Greg
07-23-2006, 02:08 PM
I just spent 3 days picking a keyboard and wireless mouse. I finally decided on the HP Multimedia Keyboard and Logitech LX7 Wireless Mouse, two separate purchases.
The LX7 mouse is a real nice upgrade for me. I had a wired optical, a stock Dell that has served me well, but I just wore it out. The scroll wheel was not moving the screen all the time anymore. Slamming the mouse on the desk to get it working again eventually stopped curing the problem. I always hated the cord, so I decided to try a wireless. I'll say more on the things it does later.
I got the keyboard because the left shift key on the stock Dell keyboard I have would bind when I hit it to the far left. It seems that when pressed from the far side, the key tends to get crooked while going down the channel it rides in and causes a bind. It's like hitting a speed bump in the road driving at 25MPH and you didn't see it coming. Typing away running with and idea and bam, jammed keyboard! That got old and the HP Multimedia Keyboard is now on my desk. Let me tell you about the keyboards I decided not to use after testing them before I tell you about the HP's features.
The first keyboard I tried was a Micro Innovations Wireless Multimedia Keyboard/Scroll Mouse KB980W. This was an ok wireless keyboard and mouse combo. The mouse was as basic as my Dell mouse was, but wireless. I liked it and could have lived with it.
The keyboard was not much different from the Dell in feel or layout. It did have an additional row of web and multimedia control buttons above the function keys and they worked. What I did not like is that the wireless keyboard did not have indicator lights for Num Lock, Caps Lock and Scroll Lock. These were very obviously missing. I'm just used to seeing them in the corner of my eye. Sometimes you turn them on or off and later when entering a password somewhere, the password doesn***8217;t work. So the first place I look is to see if one of those is not set correctly. To do that with a wireless keyboard, you have to look for the indicators in the system tray. Not a big deal if you don't use an auto hide task bar, but I do hide mine and have to grab the mouse and un hide it to see what the keyboard status is. I found it annoying, but was going to try to live with it. Then the M key stopped working correctly and back to the store that setup went.
The second setup that I tried was a Logitech Cordless Desktop and Optical Mouse. Not much to add here. This keyboard and mouse were about the same features as the old Dell and the MI I tried. Same mouse features, but the scroll wheel on the mouse had a real solid detent you could feel when you scrolled. There is too much resistance when you scroll.
The keyboard had the same feel and actually a few less web and multimedia buttons. It worked well. However the keyboard status lights got to me again. On this one there were no queues on the taskbar, they were a separate popup box that you could hang on your desktop. Yuck. The Logitech software disappointed me.
I decided I didn't like that and would get a separate wired keyboard and a wireless optical mouse.
The mouse I chose, the Logitech LX7, is a nice wireless optical mouse. It has a side scroll feature you invoke by pressing the scroll wheel right or left. There are two buttons for browser back and forward. These work in Firefox, but required a driver upgrade from the Logitech website to get them to work. There also is a power button to turn it off when you know you will be away from you computer an extended amount of time.
One of the nicer things about the mouse is the transceiver for the wireless connection. The previous two setups had a wired transceiver that sat up on the desk. The LX7 has a nice little transceiver the size of a flash drive. It's USB and plugs right into the PS2 port with an adapter. If it works at that distance, you are fine. Mine works good this way. But, if it doesn***8217;t reach for what ever reason, there is a wired desktop cradle you can put the USB transceiver in on your desktop.
The LX7 wireless mouse uses two AA batteries. Logitech supplied 2 Duracell batteries. It has a nice weight to it with the batteries installed. The LX7 mouse uses what is called invisible optics. There is no red beam of light like a convention wireless mouse.
Now the keyboard choice was becoming clear to me. I had about a dozen keyboards in the garage I tried before I decided none would work; I mean they were in the garage. My wife says I need to throw them away. But if I do, I'll surely need one the next week. We have kids and they get my hand me downs. Kids can be rough on that kind of stuff.
I had used nice heavy NMB keyboards in the past. They would remind you of the old IBM typewriter from back in the day. Nice tactile feel. Nice layout if you have big hands. Plus, they would last a long time.
I started looking with this in mind. I keyboard with some weight and a nice tactile feel. Web and multimedia buttons would be a plus, but I don't think I need um or would use um anyway. That remains to be seen as I never had them before as I don't do much multimedia. I do programming and writing.
Now I'm not a real particular person when it comes to hardware. Fair price, right features, sold. So I was on a budget and being a little particular here. But that was not a problem at all.
I came across the HP Multimedia Keyboard. There was one on display and I could try it out. I picked it up first. Nice weight. It has a nice shape too. It's a rectangle! Nice! What is up with all the keyboards with the curves on the facing edge? Is that ergo or deco? I like the straight edge; I can put my wrist pad in front of the keyboard and be comfortable. The curved ones never feel right with my wrist pad, so I had passed those up first off.
I notice a nice set op multimedia and web buttons. There is even a volume knob. Is it too much? It's nice to the eye with the extra buttons. The color is appealing with black keys and a silver accent panel around them on the mainly black body.
I click a key and I'm pleasantly surprised. It's firm, but gives. There is a nice tactile feel and while it's quiet, it's not mushy.
The full compliment of web and multimedia buttons and a set of Word Shortcut keys are nice additions. But it remains to be seen if I use them. The LX7 mouse can do the web and I don't do much MM. However I did test the buttons and found that the web back and forward buttons work in IE only. I tried the updated driver, but it would still not work with firefox.
