Extending original leads - is this possible?

babyblooz

Hello there techies! I have just moved the furniture around and now my big grey box that works my Dell desktop is sticking out into the middle of the room. What I want to know is

is it possible to buy extension leads for all the bits, ie. mouse, speakers, i.e. all the wires that need hooking up, so that I can have the big grey box into the corner of the room, and the keyboard, mouse, monitor and speakers further along the wall on top of a bookcase. The way I have it now looks better, but it makes the brain of the computer a little too accessible to my four young grandchildren.

I thought that maybe Maplins might do something, but I thought the clever people on here could give me some pointers!

Garz

Yes, well the keyboard and mouse old ps2/2 is possible aswell as usb. Ethernet you can either buy a coupler to link cables together or just get a longer piece. Im not 100% about the video connection as I presume the length may effect performance.

weegie.geek

Maplin will have what you need, right enough. Not cheap, but handy.

You can get extension cables for between the monitor and the video card too. Any length they sell in Maplin should be fine, but if you need a longer one you might find you need an amplifier/repeater. I think they do 3m ones, probably 5m too.

tomsolomon

You could always go wireless, keyboard, mouse, network, no more cables...:T

babyblooz

so if I buy a router, I don't need anything plugged in, is that right? Bear in mind that I do not understand anything technical!"!!!!

Garz

A router will allow you to surf etc without an ethernet/usb cable if you get a wireless router. However you will need a dongle or adapter plugged into the desktop.

babyblooz

what's a dongle!!! what does it do?

tomsolomon

Basically speaking, You would need a wireless router, and an adapter to plug into your PC for the Network side, configuration is easy enough, just type in your user name and password. If you need any help with security Im sure someone here can help.
For the Mouse and keyboard you can get ready to go kits that use infra red signal to your input devices. You just plug em in and install the drivers and your away, just look for a wireless keyboard and mouse at your local PC World or on Ebay...

tomsolomon

PS You can get a Router and adapter for around £30>£40, and Wireless mouse and keyboards weigh in at around £15>£20.

babyblooz

Oh right, thanks for that! How much would it cost me? Any ideas?

babyblooz

just spotted your answer about cost, we must have been typing at the same time! Thanks everybody. I think I will call in at Maplins tomorrow and see how much it costs to do it the first way and then decide.

Thanks everybody, it never fails, I come on here, ask a question and it ALWAYS gets sorted, and even in language that I can actually understand.:j