Lenovo Multimedia Remote with Keyboard N5901

by Lenovo

• 2.4GHz wireless keyboard and mouse combo
• Palm-sized dimensions USB nano dongle
• As far as 10 meters control distance
• Windows multimedia control
• Compatible with Windows® 2000 Windows® XP & Windows Vista® & Windows® 7

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 5 x 1.1 inches ; 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0036VO67I
• Item model number: 57Y6336
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (207 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 14, 2004

Product Description

Two in One The Lenovo Mini Wireless Keyboard (N5901) offers a compact way to improve your home theater PC experience. This device communicates with your PC by way of a tiny USB dongle providing an excellent range during your use. Its features include a mini wireless keyboard with track ball, palm-sized dimensions, and 2.4GHz radio frequency, as far as 10 meters control distance. A device to help navigate your media. 2.4G wireless keyboard and mouse (with track ball) combo.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

104 of 110 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Light and Functional - needs improvements January 20, 2010

By Gena Alexander

I bought the Lenovo wireless keyboard to compliment my Dell Zino HD as a hometheater pc. I even waited to set up the Zino HD until this keyboard arrived.

What I do Like:
The size is right. Installing was a complete breeze. No drivers required. Worked right out of the box on Windows 7. Keys on the keyboard are quick and responsive (if you're pushing the right one). It aesthetically compliments the Zino HD with the Tangerine lid flawlessly.

What I don't Like:
While the size maybe right the weight of it is not. It's very light and it almost gives it the feeling of "cheap." The scrolling ball for the mouse is ultra sensitive to the touch. While the device is light enough for one hand, the mouse feature makes it feel like a two handed job when resizing a webpage or moving things around. It would be much better if the Left Click and right click buttons were on the back of the device, like a trigger and or if the mouse scroll ball could be tapped to execute as well.

For crying out loud, if you're going to push it for what I know everyone is purchasing for, "a home theater PC," the keyboard should have been backlit. Who can search hulu in a dark room with this device? I found myself continuously using the on the screen keyboard because I couldn't see in low light situations. The key buttons have a slight beveled feel and aren't raised, which makes it a little harder to type. I have small hands, so I know the fat fingered person might want to skip this one. There are no function keys, (F1,etc...) at least as far as I can tell. I had to plug in another keyboard to access the F12 feature of my computer. Picks up fingerprints easy on the gloss part of the finish.

Overall, it's just "OK." I wouldn't spend $60 on it, so I'm glad I got it for half price.... If they added backlight (this would give it a little extra weight, thatI think it needs it to be more comfortable in your hand), moved the mouse buttons to underneath, and increased the tension a bit on the mouse scoll ball that so it doesn't feel so loose, it could be a real gem.

This might work better in a conference room for a light presentation type setup because you will have some level of extra light to see it. The concept is perfect for Boxee, Hulu Desktop, etc... Read more ›

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Ehh.... Close, but no cigar March 26, 2010

By Tech Man Ben

I bought the Lenovo mini keyboard/mouse to use as a remote with my HTPC, after a few days of use here is what I have decided.....

First of all the tracking ball is too light on its feet. If you try to operate it with one hand you end up moving the mouse while attempting to click the button. Which moves me to my next complaint; as others have mentioned, the left/right click buttons should have been placed underneath for the nice video game "trigger" functionality that we all love so much. Also the unit is extremely light, which makes it feel like a kids play toy.

My biggest problem is the range. I have my computer mounted behind an LCD on the wall and sitting about seven feet away I am constantly fighting for signal. To make matters worse the keys are tiny and the unit is not back lit, so navigating in a dark room is pretty much impossible.

Despite my complaints, there really is not much else out there at this price point. I think I may take the advise of another review and just use my Iphone with the logitech app, which is far from perfect, but it is free. . Note: for 30 dollars the lenovo unit is fine, not worth 60 dollars though, wait for V2 with back-lighting and trigger mouse and bluetooth for added range.

I am also considering purchasing the Logitech dinovo mini, which runs about $120, or the gyration air remote

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Great Idea, lousy execution July 10, 2010

By Robert A. Fabian

I bought one of these for my HTPC to replace a larger wireless keyboard/trackpad combo that was getting in the way. First off, the form factor is fantastic. It fits perfectly into your hand and, when it works, makes for easy navigation of menus and the web. That said, "when it works" is the issue. I have a small media room and sit about 6 feet from the entertainment center containing my TV and HTPC, and at that range I am constantly fighting with this thing to get my commands in. The mouse pointer lags or stalls completely and key presses are missed repeatedly. If I walk over next to the computer, it works fine, but since the whole point was to control the HTPC from my easy chair, that's mission failure.

37 of 47 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Can you show me better? March 16, 2010

By Cerebrex

I'm surprised with the reviews here. I normally don't leave them, but I figured I'd try to set the record straight about this remote. It's awesome. It's a keyboard and mouse IN ONE HAND! Who the heck is complaining here? For what it is, it works flawlessly. Maybe it's just me, but the only alternatives I see are a FULLSIZE KEYBOARD AND MOUSE. Am I crazy here? I love this thing, and was honestly surprised with how cheap it is (I'm used to buying Harmony remotes, which aren't the cheapest).

