InjuryProneNorwegian,

The M1-A to D-sub/USB cable we provide is only 5.90 ft. How are you going over 50 ft?

Chris,

I didn't do a good job of describing my problem.  Obviously you are exactly right about the cable.

My question is actually "what will allow me to go 50 feet and still maintain the use of the wireless mouse?". 

Or, does Dell not intend for anyone to be able to use the wireless mouse in a permanent ceiling mount installation? (since clearly a ceiling mount projector could not easily be connected to a computer with the 5.9 ft. cable that comes with the projector)

Thanks,
Jerod

Thank you Injurypronenorwegion!!! I have the same exact situation. Dell should CLEARLY indicate you can't use the M1A to Dsub cable with a ceiling mounted 4100 on the product purchase page (unless of course you mount your pc to the ceiling as well, LOL!). I would be happy with a 25' cable. Trying to explain this to a sales rep is beyong agonozing. They just keep saying in broken English, "You need the 8' cable to use the mouse"..

If any Dell rep or user reading this could advise of ANY third party cable provider that would carry a 25' or more M1A to Dsub/USB cable it would be appreciated. The remote control for the 4100 is worthless without it!

I don't know if this answers anyone's questions, but I can explain how I hooked up our 4100MP to a computer 25ft away.

First, I ran a shielded 25ft KVM cable from the computer to the projector. Then, I connected the D-sub to the projector. Next, I connected the wireless "hub" for a wireless keyboard/mouse combo to the keyboard and mouse PS/2 plugs on the KVM cable. That was the hardest part, becase I had to make my own Female-Female PS/2 connectors using PS/2-Serial connectors. The wireless "hub" sits on top of the ceiling tile above the projector and is approximately 6ft above the plane of the conference table.

Everything seems to work fine and there doesn't appear to be any significant signal loss across the distance. I may move the wireless "hub" to improve the wireless connection, but other than that, I've had no complaints.

Can you tell me what the USB part of the M1A-Dsub/USB cable is used for? The D-sub connection makes sense since the projector is basically a display device. I've looked around for the USB functionality, but I haven't found any information about it.

the USB part controls the remote control "mouse" functionality.

I have been having the same problem, fancy projector with lots of features...as long as it is sitting on a table not more than "5.90 feet" away from you.  I am deeply disappointed that Dell could not or would not find a better solution.  It sounds to me (from this message board) that many people are complaining about this same issue.

I really like the projector, but need to find a viable solution to extend the "functional" wiring to a point accesable to a laptop.  I would like to be able to use the full functions of the remote control via in-wall wiring, hence a longer M1-DA to D-Sub/USB cable.

Does anyone know if the "M1-DA" connection is a common electronic connection or is it Dell only?

We finally had to say the heck with it and not use the wireless remote so we bought a 50 foot dsub to dsub (vga to vga) cable.  If you want the wireless mouse, we found a separate product that you could keep in the same room as the projector that connects via USB to the pc.  At that point, you are able to use it with the wireless mouse but you

I have a 4100MP projector mounted from the ceiling that runs USB 40+ feet so my remote can work. I purchased several 15ft USB Extension Cables with boosters on them and it work perfect. Cables ran me about $20.00 each and I am ready to do the last two board rooms the same way.

Message Edited by Wigadore on 08-24-2005 12:50 PM

We are having the same problems with the 3300MP. Very frustrating. We are setting up a new room which will have the projector ceiling mounted and would love to know the best way to do this before all the cables are run.

Can anyone please suggest the easiest way of going about this so we can use the mouse? The room is being setup as a full multimedia room and I know our users already hate the fact they can't use the mouse in our auditorium.  Our new room will have the projector going to a desktop computer that will not move. Our auditorium setup runs from our projector into a floor box going to a startech box so users can plug their laptops in.

If you have links to the products you use it would be most appreciated. I also agree that it should be noted in the configuration pages when you are pricing the item out, that you will need to purchase additional items to make their projector mouse work. What is also frustrating is that we posted about this last year and never got a resolution. I don't see any resolution on dell's part in any of these posts for this problem which is obviously something that shouldn't be happening.

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide. We'd really love to get this room setup perfectly the first time.

Lynne