Will any ol' wireless keyboard + mouse work with a mac?

[TheSVD]

I wanted a new wireless keyboard and mouse for my MBP, and was wondering if any ol' wireless thing will work with it - you know the gig, receiver which plus into USB, with the kb and mouse connecting to it. Cause i cant be bothered to pay like 50 quid for a wireless apple keyboard, i was wondering if any of these cheap ones you see (liek this, for example http://www.ebuyer.com/product/158316) now i know the function buttons may not work, but i dont care. Can anyone tell me if something liek this would work, or would it have to be mac made? Like say 'mac compatible' or whatever... but i thought they might not put mac compatible on a keyboard like that cause not all the functions on it will work. Any give me any clarification?

Thanks

 

[MrCheeto]

If it uses a USB receiver it's pretty much a good bet it will work seamlessly save for the modifier keys (control, alt and Windows) and the media keys as you said.

However, there are some quirky manufacturers that require special software and they would only make it for Windows. As a rule, though, I say if it's USB it's ready to go, especially Logitech devices which are, in my experience, seamless and fast to configure. I plug my Logitech wireless mouse into my MacBook and before I even know it it has control of the cursor on my screen.

I hate this common assumption that there are "mac" devices and then there are "pc" devices. They both use common interfaces like USB and Firewire, right? Wouldn't they have different interfaces if they weren't to be interoperable? I had someone I know call and ask if it was SAFE, yes, SAFE!! to plug in a Logitech keyboard and mouse to their new PowerMac -.-' This is why the world runs/tries to run Windows....

 

[Jazojas12]

I have a BT Rocketfish one, works well. Does everything except the top keys(brightness, dashboard, etc) but it does do pause, play, next/prev. Connected via BT without having to download any extra stuff.

 

[TheSVD]

ahh well, doesnt matter now, picked up an ol' first gen wireless kb instead for 20 quid Paired with my logitech BT mouse, this is perfect Thanks anyway guysss

 

[mynewromantica]

I have a Microsoft wireless key/mouse set and all the buttons work great, even the windows key work fine for my command key, which some people apparently have issues with. If you want to make sure it will work look for one that says it will work with mac. Almost all of the Microsoft keyboards I have seen work with Mac.