To Bluetooth or not to Bluetooth?

[Ipaq_Canuck]

I am looking at getting either an Ipaq 3850 or a 3870. I understand the main difference is the "blue-tooth" capabilities. Can someone please explain to me in laymens terms how bluetooth works and what it will do for me? Is it something that is worth spending the extra 100$ for? What I would like to be able to do is hook the Ipaq up to my existing cable modem connection via some sort of wireless setup. Is this possible with either of these models? I'm using a cable modem with a 4 port hub to run to both my home computers and would like to hook the ipaq up in that setup somehow. Thanks for any help and sorry for the newbie questions:)

[urabout]

There is a great site to check out to answer your questions, I've copied and pasted there general info page below. You can check out the site yourself by going to: http://www.palowireless.com/infotooth/whatis.asp

What Is Bluetooth? Well it isn't some strange form of tooth decay as you might initially imagine. Bluetooth is the name of a new technology, set to commercially come out in bulk around 2002. It promises to change significantly the way we use machines.



1 Take a look around Look around you at the moment, you have your keyboard connected to the computer, as well as a printer, mouse, monitor and so on. What (literally) joins all of these together?, they are connected by cables. Cables have become the bane of many offices, homes etc. Most of us have experienced the 'joys' of trying to figure out what cable goes where, and getting tangled up in the details. Bluetooth essentially aims to fix this, it is a cable-replacement technology

2 How? Conceived initially by Ericsson, before being adopted by a myriad of other companies, Bluetooth is a standard for a small , cheap radio chip to be plugged into computers, printers, mobile phones, etc.A Bluetooth chip is designed to replace cables by taking the information normally carried by the cable, and transmitting it at a special frequency to a receiver Bluetooth chip, which will then give the information received to the computer, phone whatever.

3 How about ? That was the original idea, but the originators of the original idea soon realised that a lot more was possible. If you can transmit information between a computer and a printer, why not transmit data from a mobile phone to a printer, or even a printer to a printer?. The projected low cost of a Bluetooth chip (~$5), and its low power consumption, means you could literally place one anywhere.

4 Ideas, ideas... With this viewpoint interest in Bluetooth is soaring, lots of ideas are constantly emerging, some practical and feasible e.g.: Bluetooth chips in freight containers to identify cargo when a lorry drives into a storage depot, or a headset that communicates with a mobile phone in your pocket, or even in the other room, other ideas not so feasible : Refrigerator communicating with your Bluetooth-enabled computer, informing it that food supply is low, and to inform the retailer over the internet.

5 The future, this website Whatever the ideas, Bluetooth is set to take off. To be honest its going to be forced down the consumers necks, whether they want it or not, as too many companies have invested in it. This website is generally geared towards the technical issues surrounding Bluetooth, and its implementation in real life. But free feel to have a look around anyway, and see why this technology will have such a big impact on our lives. If you're a complete beginner & you want to know more go to the other pages on the website, the Download page has some more general introductions to Bluetooth to download, and the Tutorial has a reasonably indepth guide to Bluetooth (can be quite technical in parts though). Also check out the Resource Center, Glossary & Knowledge Base to further enhance your Bluetooth education. Enjoy!

6 Looking after your teeth By the way if, you're wondering where the Bluetooth name originally came from, it named after a Danish Viking and King, Harald Blåtand (translated as Bluetooth in English), who lived in the latter part of the 10th century. Harald Blåtand united and controlled Denmark and Norway (hence the inspiration on the name: uniting devices through Bluetooth). He got his name from his very dark hair which was unusual for Vikings, Blåtand means dark complexion. However a more popular, (but less likely reason), was that Old Harald had a inclination towards eating Blueberries , so much so his teeth became stained with the colour, leaving Harald with a rather unique set of molars. And you thought your teeth were bad...

[dsava]

I have a 3870 and was a little skeptical about the Bluetooth. As it was, bought it used for a good price so I just went with it. I've loved the PPC but have not had a use for Bluetooth. Until last week when I started looking for GPS units to add on to the ipaq. I wanted something that would be easy to put away (no wires) so it isn't an eye-opener from within my car. Sure enough - there's a bluetooth gps unit that has a rechargable battery and can literally be thrown in your glovebox and beam the necessary information to your IPAQ. I agree with everything the previous poster laid out. The bottom line is the technology is new and will have a strong push.

[flexxus]

try going to Bluetooth.com
i did last week, and it is a great site. i just met a guy off E-bay here in Canada... and met him today, and bought an iPAQ 3635 off him ... mint shape... this model is a Bluetooth upgraded model, via a CF sleeve. i am in the midst of getting the Bluetooth items for my Laptop, but i have the BT CF card, and i am pretty excited about getting it up and going. i researched all models and platforms b4 buying this one. i feel i made a wise decision here. good luck. Barry.