A4Tech Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Set

Specs:
Manufacturers: A4Tech
Model Number: KBS265BS-RP
Release date: Coming Soon
Price: Not available
Type: Wireless Keyboard and Optical Mouse set.
Official Website: www.a4tech.com

Minimum Specs:
1 free USB port
Windows®Me/2000/XP/2003

Tested on:
Compaq Presario 5WV297
Athlon 1Ghz
512mb pc133 Memory
TNT Riva II M64
Soundmax Integrated Digital Audio
DVD Drive (32x speed)
Wireless internet connection
Windows ME (fully patched)

I was interested to try this product, as I have worked jobs in the past where I have been required to use a keyboard for several hours a day, often leading to aching fingers and wrists. Not only is this keyboard and mouse set wireless; but also it is specifically set up to relieve the strain of RSI.

The kit comes with a receiver, which is battery powered (but sadly has no battery cover) and plugs into a spare USB port. The receiver has a switch on it, which allows you to set the RFID channels of both the mouse and keyboard. The mouse is lightweight, and comes with a lot of additional programmable buttons. The keyboard is impressive with a massive 33 re-programmable buttons.

The first thing to do was get the latest drivers from the a4tech website (recommended if you're using Windows XP and Service Pack 2), and made sure that I was using fresh batteries all round. Once installed, I found that I needed to change the channel that my wireless network was using, as it was interfering with the keyboard operation. After a little tinkering, it was time to check out the features.

The buttons on the keyboard are highly customisable, so I set about changing some of the defaults. It's already set up to use Microsoft Office, but as I don't use IE or Outlook, I wanted to change these to suit my needs. I found that this was quite intuitive and after a bit of fiddling, everything was set up to my preference.

One thing I did really like about the keyboard was at the very left of the main body of keys was a scroll button and some buttons (Undo, Cut, Copy and Paste) that easily allow you to edit your files without touching your mouse. I assume that these work with Office, but I was unable to test this with any other alternative applications such as Lotus Smartsuite. I find that I tend to use a lot of keyboard shortcuts anyway so I had to constantly remind myself that they were there.

The keys on the keyboard are arranged in an A shape to make it more ergonomic. It took a bit of getting used to, but after a while it was nice. I've done a fair bit of typing with it (I'm using it now!) and I've not had any wrist pain.

The mouse also has re-programmable buttons including a button that you can assign 8 frequently used commands to. When you press the button a box pops up on screen allowing you to choose the function you need. This is incredibly useful if you have commands that won't fit on the other mouse or keyboard buttons. I didn't think I'd be able to find many that I did use, but I did - it's quite surprising how often you use certain commands.

So far, the set has been excellent on battery usage. I haven't needed to replace the batteries yet and I have used the kit quite intensively for a week or so.

Overall, I am very impressed with the features on this set and have found it mostly quick and painless to install. The only problem I had was a slight clash with my wireless network, but this was easily managed.

Total Score: 9.5 / 10