01-24-2005, 01:00 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Do You Leave Your Bluetooth Radio On?
Now that my laptop has a bluetooth radio in it I have more incentive to leave the bluetooth radio on my Pocket PC on so I can ActiveSync. I tried turning it on and off as needed but my iMATE PDA2K seems to have a bluetooth driver about as sophisticated as that of an iPAQ 3800, which is to say horrible and almost always requires a soft reset to enable it.  That is the only gripe I have about the device, as it is a truly wonderful Pocket PC and I don't regret for a minute giving up my iPAQ 2215, though I never recall ever having to soft reset the 2215 to get the bluetooth radio on.
I have found leaving the bluetooth radio on all of the time on the PDA2K works for me though, despite the annoying blue light. :roll: Unlike other Pocket PCs I've owned, the PDA2K blinks whatever LED it feels the need to blink whether the device is "on" or not.
It isn't as annoying as it was on any previous iPAQ. They must be using a lower powered LED or diffusing it more, and it provides a yin-yang effect with the always blinking green LED on the right side of the device indicating that the GSM radio is on. It is still bothersome and why manufacturers are so giddy with LEDs is beyond me. The PDA2K has an impressive array of them. Upper left is blue, orange (charging) or green (charged or the WiFi radio is on). Upper right is green or red (message of some sort). The lower half has the red "End" light and green "Send" light. But I digress...
So for those of you with Pocket PCs equipped with bluetooth, to you leave it on all of the time, sometimes or have you never bothered turning it on?
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01-24-2005, 01:46 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 221
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How about an option for "I have an app that turns BT on and off for me when I need it", e.g. OzBT? 
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01-24-2005, 02:20 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 797
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Most noteworthy quote in this article:
Quote:
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I tried turning it on and off as needed
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Which would mean Ed actually turned on Bluetooth. Make note of it folks; he's becoming one of us.
Ed, you will be assimilated...
:robot:
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01-24-2005, 02:27 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 357
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You should see the LED light on the imate JAM, it is very unobtrusive. It's only one light that indicates bluetooth, GSM reception, announcments, charging... just changes colors. And it's tiny, so it doesn't light up the whole car if your driving at night.
But you should get a Bluetooth headset and then leave it on all the time.
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01-24-2005, 02:30 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 652
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by mr_Ray
How about an option for "I have an app that turns BT on and off for me when I need it", e.g. OzBT? |
I think that falls under "turning it on only when you need it". I also use OzBT as it makes using BT even more usefull by not having to do it manually. That's a function I wish was built-in for all forms of communication.
__________________
Making use of mobile tech like no other.
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01-24-2005, 02:32 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 6
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Yeah I would have hoped there was an option to turn the bluetooth led off, I have a Ipaq 1945 and the blue led is very annoying, if at least it didn't blink. Any suggestions on what I could do to resolve this.
bye
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01-24-2005, 03:09 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 57
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That blue LED is VERY annoying, especially since I sleep in the same room as my PDA. It's kinda hard to sleep when there's this light illuminating the entire room every few seconds.
Also, another reason why I don't keep BT on all the time even though I want to is the "insufficient memory" error with the bluetooth stack that I keep getting.
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01-24-2005, 03:19 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 222
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I leave mine off until I need it. But eve then, it's flakey...
I tried out a Bluetooth GPS and it took some trial and error to figure out the order in which to start Bluetooth, start the app, and connect to the GPS. I don't think I ever really got it figured out.
I still think that Bluetooth is a great technology. But why is it so complex? Each stack has their own terminology, each device hooks up a little different, etc. And that crazy, evil, annoying blinking light. Stop the pain, it burns! My wife is always confused when she picks up my iPaq and the blue light is flashing.
All I really use Bluetooth for now is synching my iPaq to my PC at home.
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01-24-2005, 03:26 PM
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Mystic
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,520
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You want to know about lights?
How about the blue light halo-ing the bottom of the Toshiba e830. I would like to have the cradle on my bed-side table but think that I may need to create some kind of skirt. for it. 8O I'm sure my e830 would never forgive me for the humiliation.
Maybe black duct tape...
__________________
Phone: Nexus one Backup Phone: AT&T Samsung Jack; Future Phone: I'm Watching WP7; Media Player: Platinum Zune HD 32GB; Home Server: HP MediaSmart Server LX195 Console: XBox 360, PS3, Wii |
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01-24-2005, 03:37 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 444
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I have a Belkin BT card, and it's awfully finicky about being recognized when I insert it. So, I've tried leaving it on all the time, but I can just watch the batter meter drop when I do that. Maybe when I get a new unit with built-in BT, it'll be more power efficient?
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