Customer Reviews

Crayola® 3-Piece Computer Kit with Keyboard, Mouse & Photo Mouse Pad (11103)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I saw this keyboard, mouse, (customizable) mousepad combo at Costco for about 18 dollars and immediately grabbed it as I have been wanting a kid friendly keyboard for a custom PC just for my son. I'm so happy I found this one as now I do not have to fabricate my own.

' Aesthetics
The keyboard looks great and would look beautiful with a nice submerged setup, as the mouse is rockin' a tropical feel with a suspended resin island and palm tree. The keyboard also feels great and doesn't feel like a cheap kid's toy. The keyboard is perfect for youngsters as the keys are HUGE and make finding letters much easier than a regular keyboard. Junk keys (to a kid anyways...) are de-cluttered as the average 2 year old would have no use for F1-F12 and several other keys. ALT and CTRL are still in place as well as DELETE just in case your 2 year old shows signs of being an IT prodigy. The keyboard is nicely grouped for quick learning as follows:

Green = letters
Orange = numbers
Blue = common functions (enter, backspace, etc.)
Purple = punctuation and additional symbols
Red = Advanced Keys (Delete, Print Screen, Home etc.)
Yellow = arrow keys

The oversized buttons feel comfortable almost like an arcade pad and feel comfortable for both typing and gaming. Also, the WASD keys are lined up PERFECTLY for any games your child may play that requires use of them.

' Install
the keyboard installs instantly on XP and took a little bit of fussing with on windows 2000 to get the USB HID driver to install.

' Value
For less than 20 bucks you'd be lucky to find an adult USB keyboard, optical mouse, pad combo. This keyboard is truly unique and is an easy buy!

' Additional Info
If you havn't figured it out yet the keys are OVERSIZED. This keyboard is marked ages 4+ but may be more suitable for younger children still learning their alphabet, numbers, and basic reading skills. This keyboard should not be used for developing a child's WPM as this keyboard is designed for hunting and pecking.

' Does it work?

Yes. when my son first started showing interest in the computer I'd ask him to type certain letters and he'd have trouble locating the letter in the sea of 100+ keys available on my personal keyboard. Now that he has his own keyboard he quickly finds the letter he needs and is less likely to hit something he isn't supposed to and bring his typing activity to a standstill.
If your child shares a computer with you, windows can support multiple keyboards (I have a PS/2 and USB both connected) so that when an adult needs to type, the normal keyboard can be used.
After your child gets the most use out of this keyboard, there are children's keyboards sold that are manufactured at a 2/3rd scale so that they can start typing with their tiny fingers in a QWERTY typist manner. (ASDF JKL;)

I have seen other "children's" keyboards sold for nearly 60 dollars, but in actuality they are merely adult keyboards with a Duplo paint job. Remember, this keyboard set is for a small child, it not having mac keys is the least of your child's concern. Besides, teaching a child computer basics should be done on a PC and not a MAC, as that's what the world runs on. French is a lovely language, but if it's not your country's primary (or secondary etc.) language, then perhaps you should get your official language taught first before you move on to anything additional.

Doesn't have the extra keys for the mac, like disk eject, volume, the command key, etc. This is a bit annoying (command would have been great.) What it does have is kid appeal. Computers already have kid appeal, I understand, which is why I've waited so long to get one of these. But if you have a child unwilling or unable to write using a standard keyboard for whatever reason this combination of large keys and letters, bright colors, and reduced symbols might be what you need to get the ball rolling. It worked for us. Just don't buy it to replace a normal keyboard, because it doesn't have everything. Looks exactly like the picture.

The mouse is constantly flashing different colors which may be annoying to some in which case you could use your normal mouse. Keep in mind there is no USB port on the keyboard itself to attach a mouse so any mouse needs to be plugged into the back of the computer, PC style. All in all I was happy to find something at this price and it is reasonably good looking for a kiddy keyboard.

I bought this for my two and a half year old daughter to use with a new-for-her eMac. I was pleased that this keyboard looked like an adult keyboard (insofar as it had the QWERTY layout with a separate keypad-lookalike on the side) as my daughter routinely shuns the miniature iMac-type keyboard that I had originally set her up with, in favor of my full-size keyboard.

Out of the box, the first thing that surprised me was the size of the keys. This is purely my fault. I had assumed that the keys on this keyboard were normal sized but they are not. Each key is easily 50% larger than a standard key. In addition, the rows of keys aren't staggered as they are on a normal keyboard; where the "A" key would be sort of between the "Q" and "W" keys on a normal keyboard, it's directly below the "Q" key here. At first I was put off by this but after thinking about it I found I liked the arrangement better. Smaller, less coordinated fingers can touch the larger keys easier, and directing children's hands is simpler ("it's under the Q" versus "it's under the Q and W").

The tactile response (how the keys feel when typing) is a little soft but seems like it'll stand up to a fair amount of abuse. There are two plastic feet under the keyboard which angles it up. I suspect these aren't quite as strong as they may need to be for energetic children. One of my daughter's first actions was to stand on the keyboard (it was on the floor) and it held up fine, though she didn't jump on it or anything like that. Speaking of structure, the keyboard does feel very solid. Not "IBM PC/XT"-solid, but solid enough to survive a few drops to the floor, maybe even a small macaroni-and-cheese spill or two.

