Last week, I was able to get a new toy: a bluetooth headset. I ended up with the?Motorola H500. I've been extremely happy with it. After charging it (it's rechargeable, so I won't be burning through AAA batteries!), it paired without issue to my cell phone.

But that's not where I stopped. I also got a?Kensington USB Bluetooth adapter for my laptop. After installing the drivers for that, I'm also able to pair my headset with my laptop, and listen to podcasts without the wires. It's nice because I can walk around the house without being tethered to my laptop.

But that's not it. I can even use it with Skype to make calls wirelessly. It was actually a lot easier to set up than I thought it would be. The sound quality is pretty good too. The only downside I've seen so far is that when I am doing a lot on the laptop (I'm currently running Outlook, two Virtual PC sessions, and Windows Media Player), there is some latency that builds up over time. Not a problem when I'm only listening, but it'd be an issue with Skype or recording RossCode Weekly, so I'm sticking with my corded mic for recording RCW.

It really isn't that much of a hassle to switch the headset between the laptop and my cell phone either. I wouldn't want to have to switch them every few minutes, but for the most part, I can leave my headset paired with the laptop most of the day (switching if I have a call I know about), pair it with my cell phone while I travel, and then re-pair it with the laptop at night. Of course, I discovered a downfall already - bluetooth eats up the cell phone battery.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with my new toy!

Note: the links in this post are affiliate links. That means I get paid if you purchase these components through these links. My recommendation of these two specific products has nothing to do with the little bit I would make. I recommend them because they work and I've been very happy with them.