# Taking the iMac plunge: configuration advice? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 15, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-imac-plunge-configuration-advice/737632 "2015-11-15T15:44:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-imac-plunge-configuration-advice/737632/41 "2015-11-28T18:51:48Z")
> [@Caractacus\_Pott](#): > > What did Steve Jobs say? “And one more thing…” Should you not like the keyboard and mouse/trackpad that come with the iMac, you can buy others that connect through Bluetooth. I use a [Logitech mouse](http://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/bluetooth-mouse-m557) and a [PC-style keyboard](http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/681985-REG/Interlink_Electronics_VP6220_VP6220_Versapoint_Bluetooth_Slim.html) with my MacBook Pro. I don’t know why Apple doesn’t put proper Delete, Home, and End keys on their wireless keyboards. (I know Fn+Backspace is Delete. It should be one keypress, damnit!) > > The same Bluetooth can run your audio. No more wires! Good info on the keyboard. I may end up buying one. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-imac-plunge-configuration-advice/737632/42 "2015-11-28T20:55:08Z")
I opted for the wired keyboard, for two reasons: 1. The wired keyboard has the number pad on the right as well as the Delete, Home, and End keys. 2. The batteries on the wireless keyboard don’t last long at all and need to be replaced constantly. ETA: **Chefguy** , you can buy an iHome wired keyboard for your iMac for approximately $15. Works exactly like the OEM version from Apple, looks almost exactly like it, but is far less expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-imac-plunge-configuration-advice/737632/43 "2015-11-28T21:03:36Z")
[Here’s a link to Amazon for the keyboard](http://www.amazon.com/iHome-Full-Size-Keyboard-IMAC-K121S/dp/B007X3VEBG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448744599&sr=8-1&keywords=ihome+wired+keyboard+for+mac) I mentioned above. It’s $23 from Amazon, still cheaper than getting the OEM keyboard. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-imac-plunge-configuration-advice/737632/44 "2015-11-28T21:26:35Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > [Here’s a link to Amazon for the keyboard](http://www.amazon.com/iHome-Full-Size-Keyboard-IMAC-K121S/dp/B007X3VEBG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448744599&sr=8-1&keywords=ihome+wired+keyboard+for+mac) I mentioned above. It’s $23 from Amazon, still cheaper than getting the OEM keyboard. It seems to have garnered a LOT of negative comments, so I’m a bit leery of it. Anybody else have a recommendation? ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-imac-plunge-configuration-advice/737632/45 "2015-11-29T02:17:39Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > It seems to have garnered a LOT of negative comments, so I’m a bit leery of it. Anybody else have a recommendation? The only thing I can tell you is I have used this keyboard for more than a year without the tiniest issue, so even if it craps out on me tomorrow, I would have gotten my money’s worth and more. The above stated, I have to admit that it is wise to look at alternate options. Just bear in mind that there is no reason to spend more than $25 on a keyboard. Then again, I am a cheap son of a gun. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Caractacus\_Pott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Caractacus\_Pott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caractacus_Pott)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-imac-plunge-configuration-advice/737632/46 "2015-11-29T04:46:57Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > It seems to have garnered a LOT of negative comments, so I’m a bit leery of it. Anybody else have a recommendation? Take a look at the hyperlink in my comment. It’s a Bluetooth keyboard with long range, good feel for touch typing, heavy enough weight that it doesn’t slide around, good battery life, and has all the keys including a dedicated sleep key. I’ve been pleased. Granted, it’s more than $25. I’m apparently not as cheap a son of a gun as **Onomatopoeia**. ---
**Author:** ![pidgeon92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@pidgeon92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pidgeon92)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-imac-plunge-configuration-advice/737632/47 "2015-11-29T05:28:14Z")
I have this keyboard: > **[Amazon.com: Logitech K750 Wireless Solar Keyboard for Mac — Solar Recharging,...](https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-K750-Wireless-Solar-Keyboard/dp/B005L38VRU)** > > Amazon.com: Logitech K750 Wireless Solar Keyboard for Mac — Solar Recharging, Mac-Friendly Keyboard, 2.4GHz Wireless - Silver : Electronics It’s solar charged, and I have yet to have to take it off my desk, which is in indirect light, to charge. I bought it in May 2012. It’s not bluetooth, it has a USB dongle. Works great on my iMac, have never had any connection issues. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-imac-plunge-configuration-advice/737632/48 "2015-11-30T22:02:01Z")
It has arrived! No problems yet, except that it can’t seem to connect to my router. Not a big deal, as I’m going to set up the Airport Time Machine once I take down my PC. I’m loving the graphics and the ease of setup. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-imac-plunge-configuration-advice/737632/49 "2015-11-30T22:16:06Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > It seems to have garnered a LOT of negative comments, so I’m a bit leery of it. Anybody else have a recommendation? I personally like the old wireless Mac Pro [keyboard](http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-Mac-Macintosh-Model-A1016-Wireless-Bluetooth-Desktop-Keyboard-Clean-White-/111835236986?hash=item1a09e64a7a:g:hQ8AAOSwHQ9WWOa2), as I don’t like the new chiclet style keys. You’ll have to buy it second-hand. It takes four AA batteries, but I change them once every, I dunno, three to six months? I can’t remember the last time I changed mine, so it must be somewhere in that timeframe. But you can use pretty much anything you want. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2015, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-imac-plunge-configuration-advice/737632/50 "2015-12-01T02:13:13Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > It has arrived! No problems yet, except that it can’t seem to connect to my router. Not a big deal, as I’m going to set up the Airport Time Machine once I take down my PC. I’m loving the graphics and the ease of setup. That is odd. My iMac detected and connected to my router as I was going through the setup process. I was connected within a minute of turning the machine on for the first time, and my router is an old piece of crap. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-imac-plunge-configuration-advice/737632/51 "2015-12-01T18:06:51Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > That is odd. My iMac detected and connected to my router as I was going through the setup process. > > I was connected within a minute of turning the machine on for the first time, and my router is an old piece of crap. Hopefully I didn’t screw something up. It sees the router, but it gives me a message along the lines of there not being an ip address and needing a WPA2 password. I enter the password, but no dice. Hopefully things will go right when I connect the Apple router. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2015, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-imac-plunge-configuration-advice/737632/52 "2015-12-01T18:27:26Z")
