Save even more room on your actual desktop with Verbatim’s Mini Wireless Slim Keyboard & Mouse. Designed with a piano black finish, this keyboard features low profile keys that provide a crisp, responsive feel when typing. Boasting a laptop-style keyboard configuration, this ultra-slim, ultra-narrow keyboard offers 2.4 Ghz wireless communication – eliminating delays between what you type and what you see on-screen. The included media console allows control of your favorite tunes directly from the keyboard. With its slim design, the freedom of a cordless interface, and a wireless mouse, this keyboard is a perfect space-saver. 2.4 Ghz Wireless – Enjoy the latest in reliable, hassle-free wireless technology, Media Console – Play, Pause…control your tunes from the Media Console, Ultra-Slim Design – Thin-profile keyboard and mouse designed to enhance your digital lifestyle. Size: 12.5 L x 5.25: W x 0.875″ H, Ultra-Narrow Design – Built with a laptop-style keyboard configuration to allow for maximum desktop space-saving, Low-Profile Keys – Quiet
$ 29.49
Nice Responsive Feel, Slim and Sleek,
I installed this keyboard on a computer running Windows 7. No problems with installation, in fact, I did not need the driver disk – Windows found the drivers automatically. The keyboard and mouse also did an automatic connection to the USB receiver. If this doesn’t happen, there is a connect button on the keyboard to help facilitate the connection. Even though Windows will find and install the drivers automatically, I would recommend using the installation disk as there are additional features beyond the device drivers.
Inside the box is a wireless keyboard, a wireless mouse, a USB receiver, batteries for both the mouse and keyboard, and the driver disk.
The keyboard is about 18″ wide by 5½” deep by ¾” tall.
After installation, I unplugged my original keyboard, a traditional Microsoft one. I am currently typing on the Verbatim keyboard. I also have a Wacom Intuos4 Medium Pen Tablet and have found no hardware conflicts.
I have some customer images to show how it compares visually next to a traditional keyboard and mouse.
Here’s what I like and don’t like about the Verbatim Wireless Slim Keyboard:
PROS:
It has a nice weight to it so it will not slide around on a desk too easily.
The keys are nicely responsive. They are smooth and spaced a little apart making it easier to hit the key you want and not the one next to it. Other keyboards have the keys so large with no gaps so that it is easy to hit multiple keys in one stroke.
It is small, not so much in width but in depth. My traditional keyboard is two inches more in depth.
It takes up less desk space and has no cord to get in the way.
The finish is shiny black and smooth, as is the mouse.
The mouse is much shorter in height than my Microsoft mouse. It has a wheel and two buttons.
CONS:
It does not have a feature to raise the board on more of an angle, although as of now, this is not a huge issue. I know that I like my Microsoft keyboard to be on the biggest angle by using the flip out legs.
It does not have a couple of the extra keys that the Microsoft keyboard has like zoom in and zoom out, and some of the shortcuts for opening email etc. However, I do not use these so again, it depends on the way you use your keyboard.
Overall, I really like the feel of typing on this keyboard. I would say that between the responsiveness and touch of the keys and the clutter free wireless feature, this is a good buy.
I have to add that after using this for a number of days, I’ve increased my original review from 4 stars to 5. I really like the way the keys react on the keyboard. They have a really solid feel and I make less typing mistakes than with my old keyboard.
Was this review helpful to you?
|Great keyboard and mouse but lacking a power switch for when not in use.,
I really like several features about this keyboard setup but there are also other features about it that disappoint me as well.
Pros:
1. Small form factor, both the board and mouse are nice and slim
2. very responsive keys, they have a great feel to them and are very easy to get used to.
3. full keyboard !!!!! It’s not often run into a good full wireless board with a number pad for a nice price.
4. mouse, very precise and tracks really well.
5. mouse, comfortable in hand (I typically prefer trackballs but this mouse is rather nice).
6. mouse, scroll wheel is click-able to use the mouse to move around faster up and down pages or around images.
Cons:
1. auto-shutoff doesn’t seem to ever occur, not even sure if they do ever shutoff on their own.
2. no manual shutoff switch…. Why wasn’t this included so that when you walk away or take these with you you can just shut them off… Instead you have to take the batteries out. it’s a pain in the butt.