One small shortcoming should be noted for Mac users: There are only three modifier keys rather than the Mac-standard of four. You get a single SHIFT key, CONTROL key, and ALT key (known as OPTION for Mac users). There is *no* COMMAND key. What I did was, using the Keyboards & Mouse preference panel in OS X, I remapped the ALT key to be COMMAND and remapped the CONTROL key to be OPTION. I lose the CONTROL key but very few Mac apps, and virtually zero apps that are designed for kids, use the CONTROL key so that's not a big loss.

Another Mac user note: When you plug in the keyboard and start up the computer, OS X will go through the "identify your keyboard" process by asking you to tap the keys to the right and left of the SHIFT keys. Since there's only one SHIFT key on this keyboard you have to think ahead. The left SHIFT key is easy enough, but when it wants you to press the key next to the right SHIFT key just press the ?/ key (since that's what would normally be next to the right SHIFT key) and you're golden.

As an aside, some people may think that it's unfair to detract points for Macintosh issues because this is a Windows keyboard. In fact, if you go to the manufacturer's web site and look up this product, you'll find that they explicitly support Mac OS X 10.1 and higher. Unofficially, because it is a USB keyboard and mouse, it should work just perfectly with any version of Mac OS from 8.1 onward (provided, of course, there's an available USB port).

There are no USB ports on the keyboard so when you connect the mouse you need a second port on the computer. This is annoying but I can see the rationale for it. Since it'll be near small hands - often within ready reach of things like finger paint and Play-Doh - you don't want to put a USB port within range of things like that. So, while inconvenient, I understand it and agree with it.

The mouse is optical rather than mechanical, and longer than I thought it would be but just about as wide as I figured. My daughter can manipulate it far easier than she can with my adult-sized Microsoft mouse, but not quite as easy as she can with a miniature notebook-style mouse that's found on the local library's kids computer. The buttons are firm but not too firm; my daughter can click it easily, and it takes a deliberate motion to do it so there's no accidental clicking as the mouse is being moved. The scroll wheel is reasonably grippy and responsive. If it weren't for the liquid-filled palmrest with the really bright tri-colored LEDs reflecting through it, this would be a reasonably sized mouse for a small-handed adult.

Yet another Mac tip: This mouse has three buttons (left, right, and clickwheel). Small children, such as my own, will not understand this and a lot of problems can result from an errant right-click or two. The excellent shareware utility "USB Overdrive" (Google it for the link) allows you to assign all three buttons as a standard left-click which makes things much safer for the young'uns.

The mouse pad is nothing really to write home about, particularly since optical mice don't actually need mouse pads. The transparent plastic surface lifts up so you can insert a photo below it. My daughter could care less about this but that may change when she gets older.

This is a wonderful,colorful keyboard for a 4 year old to use to get used to their letters, numbers and colors. I hook it up to my laptop and my great-niece has a ball and my laptop stays safe. She is learning to use the mouse as well which the laptop has a touch pad and it makes it difficult for her little fingers. I haven't had a problem with it and I highly recommend it.

I bought this for my 7 year old with Dyslexia when he started cyberschooling. It made a huge difference for him! It was so much easier to find the keys and allowed him to be more successful on his own. I highly recommend this for any child learning to use the computer!

picked this up for my 3 yr old to start using the read-along stories and the abc's / 123's software on her new 'puter. she can hold the mouse and hit the keys on the keyboard just fine, but i wish the keys had more 'clickiness' or some form of audible/tactile feedback. windows xp recognized both mouse and keyboard as hid just fine. overall, i do recommend. btw, check out your local library for software to borrow instead of purchasing new ;)

Very simple keyboard, perfect for kids. It works like a charm. Keyboard seems strong.
The mouse does NOT show the problems reported by other customers (i.e. leaking water)...
Few critics:
- The USB cable that connects the mouse is very thin... for a kid product I would have used a stronger one (I expect it to be the first thing to break).
- Having a USB hub on the keyboard would have been nice, not a big deal though...
- Most of software for kids requires only one mouse button. Three mouse buttons are useless and create confusion on a kid. IMHO a single mouse button would have make it a better product.

I bought this keyboard for my 3-year old son since I want him to start using a PC as early as possible. He has his own desktop computer, so the larger keys don't bother anyone else. It is a great get started product for him, which I will switch out to regular keyboard in a few years. All the keys are generally the same location except for a few (Esc, missing a shift key). My only wish is that the mouse didn't constantly flash, but I have a feeling it will burnout quickly which is no problem for me.

I ordered this computer kit twice for my 4-year old from two different sellers, and both times when I opened the package, the mouse had self destructed and leaked blue liquid all over the keyboard and mousepad. Once might have been a fluke, but for it to have happened twice points to shoddy construction.

I wish my daughter could have had a chance to try out the keyboard - it's bright and looks fun and kid-friendly. It definitely does not look adult friendly, though, as the oversized keys are lined up in straight vertical rows and aren't offset like on a normal keyboard, so you won't be able to type normally.

I bought this set for my granddaughter for Christmas. When we opened the box it was soaked and we discovered all the water had leaked out of the mouse and all over the keyboard. We let the keyboard dry out before use and so far it seems to be working. The set is very colorful but I wish it was setup more like a normal keyboard.