Adding Bluetooth capability to an older laptop?

[SteveChew]

My new cellphone has Bluetooth but my older laptop does not. I would like to download pictures from the phone to the laptop. There is no e-mail transfer ability. If I buy a Bluetooth Micro Adapter will this do the trick, or do I need additional software/driver? Bit out of my comfort zone with this. All and any assistance greatly appreciated. Steve

 

[francisg3]

A USB bluetooth adapter will work. Your new cellphone should have come with some sort of software allowing you to easily transfer pictures, contacts, music, etc.

 

[RandallF]

You can buy an add on, something like http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=usb+bluetooth+adapter&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=5030645927993951672&ei=A5_-TNKvBcGUnwfKpbzxCQ&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CD8Q8wIwAA#

Of course, you want to make sure that it, and your phone, have the ability to transfer photos. Now I realize that sounds a little confusing but here's the deal... Not all bluetooth "devices" support the full bluetooth stack. The entire bluetooth applications list is something like what's found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth#List_of_applications

Some bluetooth devices will support most of those, others won't. For example, my old Moto Razr phone didn't support sending photos with bluetooth but it did support bluetooth remote headset so it had "bluetooth" but it was worthless for getting photos off the phone. My new phone supports sending photos with bluetooth so I'm happier with it. Again the point here, just cause you have bluetooth doesn't mean you have bluetooth that will get photos off your phone.

Now, most of the time when you buy an aftermarket usb bluetooth adapter, it will suppoort "most" of the bluetooth functions (i.e. remote audio, sending files, etc) so really it comes down to what your phone can do. If you're gonna try a USB implementation, make sure what bluetooth functions it supports.

Good luck!