First-ever Rechargeable Backlit Keyboard

imageOn the Microsoft web site they’re touting the new Wireless Entertainment Desktop 8000.

I’m going to instantly slam Microsoft for using a bad title. Why? Because you see "desktop" and one would think there’s a computer involved. Nope. It’s just a wireless keyboard/mouse setup. And the title is just way too long.

Bad title aside, this looks like a fairly decent product. The MSRP is listed at $299.95 which in all honestly is not too bad considering what you get.

Here are the immediate pros and cons on this particular setup:

Pro: Better backlighting

This keyboard lights up automatically when you approach it and turns itself off when you’re away from it.

It also "knows" how much brightness to show based on the ambient light around it.

Very trick.

Pro: Navigation Pad

Okay, this is not necessarily a new thing, however the reason this is cool is because you can operate this keyboard completely from your lap with cursor control included (i.e. no mouse if you don’t want to use it).

This is what makes it an "entertainment" keyboard as far as I’m concerned, i.e. the ability to be able to control a PC completely from the couch with the keyboard alone.

If you’re building an entertainment-PC, a keyboard of this type with that pad on-board is more or less required to avoid losing the mouse in the couch. :-)

Pro: 4 USB Ports

Standard fare for keyboards of this price but nice that it’s there.

Pro: Support for iTunes

Taken directly from here concerning the Multimedia Hot Keys:

Multimedia Hot Keys are supported for use with:

Windows-based PC: Versions of Microsoft CD Player, Microsoft Deluxe CD, Microsoft Windows Media Player, and certain versions of other popular media players and browsers

Macintosh: iTunes

However I wish they’d list what other "popular media players and browsers" they’re referring to.

Con: Bad placement of Windows key

The Win-key is directly under the spacebar. Wrong, wrong, wrong. I can deal with the fact it doesn’t have a number pad; that’s okay. But it would drive me bonkers having the Win-key there. Makes no sense.

Con: Pseudo-ergonomic design

The keyboard is curved but that doesn’t mean it’s ergonomically correct whatsoever. While it looks nice, it would have been better off if the keys were placed "straight".

The mouse

Concerning the mouse included, it looks fairly decent. It does have 4-way scrolling and an above-par power management system. I can’t really say that much more about it because it’s the keyboard that counts more in this setup.

Building an entertainment-PC? This is worth a go.

More people are building entertainment-PCs these days and this particular setup suits very nicely. Being that it is a Microsoft product it’s obviously well-suited to the Windows operating system.

Possibly the best feature is that a keyboard of this type is far better control than any remote control could give, and can turn just about any computer into an entertainment-PC easily.

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