Could it be that my router is maxed out? I presently run my PC, laptop, Roku, printer, and Sonos in wireless mode. ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2015, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-imac-plunge-configuration-advice/737632/53 "2015-12-01T18:33:35Z")
Coincidentally, my mac died over the weekend so I wound up buying a new iMac (27"). I had a mac before so all I had to do was plug in my backup and wait the requisite 7 hours for all the files to transfer and voila. It’s as if my old computer was transported into the new computer (except not dead). Even the switch to a new operating system (Mavericks -\> El Capitan) didn’t phase the back up system at all. Your investment in Time machine is a good choice in my opinion. I’m the paranoid type so I like to keep multiple backups, which you can do easily with Time Machine. I have a HDD plugged in as well as using Time Capsule. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-imac-plunge-configuration-advice/737632/54 "2015-12-01T18:53:52Z")
> [@sachertorte](#): > > Coincidentally, my mac died over the weekend so I wound up buying a new iMac (27"). I had a mac before so all I had to do was plug in my backup and wait the requisite 7 hours for all the files to transfer and voila. It’s as if my old computer was transported into the new computer (except not dead). Even the switch to a new operating system (Mavericks -\> El Capitan) didn’t phase the back up system at all. > > Your investment in Time machine is a good choice in my opinion. > > I’m the paranoid type so I like to keep multiple backups, which you can do easily with Time Machine. I have a HDD plugged in as well as using Time Capsule. I just did a drag and drop with my docs and photos from my backup drive. Only problem so far is that the photos are just a huge mishmash, instead of being in named folders. Need to figure that out and do it over, probably. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2015, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-imac-plunge-configuration-advice/737632/55 "2015-12-01T19:49:06Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Could it be that my router is maxed out? I presently run my PC, laptop, Roku, printer, and Sonos in wireless mode. I’m not sure, but you can do a simple test. First I would just try restarting the router (either turn it on and off if it has a switch, or unplug it and replug it if it doesn’t. Wait about 20-30 seconds after turning it off before turning it back on.) If that doesn’t work, then disconnect everything but the internet connection from the router and repeat the reset procedure. I had an issue with my father-in-law’s new router this weekend, and he has pretty much nothing connected to it, and my Mac kept rejecting the password (well, it didn’t say it was a wrong password, just kept asking for it over and over). When I reset the router, all was good. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-imac-plunge-configuration-advice/737632/56 "2015-12-01T19:52:00Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I just did a drag and drop with my docs and photos from my backup drive. Only problem so far is that the photos are just a huge mishmash, instead of being in named folders. Need to figure that out and do it over, probably. That’s odd. If you drag and drop a folder containing folders from an external drive into a new one, it should keep the folder structure, at least it has always when I’ve done it. I used to be a multi-OS household, and if I had a PC drive that was structures, say Pictures \> Folder 1, Folder 2, Folder 3, etc., if I dragged the Pictures folder over to the Mac, it would have Folder 1, Folder 2, Folder 3, underneath, just like on the drive. ETA: Oh, my external drive was not NTFS formatted, but FAT. I wonder if that made the difference. **beowulff** , any thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2015, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-imac-plunge-configuration-advice/737632/57 "2015-12-01T20:22:26Z")
Drag-and-drop to _where_? If you dragged them from the backup to a folder on your new machine, the directory structure will be maintained. If they were dragged into iPhoto (or Photos), the will get imported, and re-sorted by date. I haven’t been following this thread closely, but the normal procedure to bring up a new machine is to use Migration assistant. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2015, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-imac-plunge-configuration-advice/737632/58 "2015-12-01T20:57:45Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Drag-and-drop to _where_? > > If you dragged them from the backup to a folder on your new machine, the directory structure will be maintained. If they were dragged into iPhoto (or Photos), the will get imported, and re-sorted by date. > > I haven’t been following this thread closely, but the normal procedure to bring up a new machine is to use Migration assistant. Does Migration Assistant work in PC -\> Mac migrations, though? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2015, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-imac-plunge-configuration-advice/737632/59 "2015-12-01T21:06:23Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Does Migration Assistant work in PC -\> Mac migrations, though? Oh… No. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2015, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-imac-plunge-configuration-advice/737632/60 "2015-12-01T21:36:16Z")
New problem, and I really need help on this one. I moved the new Mac to our usual computer workplace, disconnected the old router, etc. Then hooked up the Time Machine/router as per the instructions. The amber light just keeps blinking, which, if I’m reading the instructions correctly, means that it’s not connecting. But the ethernet light is glowing green, so that can’t be it. Right now, I’m connected directly to the internet, i.e., the ethernet cable is plugged directly into the back of the computer, and I’m online with the new Mac. Any clues as to what is going on? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-imac-plunge-configuration-advice/737632.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-imac-plunge-configuration-advice/737632.md?page=4)