Customer Reviews

Microsoft Wireless Laser Desktop for Mac - Silver

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

The mouse is great, very sensitive. It's nice to use in Photoshop. The five programable buttons work well and are easy to program.
The keyboard works fine. I like the zoom slide and calculator button. This keyboard has more features than I am likely to use, but I am a gadget junkie.
The only things I have a beef about are lack of a light on the caps lock key, (I often hunt and peck and I sometimes type all caps). I realize a cap lock indicator would be a battery drain. Occasionaly, a window pops up to tell me the mouse is out of range or low on power. When I check the mouse application, all is well. My last complaint is a matter of taste... I am tired of silver plastic. It's the fake woodgrain of the new century. It's about as tasteful as Courtney Love at the Pope's ordination.
The keys are worse than the silver board. They are a translucent grey. Roboturd grey? I am happy with the functionality of this keyboard but it makes me think of the ugly kid down the street.

I just returned my purchase and here's why:

1. The CD could not be read by my Mac, or my PC or my linux machine. I had to download and install the software from Microsoft's site.
2. One of the rubber "feet" was missing so the keyboard slid as I typed.
3. Mouse clicks took seconds to register. I'd click on a dock icon and wait 2-3 seconds before the click was acknowledged and the application started. (Same for clicking on a hyperlink, menu, close button etc.)
4. Mouse signal strength fluctuated between 2-5 "bars" even though I placed the base unit right next to the mouse. When 2 bars, mouse movement was shakey. When moving the mouse across the screen, it would disappear only to show up a few inches away.
5. Vertical scrolling was inconsistent. There is no physical feedback from the wheel that would allow me to determine how fast to turn the wheel to achieve the desired scroll amount on the screen.

Keep the box, you'll need it when you decide to return it.

This is an excellent keyboard and mouse combo. The keyboard has an ergonomic curved typing surface that is far easier to use than a straight across keyboard. The mouse tracks like a laser, because it is a laser mouse. I am more than pleased with this set. I am using it on a 20" Intel Duo iMac and it works great.

This is a flat keyboard with the keys angled so that the wrists are not bent at odd angles to the body. (I wanted the split keyboard with the arch to allow the hands to fall naturally, but that model is not 'keyed' for Mac.)
This is a compromise and the improvement in comfort is slight compared to the Mac's keyboard.
Most of the 'Mac specific' buttons actually do what they are supposed to. Exceptions: Zoom only magnifies text and only in some programs, where the Mac's zoom magnifies the entire screen, I miss that feature. (Mac's zoom is availed by pressing a combo of three keys, that combo does not achieve the zoom on this keyboard) I was not able to get the 'expose' button to work on this mouse, and even if it did, it is in an uncomfortable position. Other than that, the mouse is comfortably arranged.
The issues with signal strength that others are having are present in this keyboard and mouse. The most annoying part is the frequent window telling me the signal strength is low....etc, etc. From day one, I have never had more than two bars out of five worth of signal strength, regardless of how close the keyboard/mouse is. Even though the signal strength indicates 'low', the keyboard and mouse function fairly well.
The convenience of wireless is outweighed by the signal issues and lack of USB ports. Next time I spill the coffee on the keyboard, I will get a wired one and probably stick with Apple's. Which reminds me, the software has to be installed before the keyboard is connected, and you need a keyboard to do that.... usually. Apple Care helped me around that.
Pros:
Keys arranged in a curve.
Padded palm rest
Extra keys to program in favorites
No wires
Cons:
Signal strength issues
Pop-up warning about signal strength
Inadequate zoom tool
One mouse button 99% useless for me
Silver colored plastic
No wires (it is a pro and a con)

What can I say? I was hoping this would be a decent keyboard and mouse combo for my Mac. I'd like to think that it still could be, but I never got a chance to use it. When I opened the box, I grabbed the install CD and put it in my machine. The machine couldn't read it and spit it out. My Mac had never done that before. I tried the CD in an external drive, that locked up and I ended up having to shutdown my Mac in order to power cycle the drive. After rebooting, I went to Microsoft's website thinking I could download the drivers. After searching and searching (and searching), I finally found the drivers for download. I thought for sure I'd have success now. Nope. During the install, my machine crashed. I had to power cycle it to get it back. Foolishly, I tried to install the drivers again. No good, my Mac crashed again. I double checked that everything was compatible, thinking maybe I downloaded drivers for an older version of Mac OS X but the description stated it was for 10.4.x and I'm running 10.4.8. I put everything back in the box, and its on its way back to Amazon in the morning.

