2.4 GHZ RF WIRELESS MINI KEYBOARD W/OPTICAL TRACKBALL
by ADESSO
Our Price: $88.15
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: CE
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Customers in the UK,
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Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: ADESSOModel: FK-760
Color: Black
Product features:
- Wireless frequency: 10 meters.
- Integrated optical trackball.
- 4-AA batteries included for up to 3 months use.
- Notebook keyboard module enables handheld operation.
- Compatible with Windows ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of 2.4 GHZ RF WIRELESS MINI KEYBOARD W/OPTICAL TRACKBALL
Customer Review: Cheap, cheerful and works like a charm on my Mac
Summary: 4 Stars
ORIGINAL REVIEW, Sept 2007:
I inserted the batteries in the keyboard, plugged in the USB dongle, pressed the ID buttons on both units and the keyboard was talking to my Mac Powerbook from across the room within 3 minutes of unboxing it. Voila! No control panel, no tweaky drivers.
The ergonomics of this compact and very lightweight keyboard are ideally suited for sitting on your lap on the couch in front of your HDTV. As you grasp the upper corners in both hands there is a trackball under your right thumb and a left mouse-button-equivalent under your right index finger. There's a scroll wheel under your left index finger and additional left and right mouse-button-equivalents under your left thumb. The plastic trackball feels a bit grainy but actually operates quite smoothly and I have no problem placing the cursor with near-pixel accuracy on a 1920x1080 screen from across the room. You do have to shift your hands entirely if you want to move them into typing position - in that mode the mouse buttons are not very conveniently placed.
Now for sixty bucks, don't expect the highest quality key action, or completely glitch-free operation. The scroll wheel action seems to slow way down when scrolling slowly and speed way up when moving fast - but I have to say that it does scroll any Mac OS X window that displays a scroll bar. Occasionally the trackball loses its connection to the cursor, but typing any keys on the keyboard syncs it again. The reliable range seems to be about 20 feet - beyond that it can be hit-or-miss. However, you have to give Adesso some credit for decent buid quality; while one look tells you it's clearly a budget keyboard, it does not feel cheezy or flimsy at all.
There are a number of special-purpose multimedia and application launch keys across the top of the keyboard; unfortunately, because there is no Mac-specific driver for this keyboard (it's a USB plug-and-play device) the only ones that work on the Mac OS are the speaker volume up, down and mute - which are still quite handy.
As others have noted, it's difficult to put down after sleeping your computer without inadvertently waking it up again; something inside the keyboard (probably the trackball) is VERY sensitive to jarring and you'll have to learn to place this keyboard down very carefully if you want your machine to stay asleep.
I have only about a week's experience with this unit, but so far, so good.
UPDATE November 2010:
I actually ended up with another one of these and they've been operating fairly reliably for 3 years; one is used as the primary keyboard on my Mac Pro and another as a controller for my Mac Mini HTPC. The ergonomics on these units have proved to be amazing due to the left AND right-hand mouse-buttons, trackball and scroll wheels; unless you need to type characters on the keyboard you can hold it in two hands and navigate fully around any modern GUI. As an HTPC controller it's been great with the caveat that you're basically cradling the thing in your lap while sitting on the couch - it is NOT suitable for one-handed operation.
After a couple of years of regular use the left-hand scroll-wheel on my primary unit started to flake out; opening the case and reconditioning it mechanically didn't do too much to improve the reliability, and it eventually stopped working altogether, so I swapped it with the HTPC unit. (No other functionality on the unit was affected by the scroll-wheel's failure.)
Also, on one of my units the mechanical trackball began to exhibit alot of "stiction", which made fine positioning difficult; I solved this by opening the case (8 small screws) and 1) Cleaning the gunk out, 2) removing the fabric gasket ring that was supposedly sealing the trackball unit against more incoming gunk, and 3) lubricating the ball and contact points with a SMALL amount of silicone lubricant. This made the trackball a looser fit inside its socket but made it rotate very freely and restored its fine positioning ability.
One of the things that made this keyboard feel a bit cheap is the lightweight hollow plastic trackball; I've searched for a steel ball bearing to replace it but haven't found exactly the right size.
Battery life on these units has been less than I'd hoped; however, the keyboard's sleep mechanism is quite effective and the HTPC unit has run on the same set of 4 AAs for much longer (3-4 months) than my desktop unit (~2 months), which gets alot more continuous use without sleeping.
Description of 2.4 GHZ RF WIRELESS MINI KEYBOARD W/OPTICAL TRACKBALL
The FK-760 radio wireless compact keyboard is one of the best computer input devices in the market today. It combines the convenience of radio frequency wireless technology with a built-in optical trackball that features two sets of mouse keys and a scroll wheel. Since it is a wireless keyboard it is a great space saver. The FK-760 features an ergonomic design allowing comfortable use on your desk and even your lap.Digital Cameras & Photo Categories
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