Best range wireless keyboard & mouse

P

Pretzel

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 16, 2006
Messages
266
I'm setting up my secondary computer on my Viewsonic 37" LCD which I use primarily to watch TV. I would like to have a wireless keyboard/mouse to use on the sofa which will sit approximately 10-12 ft from the tower. I'm trying to find the best keyboard/mouse combo that will work at this range. I'm gonna throw out a $100 limit for the 2. I will primarily be using for web surfing or the occasional gaming (hardcore gaming will be on my primary comp and dell 2407).

I understand the bluetooth is "supposed" to have a better range but all the reviews I've read are horrible. I'm wonding if anyone has a similar setup and what keyboard/mouse combo they use?
 
Hi, I have a similar setup to you and asked the same question. No one gave any really good answers, so I began a process of trial and error.

First of all, if you have a lot of electronics in one area like I do, they cause a shitload of interference. I have a 50" plasma, receiver, HTPC, set top box, xbox 360, speakers, router, cable modem. Plus I have a lot of devices operating at 2.4ghz (portable phone, wireless router, laptop). This caused hell with a whole lot of devices.

I tried the Logitech MX5000 bluetooth set. The keyboard is very laggy. It's unusable, especially for gaming. The mouse is excellent. I ended up buying the MX1000 mouse for my main PC because I tried this out.

Then I tried the Logitech MX3100 set which wasn't bluetooth. No lag problems, but with all that interference, the range was terrible. Like 5 feet for good reception.

Finally I tried the MS Optical Elite for bluetooth set. This is the one I'm using now. It's pretty good. If you leave the keyboard untouched for a few mins it goes into a sleep mode, and then it takes about a second for characters to appear on screen when you type, but apart from that there's no noticeable lag. The range is excellent.

One thing about bluetooth, you need to put the receiver on the front of the case. The good thing about bluetooth is that the receivers are tiny. But behind the case, there's just too much interference.

Logitech also has the diNovo and Revolution bluetooth set which just came out. I haven't tried those but they're expensive.

So in conclusion, bluetooth is definitely the way to go IMO. Anyone who says standard wireless is ok has an environment with little interference. And from what I can tell, MS does a better job than Logitech for bluetooth.

Adrian
 
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