I'd say that if you're interested in this product, you should accept that you may not get the results you are expecting. I read the other reviews, but I figured I'd take a chance anyway. If you're willing to take the chance, I hope your luck is better than mine.

This is Microsoft's revenge on Mac users.

There are so many things wrong with this keyboard and mouse.
1. The quality is bad. Really bad.
2. An alert to tell you the keyboard and mouse are out of range pops up, even when the receiver is resting on the keys themselves.
3. After 2 days all the extra buttons ceased working.
4. After 1 day the mouse stopped working alltogether.
5. There is no feedback from the scroll wheel. You can't tell how fast you're moving it.
6. The keys come already pre-stuck for you. Hit the side of the space bar and it won't depress.
7. The keys are rattly and very noisy. Like an old PC keyboard.
8. The enlarge and the eject keys do not work on a MacBook Pro.
9. Now after 5 days, the media buttons stopped working. A restart fixes it temporarily.
10. The Zoom slider has never done anything

Just rescued the box from the garbage. It's going back!

I have the receiver set up on a kvm switch for a PC and a Mac. The combo works great on the PC but the mouse is very sluggish on the Mac. I also get nfrequest "low wireless signal" message on the Mac (not on PC). All in all, too much of a hassle and I will be returning it.

I am pretty happy with this wireless keyboard and mouse combination. The curved keyboard is comfortable. There plenty of dedicated keys. I am especially happy that it is a Mac specific, meaning you don't need a sharpie to reassign ALT to CMD. The mouse tracks well, except on some surfaces, like marble - maybe not opaque enough?

Here are my two complaints about it:

1) On a Mac you need to sometimes hold down a key combination during startup. I had to read someone else's review to learn that this is, indeed, possible. But, you have to do it just right. You have to watch the light on the little USB dongle and, when that light blinks right after your screen turns grey, you have to then press the key combination you want. The window of time is only about a second or two long. If you are zapping your PRAM and need to hold down CMD-OPT-P-R, then you might need to practice or try a couple times. Also, this is in contradiction with Apple's instructions to press the buttons BEFORE the screen turns grey.

2) Placement of the USB dongle - that receives the RF signals from the keyboard and mouse, is a bit touchy. I have mine sitting directly behind my keyboard - practically touching - yet I still get this annoying message that says my RF signal is weak. I stopped the message, but still it misses some key clicks. It was worse on top of the desk. I am still messing with this after many months of use.

Battery life seems to be quite good - don't think I have changed them yet. Setup is straight forward and most defaults work fine for me. I had a lot of trouble with Logitech keyboards, so this is a big improvement.

I purchased four of these wireless laser desktops for Apple computers. One for home, and three for work. Out of four, three have failed within two months. The mouse has multiple problems. The wheel gets stuck and begins to "drag" and is difficult to scroll with. The left and right mouse buttons begin acting strangely, performing double clicks on a single click, or not clicking at all. The keyboard keys have had problems as well (not responding without having to press them very hard on certain keys. I'd say they have a useful life on no more than two months.

I will be submitting a complaint to Amazon. If you choose to purchase this kit... hold on to your receipt and all the packaging! Personally I would look elsewhere!

I was a little leery after reading all the negative comments. I ended up buying it anyway and could not be happier. I have been using a MS natural keyboard for years on my PC and wanted to continue on my new iMac. It was $100 at our local store and after spending for the iMac decided to wait. Then I found it here for $61. It is actual more comfortable than the natural keyboard because it doesn't have the big split. I love the smooth scrolling mouse and the extra keys. I don't know what other people are talking about with regards to nothing working. This worked great right out of the box. I use BootCamp and it works equally well on the Windows side without having to download any drivers.

Buy it! You won't regret it.