A Bluetooth speaker that I didn't realize I have: my Windows 8.1 Dell PC

There are times when I found the speaker of my mobile devices (my iPad 3, Nexus 5, Nexus 7, iPod Touch ....) is loud or clear enough, and yet I don't want to device to be tided down to a speaker with wire.  The best way I know so far is by using Bluetooth speaker.  So I started to look around, comparing price and so on.

But then I started to wonder: is it possible to use my Dell XPS PC running Windows 8.1 as a Bluetooth speaker, since I have my PC connected to my HiFi system, and it's on whenever I am at home anyway.

Turns out it's not only possible, but easier than I expected.

Here's how I pair up a device to my computer:

• On your Windows 8 computer, find the Bluetooth icon on system tray, right click, and select "Add a Bluetooth device".  It will switch you to the Metro setting screen.  
• Now the computer is trying to look for any pair-able device.  So you go to the mobile device (can be iOS or Android) you want to pair with, and make sure Bluetooth is on by going to Bluetooth setting.  You should see your computer name as a pair-able item.  
• Now go back to your computer, and you shall see your mobile device show up in the list.  Click [Pair] button.
• Go back to your device, and click on the computer name in Bluetooth device list.
• A message will show up on both your device and your computer, with a number in 6 digit.  Check to make sure they match, and then click the corresponding OK button.
• After a while, like 15 seconds, you should have your computer paired with your mobile device.

In fact, if you only have one device paired, your device will be automatically connected, and you should be able to play audio to your PC now.  However, it's also possible that there is ANOTHER device already connected to your machine.  If that is the case, you need to DISCONNECT the currently connected device first.

How to disconnect (without forgetting the device) depends on what device is currently connected.  I realized that I can disconnect in 2 ways:

• On PC:
• On the "Bluetooth Operations" window (BTW, don't close it, as I don't know how to reopen it again, so I usually just minimize the windows) of your connection device, click the [Disconnect] button next to "To use this PC's speaker to listen to stereo audio playing on remote device".   To connect, go to your device's "Bluetooth Operations" windows and click [Connect].
• On device:
• On iOS:
• I can turn off and turn on Bluetooth, and thus disconnect all Bluetooth devices.
• On Android
• On Bluetooth setting screen, tap on the name of your computer (it should be under the Paired Devices list.  If your device is connected, it will disconnect it (with a warning dialog box before you commit the disconnection).  If it's not connected, it will try to connect.

My experience is that the most important thing to have a successful pairing is that:

• Always start by making your device visible first. On Android 4.4, make sure you tap on the device name right under the Bluetooth setting screen title.
• You should then see the device on computer's Bluetooth list.  Click [Pair] to start pairing.
• You should now see the 6 digit number shows up on both your device and your PC.

Some tidbits:

• I found pairing still a time consuming process.  So I try my best NOT to accidentally unpair a pairing.
• It takes more time to connect/disconnect with my iPad 2 (slow ...) then my Nexus 5 (very fast).  Maybe there's something to do with Bluetooth chip set on these devices.