This thing is great. It does what you want it to do. I have it hooked to a Raspberry Pi running RasBMC- just a flavor of XBMC, catered to the Pi. Entering passwords and doing searches is a million times easier with actual letters to press. The touchpad as a mouse control works great.
One thing I don't like is totally personal preference. It has nothing to do with the functions of this- which work fine. It feels too light, translating into feeling "cheap."
It comes with a "cordless phone-like"rechargeable battery (via USB), but for the first time ever I have ever seen in a piece of electronics, you have to option to disconnect the rechargeable and use three AAA's. Totally genius and cool.
But it's so lightweight and thin-skinned... it just feels like it's going to drop and shatter. I might use the AAA battery option just to see if it feels heavier. It's not a valid argument against this device, I realize. AGAIN, NOTHING IS TECHNICALLY WRONG WITH THIS KEYBOARD- It's just a feeling... It doesn't seem like the device could take much abuse. In my house, remotes are ABUSED. Once a toddler gets a hold of one by accident.. ugh. Goodbye battery door. Hello chip in housing. Perhaps goodbye remote- it's happened: completely split in two with rubber button sheet torn to pieces.That sort of thing. It's a rare occasion, but they do get their hands on things they should not. And once one of my little guys get's his paws on this wireless keyboard.... I have a bad feeling the keyboard will lose.
*** I PLAN TO UPDATE THIS REVIEW IF THE KEYBOARD DOES BREAK IN ANY WAY: WHETHER IT IS FOR DEVICE FAILURE UNDER NORMAL USE OR IF IT HAS BEEN DESTROYED BY AN ACCIDENT OR TODDLER MISUSE ****
Other notes. Feels perfect held two handed by an adult: thumbs easily adapt to layout and use. There are two or three positions to hold the device in, depending on hand size and use: (1)Typing, (2)Control Pad L/R, and (3)Touchpad. Nimble fingers can combine the "(2)Control Pads and (3)Touchpad" holding positions into one, but the user does have to hold the controller differently to type than use the upper controls, in any case. The touchpad is responsive and accurate. Addition of "left click and right click mouse" buttons is great. Control Pad controls on each side work great in tandem for my uses, within XBMC. One side is navigation arrows and a center "ok/enter" button, the other side has play controls for media like play/pause, skip forward & back (file / chapter/ track), fast forward, rewind, etc.
The device is somewhat directional. I do have the receiver attached to a Raspberry Pi, on a shelf below a mounted TV. It is turned sideways and the shelf has a lot of other gear on it. From the viewing position, the receiver is about 12 feet away and 5 feet higher than the remote, again, turned sideways, with other video gear close to it, if not butted up against it. I still have about an 80% success rate using it, with all of those obstacles, from my lap. It will miss a signal - because of the way I have positioned it - and if I lift the keyboard out of my lap to eye level and press the button again, it reaches the receiver. I have had it this way for two days and and just going to rearrange the stuff on the shelf so the receiver is out front and has no obstructions. I wrote this because I think it's a good testament to how good the reception is, even with all sorts of obstacles. I don't think it would work if totally covered and behind too much gear, but I haven't tried.
*** I PLAN TO UPDATE THIS REVIEW IF THE KEYBOARD DOES BREAK IN ANY WAY: WHETHER IT IS FOR DEVICE FAILURE UNDER NORMAL USE OR IF IT HAS BEEN DESTROYED BY AN ACCIDENT OR TODDLER MISUSE ****
Take note: Today is February 18, 2014 and I have been using this device for almost two weeks. We shall see how it holds up. I have had a few of these that have had a "Honeymoon"period, prompting tons of positive reviews. Then one wireless keyboard I had wouldn't hold a charge. Another had keys that just didn't work when pressed anymore. Another was dropped and totally disintegrated. I'll be sure to come back and tell you how this keyboard met it's end, even if it's by natural causes in ten years, I'll come back and tell you about it's life and how it died.
| Wireless Type | 2.4 GHz Radio Frequency |
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