As the subject reads, I'm trying to figure out whether I should choose Bluetooth or USB to make a connection between my arduino and my PC. Right now I have a MAC to test on, but eventually this will be for a games joystick with buttons.
What are the pro's and con's of bluetooth vs USB and can you please provide me with some resources to learn more about it? Are there limitations to how many buttons / axis can be mapped for both transmission types? How is Arduino using Bluetooth vs USB? USB seems simple enough as that's what it uses currently to connect to the PC.
You want to make a joystick? That's easy to do with Arduino Leonardo, because it has built in usb communication, that allows you to create an HID.
If you want to make a wireless controller with bluetooth, you'd have to use a bluetooth module on arduino, like the HC-05, and enable your laptop's bluetooth. I guess this bluetooth module's transfer data rate is slower than USB speed (Serial commands vs USB protocol), but I don't know how would it affect to the joystick. Besides, you'd have to create a program that receives the bluetooth data and interpret it.
Can you power the device from batteries or do you depend on a wire for power? If you need to wire it to power, then USB is a convenient way to provide power and communications.