That's Bluetoothwang!

September 20, 2009 12:48 PM

Help me get a wireless/bluetooth keyboard and mouse that don't suck.

I have MacBook Pro with 10.5.8. I have it hooked up to a home theater screen and want to be able to use either from anywhere in the room (no more than about 30 feet, almost always more like 15).

Theoretically, bluetooth should have plenty of range for this, but the Rocketfish bluetooth combo I have now ranges from annoying to unusable. It lags. I assume this partially has to do with varying interference. The scroll wheel on the mouse and the volume, etc. buttons on the keyboard don't work unless I use the bluetooth dongle it came with, but the connection gets randomly dropped when I use it. This happens anyway, but less often when they're connected directly.
I know the Rocketfish wasn't meant for use with the Mac.

What I want: The number one consideration is reliability and accuracy. I game only moderately, but it makes me flip out when I lose something because my mouse is acting wonky. After that, things like extra mouse buttons and volume/playback control on the keyboard are preferable, but not the top consideration.

I don't care if they come as a combo or not, and within reason I care about quality over price.

posted by cmoj to computers & internet (8 answers total)

I like Apple's wireless mighty mouse.
posted by jchaw at 1:04 PM on September 20, 2009

My boyfriend has the Logitech S510 keyboard and mouse set. He uses it for gaming and has never had a problem with it. The lag is almost nonexistent compared to the wireless and bluetooth mice I have. I can't actually tell that it's not connected.
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 1:14 PM on September 20, 2009

I like the regular old aluminum Apple Wireless keyboard (though I wish it was Extended like my wired ones), and the Logitech 470 Bluetooth Laser Mouse, which has a great "solid" and heavy feel.

I use these from my couch, and they've each been dropped onto the wood floor, kicked, and splattered with snacks a million times.
posted by rokusan at 2:44 PM on September 20, 2009

I have a Logitech dinovo keyboard (mac edition) - the one with a built-in round trackpad - and it works great in our home theatre setup. We use it with a mac mini's built-in bluetooth. Our distance is about 15 feet but I'm sure it could handle more.

Let's rotate the board!
posted by mmoncur at 3:22 PM on September 20, 2009

I use a VX Nano with my MBP/10.6 and it works nicely. The receiver doesn't stick out very far but I find myself stowing it in the mouse body when unused just so it won't catch on anything.

YMMV, but I chose the Nano over the wireless Mighty Mouse after a lengthy decision process— I preferred the Mighty's integrated wireless and 2-axis scroll, but ultimately the ergonomics and lower latency of the VX Nano won me over.
posted by a halcyon day at 6:23 PM on September 20, 2009

Be careful that the bluetooth dongle is plugged directly into the computer. I've found a serious delay (or even keystrokes missed) when my dongle is plugged into a hub.
posted by IAmBroom at 9:00 PM on September 20, 2009

From a reliability and accuracy perspective, you really can not do better than Apple's own bluetooth keyboard and mouse offerings. I have bought and used a bunch of bluetooth peripherals from other companies (Microsoft, Logitech, interlink to name a few) and trust me, Apple's stuff is the best, at least as far as keeping a constant connection goes. I'm not sure why this is such a hard problem, but it seems to be a difficult thing to achieve in the world of bluetooth...

That being said, I can't stand the feel of the mighty mouse in my hand, so you just have to decided what is important to you, but I can recommend the keyboard with no misgivings—it's a well designed product that does exactly what it should do, and nothing more (and feels great to type on as well)
posted by dyslexictraveler at 12:27 PM on September 21, 2009

I absolutely love my wireless Apple keyboard. I've owned it for a few years now and it's been flawless.
posted by 2oh1 at 1:37 PM on September 21, 2009