Kensington PilotBoard Laser Wireless Desktop Set 64390

by Kensington

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 19.6 x 3.4 inches ; 4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000FTZ25E
• Item model number: 64390
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #46 in Office Products > Office Supplies > Desk Accessories & Workspace Organizers > Platforms, Stands & Shelves > Keyboard Drawers & Platforms
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 14, 2004

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Kensington presents laser accuracy and wireless convenience. No wires... no compromises. The Kensington PilotBoard Laser Wireless Desktop is the first wireless desktop set that offers the sensitivity and accuracy of a laser mouse, the comfort and convenience of a programmable wireless keyboard, and the high performance of 2.4GHz connectivity, all in one package. By combining advanced 6-button programmable laser mouse with the most comfortable keyboard design ever, the PilotBoard Laser Wireless Desktop will help you stay in control of your workspace and your busy life.

Features and Benefits

• Soft rubber mouse grips and cushioned keyboard wrist rest gives you all day comfort
• Intelligent power management and ultra-efficient sensors provide up to a 9 month battery life, based on an average usage of 8 hours a day, 5 days a week
• Secure 2.4 GHz enhanced frequency prevents signal overlap and interception
• One-touch multimedia keys instantly launch calculator, email and more
• 6 programmable mouse buttons reduce repetitive tasks and speed you through your work

Product Description

Wireless - Laser - Mouse - USB Receiver

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is not the same as the older model! -- With caveats!, May 23, 2008

By 

Raven A. Wind (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kensington PilotBoard Laser Wireless Desktop Set 64390 (Personal Computers)

A lot of reviewers are confusing this model (64390) with the older model (64385) and it's not a fair comparison! The newer model addresses all the problems of the previous version and is actually an excellent product. Yes, the 64385 did drop signals and act erratically, but the new one repaired that problem. The "missed keystrokes" have also been dealt with in this new version of the Laser Wireless Desktop.

It's unfortunate that the two models are cosmetically identical, but believe me: As an owner of both versions, I found a HUGE improvement going from the old model to this 64390 version of the set.

Anybody who has the older one and a receipt to prove it should call Kensington and get it replaced with this one under their excellent 5-year warranty. That's how I got the new model, and it was worth the effort.

High praise to Kensington for hearing the customer complaints and dealing with the issues with the original model of this keyboard.

UPDATE 01/04/10 ~ I have to lower the rating on this device because of a troubling policy choice at Kensington. It seems they have no intention of supporting Windows Vista or Windows 7, and have no plans to release updated software to take advantage of the advanced features on this desktop set. What that means is that you can't assign any of the multimedia keys, alter what the additional mouse buttons do, or set any macros. Windows 7 does support some of the extra keys natively, but you have no control over what they do. You're stuck with the default Windows functions. That means the media player button will ONLY launch Windows Media Player. The left-side mouse buttons will ONLY work for web browser Back/Forward. Some of the media keys don't work at all, and the ones that do only launch native Windows OS applications.

Frankly, I have to withdraw my former statement of high praise for Kensington customer support. This desktop set is still on the market, still being sold, and yet they do not support the current or last-generation Windows operating system? That's irresponsible, and especially unfair to those who purchased the keyboard & mouse, and then later upgraded their operating system. It's as if Kensington thinks that we're going to just stop using a perfectly good device set, and rush out to buy their newest product because they've decided to cease supporting this one.

Well, that ain't happening.

I have since dropped the keyboard in favor of a Microsoft model. At least with MS I know the software support for a new operating system will be there. I still use the mouse from this set on occasion, but I'm quite unhappy with Kensington's choice to make it difficult to map the mouse buttons by failing to support Windows Vista or Windows 7.

Kensington made a save for a while, but now they've completely dropped the ball and managed to insult and belittle their customers with this ill-thought plan. You can't tell me that Windows Vista/Windows 7 software couldn't be written for this desktop set; They just don't want to allocate the resources toward doing it because they want people to buy their latest offering. It's a bad marketing decision, and because of the lack of support such a short while after the product hit the market, I'm not buying another Kensington product. Who knows when they'll decide to stop supporting their next toy?

Way to lose a customer, Kensington.

EDIT 08/2011: Well, now apparently all the major features of the keyboard are natively supported with Windows 7 built-in drivers. The only function which didn't work for me when I tried this keyboard again was the scroll button. Everything else-- Media keys, volume, mail, calculator, etc-- All worked without need for drivers from Kensington.

Of course, they still aren't supporting it with new software, and that means that you're stuck with the built-in functions doing what they do, with no choice to re-map, but at least everything is working now.

Because of this, I upped the rating another star, back from the lowered rating when they stopped making Windows 7 drivers.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Keyboard is awesome, mouse sucks, June 19, 2010

By 

CL (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kensington PilotBoard Laser Wireless Desktop Set 64390 (Personal Computers)

Saw this at Fry's and had to have it, so I ordered it from Amazon. The keyboard is amazingly quiet! Unfortunately, at the same time, the mouse clicks are deafeningly loud. Not a good pairing. Sure, I could use another mouse, but the nice thing about the pair is that one little USB stick will receive signals from both of these units.

Unfortunately, my keyboard was flat-out defective and had to be returned. Would not communicate with any computer, even though the mouse worked just fine. ReStockIt was the Amazon.com merchant that shipped it to me, and they did refund my money, but took their sweet time to do so. Their shipping was hecka fast, too bad they shipped me a garbage keyboard!

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Decent Wireless Keyboard and mouse, May 14, 2007

By 

Linux_Queen (Germantown, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kensington PilotBoard Laser Wireless Desktop Set 64390 (Personal Computers)

It's lightweight and attractive. Works pretty well most of the time as long as the batteries are fresh. The mouse sucked up the power from my rechargeable batteries in less than 2 weeks. I put some regular alkaline batteries in there and it's doing much better. Not sure if I didn't have a full charge on the rechargeable batteries or if the mouse just doesn't like them. The keyboard loses signal every once in a while while I'm typing - or the signal gets all hinky and types several characters even when I pushed the key only once. Sometimes it hesitates or simply won't type anything once in a while. The keyboard problems are usually alleviated simply by moving the position of the keyboard (I usually have it on my lap). If I move it to a different position it tends to pick the signal back up rather quickly. This set works pretty well in Linux but you have to map the "special" keys using lineakd and I still can't get some of them to work (user error maybe?). All in all I'm happy with this set - it works as well or better in Linux than any other wireless set I've used. I'd buy it again.