Bluetooth on Laptop.

[Makko]

So I want to have a go at using my Wiimote on my laptop and sending files to my phone through Bluetooth. I am pretty sure that I have Bluetooth on this laptop, it has a little icon on the side next to the power, low battery, charging thing, WiFi logo and then it's got a bluetooth icon. The WiFi icon and the Power icon glow but the bluetooth one isn't.

I downloaded BlueSoliel which is meant to work but when I use it to find devices it says it can't find Bluetooth Hardware.

How do I check if my laptop has bluetooth and how do I use it?

[woody_tng]

Click on the bluetooth icon to see the info needed. If it tells you that you have blutooth then get your phone (or a friends if you haven't got bluetooth on yours) and try connecting them via blutooth. If that works, then you have got bluetooth. I would assume that you have if the icon is in your system tray.

If you haven't, buy a dongle. Quite cheap and will do you fine for the task you wish to use it for.

[Soapie]

Tried looking for a bluetooth options in the Control Panel classic view?

[Dick Champion]

I've been looking into this myself and it appears that some bluetooth adapetrs don't seem to be compatible with the wiimote. I found what looks to be a pretty good list of what works and what doesn't:

Link. (http://www.wiili.org/index.php/Compatible_Bluetooth_Devices)

There are workarounds for certain problematic bluetooth adapters on that site as well.

If you know that your adapter isn't going to work, then check that whatever dongle you get will definitely work before you shell out any cash.

[Makko]

It's not an icon on the system tray, it's on the side of the laptop itslef. I have a Dell Inspiron 1520 if that helps. I have a bluetooth icon in my system tray when I downloaded BlueSoliel but all it says when I click that is "Cannot start bluetooth, hardware not found."

[basstard]

Have a google. Look for two things - your laptop's specs, and posts from owners.

The specs will tell you if your model comes with bluetooth or not officially. The owner reports (search 'your laptop name here review or bluetooth' or something) will tell you if it actually has it or not.

The former does not necessarily mean the latter. Neither does the bluetooth button - my Acer Aspire 5920G has a bluetooth button but only certain models come with bluetooth (mine doesn't).

[Dick Champion]

Bluetooth is optional on that model. Check any documentation you have to see if you actually have bluetooth. If so, check the BIOS to see if bluetooth is enabled. You might also need to update your drivers, which you can do through the dell website.