Update: 11-17-2011
I’ve been using this product for some time now and they batteries do seem to last a pretty good long time in the mouse and keyboard. I still ended up installing a switch to cut the power in both products as I like to take them with me to my presentations as the keyboard is very light weight and the mouse works pretty good as well. So the issue of not being able to turn them off when in a bag without a switch is still a big issue for their design, though I do have to say that I’ve left the mouse on for considerable amounts of time (months) and the batteries were still good.
Still a pretty good product and worth having and if you aren’t as stringent as me and don’t travel with the board and mouse then the lack of power switches wont be an issue for you.
Was this review helpful to you?
|Another A/B amazon vine comparison of 2 wireless desktops,
Previously on amazon vine I evaluated the Microsoft wireless desktop (keyboard/mouse) system with their 3000 series keyboard, which is priced as a kit to within 10 dollars [update 9/2010 price disparity has grown, and I have found the microsoft keyboard has the farthest distance of transmission] of the Verbatim desktop. I chose to give them both 5 stars, however I will discuss the specifics of the Verbatim unit here and compare it with Microsoft’s. If we could award 1/10 stars, Verbatim would rate a 4.7 which rounds up to 5 due to the microsoft blue mouse features that surpasses the Verbatim mouse. The two are both excellent products but designed around different concepts so I’m choosing to review the differences which gives the buyer as much detail on the two excellent products enabling an educated purchase of the system that best suits their needs.
There are 3 parts (the CD and instructions were not needed on a win7 desktop): USB receiver, keyboard, and mouse to evaluate
The receivers are pretty basic – just a stub that plugs into any usb port and looks like a keyboard/mouse on the system. Since few bios’s recognize bluetooth today, we are stuck with USB receivers that mimic a real keyboard and mouse. A true bluetooth wireless system can’t be guaranteed to work until the o/s is up and running which limits it to number pads on laptops with builtin BT. Microsoft has a unique feature that when you are not using the mouse for an extended period you can remove the receiver and snap it into the bottom of the mouse which powers off the mouse light to save batteries. The Verbatim has a manul ‘connect’ button which in most cases is not required. Neither product has had a problem here – they are plug and play out of the box with no need to use any connect function.
The keyboards are a bit different. Be sure to take a careful look at the photos – they are the exact same width however the Microsoft board features one additional row of feature keys at the top, and has an ergonomic key rest making it significantly larger – by omitting the extra function keys and palmrest Verbatim was able to make a smaller keyboard – so small in fact it uses AAA batteries while Microsoft uses more common AA size cells. The verbatim keyboard is smaller and lighter. As a buyer you need to consider the value of the size difference and the ergonomic features Microsoft designed into their unit for tabletop use. I like to often use the keyboard on my desktop momentarily as a laptop, then set it aside while video processing is in progress and discovered the smaller size of the Verbatim made this much easier, plus it uses a laptop style Fn key to bring up second functions that replace the extra keys on the much larger microsoft keyboard.
The two companies designed entirely different mice. While microsoft gives you 5 buttons plus a wheel with no detents that rolls freely, Verbatim uses a 3 button mouse with a wheel that has detents on rotation. Small details like this may seem trivial but to a cad user who needs the middle button (which is the wheel in both mice) can not press it without rotating it on Microsoft’s design, while the detents in the Verbatim mouse allow its button action to work independently of rotation. Both mice use AA batteries for longer runtime, but Microsoft’s technological advantage is in the blue LED illumination which for people who use their mouse on any surface works exceptionally well for a battery powered product. The Verbatim mouse uses a red LED and performs well unless used on a featureless surface. Mouse technology merged with video imaging where they use their LED to take a picture of the surface they rest on quite rapidly with low resolution cmos imagers. The mouse’s internal logic uses these sequential photos to determine from one picture to the next where they moved. So long as your surface has some features both mice will work equally well, but on a sheet of featureless white paper, the shorter wavelength of the blue LED in Microsoft’s design gives it an edge in finding the smallest detail possible, down to the fibers in paper if necessary. Once again, depending on how you will use the product this could be a big deal or nothing at all – all mousepads have sufficient contrast that all optical mice can find something to work with. I found the Verbatim mouse tracked on almost every surface I tested it with and also noticed it required less movement than the Microsoft mouse to go the same distance on the screen which is an advantage if you are tight for space.
So comparing the two units boils down to this: Both products do what they promise. Microsoft gives you a physically bigger keyboard and mouse while Verbatim shrinks the size of both pieces with very little sacrifice. I wrote this review using the Verbatim keyboard and found it comfortable and able to deal with high speed input. I will update the review with battery life once…
Read more
Was this review helpful to you?
|