Sharing Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse

Question

I know "teleport" will work between two Macs, but is there a way to share a keyboard and mouse between a Mac Mini and an older Dell PC? I'm asking because I received a Mac Mini and iPad for Christmas but still need the PC until I get familiar with the Apples and start tranfering stuff to them. I know just enough about computers to be dangerous, viz-- I just bought a Logitec MX 5500 Desktop with software for the PC with a USB Bluetooth dongle and it does work with the Mac Mini, but I didn't realize you cannot pair with more than one computer even if the other is off.

My son says I can do it with something called a Bluetooth KVM, is this true?

I can use the same monitor because it has both digital and analog inputs and is easily switchable.

Answer 1

If you have a local network you can use Synergy to share Bluetooth mice and keyboards with up to 5 computers.

Synergy lets you easily share your mouse and keyboard between multiple computers on your desk, and it's Free and Open Source. Just move your mouse off the edge of one computer's screen on to another. You can even share all of your clipboards. All you need is a network connection. Synergy is cross-platform (works on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux).

Here is a good implementation for Mac and Linux: http://code.google.com/p/quicksynergy/

Answer 2

If you have a monitor for each, you can control both with Synergy over your network.

Here's a good example. http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/how-to-configure-synergy-in-six-steps/

You'd use one keyboard and mouse connected to your PC, and then via Synergy when you move your mouse off the PC monitor, it will change focus to the Mac. It's a good setup if you've got the monitors.

If you haven't got a second monitor, give VNC a shot. You would use "Screen Sharing" from the mac mini, and connect with WinVNC from your Dell. A window will appear that has your mac's desktop on it.

If you can't be bothered with VNC, use LogMeIn Free. https://secure.logmein.com/ Works for PC/Mac, and you can access it from anywhere in the world!