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Why buy wireless keyboard for your MacBook Pro?

HuggyLowDown

HuggyLowDown

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 14, 2010
171
0
Northern Virginia
I surf this website a lot and almost everyday I read someone's reply on a thread saying something about buying a wireless keyboard with their MacBook Pro. What's the point of buying one when you have a keyboard right in front of you? This is really bothering me so please give me some good reasons to have a wireless keyboard for a MacBook Pro.
 
HuggyLowDown said:
I surf this website a lot and almost everyday I read someone's reply on a thread saying something about buying a wireless keyboard with their MacBook Pro. What's the point of buying one when you have a keyboard right in front of you? This is really bothering me so please give me some good reasons to have a wireless keyboard for a MacBook Pro.
Click to expand...

its use full if u use multiple displays, or when u use ur mbp on a desk for long hours :)

and the wireless keyboard pairs up with the ipad .... :p
 
Ronnoco said:
Yes, when you are connected to an external display with a mouse and keyboard you can operate in clamshell mode...
Click to expand...

+1

Particularly needed when I stream itunes downloads to my TV, with the MBP across the room connected via HDMI to my AV system. I use the wireless keyboard and mouse on my coffee table, works like a charm.
 
i use my mbp as my primary display but wanted to raise it to a more comfortable position. That's why I got an mstand and the keyboard (the photo was taken before I've got my MBP and thus still has my thinkpad from work on it).
It's also very useful when you want to connect your mb to a tv / projector.

 
diablo2112 said:
+1

Particularly needed when I stream itunes downloads to my TV, with the MBP across the room connected via HDMI to my AV system. I use the wireless keyboard and mouse on my coffee table, works like a charm.
Click to expand...

Same here, was having to grab my wired USB KB from my PC 2 flights up, was a PITA so I got an Apple wireless KB. It's small and fits in my laptop bag, so if I need it elsewhere I can take it with me. Most wireless KB's would be too big for that.
 
Ronnoco said:
Yes, when you are connected to an external display with a mouse and keyboard you can operate in clamshell mode...
Click to expand...
That's what I used my Bluetooth keyboard for. I used to use a DVI to HDMI cable to connect my MBP's video output to my home theater system's display. I also had a cable connecting my MBP's digital audio out connector to my AV receiver. That way, I would watch HULU and other videos from the Web on my HT system. I found that using a Bluetooth keyboard and Magic Mouse with the MBP's lid closed was the most convenient way to operate the setup. I have since given my Bluetooth keyboard to my daughter because she gets more use out of it with her iPad than I ever did with my MBP. I didn't get much good out of the Bluetooth keyboard with my iPad because about the only text input I do on the iPad is into dialog boxes. For that kind of thing the virtual keyboard is less inconvenient than having to use a separate keyboard was.
 
If you're gonna have multiple displays, a Magic Mouse, and a keyboard, then you might as well buy an iMac instead of a MBP.
 
John Kotches said:
That isn't a particularly portable solution now, is it?

When I travel, I need my computer. The iMac isn't particularly travel friendly.
Click to expand...

Ronnoco said:
True, but carrying that iMac around airports when you travel can be tiresome...
Click to expand...

Ok, true. But how often do you travel? I would rather have a large screen for my desktop and go a few days without a computer then use a small screen for my desktop and have it everywhere.
 
TRUCRACKER said:
Ok, true. But how often do you travel? I would rather have a large screen for my desktop and go a few days without a computer then use a small screen for my desktop and have it everywhere.
Click to expand...

And with an external display I can have both. I travel 3-4 times a year, and I need to take my computer.

If you don't that's perfectly fine... for you.
 
TRUCRACKER said:
Ok, true. But how often do you travel? I would rather have a large screen for my desktop and go a few days without a computer then use a small screen for my desktop and have it everywhere.
Click to expand...
You are very different from me, then. I go into withdrawal if I am ever very far from my computer. My MBP is my primary home machine, as was its predecessor a Powerbook G4. The 17 inch displays on those machines have been more than adequate for my purposes, so it should come as no surprise that I always take the MBP with me when I go out of town.
 
TRUCRACKER said:
Ok, true. But how often do you travel? I would rather have a large screen for my desktop and go a few days without a computer then use a small screen for my desktop and have it everywhere.
Click to expand...
As others have said, with my MBP 15" and my Samsung 23" Display I have the best of both worlds...I travel enough that I need a portable computer to take with me for work...
 
John Kotches said:
And with an external display I can have both. I travel 3-4 times a year, and I need to take my computer.

If you don't that's perfectly fine... for you.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Computers and laptops have gotten so good these days unless you need a lot more computing power, there really is no reason to have a desktop save maybe price (even then you can find laptops cheap enough). If you are just an average user, I find the portability adds a whole ton more usefuless to the computer. I'm never buying a desktop again.

Connect my laptop to a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and speakers, it's just as good as a desktop. And I can take it with me and it has all my important info on it and my computer can be with me wherever I happen to go.

So, why would I pick an iMac over my laptop? Sure, I could be without my computer for a few days. Or I could not make that sacrifice and still have a great desktop for my needs as well ;).
 
Ronnoco said:
Yes, when you are connected to an external display with a mouse and keyboard you can operate in clamshell mode...
Click to expand...

+2, Love that i can leave the laptop closed off to the side of the desk, connect to my external monitor and use apple mouse & keyboard. And sometimes having a wireless keyboard just feels better, laptop keyboards can get annoying.
 
Hmmm

TRUCRACKER said:
If you're gonna have multiple displays, a Magic Mouse, and a keyboard, then you might as well buy an iMac instead of a MBP.
Click to expand...

Well i dont mind strapping my 27" iMac to my back with lashings of leather straps, it just gets jammed sometimes in the xray scan at airports and can cause up to 45 minute delays for other passages. ;)
 
TRUCRACKER said:
Ok, true. But how often do you travel? I would rather have a large screen for my desktop and go a few days without a computer then use a small screen for my desktop and have it everywhere.
Click to expand...

I take mine to work with me every day... infact here I am typing on it at work. ;)
 
TRUCRACKER said:
Ok, true. But how often do you travel? I would rather have a large screen for my desktop and go a few days without a computer then use a small screen for my desktop and have it everywhere.
Click to expand...

Some of are actually on the road, working, 50%+ every year.
The wireless keyboard frees me from being tied to a fixed location when doing a workshop.
That, plus a large external monitor at home, make a MBP a better option for me.
 
I'm hairy beast who sheds & likes to eat while working on the computer. It's easier to clean off the hairs, and crumbs from the BT keypad, and trackpad, then to try and clean in between the keys on the macbook pro. :D
 
I'm a teacher and I hook my MacBook up to the projector while giving presentations and use a wireless keyboard and mouse from the podium to add in content from discussions on the fly.
 
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