Wireless mice and keyboards

[Josquius]

I've always been scared of wireless stuff. I guess it goes back to the underpinnings of my electronics knowledge being in the 1990s when such stuff was less than good. A friend of mine has a wireless mouse though and he insists that its battery life is pretty much forever.
Given the setup I've got in my living room with my sofa within easy viewing reach of my computer but not actual reach....I am really tempted by wirelessness.
So...is there anything one should look for in wireless stuff? I noted in the shop when I was looking they all seemed to work by lasers- this I would imagine would not be good should you get out of line of sight (considering my computer is under my desk that is me screwed from the get go), are there radio alternatives? Pricey?
Any clues?

[Monoriu]

My personal and limited experience is that they simply do not work.  When a computer boots up and can't find the wireless keyboard, it will tell me to fix it in windows.  Of course, this becomes a hopeless chicken and egg situation - no keyboard, can't boot up; can't boot up, can't reconnect keyboard in windows.  Only way out is to first boot up the computer with a wired keyboard. 

Wireless mice.  Well.  The lag is so bad that it just isn't worth it, even if I don't play first person shooters. 

[Lucidor]

I have used a wireless combo from Logitech for four years for gaming and surfing and must say I don't agree with the honourable Mr Monoriu. Mine works by radio frequncy, and have a dongle you connect by USB to the computer in question. Mine worked straight out of the box. No need for drivers at startup of my new computer.

The laser thing might be the way the mouse works?

Battery life is 4 months with old rechargeables and about a year with quality batteries. The only time I've experienced choppyness is when batteries are running out or connection is bad. No experience with any noticeable lag. The range isn't spectacular, but if you keep things like tables out of the LOS, you're good.

Ofcourse, wireless helps the Russians spying on you.

[Grey Fox]

Laser is for positioning, not communicating.

[Josquius]

They all communicate by radio?

I never really looked indepth, just saw laser in big letters on the box. Weird they'd make a big deal of a mouse being optical these days :s

[Caliga]

They all communicate by radio?

I never really looked indepth, just saw laser in big letters on the box. Weird they'd make a big deal of a mouse being optical these days :s

Yep.

I have a wireless mouse (Logitech M505) but a wired keyboard (Logitech G-15).  I used to have a wireless keyboard, too, but Princesca kept saying she wanted one of those so I just gave her mine.  For reasons I can't recall I had some trouble with the wireless keyboard, but the mouse has never given me any trouble at all.  Battery life seems to last about six months, but I use rechargeables and I get a warning well before they actually die, so I just charge up another set and swap them out before my mouse actually dies.

[viper37]

Microsoft Natural Wireless Multimedia Keyboard.  Accept no substitute.

Battery life is about 1 month with ni-Mh batteries for the mouse, about a year for the keyboard.

You should still keep an old keyboard and an old mouse though, in case you ever need it.  It migth be that you'll get a Windows problem sometimes and you will need this to restore your driver.  It happens to me less than once per 3 years, but for such times, I'm glad I have it.

[Martinus]

I have used wireless stuff for my mac for years now.

[Arvoreen]

I have used wireless stuff for my mac for years now.

I believe the Mac keyboard & mouse are both bluetooth, not radio....and it seems to work great

[The Brain]

I use wired keyboard and wireless mouse on my desktop. Mouse works great unless the batteries need changing. Tried a wireless keyboard once (the model I wanted happened to be wireless) but had some problems so I found a different keyboard.

For my laptops I obviously use wire mouse. Wireless = you will forget it somewhere.

[Monoriu]

My experience with wireless mice and keyboards is limited to the ones that Dell sold me.  And yes, I place my desktop on the floor under the table. 

[viper37]

My experience with wireless mice and keyboards is limited to the ones that Dell sold me.  And yes, I place my desktop on the floor under the table. 

the transmitter needs to be in clear view of the mouse&keyboard.  If you were to buy a decent setup instead of the cheapest one...

[Josquius]

My experience with wireless mice and keyboards is limited to the ones that Dell sold me.  And yes, I place my desktop on the floor under the table. 

the transmitter needs to be in clear view of the mouse&keyboard.  If you were to buy a decent setup instead of the cheapest one...

It does?
That....makes the decision hard then; as said the computer is under the desk and mouse on top.

[grumbler]

I've used wireless mice and keyboards for years.  They do not have to be within view if the receiver, unless they are really old infrared jobs. 

[viper37]

My experience with wireless mice and keyboards is limited to the ones that Dell sold me.  And yes, I place my desktop on the floor under the table. 

the transmitter needs to be in clear view of the mouse&keyboard.  If you were to buy a decent setup instead of the cheapest one...

It does?
That....makes the decision hard then; as said the computer is under the desk and mouse on top.

The receiver is attached to a cable and I just put it on my desk.  Using it under the desks, it won't work. Well, it will, but it will be jerky.

I'm using Microsoft's keybaord and mouse, they're the only ones with a decent layout and decent sizes for the keys (Logitech are too small), and I know they won't work under the table.