Bluetooth Mouse - Suggestions?

Thought so, I have been know to do the same.

P.S. You can still use the BT mouse plugged in as a "corded mouse" It will work and charge at the same time.

Josh

Hi Josh,

Just got the iogear mouse - charged it overnight and then tried to pair it this morning. Had to shut it off and then turn it back on again to get an LED, then push down the paring button. It was found ok, but then only functioned for a minute or two before it stopped working. I shut it off and on again, then it started working again - for about five minutes. Then my computer went to sleep - the mouse 'lost connection'. then regained, and then lost again.

I tried using it plugged in - it still doesn't work. I even tried re-pairing it (plugged in) but it could not be discovered. Now, even when plugged in the LED doesn't even flash when I switch it off and on.

Could this have something to do with my pairing the apple bluetooth keyboard immediately after pairing the mouse? It still seems strange that even before pairing the keyboard the mouse was behaving erratically.

Do you (or does anyone else) have any suggestions? I have emailed the iogear support people....

Many thanks for all and any help,

Leigh-Ann

Hi Leigh-Ann

Lets try this,

Step one, from the system pref menu turn off your Bluetooth. Restart the computer, repair permissions from the disk utility, then restart Bluetooth.
Step Two, Use the Bluetooth setup assistant. Make sure that your Bluetooth is set up to be discoverable. Let me know if you need some screen shots to illustrate the process.

Josh

Josh - thanks so much for your quick (and helpful) reply...please accept a couple of +'s for that!

I am still shocked...but, after removing the mouse for 24 hours and then plugging it back in today it is...dare I say... working at the moment (at least corded) who knows if it will continue to work though (and I am afraid to unplug it) but I will work up the courage and let you know what happens....

I am NOT using the bluetooth keyboard at the moment - - it could be because of that also....

we'll see I guess. But I have written down your instructions should things not work out and so thanks very much!

Hi Steve,

With your BT500 Bluetooth mini mouse, when your PB goes to sleep, and you wake it up, does the BT500 mouse work immediately? Do you have to do anything special to re-establish the Bluetooth link?

thanks in advance,
...ben

Immediately, no. At least since Tiger upgrade, my internal BT hardware seam to take much more time to wake up.

But do I have to repaired it? no. The BT500 and the PB keeps their paring most of the times. It happen a few times where the paring was lost, but not very often.

Josh,

After re-reading this post in it's entirety, I think I have to conclude that you are one of (maybe two?) peope who have NOT had a problem with your iogear mouse. I too am beginning to wonder if reliable bluetooth is some kind of fantasy.

I tried your fixes and my iogear mouse still kept losing connection and so I sent it back to Macmall. They sent me a new one and it STILL HAS THE SAME PROBLEM. This mouse will lose connection several times a day - and definetly if you shut down - you can expect to have to re-pair the mouse (which takes several minutes at best). I usually use this mouse with a cord now (since I always wonder if my issue has something to do with batteries) - so in the end - WHAT'S THE POINT of having a bluetooth mouse to begin with?

Save yourself the headache and DO NOT BUY THE IOGEAR OPTICAL BLUETOOTH MINI MOUSE. Come to think of it - I have had NO problems with my Apple bluetooth keyboard - go figure. I guess that reliable bluetooth isn't a dream afterall.

Wow! What a thread -- over 115 posts!

Anyhoow, based on this thread, I ordered and just received the RadTech/BlueTalk BT500, and so far so good. The only negative thing I can say is that the button clicks are very noisy. So much so, that I'd hesitate to use it in a meeting or lecture hall situation as the folks on either side of me might find it irritating. I sent feedback to Radtech and they responded that they had considered silent microswitches, but that they have less than half the life of I guess 'regular' microswitches.

The BT500 is 'travel mouse' size. I have no problems with this size as I was replacing a wireless, but non-Bluetooth, BenQ M310, which is the same size. I also have had no problems so far waking my powerbook from sleep by moving the BT500, and no need to re-pair it, upon the PB waking. When I'm typing for extended periods without using the mouse, I will eventually get a connection lost image on my display, which I assume is my BT500 going to sleep. It then takes about 3 seconds of mouse movement for it to wake up from sleep, and the mouse events seem to have been queued up and sent all at once. But it hasn't been off-putting for me. And of course, for use as a travel mouse, I really appreciate the BT500's on/off switch. Hope this helps some folks,

best of luck to all BT mouse purchasers,
...ben

I have this mouse for over a year now, and I like it. The only problem is the battery life.

But I'm puzzle about something: how can you use your mouse to wake up your computer, while I've been force to disable the bluetooth wake options because the mouse wasa waking up the computer just after I put it to sleep?

My suggestion for bluetooth mice: don't bother. I've tried:
dvforge macmice bt (two of them)
radtech bt500
apple wireless pro
whatever bt mouse that came with my dad's acer ferrari

none of them were worth using and definitely not worth the price paid for them. much skipping and slow tracking. oddly, a mouse pad didn't improve things at all. mice are totally useless 1.5ft away on a mouse pad.

having no dongle is a nice idea, but right now it's still in dreamland.

James,

I must admit that for the price, BT mouse, no matter, are no bargin at all, on that point you are right.

But to say that they are so much trouble to be discourage, i do not agree. I have a BT500, and I like it even if I have to change the battery often. I would not go with a wired or dongle mouse just for that simple reason.

Well, you're definitely free to have that opinion, but I stand by mine. I've tried all those mice and they're not worth using at all IMO. I'd rather use a cheapo, wired, ball mouse than use any of those mice; that's how poor I think the performance to be.

Quite frankly, the battery changing wouldn't bother me one iota if the mice actually worked. It's like tracking through sludge. If I don't move incredibly slow, the cursor jumps everywhere.

You can't blame a faulty bluetooth mouse, because I've tried many. You could blame it on a faulty bluetooth adapter in my Powerbook perhaps, but my dad complained about his bluetooth mouse that came with his new laptop as well (one of the mice I tried).

Really, I'd suggest (to someone looking) going to a store and just using one. If you decide you're ok with it, great (and make sure to get that mouse; they don't all work the same). Myself, I really wanted to like bluetooth mice which is why I've tried so many. I didn't start out hating them; it was learned over 5 separate mice.