Customer Reviews

Compaq CPQ175KB RF Wireless Multimedia Keyboard & Optical Mouse Combo

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have received this set as a gift and used it for a week.

Pros:

The thing works just fine, the general impression is very good - nice look, nice touch, precise mouse that works equally well with or without a pad. Very important (at least for me) detail: the layout of Insert, Delete, Home, End, PageUp and PageDown is standard unlike most other wireless keyboards. Never missesd a keystroke or a mouse click yet. Nice additional keys for web surfing, media player, and stand-by mode.

Cons (minor):

1. Since there are no lights for Num Lock, Caps Lock and Scroll Lock on the keyboard, you have two options: having several additional icons in the right bottom corner of the screen (which seems annoying to me) and not having them at all.

2. The layout of F1 through F12 bottons is not standard. Instead of 3 groups, 4 keys each, you have 4 groups, 3 keys each. Not so big deal, but you will confuse F4 and F5 etc at first. Took me a couple of days to get used to. However, this is definitely lesser evil than non-standard Ins/Del/Home... layout, found in other wireless keyboards (see above)

-- GOOD --
* Design. I like the sleek rounded look to the keyboard. On the back are legs that can swing out to adjust the level if you're going to be using it on a desk.
* Keypress. This was a major reason for me buying the keyboard. The keys benefit from laptop technology. They are firm, but don't have much travel so they feel more responsive - less typing effort.
* RF frequency means that the thing doesn't cut out if you lose line of sight, but the responsiveness tapers quickly at about 10 ft from the reciever. I think this distance should have been longer, but you need to be reasonably close to your monitor anyway.
* Reciever takes no batteries (Keyboard and Mouse do, obviously)
* Mouse is very precise.
* Hotkeys, if you load a driver. One is user-assignable. Personally I don't use 'em, but they're there for your surfing pleasure.

-- BAD --
* Another reviewer said that the mouse eats batteries like its rodent counterpart goes through a block of cheeze. This is probably because it doesn't havea a low power mode. I have another optical mouse that when I don't move it, dims its light. I bet this would save batteries. Not an issue for me since I have rechargeables. But poorly designed
* The mouse flashes alot through the side. It's distracting.
* The unit I bought is defective: the keyboard battery contacts are loose. But I should have expected that: I bought an open-box unit to save myself 2 bucks. (Update: New unit works GREAT!)
Update (one year later)
* The replacment unit worked great for a while. Then the mouse cut out and no amount of resets or new batteries can convince it to get back to work. The keyboard is still working great, so I guess in the end I am getting my money's worth.