Thinkpads Forum

I’m looking at getting a Bluetooth mouse for my ThinkPad. I have a Kensington wireless which is good for the portability aspect, but my large hands feel uncomfortable. Kensington offers the exact same model is Bluetooth configuration, but the size is hindering from purchasing.

Here is the Kensington mini Bluetooth http://us.kensington.com/html/6367.html which is the exact same as the mini wireless http://us.kensington.com/html/6366.html which I also happen to be selling http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=24062

I really like the idea of their convertible http://us.kensington.com/html/6108.html as I can use the desktop comfortably and switch it to the portable version for on the go. BUT it’s not Bluetooth.

I think I might have to consider carrying a larger mouse that would be comfortable and was thinking about the Kensington pilot mouse http://us.kensington.com/html/5465.html . Now these options are Kensington because I have dealt with them on a number of times and their quality has surpassed expectations, which is important when purchasing.

I am open to other recommendations.

I'm using a Logitec V270 Bluetooth mouse and have been very happy with it.

Whatever Bluetooth mouse you buy, make sure its has some way of definitively switching off the batteries. Both the Kensington and V270 have a real on/off switch, which is great!

Cheers,

Bill

I use a Trust MI-5300M. It takes two AAA batteries (-use rechargeable!) and has given no problems. Small size is useful for laptop.

http://www.trust.com/products/product.a ... 231&show=1

Radtech BT300 or BT510:
http://www.radtech.us/Products/Default. ... yBluetooth

or the same mouse with a different brand, Bluetake BT510:
http://www.bluetake.com/products/BT510.htm

They both come with a usb cable. With BT510 you can use that cable as a power cord when you run out of battery power. With BT300 you can even charge your rechargeables; something I've never seen on any other bluetooth mouse. Also, they both have power switches.

hiyel wrote:or the same mouse with a different brand, Bluetake BT510

I love that "newfangled design" product feature!

Cheers,

Bill

bill bolton wrote:I'm using a Logitec V270 Bluetooth mouse and have been very happy with it.

Whatever Bluetooth mouse you buy, make sure its has some way of definitively switching off the batteries. Both the Kensington and V270 have a real on/off switch, which is great!

Cheers,

Bill

I also have this mouse and love it. Runs on 2 AA batteries and battery life is amazing. It's been over a month on the original batteries. I picked this one up at Compusa for $20 after rebate a while back.

As posted elsewhere, I bought a Microsoft Wireless Notebook Mouse 6000 (search here on that, you'll find the other thread, with links to detailed specs/pics), and like it. The USB receiver stows underneath (this is the "on/off" switch), and runs for weeks on a battery. 2-way scrolling and 4 buttons, and it's very pocketable. A truly advanced, feature-rich little mouse-to-go.

Minuses include a way-too-small scroll wheel which scrolls like greased lightning at the slowest setting, and a scrollwheel button which is near impossible to hit just right.

An added bonus ... the newer Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 5000 which I bought for home, will connect with the USB nubbie from the Wireless Notebook Mouse 6000. I'm sitting at my coffee table, using it, but without the hockey puck receiver, just the usb nubbie from the notebook mouse. Nice that. (And oh by the way it looks really good next to my T43. With its silver buttons, it looks like a perfect mate for a Z/T60.)

Frankly the Bluetooth offerings (excepting the excellent Microsoft Bluetooth Mouse desktop model) disappoint me. I keep waiting for more widespread BT adoption. ... Maybe next year.

BTW, probably off your radar, but I bought a Wacom Bluetooth 6x8 tablet, which comes with mouse in addition to the pen. Not ultra-portable, but the tablet with self-storing pen fit in my computer bags with minimum fuss.

Links:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=23420
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=22135

http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouse ... px?pid=048
http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouse ... px?pid=068
http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouse ... px?pid=032

krazykritter wrote:

bill bolton wrote:I'm using a Logitec V270 Bluetooth mouse and have been very happy with it.

Whatever Bluetooth mouse you buy, make sure its has some way of definitively switching off the batteries. Both the Kensington and V270 have a real on/off switch, which is great!

Cheers,

Bill

I also have this mouse and love it. Runs on 2 AA batteries and battery life is amazing. It's been over a month on the original batteries. I picked this one up at Compusa for $20 after rebate a while back.

I am also using Logitech V270. Battery life is amazing. I had it since Xmas and still on the original battery and I never turn it off. Then again I do use my trackpoint more so may be that could be a factor.

JK

daeojkim wrote:I had it since Xmas and still on the original battery and I never turn it off.

Before the V270 became readily available, I was using a Microsoft BT mouse. It initially chewed through batteries at a great rate until I got the idea of using the plastic from the shipping blister pack as a slip cover, to make sure that a button couldn't be accidently depressed while it was in transit in my laptop bag. This improved battery life significantly.

I subsequently used one of the plastic offcuts from the butchered blister pack to make a small isolator which I could slide in between the batteries and the contact terminals in the mouse (which does turn it definitively off). This produced a further improvement in battery life.

Since getting the V270, I have been using the MS BT mouse in a normal desktop role and have noticed in that role it gets good battery life, even when left permanentky turned on.

My conclusion from this experience are:

1. If a BT mouse is just sitting out on a desktop, it seems to be much quite modest in terms of battery consumption, even if reasonably heavily used.

2. The point with being able to turning a BT mouse off, is related to having it in your carry bag in such as way that it ends up with a button depressed, because something in the bag is permanently presssing on it. Under these circumstances a BT mouse appears to be able to chew through batteries reasonably quickly. So, if you can definitively turn it off, you avoid that problem.

The fact that there are now at least two manufacturers who provide on/off switches on their recent BT mice models would seem to suggest that I wasn't the only BT mouse user who experienced excessive battery usage under mobile field use conditions with earlier BT mice that were simple adaptions of existing non-BT wireless mice!

Cheers,

Bill