wanting "cordless" look - suggestions needed

[melissarae]

so after looking through the "post your mac setup" picture thread i noticed that a lot of you have the whole "cordless" look going on. i have a couple of main components and well a whole mess of wires that i desperately want to get rid of or slim down on... what are your suggestions on accomplishing this for my setup?

here's my setup and my basic needs (picture below):

iMac - power cord, keyboard & mouse cords (no i don't want to go wireless on those)
printer - power cord, usb cable into the iMac
external hdd - power cord, usb cable into the iMac
time capsule - power cord, 2 ethernet cables (1 into the wall, 1 into the iMac)
camera dock - power cord, usb cable into the iMac
usb 4 port hub - power cord, usb cable into iMac

i have one power strip for the power cords and i can't have my printer/TC anywhere else because that's where the internet connection in the wall is.

i also need room to plug in my tablet pc for 2 days/week (only time i use it), so it has a power cord as well.

and our macbook gets plugged in in our bedroom, so ignore that in the picture below.

so with all of that said... am i wishful thinking? or is there a way i can unclutter all those wires hiding behind my imac?

 

[earnjam]

CORRECTION: Move Time Capsule, printer and external HHD to another location. Plug in the 4 port USB hub to time capsule and plug in your printer and your external drive to the hub.

That leaves your iMac and the camera dock on the desk. I don't think you can do much about the camera dock. The iMac is about as wire free as you can get if you don't want to go wireless on the kb and mouse.

Will that work?

 

[Chad H]

I have an iMac also. I have the old apple bluetooth keyboard, vx revolution mouse, and time capsule. All that is wireless. The only thing I have in my iMac is the power cord and firewire(external HD).

 

[melissarae]

TC has to be plugged into the wall to get the internet connection. I had the ethernet cord plugged into the iMac from TC for the initial backup, and just haven't unplugged it yet (so that eliminates one cord).

so if i got Airport Extreme i could put that anywhere in my house and plug my printer AND my external hdd into it? i thought about getting that instead of TC, but i like the security of having it back up my iMac. how complicated would it be to set up Aiport Extreme with TC, printer, iMac, and MB?

as for the camera dock, i'm thinking about getting a new one eventually that just required one usb plug into the computer (do they make them now where they can charge the battery off the computer via usb?).

 

[earnjam]

so if i got Airport Extreme i could put that anywhere in my house and plug my printer AND my external hdd into it? i thought about getting that instead of TC, but i like the security of having it back up my iMac. how complicated would it be to set up Aiport Extreme with TC, printer, iMac, and MB?

Sorry, I didn't realize before you could just use Time Capsule to do the same thing as Airport Extreme!

If you check Apple's website, it specifically mentions using it to share printers and other drives.

http://www.apple.com/timecapsule/wireless.html

 

[Hetman]

TC has to be plugged into the wall to get the internet connection. I had the ethernet cord plugged into the iMac from TC for the initial backup, and just haven't unplugged it yet (so that eliminates one cord).

so if i got Airport Extreme i could put that anywhere in my house and plug my printer AND my external hdd into it? i thought about getting that instead of TC, but i like the security of having it back up my iMac. how complicated would it be to set up Aiport Extreme with TC, printer, iMac, and MB?

as for the camera dock, i'm thinking about getting a new one eventually that just required one usb plug into the computer (do they make them now where they can charge the battery off the computer via usb?).

You don't need to get airport extreme. the airport express is more than enough for internet, plug that into the wall. Or if you don't mind keeping your iMac on. You can just plug the iMac into the wall and let the TC get it's internet from your iMac.

 

[nastebu]

time capsule and printer/external hd

I have my printer and an external hd hooked up to my time capsule. It works very very well. Even if it doesn't eliminate some of those wires, it does allow you to put them in a place that is less obtrusive (whereever you tuck the printer away). On top of that I added my old Airport Express, so I have that hooked up to a second printer in a different room and the stereo.

Not only is that set up hiding the wires, but it means you can print wirelessly from the laptops as well, although getting the pcs to print to the Time capsule might be complicated--I've never done that.

 

[melissarae]

i'm not worried about putting my PC on the network. my little brother uses it to get on myspace and that's it.

if i got an airport express and hooked up my printer to it, can i also hook up my surround sound in the living room to listen to iTunes on it? that way i'd leave TC where it is next to my iMac, and that would give me more space on my desk if the printer was removed. would this work? can i hook up airport express into my network with my TC? (sorry i don't now a whole lot about setting up networks and what not).

 

[earnjam]

if i got an airport express and hooked up my printer to it, can i also hook up my surround sound in the living room to listen to iTunes on it? that way i'd leave TC where it is next to my iMac, and that would give me more space on my desk if the printer was removed. would this work? can i hook up airport express into my network with my TC? (sorry i don't now a whole lot about setting up networks and what not).

That should work perfectly. I've been wanting airtunes for a while, but didn't want to spend $100 on airport express when all I'd use it for is playing music and I've already got a wireless router.

 

[Consultant]

Some suggestions:

iPod dock

Shelves (your files can probably go above the black boxes on the left to block view of the plugs), airport can go on top of the shelves perhaps.

extension strip behind the black boxes on the left.There are some that are thick and boxy and designed be monitor stands.

Tie loose cables together with those twisty things that comes with brand new products (or you can buy some at hardware store), and hide behind other things.

Mount the beer pong on the wall, but not sure whether that's kid friendly or not.

 

[GGJstudios]

 

[BanjoBanker]

i'm not worried about putting my PC on the network. my little brother uses it to get on myspace and that's it.

if i got an airport express and hooked up my printer to it, can i also hook up my surround sound in the living room to listen to iTunes on it? that way i'd leave TC where it is next to my iMac, and that would give me more space on my desk if the printer was removed. would this work? can i hook up airport express into my network with my TC? (sorry i don't now a whole lot about setting up networks and what not).

That is a great solution. I use an Airport Express to stream the music from 3, and sometimes 4, Macs through my home stereo and share two printers. I have it set up to bridge the signal from my Airport Extreme to the playroom also. It is a easy and inexpensive solution.

 

[Awesome Guy]

Get that kid to rearrange it all for you.

 

[macwall]

It doesn't look like you can really get rid of any cables, but if you're not moving things around often, you might want to try using cable ties and running all the cables along the corners or edges of whatever surface they're on. I think that would give a cleaner look.

 

[GGJstudios]

 

[melissarae]

ok so i purchased the airport express with airtunes (got a refurb one for $69 ). with that i will plug it into the living room, moving my samsung printer in there (because it's pretty and most people don't even know it's a printer) as well and hooking up our samsung surround sound speakers to it for airtunes. so now that leaves me with just the iMac, TC, and external hdd... & relieving me of a few cords!

thanks for everyones suggestions & help!! i'll post pics after i get it all set up like i like it.