be stuck at 9.6kb/s connection speed on dial up so if you're paying ten pence per minute for that it'll be likely to be more expensive than a GPRS bundle. I don't think any provider allows 0845 calls as part of their free minutes and some of them will charge you a higher price for 0845 data calls as opposed to voice calls. If it works out more economical to use GPRS (and in my experience it almost always does) you can get your phone set up as a GPRS modem anyway, you don't need a data card, it's just more convenient for some people to have a card rather than use their phone.

22-11-2005, 08:32	#3
actfia Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: North West, UK Posts: 66	I use a virgin pay as you go sim with a gprs card and costs are reasonable and it works well. Think its 0.5p per kb.

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Bluetooth Woes