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Any Bluetooth mice (other than Mighty Mouse) that DON'T need a USB dongle?

M

Moriarty

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 3, 2008
436
208
Are there any bluetooth mice out there other than the Mighty Mouse that don't use a USB bluetooth dongle? Every other bluetooth mouse I can find seems to use a USB bluetooth adapter (and presumably requires the use of it, as I assume the adapter converts the bluetooth signal into a standard "mouse signal" the computer will understand).

Thanks

(did a search and couldn't find anything)
 
I have a Kensington BT mouse, that doesn't use a dongle. Mind you, its performance is a little suspect - I don't think it has anything to do with it being Bluetooth, however.
 
RadTech makes several bluetooth mice. They also have an interesting additional feature that you can plug it in with a USB cable to charge the mouse's batteries while you're working, so if the battery runs down you just plug it in and keep going while it charges.

I got one of their BT600 mice for exactly this feature, and it does indeed work just fine with no external dongle. That said, the range is incredibly short--as in maybe a foot from my MBP--and the battery life relatively weak.

I don't know if this has to do with my particular model of MBP (1st gen 17"), the cheap batteries it ships with, or just a weak product, but I wasn't terribly happy with it. Certainly more convenient than the stupid dongle sticking out with my Logitech mouse, though--I just KNOW that is going to get snapped off eventually, and I just hope it doesn't break laptop's port when it goes.
 
If you're thinking of actually buying one, don't get the BT Kensington Mouse, it's junk. Actually, don't ever get anything by Kensington since of the RAM, mouse, and 7-in-1 media card reader I bought, all had issues and got returned.
 
Makosuke said:
I got one of their BT600 mice for exactly this feature, and it does indeed work just fine with no external dongle. That said, the range is incredibly short--as in maybe a foot from my MBP--and the battery life relatively weak.
Click to expand...

I have had my eye on the black BT600. The short range that you mentioned is kind of disappointing. How often do you have to charge the mouse? Overall would you say that you are satisfied with the mouse? This is the only one that I have liked out of the very few Bluetooth mice that exist right now. Hopefully more will be offered in the future but I wouldn't count on it.
 
Moriarty said:
Are there any bluetooth mice out there other than the Mighty Mouse that don't use a USB bluetooth dongle? Every other bluetooth mouse I can find seems to use a USB bluetooth adapter ..
Click to expand...
Understand that many Bluetooth mice come with a USB adapter, for use by those computers that don't have Bluetooth built-in. Since your Mac does, you should be able to use any of those Bluetooth mice without the USB adapter.

Personally, I prefer the Logitech VX Nano, with the smallest USB dongle on the market:
5230.1.0.jpg

I can leave it plugged in all the time, even in the sleeve.
 
Moriarty said:
Are there any bluetooth mice out there other than the Mighty Mouse that don't use a USB bluetooth dongle? Every other bluetooth mouse I can find seems to use a USB bluetooth adapter (and presumably requires the use of it, as I assume the adapter converts the bluetooth signal into a standard "mouse signal" the computer will understand).
Click to expand...

If your computer has bluetooth, you don't need the dongle-- I'm using a Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 8000 (which I got for much cheaper from Newegg!) with my Mac mini. It came with a bluetooth dongle, which I've never used.

Most PCs don't have bluetooth (particularly PC desktops), so the dongle is included so that you can actually use the mouse.

Sadly, proprietary wireless dongles seem to be the way that most manufacturers are going these days-- Logitech's only Bluetooth mouse is the V470, Microsoft has five (of [url="http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/ProductList.aspx?Type=Mouse&AdditionalType=Trackball&feature1=wireless_All]23[/url]), etc.

(Also, the bluetooth dongles aren't mouse-specific; you can use plenty of other bluetooth devices with them.)
 
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If a mouse is Bluetooth and your Mac has built in Bluetooth you do not need the dongle.

However, not all wireless mice are Bluetooth, some use RF in which case you DO need the dongle. In other words, if it says Bluetooth on the box, you don't need a dongle. If it says only wireless and does NOT have the word Bluetooth, then you do need the dongle.
 
I use the Targus Bluetooth Laser Mouse for Mac
Link to amazon

It works reasonably well. The programmable buttons are a bit dicey and don't "just work" like the MM did. However, the optical scroll works (maybe not as precisely as I'd like.)
 
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I'm trying to pair the very small Logitec M187 to my new MacBook Pro with out using the USB-C to USB-3 adapter for the dongle with no Luck. Am I missing something?

I picked the Logitec M187 because I'm looking for the smallest Bluetooth mouse with a scroll wheel to use with my new MacBook Pro.
 
MachTuck said:
I'm trying to pair the very small Logitec M187 to my new MacBook Pro with out using the USB-C to USB-3 adapter for the dongle with no Luck. Am I missing something?

I picked the Logitec M187 because I'm looking for the smallest Bluetooth mouse with a scroll wheel to use with my new MacBook Pro.
Click to expand...
No, not if you want to use the Logitech M187 mouse, is NOT bluetooth. It is a wireless RF mouse and the little USB dongle is nano receiver and it is required.

BTW: You have resurrected a 8 year old thread.
 
bstreiff said:
Most PCs don't have bluetooth (particularly PC desktops)
Click to expand...

I got a Bluetooth 4.0 USB adapter for my new PC build and it works flawlessly. So impressed, absolutely no set up and connects to all devices. I also got a WiFi adapter USB as well, and that instantly found wireless networks the second I plugged it in.

The wondrous things tiny devices can do...
 
The Logitech M535 is a pretty nice choice too, although it doesn't track as well as the MX Anywhere 2 and doesn't have side buttons.
 
got a microsoft sculpt mouse a while back (2 of them), both are still working good.
is full-sized mouse with physical click-wheel and and an extra button combined with a little touch surface (it also have some sort of vibrating motor inside lol) but the best part was the price, paid less then 25€.
 
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