Kensington PilotBoard Wireless Desktop

[wyzard]

Hi... Saw this at Best Buy with the Mini.

Anyone using this?

What are your thoughts on this... any problems with it? Price seems to be right....

Thanks.

[WC3_Gamer]

well, the thing with that keyboard, is since it doesn't use bluetooth, you have to plug the reciever unit into what is probably a USB drive.
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Gone.

[devo]

Can't say how it works or how the keys feel, but it sure looks like a good match with the mini's silver and white coloring.

[wyzard]

Yeah.. I know you'd have to plug the receiver into a USB port... I've got a MiniMate and by removing the Apple USB keyboard I would just use that port, so I really won't be losing one...

I might pick one of these sets up... Wonder if it works with Tiger 10.4.2...

[Susurrus]

I'm using the Logitech wireless set. I don't know which one and it doesn't say on it. It's pretty nice. I would recommend it even though it's black because it looks way nicer than that Kensington one.

If you're looking for BT so that it doesn't plug in, I've got my eyes set on the DiNovo by Logitech. Mmm it's pretty!

Yes, it does cost half of what a Mini does....
_________________
Computer Engineer
Junior, Brown University
15" NC8430 HP Laptop
1.42Ghz PPC Mac Mini, 1Gb RAM, 1st Gen
40GB G4 iPod
2GB Black iPod Nano

[Bandit Bill]

Man that DiNovo is expensive. I though I was crazy wanting the Matias at $99 US (keyboard only)

[Susurrus]

[wyzard]

So... is anyone using this with their mini??

[pok1mon]

i have this set.

overall it's a good keyboard and mouse set considering the nice price tag too.

it's not plug and play tho.

plug it in and it works fine. BUT the hotkeys dont function. but nothing a simple driver install wont cure. it's cool because if you install the driver with the disk it comes with, it'll check online for the must updated driver. so that problem is SOLVED.

after installing the driver, all the hotkeys work BUT two. and i still cant figure it out. the left side of the keyboard has a scroll wheel, foward and back button. the back and forward buttons never worked, even after the driver install. but then again, i didnt check in the system preferences if i need to activate it or not. it's not a BIG deal since i dont really use the keyboard for that, the mouse forward and back buttons are good for me. but i just dont like the feeling of products that i buy not working 100%. but it's something i looked passed.

it comes w/ four batteries. two for the mouse and two for the keyboard. nice combo. i wondered about it because i dont think ive seen a keyboard only using up two AA batteries. the logitech i have at work takes 6 batteries all together. not sure how long the keyboard will last on two beans. but ive only had it for a month.

kewl thing about it is, you only use up the one usb port for both mouse and keyboard. my wireless logitech requires usb AND ps/2. dont know if the newers ones are different tho.

the icons for the hotkeys suck. they are drawn badly and cant make out their symbol. i know them now because i read the manual. after using the keyboard you do get familiar w/ the hotkeys to the point where you dont notice the bad icons. i do LOVE the media controller at the top. alwayz have. works great w/ itunes.

cant really tell you much about the mouse. i use a wacom tablet. i have no need for a mouse. i do sugguest getting a tablet. they are so much better. but i HAVE used the kensington mouse before and it was pretty good. nothing wrong with it. it's a nice feel.

i realize its a lot of complaining about the keyboard, but in all honestly i like the keyboard. use it everyday. i like it a lot more than my logitech. to me, it looks cool, and as a mac user, im all about looks (i know, im shallow, but why get a cool computer and top it w/ a ugly keyboard? but then again, they dont make many ugly keyboards for mac ). i hide the wireless receiver under my desk, so it seems like the bluetooth keyboard.

not sure how far(distance) you can go w/ the kensington tho, i dont work too far from my desk or monitor. but the wireless goes tho the desk very well, and never had a problem with it.

on a scale of 1-10, i would give it an 8.

hope this helps.

pok1mon

[wyzard]

Pok1mon...

Thanks for the information. I must be shallow also, as part of my reasoning for getting the keyboard/mouse combo is looks....

This set seem to provide the functionality as well as the looks at a really good price. I saw a couple of others a Mac Mall...

One was a Belkin and the other a MacAlly...

I think I'm going to go for the Kensington though... save some money for some other fun things.....

[pok1mon]

oh, i did forget to mention that the mouse it comes w/ DOES NOT have the forward/back buttons.

like i mentioned before, i use the wacom. but i know those buttons are a pretty important feature to have.


pok1mon

[Susurrus]

[PeskyGee]

I had this Keyboard and returned it. For me personally, the mouse was very cheap and didn't work very good. I would use it for a while and my hand would be killing me. Was an ergo problem. I will say that the keyboard was very nice. the only problem I had with it was that if you wanted to try and boot from a different device at start, sometimes it had a hard time working proper. I took it back and got a standard corded Mac Keyboard. Nice to have the extra USB's for my gamepad and Mouse.

[nolandempsey]

[slickrick]