As I said, I love this thing, and was definitely glad to replace my Logitech S 510 wireless keyboard/mouse combo.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Junk September 20, 2011

By J. Hatcher

Amazon Verified Purchase

The range and responsiveness sucks. Takes a couple seconds to register a movement or keystroke. It would be a great device, if it worked, which it does not. Tried on several different computers, certain keys will never register. Could just be a bad one. In that case, Lenovo's quality control sucks.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Ughhh. Wanted to love it. 30 minutes to hate it. 2 days of dilligence to return it. March 20, 2011

By JNPV

First, I didn't buy the Lenovo N5901 on Amazon because I found a great deal on it through Lenovo Direct. Big mistake, but we will come to that.

Summary: Very difficult to use, very poorly designed, almost non-existent documentation, and no manufacturer support. Worst new product experience ever.

The device was almost unusable for me. The trackball is very imprecise, and don't even think of trying to use this thing one-handed. Every time I got my pointer over what I want to click, tried to left click (assuming right-handed operation), I'd brush the trackball, because you have to reach over it to click. Left click with left hand and right click with right hand was the only way I could do anything. The click buttons are smooth and slippery, and not actual buttons, but rather a flexible part of the plastic body and took quite a firm press to make them work. This makes the accidental brush of the trackball more likely to happen, even when using two hands.

There is no scrolling feature at all, so off to the right side of the screen you must go for the scroll bar, or use page up/down or the poorly placed arrow keys. The page down thing sounds easy enough right, well, it isn't, and we'll come to that shortly.

No backlight, and while it is a qwerty keyboard, all your other keys are in different locations, making it unusable in low light for most everything because you can't find the @ : or / easily. I'm sure if you used it long enough you would eventually commit it to memory. In my case, I wasn't planning to use this enough to "get used to it", because I would use a real keyboard and mouse for anything significant.

See those little tiny rounded shift keys in the lower corners. Good luck pressing and holding those.... I do not have overly large hands and the button itself could barely be pressed, and if I did, then good chance I'd end up pressing an adjacent key. The page up and down buttons on the left side are nice, but the page down suffers from the same abstract shape usability issue as the shift keys, although it's slightly larger size makes it less pronounced. The thing is that you actually need that page down to be easy, due to the lack of scroll function. Look carefully at where the ESC key is, and consider how often you will be accidentally pressing that key, and what most likely happens when you do. The arrow keys feel awkward, and for some reason the missing alt key on the left side of the keyboard made alt and back arrow impossible to press together, so go find your browser back button because the keyboard shortcut can't be done. I didn't realize how much I did that until I couldn't do it. Home and End keys require you to press AND HOLD the orange Fn key on the lower left, but those keys are on the upper left. How do you even do that?

I just couldn't believe how frustrating this device was to use. All these little ergonomic and usability issues add up quick. It's almost like the designer of this product never prototyped it, or perhaps I use my keyboard differently than most. I wanted this to work, but after 30 minutes I found myself wanting to throw it at the wall out of anger.

After 30 minutes of use, this thing just stops working, and an orange light came on, and no, despite really wanting to, I did not throw, drop, or otherwise physically harm the device. No mention of an orange light in the manual. Only green for good power up and sync to the dongle, and flashing red for low battery. So I assume that it must be low battery, and the batteries that came with it were crap. Install two new quality batteries, and turn it on, and the light goes orange immediately after green, but now starts flashing between red and orange. Try two more new batteries from a different pack, and the same thing happens. When the light is solid orange, the device doesn't work at all, but it works while flashing red, and there doesn't seem to be any consistency to when it will stay solid orange or flash red. So clearly a defective device, right? Well this takes me down a rabbit hole that nobody wants to experience.

There is almost no documentation with this device, and there is nothing more extensive available online either. Phone support just transfers you around to different places; laptop support, parts support, etc. and don't be surprised if one of them gives you a number for IBM support. IBM was more confused than I was when I spoke to them. After significant searching, I was able to find a web case form that actually had a drop down with this device in it. It says they will respond within 24 hours, but a week later, not even a confirmation that they have received my case. So fair enough, nobody at Lenovo can support this. It's a keyboard. It shouldn't need support, however, you can not get a return through them without a tech confirming the device is defective.

Post Sales Support will only let you return a product if the box is unopened and within the first 21 days, but at least they answer the phone and know what the product is. This was eventually how I got my RMA, but I really needed to stand my ground. Keep in mind that had you purchased this in any store or from Amazon, you would be able to return it or exchange it without any real hassle. You wouldn't need a support case or anything. It is generally considered DOA (Dead on Arrival) by almost every company I've ever dealt with, except Lenovo. I took this position with the person in post sales support, wouldn't let them off the phone (they need your permission to hang up the call), and the person kept having to go talk to a supervisor, but eventually they had to do something for me. The fact that they treated a new customer, with a serious problem with their new product, like this speaks volumes about Lenovo and/or their commitment to their customer.

To be fair, they did issue the RMA, and pay the return shipping in the end, but I do not suggest anybody try this. After working for 15 years in IT, and plenty of experience with help-desks, I knew how to work the system and ensure that something was done. It was difficult and unpleasant for me, because for the first time ever, I had to actually let myself get angry, raise my voice, and basically be a jerk. For some reason, that seemed to close the deal with them. I'll only get the refund if the product passes their QA test, but I am assuming that this should go smoothly from here on. I'll know for sure in 2 weeks.

I never saw any range or wireless interference issues, but I really didn't get to give it the test drive it would have needed to figure that out. The fact that the thing was so difficult to use may have masked any such issues, because you just assume you fat-fingered it Read more ›