My old computer, a Gateway 400 Series Laptop, was a good gaming machine and was fine for what I needed, but the adapter jack in the back broke, only working in certain positions which were hard to find (I ended up having to manipulate the Adapter plug every time it stopped working). Thus, the machine had to be in one position all the time, rendering it useless as a notebook. I needed desk space, and I wasn’t able to move the machine back and forth on the desk in order to get it when I needed it. So I went looking for a wireless keyboard and mouse that I could use so that I could keep my computer on the back of the desk and have desk space all the time.
After looking around online, I decided to buy this desktop on ebay. It was a refurb, so it came with no software of any kind, but a URL to get it from Microsoft. I did so with no hassle, and everything worked fairly quickly. The software is very good and allows you to customize every single macro. There are a variety of special keys on the top of the keyboard, allowing you to adjust your volume, track, mute, go back and forward in your browser, open up mail, IM, and music folders, etc. On the left side of the keyboard are 5 “My Favorites†buttons that are meant to link to whatever you want. I have all of mine set to specific websites, but they could link to programs or files also.
The mouse is one of the best I’ve used. The scroll wheel has a tilt wheel which allows you to scroll left and right as well as up and down. Overall, this is a decent feature, although the software doesn’t allow you to customize the speed of the lateral scroll. Other than that, I have no issues with the mouse. It has worked extremely well on every surface I’ve tried. The weight is perfect, leaving movement fluid while not feeling like something empty. Besides the vertical and horizontal scroll, and the click buttons, there are two buttons on the left side of the mouse which are for back/forward in your web browser. They are right next to the thumb and feel great to use.
The keyboard, however, isn’t my favorite. Personally, I type somewhat lightly, which means a lot of my keystrokes aren’t recognized since the pitch of the keys is so large. Of course, if you type heavier, this obviously wouldn’t be an issue for you. Additionally, the left side of the keyboard has a scroll wheel and back/forward buttons, which I never use and find pretty much superfluous. It would have been better to have made it cheaper and less bulky by getting rid of them. The shortcut keys are pretty good. I’m pretty sure this is just an issue because I didn’t buy it retail, but the music control buttons don’t work to well within iTunes. They seem to stick, which means they pause and then play in quick succession, making them basically useless. This isn’t really a big deal though.
Some smaller details: The whole system connects through a USB RF (I believe) transmitter which communicates with both devices. This powers itself and has serial connecters if you have extra serial ports and don’t want to use any USB ports. I haven’t noticed any issues playing games with response time from the wireless connection, so don’t worry about that. The Keyboard is powered by 3 AA batteries which last for a long time (a couple months at a time in my experience) and the mouse is powered by 2 AAs, which last for just as long.
Overall, I would not recommend this keyboard to anyone who likes typing on the TR or another subnotebook’s keyboard. Personally, I prefer the TR’s keyboard with it’s small pitch even though the right shift key is crazy (as we all know). If you are a heavier typist who isn’t happy with the size of they TR’s keyboard or the feeling of it’s keys, then you would probably be happy with this system. I don’t know if the mouse is sold separately or not, but I really recommend it. I think this is a decent system, but not worth the steep price if you aren’t a heavy typist. 3 out of 5: It just isn’t worth the price.
Ill have to agree that the diNovo series is exceptional, and I like the charging station with the original compared to the looks of this new stuff, mouse on the original is more stylish in my opinion as well.
