KinivoUSB Bluetooth Adapter for PC BTD500 (BT 5.0, Wireless Dongle Receiver for Windows 11/10/8.1/8) - Compatible with Laptops, Headsets, Speaker, Mouse, Keyboard, Printers

I've had an old Dell Precision M6600 laptop laying around since it was new around 2013. I could not get blueman to work at all after installing Linux Mint. Tried re-installing, all the commands I could find online and nothing worked. This laptop does have factory blue tooth and wifi but it just wasn't working. This was the only dongle I found that stated it worked with linux, it works excellent, just plug in and blueman works perfect.

While the device didn't automatically search for drivers as it does for some, following the manual steps from the company tutorial made this very easy. Once done my pc quickly installed the needed drivers and then it was able to locate my Logitech Vibe 100 headset and was able to pair it quickly. It works as advertised and is reasonably priced.

I have been through several similar products and had a LOT of issues with those. You might say that I'm fairly tech savvy (I'm a C++/Java programmer, have setup/customized/maintained MANY Windows and Linux PCs, and have done driver troubleshooting before). Anyway, tried to resolve my issues on the other dongles but the problems I was having appeared to be from the drivers. *THIS PRODUCT* (Kinivo) worked pretty much out of the box (technically I installed from CD first and then from the web), on the first try, and I didn't have to do any deep dive troubleshooting. Had my headset working perfectly within minutes of the install! :-DFor my setup, I have full tower pc behind a plasma tv and am mostly using this to pair with a really cheap wireless headset (for chatting while gaming). It is working perfectly with the Kinivo (great sound, great signal, relatively painless setup). Decently fast shipping. Can't think of any cons.In case, you are trying to decide between other products; here is some more info for reference:1. Note: I will be using the smile.amazon.com links (proceeds towards non-profits of your choice). If you don't want to do that, just replace them with www.amazon.com.2. My (admittedly cheap) BT headset is an "eForCity® Silver Bluetooth Headset". Amazon page - eForCity® Silver Bluetooth Headset3. The first BT dongle that I tried (unsuccessfully) and had problems with was a SANOXY USB. IIRC, this was just using the basic Windows bluetooth drivers. Maybe it would have worked fine with a higher end headset... but since I was able to connect headset-to-phone without any sound issues, I'm blaming the drivers on the dongle. Amazon page - SANOXY® USB Bluetooth Wireless Adapter for HP, Gateway, eMachine, Dell or ANY Laptop/PC Running Windows 98, 98SE, ME, 200, XP, Vista & WINDOWS 74. The second BT dongle I had tried was the SoundBot SB340. This one had some CSR brand drivers but I also had a lot of problems getting my generic device to work correctly / not have horribly sound quality. Amazon page - SoundBot® SB340 Bluetooth 4.0 USB Adapter Universal Plug and Play Dongle Class 2 Transmitter (Newest Bluetooth Version Available) Ready Adapter w/ 3Mbps Data Transfer Rate and 10 meters Range, Compatible w/ Windows WIN8 WIN7 Vista 2003 XP 2000 Me 32/64 ...5. I think I could connect and pair under both of the previous options, but I had a lot of problems with sound quality, particularly with white noise. No such problems with the Kinivo (I've already used it on Steam voice chat and my brother reported that I was coming in loud and clear). For the first 2 dongles, I had originally tried from my USB3.0 port which I later discovered USB3.0 can can interference problems with any wireless devices that use the 2.4GHz spectrum. I did try from my USB2.0 port as well, but no luck there either. The only major change since the first 2 is that I replaced my old 2', non-powered USB2 hub with a 6', powered USB2.0 so that it gets out from behind the TV better. This probably helps, but I believe my white noise problems on the other dongles were driver issues as I had also tested with the TV moved out of the way and clear LOS between the headset and the old dongles (and maybe 4-5' away) .If it works this well for my el cheapo headset, I imagine that you would get even better results with higher end headsets.disclaimer:I am by no means an audiophile. I probably have a slight hearing problem (too much loud music lol). But I'm not deaf either and I am basing this not only off feedback via a recording app but also live chats with someone at the other end. Hope that helps!

I was about to give this 1 star, which is rare for a purchase since I usually do a lot of research for products, but this did by some miracle work on my 10 year old laptop running Windows XP. However, I don't use that laptop and I use Windows 7 on my regular desktop that I built myself just over a year ago (i7-3770k, 3.5ghz, 16gb RAM).This had good reviews, but also a lot of bad reviews. Well I suffered what the bad reviews said.First, installation was horrible.1) I went ahead and let Windows find the drivers automatically when I plugged the adapter in.2) Tried to connect headphones... NOTHING.3) I went to Kininvo's website, installed those drivers.... NOTHING.4) I finally used the CD and was able to get my headphones paired. So it works now right? WRONG! Bluetooth device wouldn't show up in Playback devices.5) I go into Device Manager and update drivers. New drivers are found and I update.6) Now bluetooth headphones are paired AND they show up in Playback devices. So it works right? WRONG!7) Instead, I try to hit connect in the Bluetooth connection screen and it just goes from Disconnected --> Connecting --> Disconnected... all on repeat.For some reason this adapter worked in under 5 minutes on Windows XP on a 10 year old laptop.It's either Windows 7, this adapter's lack of drivers, or both.UPDATE 12-22-15: Kinivo emailed me and gave me detailed steps to do in order to get the Bluetooth to work with my Kinivo BTH240 headphones. After following the steps, the adapter still could not connect to these headphones. I found an old bluetooth earpiece by Samsung to test out and it connected instantly. I emailed Kinivo back and waiting for an answer. The problem lies in one of the following:1) Windows 7 compatibility issue2) Compatibility issue specifically with Kinivo BTH240 headphones (since adapter worked with a Samsung ear piece)3) However, BTH240 headphones connected with this adapter instantly using Windows XPStill working on situation. Still will leave my review at 2/5 stars.UPDATE 12-22-15: After several emails with Kinivo customer service (Brian W), I was able to make this work with Windows 7! I'm giving this product now 4/5 stars. I can't give it 5/5 simply because I never had so much trouble with a single piece of electronics in my life. For those having issues with Windows 7 here is generally what I did to resolve the problem from the first attempt to the last attempt:1) Let Windows 7 find drivers and install automatically (didn't work)2) Go to the website and install drivers manually (didn't work)3) Remove all drivers and install from the CD (didn't work)4) Go to Control Panel and hit Update Drivers and find there are even later drivers available than those on the website (didn't work)5) At some point, the adapter installed and recognized the Kinivo BTH240 headphones but couldn't connect.6) Troubleshooting: adapter/kinivo headphones worked fine in Windows XP --> adapter/samsung headset worked fine in Windows 77) Windows 7 recognized headphones since it wouldn't try to connect if my headphones were off (gave message)8) Finally, I reset the headphones themselves (Kinivo BTH240) and removed the pairing on the computer9) Turned headphones back on and paired with computer again.10) Instant connection!!!!4/5. Thanks Kinivo and Brian W!