14 out of 14 people found this review helpful.
Good for a Microsoft Keyboard
Date of Review: Mar 6, 2007
The Bottom Line: Great replacement keyboard, just need to resolve zoom key issue.
I had to replace the keyboard that was plugged into my laptop, as my son had beat it to death. I decided to buy a new keyboard for my desktop and move that keyboard over to the laptop. I thought long and hard about getting a new wireless setup, as I have resisted that move for a long time. I had a bad experience with one previously at an old employer. It wasn't responsive at times, even when next to the receiver, and it chewed through batteries in no time.
I decided not to go that route. I had looked at keyboards previously, and noticed that this had a feature that is useful. The zoom feature. I bought this keyboard for that reason.
I've had mixed results with the zoom feature. It works well with the Windows picture viewer, but I've had some issues getting it to work with Picasa (Google's Picture viewing program). It doesn't zoom in all the time when I'm looking at a particular picture. I'm still trying to work through this currently, and hope to post an update about that. Word and Excel, two programs I use all the time, respond well to the zoom. I have no complaints with that program.
I really hadn't use the top row buttons for the quick access (e-mail, my documents etc.) in the past. I may have, at best, used the e-mail button. With this keyboard, I have found myself using the buttons a little more than I used to, although I still haven't programed the 5 favorites, and I probably won't. The volume buttons are nice, and the computer responds well when I adjust the volume using those keys.
The keyboard itself is laid out well. It doesn't seem as cramped as some have said. I find it spaced nicely, and everything is within easy reach while typing. The included wrist guard is nice, although I prefer a gel wrist guard.
This is a nice USB keyboard, with some great features. If I can figure out why it doesn't work consistently with Picasa, I would be even happier with this purchase.