Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Excellent May 2, 2010
Joel Kolstad (Wimer, OR USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
A. Aulakh's review there is pretty good, so I'll just add a few comments on my own experience...
I'd been looking for a small wireless keyboard (one without the numeric keyboard) for quite some time, and while there are plenty to choose from, I think this particular setup is the best value for the money: All of the ones I saw that were cheaper either looked kinda "crude" (whereas this keyboard and mouse are quite stylish, really) and/or they weren't a paired keyboard AND mouse set (which is OK, but I prefer them to be paired). I actually was using an Apple mini keyboard and Targus mouse -- both Bluetooth -- prior to this setup (on a desktop machine, so I needed a little USB dongle anyway), and while it worked OK, my experience with Bluetooth is that it definitely takes longer to "wake up" from sleep mode here than the Asus here -- plus Bluetooth keyboards and mice are noticeably more expensive than their non-Bluetooth counterparts, for some reason.
A final reason to avoid Bluetooth is that few (if any?) BIOSes/boot menus/etc. (even DOS -- yes, some people still use it!) will recognize a Bluetooth keyboard. (Something most people aren't aware of is that USB keyboards have to support a special "dumbed down" mode which was added specifically so that the relatively "dumb" BIOS could support it without needing anything approaching a USB stack, which is quite complex and large compared to what a BIOS normally is -- as far as I'm aware, Bluetooth doesn't have a similar mode...)
Personally I'm happier with the keyboard and mouse NOT having a power switch -- realistically most people who aren't traveling would likely never bother specifically turning the keyboard or mouse "off," yet I suspect that having such a switch would lead to extra tech support calls and not noticeably increase the battery life anyway. Don't worry, the battery life is fine -- you can trust the keyboard and mouse to power down quickly when they haven't been used for long!
The comments about wanting a smaller dongle and having it fit into the mouse -- yeah, that'd certainly be nice; I expect the reason for omitting these features is that this product is really aimed at a desktop PC user (rather than someone traveling with a laptop) and so Asus didn't really even think of it. (And those people who go "ultra portable," using a smart phone or high-end PDA as their "PC" on the road... well, that's almost always Bluetooth connectivity -- the number of such devices that actually have a USB host mode is VERY small, e.g., the Nokia N800/N810 for instance.)
I haven't had any problems with the space bar, but I do tend to hit keys pretty hard. :-)
Overall I'm very happy with this purchase -- absolutely worth the money, and it fills a niche that I think other manufacturers have largely ignored or not released anything nearly as good.
 great looking, convenient, worthwhile purchase April 24, 2010
A. Aulakh (New York, NY)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I recently bought a large monitor to use in lieu of my laptop LCD screen, and needed a keyboard/mouse to complete my set up. I was looking for something that was form-factor, would look pretty on my desk, was wireless, simple, and works well. I looked at a number of different keyboards (HP elite, microsoft arc, rocketfish, adesso, logitech), and this was the only one that seemed to fit all of my qualifications. The HP, rocketfish, adesso, logitech ones had too much going on (numeric keypad, shortcut keys, etc - who needs em?), and the MS arc one had a strange cursor set up that i knew I would find irritating.
Pros:
- Small (thin, light)
- Easy set up (put in batteries, plugged in dongle, win7 did the rest!)
- Attractive (has 'chiclet' style keys and a piano black finish to the rest of the keyboard/mouse)
- Simple (no 'unnecessary' features)
Cons:
- Spacebar sometimes unresponsive (same issue I have with my Asus laptop - even as I'm writing this review I'm finding that although I'm hitting the spacebar, it doesn't always register unless I hit it pretty forcefully)
- No Bluetooth (bluetooth would be easier since no additional dongle or anything would be necessary for me)
- USB Dongle a bit large (I have another wireless mouse from MS with a dongle roughly an inch long, whereas this one is the size of your typical USB flash drive)
- No 'on/off' button (when not in use, I'm not sure whether it's eating up the battery or goes on some kind of standby. An on-off switch would make it easier to know and save battery power)
- Lack of internal 'storage area' for USB dongle (again, my MS wireless mouse has a little place on it to store the dongle when not in use, so you don't have to worry about losing it. This product would be well-served by a similar feature)
- Volume controls(you can control volume by pressing Fn+F10/11/12, however, dedicated volume control buttons would be easier)
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Update: I found a 'fix' for the spacebar issue on this forum: [...]. I tried it out (using 5-6 layers of tiny square cut-outs of tape instead of the epoxy glue) and the spacebar now works perfectly!!
AWESOME! August 22, 2010
Kerri Hooker (King, NC USA)
Pros:
This keyboard is PERFECT if you're looking for something small, slim, and sleek! The chiclet size keys make it easy to type quick. The mouse is pretty awesome too! I don't need a mouse pad, I just use it directly on my wooden desk.
Cons:
I've had this keyboard for over 2 months now, and the battery life is still great---at least I think so, if you install the setup, it gives you a battery life/capslocks/numlock indicator on the computer while in use...but sometimes it shows up, other times it's not there...I have Windows 7 on an Asus computer.
Other than that, it's a great keyboard for a pretty good price! If you're ordering from [...], I highly recommend the seller! I got my keyboard within 2 business days and shipping is FREE!
Great deal for the money! July 6, 2010
gbrkcus
I have purchased this product without much of an expectation. I was nicely surprised of its appearance and "feel". The keys are soft and remind me so much of my MacBook Air. I have not had any trouble so far.
Beautiful, sleek, and simple... June 16, 2010
Dustin J. Tiberend (San Diego, Ca)
Windows 7 installed the driver in seconds. The combo works great. Exactly what I was looking for. The keys are shallow but feel great when typing and are spaced well for my medium sized hands. Think of it as a good hybrid between an old-school board and a laptop.
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