Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop

By pimpshiznid
in Member Reviews

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Grand Master

pimpshiznid

Posted
Posted

For the last few weeks, I have been looking for a new keyboard and mouse. I have always stuck with the cheapest keyboard I could find, and probably, thats why I went through 3 keyboards in 2 months. So, I decided I need to find me a new keyboard. That's why when I saw this keyboard set at Outpost.com for $36.63, I decided to jump on it.

I ordered it at 6pm yesterday ground shipping with DHL. At 12pm this morning, it was on my porch. Quick service, so I got right to it.

When I opened the box, it was nice to see a properly packed keyboard. When I buy my typical cheap kyboard, you'd wonder how it still has all it's keys on it with the way it was packed. Everything was there... Keyboard, mouse, cd, USB adapter, wireless dongle, and batteries.

package.jpg

The first thing the instructions told me to do was install the drivers. This, was quite painless. Now, some people are probably asking "Since when do you need to drivers for a keyboard and mouse?". The keyboard has mutimedia keys, which, in my opinion was a godsend.

Next step was to power down the computer, and plug in the wireless dongle. You have 2 options, using the standard keyboard and mouse plugs, or go USB. I decided to stick with the standard ports, I might as well.

Now you turn on the computer. I sat down, and couldn't use the keyboard. Aha! Forgot to allow the wireless keyboard and mouse to connect. You have to press a button on the bottom of both the keyboard and mouse one at a time, after clicking the connect button on the reciever.

wirelessdongle.jpg

One dislike I found immediately was the manuals inability to tell you exactly which keyboard and mouse to choose in the drivers. Luckiiy, there were pictures corresponding to the keyboards, so I chose .

Another dislike was the Home, End, Page Up, Page Down, and Delete Keys. For some odd reason, they chose to make the Delete key 2 keys long. It is annoying to click as I normally would, and find out I pressed the wrong button. I included a picture so you can see what I'm talking about.

keyboard.jpg

Next I tested distance with the keyboard and mouse. Anywhere in my 12x16 room, I could use both effectively.

The media keys were a personal favorite. I love being able to sit on my couch in my room, and adjust the volume, or skip a song, from over 10 feet away. When the media key is pressed, it will automatically open the default audio app, which for me, was iTunes. iTunes recognized the keys, so everything went smooth.

mediakeys.jpg

The mouse is just your typical optical 2 button mouse. Movement was smooth.

mouse.jpg

Overall, I think this keyboard & mouse are one of the best sets I have ever used. I was looking at the Logitech MX Duo, but decided against it, for the cost. The only real difference I think between the 2 is the rechargeable mouse, which isn't worth the extra $45. I give it 2 thumbs up! (Y) (Y)

Stay tuned in the Reviews section for my review of the GeCube 9550XT next week!

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Grand Master

pimpshiznid

Posted
  • Author
Posted
how does the keyboard perform... does it go to sleep or anything

No, it doesn't go to sleep. I was told that typical battery life for the keyboard is 4-7 months, and all it needs is 2 AA batteries. I have a few sets of rechargables that I am going to use, so I don't have to buy batteries.

Grand Master

ozgeek

Posted
Posted

Agree with you, pimpshiznid. I have the same bundle except that the mouse is different (the newer one than yours). My keyboard is the same as your one but it has see-through keys. And you CAN customize the multimedia buttons to start a different program or perform a different action than it's default.

The set is always active whether it is in use or not. The mouse goes to sleep by dimming down it's optical led light after a sec of inactivity.

Mentor

Plarkster

Posted
Posted

Nice review - I just got the same set and was thinking of posting a review but you beat me to it! :)

It's a really nice set - I got mine for ?32 plus delivery from overclockers.co.uk, the mouse I got is the new horizontal scroll wheel mouse. This was one of the reasons I first looked at this set. I looked at a lot of wireless sets but couldn't find anything anywhere near as good for the money. Most decent sets are at least ?60.

The only additional comments I have are:

1. Like the keys above the cursor keys, the F keys are laid out differently which may take a bit of getting used to.

2. I switched from an Intellimouse Explorer, and the only thing that I don't like about my new mouse is that it's so hard to click the wheel.

3. The mouse wheel wont open up new pages in Firefox when clicking it on links, yet it does in MyIE2 - I'll have to look into this.

4. The mouse doesn't have back and forward buttons - I knew this before I bought it and decided I could live without the extra buttons. I just use Mouse Gestures in Firefox now.

5. The range of the keyboard and mouse is a couple of feet more than advertised - it works really well. The only problem I had was the mouse stuttering sometimes randomly. I moved the receiver a bit further away from my monitor and it seems ok now

6. The keyboard doesn't have numlock, caps lock or F lock LEDs - these are on the receiver. This doesn't really bother me, but means you have to keep the sensor in sight. If you install the drivers, a message appears on screen when these keys are pressed.

7. The horizontal scroll wheel works well, although I found the default setting far too slow. You have to install the driver to use this, and the settings can easily be adjusted.

Overall, I'm really please with this wireless set. I certainly don't think I could have got anything better without spending nearly double the money.

  • 2 weeks later...
Neowinian

buraddo

Posted
Posted

My girlfiends has the reviewed set for almost a year now. The keyboard recently quit working. Tried new batteries, tried trading them with the mouse since that worked too. I tried the connect button and with the mouse button the receiver light stops flashing almost immediately, the keyboard button doesn't do anything, it just keeps on flashing. Is the keyboard toast?

  • 2 weeks later...
Grand Master

pimpshiznid

Posted
  • Author
Posted
My girlfiends has the reviewed set for almost a year now. The keyboard recently quit working. Tried new batteries, tried trading them with the mouse since that worked too. I tried the connect button and with the mouse button the receiver light stops flashing almost immediately, the keyboard button doesn't do anything, it just keeps on flashing. Is the keyboard toast?

Sorry it took so long to reply...

But yeah... Probably. Sounds like the RF unit in the keyboard went bad. Call up Microsoft. They are extremely good about customer. Many times I have heard of Microsoft sending out a unit and telling the user that they don't have to send the faulty one back.

Veteran

Dean W

Posted
Posted

alot of my friends didnt like the keyboard and mouse, cuz they was using it for games etc, and they was only using standard AA batteries, but i told them to get rechargable batteries, and they love it now lol

But good review on this keyboard and mouse

Grand Master

IK47

Posted
Posted

I have the wired version that keyboard and the wireless optical mouse sitting in my closet.

The keyboard you bought is A+ (Microsoft makes the absolute Keyboard IMO)

Mouse isn't too great though. Maybe in the future you can buy a mx510?

IK.

Mentor

Post-It Note

Posted
Posted

I had bought the MS optical wireless mouse, and it was not a very good mouse. Arround once per day (at least), the mouse would jump from one place to another. Also the tracking is poor. If you moved fast, it would backward accelerate (meaning the mouse reached its limit). I now have the mx duo (off ebay for $42 USD, came with the batteries) and the mx700 is way better than the MS one.

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