New Headphones.

[Tilly2]

I'd like to buy a decent pair of comfortable headphones. Can you get wireless headphones that you can use by plugging something into a USB socket on the laptop.

I don't know what to do with Bluetooth, so that's no good.

Any suggestions please?

[Ken4155]

I thought all wireless headphones needed Bluetooth?

[Tilly2]

That's what I don't know, Ken.

[Ken4155]

Don't take my word for it, Tilly. I have been known to be incorrect a few times. Never wrong, just incorrect:-)

[Tilly2]

How strange. Mr T's like that. :-)

My current, very tatty headphones have a jack plug. I have never used wireless headphones. That's why I need a bit of help ,Ken.

[Ken4155]

Someone 'techy' will be along soon enough, Tilly :-)

[calmck]

My grandkids have Bluetooth/wireless headphone. Your machine or phone should have Bluetooth in settings. You enable this turn on the headphones and they should find each other

[Ellipsis]

What device do you want to use them with - TV, laptop, phone, stereo system? Or for listening to Spotify or similar?

[JimF]

All wireless headphones use BlueTooth these days:
https://www.jabra.co.uk/bluetooth-headsets

They're not difficult to set up.

[Tilly2]

My Lenovo Ideapad 330, Ellipsis.

Thanks, Calmck. It must be easy enough to do but i don't know what to do.

I want to use them when watching my Osprey webcams and for YouTube.

[Tilly2]

Jim, how do I check that my laptop is Bluetooth compatible?

[calmck]

Most laptops will have Bluetooth in settings. You just enable it

[JimF]

A quick Google search will tell you that it is:

https://www.google.com/search?q=How+do+I+connect+my+Bluetooth+headset+to+my+Lenovo+Ideapad

[tiggerblue10]

You should have Bluetooth symbol in settings.

[Tilly2]

Aw! Thanks, Jim. Well done.

Now, about these comfortable headphones...?

[JimF]

https://www.google.com/search?q=comfortable+bluetooth+headphones

I like Sennheiser.

[Buenchico]

Wireless headphones, as opposed to Bluetooth ones, normally take their signal from the headphone/speaker output on a computer. (i.e. they plug into the relevant 3.5mm jack socket, not into a USB port). That's then fed to a transmitter unit, which sends a signal to the headphones.

It's worth paying a bit more than the lowest available prices for some decent quality wireless headphones, in order to get some which
(a) are really confortable ;
(b) have a long life for the rechargeable batteries in them. (Some of the cheapest models might only work for a few hours before they need recharging) ;
(c) have really good audio quality. (Some cheaper ones might be very 'tinny' with their sound output) ;
(d) have a decent range. (I can wear mine anywhere in the house, or even quite a way down the street, and get a perfect signal) ; and
(e) have a volume control built into them (so that you don't have to keep going back to your computer to adjust the volume).

I bought a pair of Sony wireless headphones over a decade ago that were amazingly comfortable. (They can be worn for over ten hours continuously without even the slightest discomfort). They also hold a charge for around 14 hours before needing recharging and the sound quality is superb. Eventually though I found that they wouldn't charge as well as they used to, so I simply replaced them with exactly the same model. (I reckon that over 10 years of daily use before anything goes wrong represents decent enough quality!).

These are the heaphones that I use
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/2473666
(Several other ABers, including Woodelf, use them too and everyone seems to love them).

However, being a skinflint, when it came to replacing my headphones I looked around to see if I could get them any cheaper than mainstream sellers, such as Argos, and noticed that there were several eBay sellers offering them as 'opened but never used'. I decided to take a chance and purchase from one of those sellers. The headphones I got were clearly brand new and work perfectly. (The packaging suggested that they were ex-display models from a store within the Dixon's group, probably Curry's/PC World). So you might also like to consider going down the same route to save a few quid. This eBay seller has 100% positive feedback:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sony-MDR-RF811RK-Headband-Wireless-or-Cabled-Headphones-Black/383589817725

[Tilly2]

Thank you all. There's a lot to mull over there. I'll have a good look round.

[Buenchico]

Just an additional thought:

If you'll be using your laptop in the same location all the time, then wireless (rather than Bluetooth) headphones might be best for you. The transmitter unit needs to be plugged into the mains (via a supplied charger unit), so that's not much use if you want to use your laptop on, say, a bus or a train. However you then get the advantage of having a much bigger transmission range (so that you can wander all around the house, listening to the music playing on your laptop, without worrying about the signal cutting out).

If, though, you want to use your laptop 'out and about' then Bluetooth is the way to go because there's no external transmitter unit required. (The transmitter is built into a Bluetooth-enabled laptop, taking its power from the laptop's battery).

[Tilly2]

Thanks, Chris. My laptop is very static.

By the way, I looked at those Sony headphones on Amazon and it says that they are for T.V. use only. Is that incorrect?

[Buenchico]

I've been using those headphones for over a decade with my desktop PC. (I've also got a little switch box that let's me easily change the input so that I can use them to listen to the output of a portable CD player or my DAB radio).

Woodelf uses them with his desktop PC. I know other people who use them for a variety of different uses. I can see no reason at all why they can't be used with any device that's got a 3.5mm audio socket (which is the standard sound output socket on laptops, desktops, radios, TVs and just about everything else).