I wrote a letter to support. The contact was Micro Impressions. They seem to be the manufacturer for HP in this case. I hope they update the driver soon. But other then that, I like my new Human Interface Devices.
The LX7 mouse is a real nice upgrade for me. I had a wired optical, a stock Dell that has served me well, but I just wore it out. The scroll wheel was not moving the screen all the time anymore. Slamming the mouse on the desk to get it working again eventually stopped curing the problem. I always hated the cord, so I decided to try a wireless. I'll say more on the things it does later.
I got the keyboard because the left shift key on the stock Dell keyboard I have would bind when I hit it to the far left. It seems that when pressed from the far side, the key tends to get crooked while going down the channel it rides in and causes a bind. It's like hitting a speed bump in the road driving at 25MPH and you didn't see it coming. Typing away running with and idea and bam, jammed keyboard! That got old and the HP Multimedia Keyboard is now on my desk. Let me tell you about the keyboards I decided not to use after testing them before I tell you about the HP's features.
The first keyboard I tried was a Micro Innovations Wireless Multimedia Keyboard/Scroll Mouse KB980W. This was an ok wireless keyboard and mouse combo. The mouse was as basic as my Dell mouse was, but wireless. I liked it and could have lived with it.
The keyboard was not much different from the Dell in feel or layout. It did have an additional row of web and multimedia control buttons above the function keys and they worked. What I did not like is that the wireless keyboard did not have indicator lights for Num Lock, Caps Lock and Scroll Lock. These were very obviously missing. I'm just used to seeing them in the corner of my eye. Sometimes you turn them on or off and later when entering a password somewhere, the password doesn***8217;t work. So the first place I look is to see if one of those is not set correctly. To do that with a wireless keyboard, you have to look for the indicators in the system tray. Not a big deal if you don't use an auto hide task bar, but I do hide mine and have to grab the mouse and un hide it to see what the keyboard status is. I found it annoying, but was going to try to live with it. Then the M key stopped working correctly and back to the store that setup went.
The second setup that I tried was a Logitech Cordless Desktop and Optical Mouse. Not much to add here. This keyboard and mouse were about the same features as the old Dell and the MI I tried. Same mouse features, but the scroll wheel on the mouse had a real solid detent you could feel when you scrolled. There is too much resistance when you scroll.
The keyboard had the same feel and actually a few less web and multimedia buttons. It worked well. However the keyboard status lights got to me again. On this one there were no queues on the taskbar, they were a separate popup box that you could hang on your desktop. Yuck. The Logitech software disappointed me.
I decided I didn't like that and would get a separate wired keyboard and a wireless optical mouse.
The mouse I chose, the Logitech LX7, is a nice wireless optical mouse. It has a side scroll feature you invoke by pressing the scroll wheel right or left. There are two buttons for browser back and forward. These work in Firefox, but required a driver upgrade from the Logitech website to get them to work. There also is a power button to turn it off when you know you will be away from you computer an extended amount of time.
One of the nicer things about the mouse is the transceiver for the wireless connection. The previous two setups had a wired transceiver that sat up on the desk. The LX7 has a nice little transceiver the size of a flash drive. It's USB and plugs right into the PS2 port with an adapter. If it works at that distance, you are fine. Mine works good this way. But, if it doesn***8217;t reach for what ever reason, there is a wired desktop cradle you can put the USB transceiver in on your desktop.
The LX7 wireless mouse uses two AA batteries. Logitech supplied 2 Duracell batteries. It has a nice weight to it with the batteries installed. The LX7 mouse uses what is called invisible optics. There is no red beam of light like a convention wireless mouse.
Now the keyboard choice was becoming clear to me. I had about a dozen keyboards in the garage I tried before I decided none would work; I mean they were in the garage. My wife says I need to throw them away. But if I do, I'll surely need one the next week. We have kids and they get my hand me downs. Kids can be rough on that kind of stuff.
I had used nice heavy NMB keyboards in the past. They would remind you of the old IBM typewriter from back in the day. Nice tactile feel. Nice layout if you have big hands. Plus, they would last a long time.
I started looking with this in mind. I keyboard with some weight and a nice tactile feel. Web and multimedia buttons would be a plus, but I don't think I need um or would use um anyway. That remains to be seen as I never had them before as I don't do much multimedia. I do programming and writing.
Now I'm not a real particular person when it comes to hardware. Fair price, right features, sold. So I was on a budget and being a little particular here. But that was not a problem at all.
I came across the HP Multimedia Keyboard. There was one on display and I could try it out. I picked it up first. Nice weight. It has a nice shape too. It's a rectangle! Nice! What is up with all the keyboards with the curves on the facing edge? Is that ergo or deco? I like the straight edge; I can put my wrist pad in front of the keyboard and be comfortable. The curved ones never feel right with my wrist pad, so I had passed those up first off.
I notice a nice set op multimedia and web buttons. There is even a volume knob. Is it too much? It's nice to the eye with the extra buttons. The color is appealing with black keys and a silver accent panel around them on the mainly black body.
I click a key and I'm pleasantly surprised. It's firm, but gives. There is a nice tactile feel and while it's quiet, it's not mushy.
The full compliment of web and multimedia buttons and a set of Word Shortcut keys are nice additions. But it remains to be seen if I use them. The LX7 mouse can do the web and I don't do much MM. However I did test the buttons and found that the web back and forward buttons work in IE only. I tried the updated driver, but it would still not work with firefox.
I wrote a letter to support. The contact was Micro Impressions. They seem to be the manufacturer for HP in this case. I hope they update the driver soon. But other then that, I like my new Human Interface Devices.