| It's good but not great.
The good:
* The position of the joystick and buttons is perfect! You can hold the keyboard in two hands, without needing to rest the keyboard on a separate surface, and still use the joystick and buttons without losing your grip. I love the layout of this keyboard.
* The keyboard is thin and small, without being too small to use. I'm glad it doesn't have a numeric keypad. It fits nicely on the console of an exercise bike.
BTW, this particular model doesn't have the extra Windows Media keys, but they're available on other models, filling in the empty top area between the joystick and buttons, so they won't take up any extra space.
* The RF seems to work well enough, once it's paired. Line of sight is not a requirement.
The bad:
* The joystick is s-l-o-o-o-o-w... even when pushed all the way, it still moves the mouse pointer very slowly across the screen. The joystick doesn't simulate moving the mouse fast enough, so forget about playing games. Changing Windows Mouse control panel settings all the way over to Fast helps a little, but makes it impractical to use a normal mouse with the computer.
* The pairing is easily forgotten. This is easy enough to reset, just hit a button on the USB receiver then hit the corresponding button on the keyboard, but for some stupid reason, they made the keyboard button *recessed*, so that you need a paper clip to hit it! Considering the pairing must be repeated whenever the USB receiver loses power, this is a real pain! It's clearly designed to be left in permanently, to a media center computer that's left on 24/7.
* The RF connection uses the ever-popular 2.4 GHz frequency, so your wireless Internet connection will suffer whenever this keyboard is in use.
* The keyboard just feels cheap. Thicker plastic would help. The keys also aren't springy enough, so they stick down, causing unwanted repeats when typing. The manual is written in Engrish, and doesn't tell you anything useful.
The ugly:
* I can't believe there's not more choice of wireless small keyboards out there. You'd think, with the popularity of living room media PC setups, that there would be more manufacturers. Neither Microsoft nor Logitech has a decent wireless, media, mini, RF keyboard. So, these off-brand keyboards are the best we can buy, for now.
Infrared keyboards should go the way of mechanical ball mice. Infrared is nearly useless due to its slow speed, and requirement for a strict line of sight. I'm glad this keyboard uses RF. I wish it wouldn't use 2.4 GHz, though! Making a computer product, that uses the same frequency as the computer's Internet connection, seems rather shortsighted to me.
| | Does what I need it to do |
| I picked one up last weekend, while I cant comment on battery life yet it works great and does what I needed it for. The keyboard and mouse pointer work every time and with no delay at 10 feet. I took it as far away as I could and still see the tv(maybe 25-30 feet back) and it was still working fine. No drivers needed, just plug it in, push the connect buttons on the keyboard & receiver and it works.
| | The keyboard is supposed to be compatible with OS X, but it's not. The biggest problem is that the keyboard is hypersensitive and repeats almost every letter, even with the system prefs adjusted. There's also a delay before anything appears on screen. So I guess it's also undersensitive. I found the joy stick hard to control, but maybe one could get used to it. The construction seems very cheap. Also: I emailed the company for help on the repeat keys over a week ago and got no reply. I'm returning to ergogeek, where I bought it. Ergogeek, by the way, seems like a great company. No complaints there.
| | A terrible experience for over a year |
| My husband and I bought this keyboard for our (then new) HTPC over a year ago. We read a mix of good and bad reviews online, but took a chance and hoped we'd get a good keyboard since it looked like a decent value. Well, the first one we received just didn't work. The second one worked... sort of... We can't use it from the couch 8' from computer, direct line of sight. By "direct line of sight," I mean that the HTPC is at sitting height, and there is nothing but floor between the couch and the computer. If we stand right in front of the HTPC and point the keyboard directly at it, _sometimes_ the thing will _mostly_ work. Since we use the HTPC for our TV viewing, we are constantly trying to type in web addresses, and 95% of the time this keyboard cannot get through an entire address without a problem. You cannot imagine anything more frustrating. We just received our new diNovo, so this keyboard is shortly (finally!!) going to meet an ugly death on our driveway.
On the plus side, if you use your HTPC for TV and want your kids to read more, this product would suit your needs.
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