AWFUL wireless keyboard - one GIANT glitch.
Written: Jul 31 '03 (Updated Oct 19 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Wireless, works great - for up to 2 and a half months!
Cons: Very shoddy product. Doesn't even last for 3 months!
The Bottom Line: It was great having no wires for awhile, but I'll take the wires if it means not spending $100 to replace a shoddy wireless keyboard every 2 1/12 months.
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| lazylizard's Full Review: Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop Pro (K48-00001)... |
UPDATE 10/20/2003: I take back everything I said about this keyboard (below)! And I mean EVERYTHING. It just completely died on me. And not because of dead batteries. I was typing away when suddenly I hit a key and nothing showed up on the screen. Then I hit another key and the wrong letter showed up on the screen. So, I replaced the batteries with a fresh set thinking the old batteries must have been dead, even though they had only been in the keyboard for a couple of weeks. When I finished replacing the batteries things just got worse. I hit Caps Lock and NumLock went on and off! I hit NumLock and Caps Lock went on and off. I hit the A key and it typed an F. I held down the D key just long enough to type one D and it typed: DDDDDDDDDDDDDD.
So I'm changing my rating from what was originally 5 stars to 1 star. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS PRODUCT any longer!
I can understand that on a wireless keyboard the batteries will eventually go dead and it will stop working - no doubt when you're right in the middle of something you need to complete. But here it is a Sunday night, all the stores are closed and I was in the middle of something. I certainly couldn't wait until tomorrow to finish. The keyboard went dead, fresh batteries didn't help. And what makes this so infuriating is that I've only had it for about two and a half months!
So the glowing recommendation I gave below was true - for two and a half months. This $100 keyboard lasted 2 and a half months! Thank goodness I kept my old keyboard in the closet - just in case! This kind of product shoddiness is what gives American companies a really bad name.
-----------END OF UPDATE-----------------
Please note that what you read below was written
right after I purchased this product. Now, two
and a half months later the keyboard is completely
kaput. DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT!!!
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I had no intention of buying a wireless keyboard when I walked into CompUSA the other day to get a new keyboard. And I had no intention at all of buying a new mouse. The one I had was just fine.
I've been using the Microsoft Natural Multimedia Keyboards with the ergonomic design for ages. And that's what I meant to purchase. But they were out of them. The only thing they had that I could buy without having to get used to a new keyboard layout, was the exact same keyboard as the Natural Multimedia keyboards - just in a wireless version. I've never had any desire for a wireless keyboard. I didn't see the point. The wires didn't really bother me all that much, and I could only imagine that a wireless keyboard would probably glitch out all the time. I figured if something came between the keyboard and the base you'd probably be in the middle of typing a word and a letter would get dropped. Or, what if there were other interfering radio waves in the area that would cause it to glitch out? I could only see that as becoming the most annoying thing in my life!
But my only choice if I wanted the exact same keyboard that I had become accustomed to was to get the wireless version. I thought for a second, and figured that wireless keyboards have been around long enough that they've probably worked out the kinks so I went ahead - took a gamble - and bought it!
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! I didn't realize how much the wires of the old keyboard did actually annoy me! Every time I wanted to move it, the wire would knock something down on my desk. The best part is, if I want to read something (something on paper that is), I can just pick the wireless keyboard up and put it somewhere else! Couldn't do that with the wired version. And I can read my paper material right on my desk in front of me where the keyboard normally is. For once I don't have to get up and go over to another table just to read!
As for the glitches, there have been NONE. The receiver base picks up the signal from the keyboard, as well as the mouse just fine. Not a single dropped character due to physical objects blocking the path of the signal, or of radio waves or any other interference messing up the signal.
Even when I have things in the way like papers, a book or my PDA, nothing seems to block the signal. It even picks up the signal from 10 feet away (if given a straight shot). It's the freakiest thing to sit 10 feet away from your computer while typing on a keyboard in your lap and seeing things happen on the screen - 10 feet away! Not that it's very useful. It's not like I can read anything from that distance! But it is kind of fun - for a couple of minutes anyway.
