Bluetooth Frequency and compitbility

[gdavis]

I ordered my x61 tablet with Bluetooth, and I've been looking for a wireless presenter that can control powerpoint and also have a laser pointer.

Microsoft makes one that is integral with a mouse (MS Wireless Notebook Presenter Mouse 8000) that uses bluetooth. That would work great for me since it can use the internal Bluetooth module that I ordered and I wouldn't need an appendage hanging onto a USB port.

The specs say it uses 2.4ghz Bluetooth, which sounds standard. Does anyone know if that should work without the USB transceiver they include? And shouldn't all Bluetooth devices more or less work with the built in BT unit?

I ask this since MS said this on their specs page for the 8000-

"IMPORTANT: For best results and Bluetooth® device compatibility, use the included Microsoft Mini Bluetooth Transceiver."

[timendres]

I think that "compatibility disclaimer" can be ignored.

I believe there are currently two "revs" of BT, and your machine will have the second. Ergo, the device should be compatible with your computer.

[gdavis]

Tim,

Thanks, I looked into it more and you are correct. Apparently both of them (the MS mouse and the x61t) use Bluetooth 2.0.

And the reason it seems that MS has that labeled that way, is that the transceiver dongle is pre-matched to that mouse, eliminating the need to pair them.

But I read that others have done it, but just have to go through the pairing process.

There are some specific attributes for the protocol that they labeled for the MS mouse, but I assume it should work with this late version of BT that Lenovo is using.

thanks

[kmshuler]

I have a X60T and just received my Microsoft Presenter Mouse 8000 yesterday. It works fine with the Bluetooth tranceiver in the the X60T, but there are some caveats:

a. The MS Intellipoint software overrides/replaces the ThinkPad trackpoint software. My trackpoint still works fine and I can control it using the MS software. It just makes me mad that MS would unilaterally blow away an app that I use without my consent.

b. You CAN use the MS mouse without the Intellipoint SW. The only caveat to this is that in presentation mode you can only go forward and back in PowerPoint. You can't bring up the black screen or draw or any of the other cool things you can do with the mouse.

c. If you do install the MS Intellipoint SW, it will change the behavior of you middle X60 trackpoint button. If you want to continue to scroll down web pages using this button, change the "Wheel button" behavior to "AutoScroll" in the MS Intellipoint SW. You'll find this under the first "Buttons" tab when you run "Microsoft Mouse" in "All Programs" or "Mouse" in "Control Panel"

Here's what I had to do to use the X60's Bluetooth transceiver (MS doesn't have instructions for this, took me awhile to figure out by trial and error):

1. Turn on BT in your BIOS

2. Install the MS Intellipoint 6.2 software from the WEB In the MS mouse packaging you'll receive a piece of paper that says something like, "Don't use the CD that comes with this package, download the software from the web." 'Tis not I to reason why MS didn't simply ship the package with the paper and without the CD to avoid confusion.

3. Turn on your mouse with the little slider switch on the back. You'll see a yellow light turn on for a sec

4. Using a pen, press in the little button just south and east of the slider switch.

5. On your ThinkPad, go to "BlueTooth Devices" in Control Panel, select the "Devices" tab, then select "Add". Wait for your PC and the mouse to create their link.

I hope this helps!
Kurt

[gdavis]

Kurt,

Hey, this is great. thanks for posting all that info. It's great that we have a place like this to share knowledge.

I'll copy your post for someday (sigh) when (if) I get my x61 tab.

gregg

[thevt]

Do either have issues with the mouse "signal" getting weak at various times? I don't know if its my mouse or the bluetooth signal, but sometimes the pointer drags soooo slow. It's clearly something thats locked up. What's odd is that at those times, the trackpoint works fine.

I've tried changing batteries to no avail.

BTW - you can pair the the mouse without using the USB receiver.

Also - I found out if you re-install the trackpoint software AFTER the Microsoft intellipoint package is installed, it will bring back the tab to be able to customize your trackpoint. I couldnt live without its autoscroll!