cover
Benjamin L.

Benjamin L.

Joined on 11/18/08

0
0

Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 3
Most Critical Review

No A2DP Support on Win7

ASUS USB-BT211 USB 2.0 Mini Bluetooth Dongle
ASUS USB-BT211 USB 2.0 Mini Bluetooth Dongle

Pros: It's small. It will work with generic non-bluetooth-audio devices, I can only assume.

Cons: It won't work for bluetooth audio. The package advertises that it supports A2DP. The website advertises that it supports A2DP. This product does not. There are no ASUS drivers that enable A2DP on Windows 7 or Windows Vista, and there are no easily available alternatives for enabling A2DP in the bluetooth stack. I have tried literally everything from the Broadcom WIDCOMM driver and profile set, to the Atheros (chipset manufacturer) drivers, to old obsolete versions of the open Toshiba bluetooth driver. Nothing gets this adapter to pair with an A2DP headset. Nothing.

Overall Review: This cheap adapter was not worth the 12+ hours I've spent troubleshooting it. I'll now be purchasing a bluetooth adapter with a Broadcom chipset, because that's apparently the only way I'm guaranteed to get ACTUAL A2DP support. I'm very much disappointed in ASUS, since I have had many good experiences with their products in the past.

Nice kit, if it works

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1866 Laptop Memory Model CMSX8GX3M2A1866C10
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1866 Laptop Memory Model CMSX8GX3M2A1866C10

Pros: Good size, speed, latency, etc.

Cons: Had errors right away upon installing, as per Memtest86+. Motherboard was ruled out by testing the stock RAM, which showed zero errors after multiple full passes.

Overall Review: Sent it back for RMA.

Massive Disappointment

StarTech PCI420USB 4 Port PCI High Speed USB 2.0 Adapter Card
StarTech PCI420USB 4 Port PCI High Speed USB 2.0 Adapter Card

Pros: It arrived quickly, which is what happens when you pay for rushed processing and 2-day shipping. It was also nicely packaged in a brown box with my name on it.

Cons: I wasted my money buying it. The box says its "natively supported" by a number of operating systems, including Windows 7. I naively assumed that this meant Server 2008 would also natively support it. This was not the case. Server 2008 failed to recognize it and properly install the driver. So I went to StarTech's website to download drivers, and discovered that they only have drivers available for Mac OS and Windows 98/ME. So I download the 98 drivers and attempt to install using the legacy driver installation option...however, at this point, Server 2008 no longer sees the card whatsoever. Server 2008 refuses to classify anything within the driver folder as a driver, and the manual driver selection process within the legacy driver wizard does not list anything remotely close to this card or the VIA chip that it allegedly has onboard (according to StarTech's website). Total nightmare. Total waste of money.

Overall Review: If you have an operating system that DOES actually support it, then its probably great. If you're like me and are running something other than mainstream consumer-grade Windows, then save your money. I have a friend who fell into the exact same trap. Save your money. Buy a better card. Don't get burned.