The mouse, like the other reviewer said, could definitely use some work. But I have a different problem with it than he did. I've been using the wired optical mouse for ages, but it's the 4-button version. I had grown very accustomed to clicking on the left side buttons to go back or forward in a web browser. This new wireless mouse is only a 2-button version, so if you've grown accustomed to 4 buttons, you'll have to actually click the back-arrow on the browser or hit the backspace key. Neither are as convenient or as fast as the 4-button mouse.
As far as moving the mouse around, it is every bit as accurate as the wired version. But I think it does help if you use it on a mouse pad. My desk surface is glass and it doesn't work on that at all. Just to see if it would work, I've put it on my leg to see if it would be able to detect movement from optically "seeing" the fabric in my pants. It does, but not well enough that you'd want to do that very often. It works pretty well if I move it around on the pages of a book. But it's not as accurate as it is on the mousepad. An optical mouse not only needs something it can "see", it also needs to be on a completely flat surface. From what I can tell it's every bit as accurate as the wired optical mouse. (By the way optical mice are great. If you've never used one I highly recommend them - they last forever)!
In the end, I end up using the keyboard and the mouse in pretty much the same position I used the wired versions in. On my desk, in front of the monitor. I can't think of much reason to use them anywhere else! So I wouldn't say that being wireless gives you much extra flexibility to move around the room - it really doesn't. Because you still have to be close enough to the monitor to see it. But the surprise is how much I've enjoyed not having those 2 wires running all over my desk, and knocking things over every time I moved the keyboard or mouse.
To be accurate, this wireless keyboard/mouse set really only gets rid of one wire. You get rid of the two regular keyboard/mouse wires, but you add a wire that goes from the base receiver set to the computer. So you still have one wire. However, this wire can be put out of the way - like way on the back of your desk. And it never moves. So it doesn't get tangled up in other things like a keyboard and mouse wire can.
The wireless advantage really goes to the mouse - because you move a mouse around a lot. If you're like me, you're constantly re-positioning the mouse to get enough slack back in the wire. And the wire always seems to be getting tangled up in something. Or the cat sits on it. With this wireless mouse, no more re-positioning necessary. And no more tangling up. And the cat can even sit between the mouse and the receiving unit and it still works fine. (Although the cat is unknowingly getting zapped every time I click. So much fun for me as I click at twice my normal rate when she's in the way)!
Oh, one disadvantage to the wireless mouse I've just discovered... it can fall on the floor. I've never had a wired mouse fall. The wire, of course, prevents it from doing so. But this one has fallen twice already! And I've only had it a few days. But it's still working fine - falls and all.
And one last thing. This wireless keyboard/mouse combination costs $99 at CompUSA. However, they sell a $9.99 1-year replacement warranty. I trade in my keyboard about once every 3 months (hate it when they keys get stiff). So I will in essence get the same package 3 months from now for just $10 bucks. Divide that out and you can have 4 new keyboards in 12 months, bringing the average cost down to just $32.50 per set. CompUSA's replacement warranties for things you know you like to replace often are just the ticket. (Yes, they will actually sell you a new replacement warranty when you use the first one to trade in your keyboard for a new one - so every keyboard after the first, costs just $10)!
8/9/03 UPDATE: Now that I've had this keyboard/mouse for almost 2 weeks I'm even more of a fan. I'm a fanatic about the feel of the keys on a keyboard. I like that soft cushy feeling you get with new keyboards. The problem is with the cheap $30 keyboards - they have that feel for about 2 days and then the keys get harder and harder to press. Well, after almost 2 weeks of very heavy usage this keyboard has lost, I would estimate, maybe about 5% of that soft feel. Much, much better than the typical keyboard.
8/22/03 UPDATE: The mouse batteries died yesterday. Giving it a useful battery life of about 3 weeks. Pretty heavy, 9-10 hours-a-day usage though. Have plenty of spare batteries on hand if you don't want to have to stop work in the middle of something when the mouse goes out! Still think it's a great product though. And the keyboard is still like new! Really great keyboard.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 99.99
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Epinions.com ID:
lazylizard
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Location: New York, NY
Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 1 member
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