Adesso 2.4 GHZ WIRELESS SLIMTOUCH TOUCHPAD MINI KEYBOARD SILVER W/BLACK KEYS ( WKB-4000US )
by ADESSO
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Our Price: $75.00
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Category: CE
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Customers in the UK,
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Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: ADESSOAudio: English (Original Language)
Format: CD
Platform: Windows
Model: WKB-4000US
Color: Silver/Black
Product features:
- 2.4GHz Smark Link w/4 Auto-Changeable Channels
- RF means no line of sight restrictions.
- Two-button touchpad takes the place of your mouse.
- Includes embedded numeric keypad and function keys.
- Small and good looking -- goes anywhere.
- Mavis Beacon Typing 17 [OLD VERSION]
- Typing Instructor Deluxe 17
- AmazonBasics USB 2.0 A-Male to A-Female Extension Cable (3.3 Feet/1.0 Meter)
- Typing Instructor For Kids 4 [Old Version]
- AmazonBasics USB 2.0 A-Male to B-Male Cable (6 Feet / 1.8 Meters)
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Adesso 2.4 GHZ WIRELESS SLIMTOUCH TOUCHPAD MINI KEYBOARD SILVER W/BLACK KEYS ( WKB-4000US )
Customer Review: The Reason Why This Product Is Not Flying
Summary: 2 Stars
this keyboard is terrible. regardless of whether you are a touch-typist or a fat-fingered freak you will be equally disappointed.
let's get to the full story. i'm writing this review NOT from the adesso keyboard from a microsoft keyboard with a 5ft cable. obviously i'm not sitting very far away from the screen. let me first introduce my layout and why the need for a wireless keyboard had arisen in the first place.
my laptop is capable of 1920x1080. i got myself a 47" lcd monitor capable of 1080i. perfect harmony, crisp rendering and hence excellent readability at a distance. now all that i needed was to be able to sit about 6-10ft away from the monitor to work in peace.
the search for the wireless keyboard first ended at the Logitech MediaBoard Pro Wireless Keyboard. I returned it in 12 minutes flat after it showed up at my door. shabby is not the word to describe it's construction and looks. the only other option was this adesso.
my no frills feature wish list was short and none of the items were negotiable. these were :
- laptop-like layout which means keyboard with a touchpad or trackpoint *under* keyboard. this hugely reduces hand travel and the time to reposition the right hand index finger on J (touch typists listen up). this was one of the problems with the Logitech i bought first which had the touchpad on the right.
- compact form factor and if not pretty at least not hideous looking.
- under $100
- decent battery life
this adesso keyboard fit my requirements like a glove. it was sleek, looked nice, was affordable and has a very reasonable sleep feature that lets the thing for a month on a fresh set of batteries. (i must disclaim here that battery life eventually became the LEAST of my worries since i had a set of 4 extra rechargeable NiMH on standby which i could swap out in a second if something seemed sluggish).
but who knew that someone could actually insult the entire concept of a keyboard and release this piece of wireless atrocity into the wild. a keyboard in my opinion should know two things - 1. button down..type that character 2. button up..stop typing that character. that's what you would think. but this keyboard has a different take on these fundamental laws.
following block typed with the adesso
the problem is "with duppplicate keystrokeeesss that i didn't type....". this is especially a problem with combination keys like Ctrl-Alt RightArrow which in my XP is configured to switch to a different screen. but too often when i hold down Ctrl-Alt and hit the right-arrow once while still hoding down the Ctrl-Alt. but the keyboard thinks the right-arrow is still down and keeps switching screens as long as the ctrl-alt is held down. another example is the simple Alt-Tab to switch between windows. here again i press Alt and keep it pressed. then i keep hitting tab until i reach the correct window and release Alt. but the keyboard once again often thinks that the TAB is not released and keeps scrolling the selector even when i just have the Alt key down.
as you can see this is not some missing feature or the Ctrl key being in the wrong place that you can come to terms with like your carpel tunnel. this is the sort of thing that can make you question your existence. now it's not like this problem popped up suddenly. it's just always been there and despite being the chronic nitpicker i've just assumed that the problem will somehow just go away or maybe an angel will someday show me the fix.
that angel never came nor answered my email. i emailed adesso several times to no avail. friends ridiculed my decision to keep it instead of returning it at the first sign of the problem. i have to say; so compelling and well designed were all the other aspects of the keyboard that i actually was willing to overlook the problem of "not being able to type on it".
it starts doing crazy stuff at the most inopportune moments like say when i'm in a meeting on webex explaining something to a group (maybe bitching about how bad my keyboard was..) and it will start stammering and/or duplicating keystrokes.
technical note: the keyboard operates on a 2.4GHz frequency. my house has no other devices in this range to suspect interference. i've tried different channels. on key down the make code transmission doesn't work about 10% of the time (thus causing the stammering). break codes fail almost as often as 20% of the time (thus causing endless duplicate keystrokes even when you are not touching the keyboard). all this from just a distance of less that 5 feet. the comms team really messed up here. for god's sake it's not even duplex!! longer distances make the problems worse. this is not a freak case with my unit as you will see the problem being reported commonly among these reviews. it's just amazing what people will adjust to and even give out a generous number of stars.
so at this point i don't know what else you are looking for in this review. if you are going to say "uh, i'm ok even if what i type doesn't show up correctly on the screen...just tell me about the other features", then you are better off reading some other review with 5 stars.
Good (it doesn't really matter):
- great battery life
- great looks, form factor. not too wide as they knocked out the numpad
- touchpad in the right place
- the layout design is suitable for gamers, developers ONLY IF IT WORKED
Bad
- don't call it a keyboard if the keystrokes are often vaporized. it's just board
- this may be subjective but not the best key feel for fast typists. the key travel is too resistant. i've swapped dozens of wired keyboard for the feel and my pick is the MS comfort curve v1.0 for it's phenomenal feel, key travel and above all extremely silent operation.
- the scrolling area is too wide and is not adjustable. this might just be about finding the right driver. but the default is just too wide.
- (minor) Fn key where most would expect the Ctrl key.
final verdict - go with something else till they give this pretty thing a bypass.
More Adesso 2.4 GHZ WIRELESS SLIMTOUCH TOUCHPAD MINI KEYBOARD SILVER W/BLACK KEYS ( WKB-4000US ) reviews:
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Description of Adesso 2.4 GHZ WIRELESS SLIMTOUCH TOUCHPAD MINI KEYBOARD SILVER W/BLACK KEYS ( WKB-4000US )
Adesso WKB-4000US Wireless Mini Touchpad Keyboard WKB-4000US Keyboards & KeypadsDigital Cameras & Photo Categories
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