Cheap wireless earbuds OK?

Metres not Miles.

There is a slight difference [~10%] but that means about 10 yards.

Denis

10 meters from the source. :)

So let's say you pair your earbuds with your mp3 player (source), then you can be away from the source for around 10m without your earbuds losing its connection to the mp3 player.

Like you can leave your mp3 player in the kitchen and you will still hear your audio book if you're in the living room for example.

patriceltic said:

Actually I'm going to pair the earbuds with my laptop. Same difference I guess but I think my laptop is more stable than my funky mp3 player -- but I'll try both.

This means you'll have to take your laptop with you on your walks.
It's okay for experimental purposes but you will want to pair with your mp3 player later on.
It will automatically connect to whatever it is paired with as soon as that device turns on its Bluetooth.

patriceltic said:

You can pair more than one source, right?

It varies.
Unless its manual clearly states that it can pair with two devices, unpair it from the experimental one before you use the proper one.

Denis

If your mp3 player has a screen which shows you what it has paired with in the past then I suggest you remove all its entries ["unpair"] to give yourself the best possible chance with the earphones.

Denis

patriceltic said:

I have a Kindle fire 10 which has Bluetooth and it is small enough to put in a backpack

I think it will go more smoothly pairing it with Kindle. :)

Just remember, the 10m is the distance between the paired devices rather than the distance of your walks. Most bluetooth peripherals will pair with a source one at a time so you need to unpair it first before you pair with a different source.