Re: Advice needed on adding wireless peripherals to a Mac

On Sun, 13 Apr 2008 17:39:17 +0100, Nige <nigel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

I have an older Mac Mini which doesn't have wireless connectivity, but
would like to add a wireless keyboard, mouse and remote control so that
I can use it in the living room, connected to the TV.

Can anyone tell me what hardware/software I need to make this possible?
Sorry if this sounds a bit obvious, but despite being a Mac user for
many years, wireless connectivity is not something I know much about.

There are two sorts of wireless mouse and keyboard. Bluetooth ones and
radio ones, which come with a USB dongle to do the
radio-transmit/recieve bit.

Bluetooth ones will work directly with the Mini if it has Bluetooth
built in, some older low-end ones didn't, or if you add a USB
Bluetooth adapter. Radio ones appear to the Mac exactly as if they
were wired, since the USB dongle does the translation.

Apple do very nice bluetooth keyboards, and mice that I don't like.
Logitech do nice bluetooth mice, and also do a large range of radio
mouse+keyboard setups. Basically anything touted as "wireless" will
work.

Remotes - slightly trickier. Intel Minis all come with an Apple IR
remote, which is sufficient for Front Row and so on. USB tuners like
the Elgato series come with their own remotes, which won't work with
Front Row. If your Mac doesn't have IR (G4 Minis don't) then you'll
need some sort of external IR detector (built in to the Elgatos), or
maybe get a Bluetooth or radio+USB remote, or maybe software for your
mobile phone.

Hope that gets you started - ask more specific questions as you need.
I've been using a Mini + Elgato Diversity and EyeTV software+remote
for my TV and recording for the last year or more.

Some handy links:
http://www.engadget.com/2005/01/25/how-to-turn-your-mac-mini-into-a-media-center/
http://homepage.mac.com/chamady/MacMiniReview/Media_Center_Macintosh_Project.html
http://lifehacker.com/software/mac/turn-your-mac-mini-into-a-dvd-jukebox-197675.php
http://lifehacker.com/software/notag/freeware-to-build-a-mac-mini-media-server-31424.php
http://www.elgato.com/elgato/int/mainmenu/products/tuner/diversity/product1.en.html

Cheers - Jaimie
--
#include "clue.h"
.

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