Wireless verses line keyboard and mouse

[Robert Seltman]

Has anyone found any drawbacks with using wireless keyboard and mice on the iMacs?

I am considering ordering an iMac and I am wondering if I should order the wireless or standard keyboard and mouse. Is there a downside to wireless?

[Col]

I find quite a few problems with wireless keyboards and mice.  The mouse is a little heavy because of the batteries and sometimes the computer will just not "see" the keyboard or mouse.  Reputedly portable telephone handsets use the same frequency and can interfere, and I have heard (but not found myself) that cell phones and microwave ovens can cause problems too.

In short, they are great when they work and terrible when they are erratic. In my experience about 5-10% of the wireless keyboards and mice give trouble within a year of purchase.

A good friend of mine used to live in a wireless house-from-hell near here.  I could not receive calls on my cellphone, the wireless keyboards and mice would send the computers to Coventry and the both the wireless Internet and the Airport Express link to the stereo would drop several times a month.  I wondered if he had a faulty ballast in one of the big fluorescent lights he had in his classroom or something like that.

[tonyinosaka]

I think anyone who moves to a wireless keyboard and/or mouse should make sure they have wired hardware to use as backup when the wireless goes connectionless. The wireless convenience is great (I use wireless mice exclusively now), but they do still sometimes get temperamental. Batteries die at the worst times. Also, if a troubled machine can't boot to the point where the Bluetooth has loaded, you're SOL.

Of course, this is much less of a concern with MacBooks and MacBook Pros...you always have the touchpad and keyboard to work with.

[Robert Seltman]

Thank You Tony and Colin for solid advice. I will buy on caution, taking the standard wired option and not the wireless. I already have a Logicool wireless mouse with this PB G4 which has, as you say, a built in back-up with the touch-pad. But if I go for an iMac, I will need to have a secure way of accessing my files when the wireless is uncooperative. My desk area is set-up in such a way that doesn't warrant a wireless, so I will save my money for additional RAM instead. I love gadgets, and thought a matching wireless mouse and keyboard would be cool, but in the end expediency and reliability wins out. Thanks again.