Xbee or Bluetooth

Forum 2005-2010 (read only) General Frequently-Asked Questions
1

I am looking forward to branch out into the wireless world. On the cheap and with lots of documentation and ready made software, so that I can get going without a sweat.

I've done lots of research comparing Xbee v1.0 with Bluetooth modules and it turned out that Xbee only supports speed up to approx 250 Kbps, while Bluetooth can do 3 Mbps. That possibly means that BT can support video/audio while Xbee can only do simple sensors.

That tilts it in the favor of Bluetooth, but then I discovered that an average PC or a laptop can not do more than 128 Kbps without a special expansion board. Now that BT's claim of 3 Mbps pointless.

For now I want only to play with sensor data, but in future I would like to hook up a video camera. Now, with that in mind, which one would be better?

2

but in future I would like to hook up a video camera.

For what purpose? The Arduino does not have the memory or processing speed to process video at any usable rate.

3

power consumption and range may be factors to consider also.

4

They both claim range of up to 100m (300ft) which is plenty for me.

So from what you are saying I can forget Arduino and video in any case, because Arduino simply doesn't have the processing power?

5

So from what you are saying I can forget Arduino and video in any case, because Arduino simply doesn't have the processing power?

Exactly.