Microsoft Wireless Desktop

[Sanke]

Here's my review of the Microsoft Wireless Desktop.

Those of you who have used wired mice and keyboards will feel an immediate change when using this, the overall quality of the desktop is very good, with extra buttons for windows shortcuts, like "My Documents" "My Pictures" etc, there is also buttons to control the sound, such as mute, play/stop sound up, sound down, rewind, fast forward, overall, if you use Windows (preferably XP) these will come in very handy.

There is an F LOCK button, which sets the F commands to do it's alternate function, such as save, close, open reply, forward, send, print, new, open, close, help, undo and redo.
These are useful if you work with word processors, or email people a lot, but I haven't found much use for them as I'm not really a word processor myself.
All of the top keys are reprogrammable, so that you can change say... "My Documents" to launch a naughty picture...

The mouse is based on the popular Optical Mouse by Microsoft, as it is wireless, it looks a little odd, but are reassured by the extra weight, and the quality of the mouse itself.
The mouse buttons are familiar to use, and the ergonomics make it very ease to hold and use for a long period of time.
The scroller is weighty and shifts with a resounding *click* which often doesn't sound right with cheaper mice. The bright red light on the bottom of the mouse is angled to the right, to accomodate the two AA batteries it takes, and the light at the back of the mouse has been replaced by a strange symbol made from metallic plastic, I wasn't too happy about why Microsoft did this, as it makes the mouse look a little cheap.

The receiver is small, and looks like an oval shaped lozenge, it plugs into either 2 PS/2 sockets, or one USB port for better peformance, although, this isn't noticed. One thing I found is that the wired and wireless mice are hot swappable through the PS/2 slots, but not the USB port.
The range is quite good, with the 6ft range being faithful to it's claims, if in clear sight, the range will be roughly 8ft.
One thing I don't like is that there isn't any caps lock lights on the keyboard, because they're on the receiver, so you need to have the receiver in your sights to see if you have caps lock, or num lock on.

If you have XP, installation will be a doddle, with only a few mouse and keyboard settings to change if you've been using a wired set before.
Microsoft have also taken the time to warn you about safety, and health worries over long time use through their "Mouse Healthy Computing Guide".
They also included settings to tweak the use of your mouse, and what angle you use it at, so most things about the desktop can be changed quickly and without fuss.


Overall, the desktop is good, with only a few minor niggles, one would be that you'll need to keep replacing the batteries every few months, and the mouse tends to skip if it isn't used on mousepads. A warning though, if you press too many buttons at once, the mouse is cancelled out, and since there is a slight latency between the mouse and the receiver, serious gamers should look for a wired alternative.


Features: 5/5
Ease of Use: 5/5
Documentation: 5/5
Value For Money: 4/5

Overall Rating: 5/5