Wireless Mouse and Keyboard

[DJKeys]

According to the Required Optimizations on the Tech Pages, turning off Bluetooth is necessary. Does this mean I cannot use the wireless mouse and keyboard with my new iMac and I need to hook up USB devices?

[Park Seward]

My MacPro came with a wireless mouse. I have not had any issues with it. The keyboard is wired.

[KMcK]

Just remember that the wireless keyboard has no numpad, and the numpad has a lot of functionality for PT keyboard shortcuts. I have one client that uses the wireless keyboard and I made him keep a wired one in the closet that I can hook up when I go over there, I hate not having access to those numpad keys.

[MidnightFlyer]

Originally Posted by DJKeys

According to the Required Optimizations on the Tech Pages, turning off Bluetooth is necessary. Does this mean I cannot use the wireless mouse and keyboard with my new iMac and I need to hook up USB devices?

Turning off Bluetooth is not necessary, as I have been using the wireless keyboard and mouse for over a month. My keyboard kept losing it's connection, with a ghost image on the monitor saying I've lost the connection and a moment later it returns. My keyboard was on a shelf below the monitor so it wasn't getting the best signal. After I replaced the batteries and moved the keyboard more on a level angle to the monitor, it was better.

Last night I tried removing the wireless keyboard to put in my wired keyboard, attaching to the USB, in order to zap the P-Ram and my Imac literally would not let me remove (uncheck) my wireless keyboard. It gave me a message saying that if I unchecked bluetooth, I would not be unable to control the computer. What a joke. Luckily, I was able to zap the P-ram using the wireless. (which Phil Snyder says in his Youtube you cannot do)

I agree the larger keyboard was easier to use, but all the shortcuts are actually there on the small wireless. You just have to learn how to access them.

[Neale]

Just a word on the "Bluetooth" thing...

I don't know as well how it is for the iMacs, but I had horrible reception from day one with my MacPro and a Magic Trackpad that I bought in fall of last year. On searching about this problem, it seems that lots of people have had trouble with poor/weak reception from their MacPros. In my situation, I have my computer behind my desk (a REAL office desk, not a "workstation" desk, so there shouldn't be much interference there from cables and stuff) and the trackpad on the desk itself. It would occasionally get "jumpy" and "erratic", but usually a restart would seem to solve it. After putting a UAD-2 card in there, the dumb thing became unusable for editing. Apparently the Apple antenna runs along the length of the PCI slots right near the inside edge of the outer casing - but still encased in the aluminum case. There's some guy who blogged about getting an internal bluetooth antenna cable to plug into the existing chip on the motherboard, then running that out to an external BT antenna. I got one of these internal cables off eBay, drilled a little hole in one of the PCI card "blanks", and hooked up an external BT antenna that I got from a local computer store. Problem is 100% gone - range is crazy good now, not a single issue since I installed it.

Don't know how you get around that with the iMac, but I don't think they have the same issue. Certainly the "office use" one I have does not exhibit the same systems, even with its all-aluminum case. And as quiet as they are (I don't NEED to put the MacPro where it is, but it's where my G5 was), you shouldn't have noise issues with it in your face - which is right where your wireless accessories would be.

I still have a wired keyboard, but having now seen the Magic Trackpad working flawlessly with no added weird noises in the audio path and NOT having to turn off BT when using PT - I would suggest that you will probably be fine. The lack of a num pad is a big deal, although I believe there's a third-party vendor that sells a wireless or corded one (I can't remember which) that follows the styling of the cordless keyboard.

[DJKeys]

Great feedback, folks. This is one of the most productive forums to which I belong and gives me further confidence in making my switch to ProTools-

-dj

[lancemcv]

Supposedly bluetooth and wireless mouse or keyboards can effect virtual instrument plugins in a negative manor so says Avid. I have had some issues with PT 9 and my Mbox pro so I leave the bluetooth off as well as don't use wifi. Once things work the way they should I will try using bluetooth again.
As far as the track pad working with the Mac Pro, mine works great and my 2008 mac pro is in a closet but only five feet from my work desk.