I needed a Bluetooth keyboard/mouse combo for my new S170, so I went with Microsoft’s recently-released set. Maybe the second time’s the charm for Microsoft…

General Impressions:

The build quality is as solid as all other MS peripherals, and the dark blue plastics and translucent keys from the first generation Bluetooth keyboard were carried over. The wrist rest is built-in and cannot be detached. It’s covered with a padded rubber layer that’s quite nice to the touch.

The mouse is a standard second generation Wireless Intellimouse Explorer with a Bluetooth radio installed, and is very comfortable to use (if you’re a righty). The keyboard takes three AA batteries and the mouse takes two. Energizer batteries are provided in the box, a nice touch.

Microsoft’s first outing with a Bluetooth keyboard/mouse combo had quite a few problems. The transceiver was huge, the battery life was crummy, and the performance was poor. Luckily all three issues have been addressed to some degree with the new product.

Usage:

The first thing I noticed was that Microsoft had shrunk the transceiver down to a nice and manageable size, which while not as small as Sony’s diminuitive Bluetooth adapter, is still easily pocketable.

I wanted to use the S170’s built-in Bluetooth, and luckily all functions of the keyboard and mouse work fine even if you don’t use the Microsoft USB transceiver. BlueSpace NE picks up both fine and you don’t even need to enter a PIN to get them working.

Battery life is very good, the first version only lasted a week or two with heavy usage. I’m well into the third week, and the batteries are still fresh. The keyboard and mouse still go into power-saving mode when not used for a period of time, but waking up is a lot faster than the old BT set.

I like the crisp key action and the scroll wheel on the keyboard, though the horizontal scroll feature is pretty much worthless to me. Performance is very good with little to no lag, even with a ton of 2.4GHz devices around. The mouse tracks accurately and doesn’t jump, but it’s not as smooth as some of Logitech’s mice.

Final Thoughts:

At almost half the price of Logitech’s fancy DiNovo set, Microsoft’s Optical Desktop Elite for Bluetooth is a competent performer for those who want Bluetooth input on a smaller budget. It’s more comfortable, has better function keys, and the scroll wheel on the keyboard can come in handy. I’ll continue using the DiNovo with my TR, but I was pleasantly surprised with Microsoft’s second effort.

(visiting one of my favorite forums) 

thanks for the review.

Good review, I just ordered one from Amazon and it should be here by Friday. My old Optical Wireless Desktop is dying and this looks like a mighty fine replacement.  8)

if the physical appearance is the same, how can u tell whether it’s the first or second edition besides from the retail box (i assume the retail box looks different between first and second gen)?

btw, do all the hot keys work? i have logitech desktop BT, not the dinovo one, and some hot keys dont work, like shopping, webcam.  does dinovo keyboard have webcam hot key? if so, does it work? if it works, can u tell me how?  i use my logitech set with sony internal TR BT

does bluespace work without the VCOM driver? when i install xp sp2, my BT works without the VCOMM driver, so i didnt install the drivers.

its not the same. gen 2 has tilt wheel technology. plus there’s no wheel on the gen 1 keyboard.

[quote author=“gameson”]if the physical appearance is the same, how can u tell whether it’s the first or second edition besides from the retail box (i assume the retail box looks different between first and second gen)?

btw, do all the hot keys work? i have logitech desktop BT, not the dinovo one, and some hot keys dont work, like shopping, webcam.  does dinovo keyboard have webcam hot key? if so, does it work? if it works, can u tell me how?  i use my logitech set with sony internal TR BT

does bluespace work without the VCOM driver? when i install xp sp2, my BT works without the VCOMM driver, so i didnt install the drivers.

The two sets look alike because they use the same materials, but the newer one has more hotkeys and a scrollwheel on the keyboard and the mouse has the horizontal scroll feature and a slightly changed shell. The old set is the “Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop for Bluetooth” and the new one is the “Microsoft Optical Desktop Elite for Bluetooth.” It’s impossible to mix them up if you see them side by side.

All of the hot keys work as long as you install the IntelliType software, even with the built-in BT. You can also remap some of them to your liking using the IT software.

man, i guess i should buy this instead of my logitech BT.  horizontal scroll, very nice. how much is it? i paid mine for total of us$75 shipped for keyboard + mouse.  if it’s around that price, i would kill myself for not looking at this when i was shopping around.

Ha, I just noticed the law books in the last picture. Another future lawyer on the boards?

Anyway, I got mine in from Amazon and it works great! Much less lag than the first iteration, and I love being able to use it without plugging anything in. The media keys work great when I have the S hooked up to the TV watching downloaded TV shows, and there aren’t any performance issues even though there’s a ton of Bluetooth and WiFi devices in my house.

http://tscherwitschke.de/download/mouserate.zip

cellery, if you time could you try the above utility and see what’s the refresh rate you get from the MS bluetooth 2.0 mouse? Thanks!