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I just started using a Bluetooth keyboard. One thing I noticed is that sometimes the keyboard will get disconnected from the computer, but that could just be because the batteries are low. Now I'm thinking of switching my USB wireless mouse to a bluetooth mouse. Should I do it? Will the mouse have a problem of getting disconnected from the computer?

In terms of mice, does wireless USB have any advantage over Bluetooth technology?

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  • I don't see how your question is related to wireless USB. Did you miss a part?
    – AndrejaKo
    Sep 6, 2010 at 21:26
  • I explain that I'm currently using a wireless USB mouse and am thinking of switching to a Bluetooth mouse. Did you miss that part?
    – tony_sid
    Sep 6, 2010 at 21:33
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    @Anthony Fontanilla About the freezing: You should find the source of your keyboard's problems. If it it the battery, then you shouldn't have any problems with mouse. If it is something else, like bad bluetooth module, dab drivers or something else, then it needs to be fixed or there is possibility that you will have problems with mouse too. Try to find a pattern in your keyboard outages. See if they happen with new batteries too or only with old. It could be that keyboard detects low battery level and starts more aggressive power saving compared to power saving with full battery.
    – AndrejaKo
    Sep 6, 2010 at 22:21
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    @Anthony Fontanilla I meant the other way. With USB mouse with a receiver, you have one more thing to worry about: The receiver which uses power. I'll fix the other comment. Anyway, since you are using OS X, I'm assuming that you have Apple's computer. They don't come with W-USB, so that's clear now. I'm starting to write incoherently and I need to go to bed. :(
    – AndrejaKo
    Sep 6, 2010 at 22:41
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    @Anthony Fontanilla Actually, when I saw Wireless usb, first thing that came to my mind was en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_usb USB wireless mouse didn't make connection in my head with W-USB in title. Looks to me like brain bugs. If you are using USB mouse with bluetooth, than advantages are somewhat lower power consumption and one less receiver to worry about. If you are using W-USB mouse, then I don't see any advantages.
    – AndrejaKo
    Sep 6, 2010 at 22:41

3 Answers 3

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It could happen. If you have disconnection problems, try disabling bluetooth power saving options. For example in windows go to control panel->system->device manager and find your bluetooth device there. double click on it and go to power management and uncheck "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power".

This should fix any problems with non-responsive devices on your computer's side. Still, device itself can have some power saving features and may need time to wake up.

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  • I'm not using Windows I'm using OSX.
    – tony_sid
    Sep 6, 2010 at 22:28
  • I don't know how to help you then. There must be a way to control it in OS X too, but I've never used it.
    – AndrejaKo
    Sep 6, 2010 at 22:38
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Power management requires either the device conform to the generic power management drivers for Bluetooth or that you have a specific driver installed from the device manufacturers. If this is for a laptop computer you should be able to take it down to any electronics retailer and ask as salesman to open the box of the one you want and pair it up with your computer to see how well it works (driver compatibility, power management, etc.).

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In my experience, Bluetooth is considerably trickier to set up than a dedicated wireless transceiver (which in most cases Just Works™), so I would advise to buy a wireless keyboard/mouse, and only consider Bluetooth if you have an actual use case for it, like using the keyboard with your phone or tablet which doesn't have USB, or not having enough USB sockets on the laptop.

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