As I am still waiting for my Dell Mini 9 to arrive, I’m in the process of finding suitable accessories for my new Netbook. I’m not a fan of using touchpads, so I’ll definitely need to get a compact, cordless mouse. I currently own a standard Logitech and Microsoft wireless mouse (RF) which work fine, but the physical length of the RF Receiver dongle for both devices is a bit too long for me (I’m afraid that the dongle will break off or damage the USB port if I accidentally hit it with my leg, table, etc.). So, I only see three possible options to get around this issue:
- Get a basic wired mouse (don’t like this option)
- Get a RF wireless mouse with a small dongle
- get a Bluetooth wireless mouse
Since my Mini 9 doesn’t have a Bluetooth transceiver built-in, I’ll have to buy one to use a Bluetooth mouse with my Mini. I can either buy an external USB Bluetooth transceiver or install an internal Bluetooth Module (ordered from Dell for $30 US). For travel convenience it would be nice to have the internal Bluetooth module, but that’s an extra $30 and I’ll have to go through the hassle of ordering it from Dell’s parts dept (which from what I hear, isn’t the easiest thing to do). Fortunately, www.dealextreme.com has a minature USB Bluetooth device selling for $3.00 US that is very tiny and unobtrusive (and does work, as reported by some Mini owners) as shown below:
Also, Bluetooth mice are fairly expensive, where the cheapest I’ve found is online at Dell starting at $20 and going up to $43 US. Below are two Bluetooth mice available from Dell.com:
If I go the RF Receiver route, then I’ll need to find one that has a very slim USB receiver that doesn’t stick out too far. The only one that I could find, is the Logitech V450 Nano as shown below:
As you can see, the USB RF receiver is very tiny and I don’t need to worry about accidentally breaking it off or damaging a USB port on my Dell Mini. The lowest price I could find for this mouse is from www.compusa.com for $39.99 US.
So, the cheapest route is to go with the Dell Bluetooth mouse with an external USB Bluetooth Transceiver, however, I’m a little wary of getting a Dell brand mouse since I’m not sure how well it performs. Another unknown for me, is how reliable is Bluetooth for use with the mouse. My only real experience with using Bluetooth is with my cell phone and Jabra headset, and it seems that there’s alway a noticable delay to when the two devices can sync up. Since I do have experience using the Logitech mice, I’m leaning towards that solution which would cost me around $40 US.
August 7, 2009 at 7:56 am
That Dell BT mouse is a Logitech under the skin.
I use one with my Mini 9 and it has been great.
Worry no more my friend, it even works with Logitech Setpoint.