Kensington Slim Type Keyboard - PC ( 64365 )

by Kensington

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 17.5 x 8.2 x 1.2 inches ; 15.2 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000243DNA
• California residents: Click here for Proposition 65 warning.
• Item model number: 64365
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (128 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 24, 2004

Product Description

From the manufacturer

Dress up any desktop computer with a stylish, low profile keyboard.

The Kensington SlimType Keyboard delivers comfort and convenience - with a style that will complement any desktop. Outside, the sleek, slim exterior reflects today's contemporary styling. Inside, the latest keyboard technologies deliver fingertip convenience and control. Scissor-switch key technology - found in laptops - delivers light action typing with a crisp, responsive feel. And intuitive multimedia hot keys provide one-touch control of volume, play/pause, track, mute, and eject. There are even hot keys for sleep and calculator modes.

Product Description

Kensington Slim Type Keyboard for PCs : Dress up any desktop computer with a stylish, low profile keyboard. The Kensington SlimType Keyboard delivers comfort and convenience - with a style that will complement any desktop. Outside, the sleek, slim black and silver exterior reflects today´s contemporary styling. Inside, the latest keyboard technologies deliver fingertip convenience and control. Scissor-switch key technology - found in laptops - delivers light action typing with a crisp, responsive feel. And intuitive multimedia hot keys provide one-touch control of volume, play/pause, track, mute, and eject. There are even hot keys for sleep and calculator modes. Kensington 5 year warranty. PC or compatible computer with USB port.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just what I wanted, January 8, 2005

By 

Bob (Galt, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kensington Slim Type Keyboard - PC ( 64365 ) (Personal Computers)

I prefer laptop keyboards because the keys have a shorter actuation distance, which seems to make typing less stressful. The Slim Type actuation distance isn't as small as an iBook keyboard, but I think it's smaller than the keyboards of some Dells I've used. Maybe it's also the feel of the "crisp" "scissor-switch" keys as advertised above - "crisp" is certainly accurate. Anyway, I find that with this keyboard I can type a lot longer before my wrists start to hurt, as compared to normal desktop keyboards. Plus, the low profile (less than an inch high) means that I don't need a wrist support, I can rest my hands comfortably on my desk.Update: yes, I've noticed the problem mentioned in another review with keys "sticking", with both keyboards that I own. What happens is that about every half an hour the keyboard power-cycles, and when it comes back on, if it powered off or maybe came on when a key was depressed then things can get in a weird state - pressing other keys fixes it. The power-cycling itself is annoying, since I can't type for the two seconds or so that it takes to complete - the key repeating part I find less so, since it only happens occasionally. It isn't as bad for the user as it sounds, although it is indeed a major design flaw. I didn't mention it earlier because I thought it might be a Linux problem, I'm sorry if I misled other buyers. I'll wait and see if I can get replacements from Kensington.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice keyboard, but could've been just a bit better, July 9, 2006

By 

Teapot Tales (Brooklyn, NY U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kensington Slim Type Keyboard - PC ( 64365 ) (Personal Computers)

I do not want to repeat everything that all the others wrote about this keyboard, except for a fact that it is nice, solid, fast, and inexpensive for its quality. What I do not like about it (although I could not give it less than 5 stars) is the regular-size NumLock key (some Logitech boards have a smaller NumLock key, which allows your to avoid pressing it accidentally). Well, it is just a wish, actially. Also, I am not crazy about the placement of the Delete key: it is somewhat hard to reach. The second ''|\'' key exists for no reason (I guess that the manufacturer did not want to make another irregular size ''Alt'' or ''Start'' key ) and it kind of interferes, sitting between the ''SpaceBar'' and the left ''Alt''. Yes, I type fast, I type ALOT. So, certain things do make difference for me. There are no perfect keyboards, but this one is certainly above-the-average in so many ways.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Scissor type keyboard with IRREGULAR layout, October 2, 2007

By 

T.K. (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kensington Slim Type Keyboard - PC ( 64365 ) (Personal Computers)

I tried this keyboard for several days and returned it.
Fortunately, Amazon gracefully accepted the return without any problem.
Here is my take on this keyboard and hope I can prevent someone like me from buying and returning this product.

1. Pros
1) Scissor type keyboard for comfortable typing
2) Smaller than regular size

2. Cons
1) Irregular layout
This was the deciding factor for me.
I could not get used to the strangely placed keys such as Ins, Del, Pgup, Pgdn, Home, End. Since I need to these keys frequently during programming, I found myself making lots of mistakes with this keyboard.
In addition, I started to make mistakes with regular keyboard as well.
2) Compared to regular-sized keyboards, this is smaller but only by a small degree.

3. Conclusion.
I loved the tactile response of scissor-type keyboards. It is definitely easy on my fingers.
However, the cons of this keyboard made me return it.
- If you need to use keys such as Ins, Del, Pgup, Pgdn, Home, End often
- If you think you may have problem adjusting to the irregular layout,
- If you do not desperately need the small saving in space offered by this slim keyboard,
I would recommend you to get regular sized-keyboard with scissor-type structure.

4. Alternatives
For PC users, I found the following alternatives available in the market.
Of course, there are more, but these are the ones that I tried.
1) I-rocks 6170M (Mac keyboard but can be used with PC without any driver)
2) I-rocks 6170E (with illuminated keys)

The former is cheaper than the latter but it has some shortcomings such as
- Alt and Windows keys are flipped
- It does not have PrtSc, scroll lock, Pause key. It has keys such as F13, F14, F15 but they do not work in PC.

The latter has typical PC keyboard layout. One problem is that using backlight makes buzzing noise. However, since I don't use backlight, it is not a problem. I am currently using the latter and quite happy with it.