Gyration Ultra Mouse and Keyboard Suite

Amazon Customer Reviews

(4 out of 5)

A great wireless input device without using desks...

Before buying this great innovation, please do consider the following:

1. The mouse was designed to be used without a surface. Yes, it can also be used on a surface with its optical sensor. But the designers of this product shaped the mouse to be held comfortably in the air instead of on a desk. The slim design of the mouse with large buttons makes it a bit unnatural when used on a surface. However, it fits perfectly in the hand when held in the air. So, before buying the gyration, please do keep in mind that the designers meant for this product to be used WITHOUT a surface most of the time.

2. After doing a ton of research online, I have found that this is the only wireless input device (besides remotes) that has a range over 10 ft. In my apartment, I was able to use both devices, keyboard and mouse, as far away as 22-23 feet from the base. Originally I was losing connection at about 19 feet. After placing the base at a higher location, I was able to achieve almost 23 feet range.

Many people complain that the mouse is uncomfortable on a desk. Well, as I stated above, it is not designed to be used on a desk by the computer or else why would the long range be necessary.

If you do a quick search or look on Logitech's web site, you will find that most wireless/cordless input devices' range is only 6 feet. Why? because they are designed for the main purpose of reducing clutter.

The gyration product is designed to be used far away from the desktop computer. Since you will be more than 8-15 feet away from your desktop computer, you will not be able to really see your monitor.

Keep in mind that this product is to be used in conjunction with a computer hooked up to a big screen TV or a projector.

3. The compact keyboard is okay. The keyboard is the reason I am not giving this product 5 stars. The keyboard layout can be improved. It is supposed to be like a laptop keyboard. For some strange reason, gyration did not mimic laptop keyboard layouts.

Just compare the layout of the gryation keyboard layout to any laptop keyboard, you will immediately notice the differences.

The most annoying one is the "function" key being at the bottom left corner instead of the "ctrl" key. The two should be flipped.

I type between 65-80 words per minute on normal keyboards. The gyration keyboard does slow me down a bit, but I do find too hard get used to.

Definitely think about getting the full sized keyboard instead.

So...

IF you are looking for a wireless input device to REDUCE CLUTTER, do NOT buy this product.

IF you are going to be using a wireless input device on a desk near your desktop computer or laptop more than 85% of the time, do NOT buy this product.

Do buy this product if you are planning to hook up your desktop computer to a big screen TV and sit back on a couch.

This is the best product to set up a computer in the living room without having to mess up your living room look. The desktop computer can be hidden away without a monitor.

The mouse response is fast. It does take some practice to get a hang of it. But remember this is the ONLY full functioning pointing device that can be used in mid-air with long range.

The mouse and keyboard uses the same base station. Zero conflicts when using both devices at the same time in terms of interferences or slow down.

Let me stress again to all of you looking for wireless input devices. If you are going to be using your wireless input devices on a desk near your computer, DO NOT buy the gyration. You will hate it. You should consider products from Logitech which makes great input devices in my opinion.

If you are going to be using the wireless input device without a surface and far away from your computer, this is the perfect and only solution for you.

(2 out of 5)

Starts out great then dies

I have had my keyboard and mouse for about 4 months. I like both very much especially the mouse. After 3 or 4 weeks the mouse would hold a charge less and less often. It got to a point where the mouse seemed to take much longer than normal to charge, when it charged, and then when it was done and I used it, it would die within minutes. I said when it charged because I started to have alot of trouble with the mouse charging properly. I would lay it in the cradle and the light wouldn't go on unless I pushed down on it. So I was constantly cleaning the contacts of the cradle and the mouse which helped, but was annoying. Eventually the cleaning didn't help anymore. I stopped using the mouse and went back to a less ergonomic yet flawless logitech cordless.

The keyboard continued to work fine and although it is small, I loved the feel of it. Just recently, however the keyboard started acting up. It behaved as if it wasn't communicating properly with the receiver unit. I tried changing the channel and still no good. I changed the batteries in the keyboard and that seemed to work for about 3 days. It started acting up again, missing letters etc. It got worse and worse until I had to use my trusty old backup keyboard. A cheap Compaq keyboard with a wire connected to the ps2 port. It works even though it's dusty and dirty. The keys feel spungey, but it works without a hitch! I love wireless and I really liked what Gyration made, but it's clear to me that they have some kinks to work out. I'm sorry that I had to find out the hard way. In the future I will stick with the more mainstream brands. I love Amazon for user reviews except that sometimes the reviews are for an item that was recently purchased. I now look for more reviews with a word about how long someone has used something and what it is like then.

(5 out of 5)

Excellent Quality, Superb Product

I got this keyboard/mouse combo a few days back. Let me first tell you that I use it on a Linux System and it works flawlessly. I have my normal mouse and keyboard working alongside *Just in case I want them or the batteries in the wireless keyboard die.

This keyboard and mouse is HID complient - which means that any of the modern operating systems should work without loading any specific drivers and very certainly this product works plug and play on most windows os.

Now about the keyboard. I find the keyboard very comfortable. Initially I thought it was too small to keep in lap but I was looking for a small keyboard as it reduces the required finger travel to various keys (I am a programmer. Just imagine how many times I reach out for arrow keys to move my cursor around. Having a compact keyboard means in the long run my fingers will have jumped around much much more. I used dvorak layout earlier to reduce finger hopping. This keyboard adds to that). It is small enough to move it around from lap to table and so on. It looks cool! And the radio reception is so excellent that I am amazed. I can turn around and this thing works.
Many people complain about the function key in the corner. I actually like it because in programming you need control key a lot (specially if you are an emacs fan or a hard-core computer geek who does *everything* with his keyboard). The control key requires less thumb twiching. The gyration guys might have thought about this.

The mouse is excellent. As I said, the normal mouse still works in conjunction with the gyration mouse. Ability to use the mouse in air is not only fun, it is also a break to the hands. You learn as you use the mouse and your control becomes much more smooth. It is a much easier way to mouse than surface. Less friction in air and you just need to move your wrist (or just rotate your hand) to move the mouse. Much more cool. You dont need to reach out for that mouse and keep your arm stretched for 2 hours while you were surfing. Carry this mouse to whereever you want (even let your arm limp loose straight down) and use this mouse there.

As I said, radio reception is excellent. And in my views the quality of the entire product is very high and sufficient thinking has gone into it.

(5 out of 5)

Praise for narrow keyboard ergonomics

I *love* the narrow laptop-layout keyboard: it's the only one I've seen yet that doesn't stick seven inches' worth of miscellaneous navigation and numpad keys between typing surface and mouse. It eliminates the wrist-and-shoulder strain of right hand jutting out toward mouse. My Kensington trackball can sit neatly close. It's the best ergonomic advance for my desktop experience since switching over to dvorak input.

The keyboard alone is worth the price; it was a real bonus to get this gyro-pointer (which used to cost much more!) for free. It takes some practice, but it's the best specialized tool for presentations.

Tip: attach velcro patches to crucial keys (return, delete, command) to help you use them confidently while touch-typing. It's especially helpful on this keyboard because there's one column of navigation keys to the right of return and delete.

Mac users: use DoubleCommand shareware to fix Windows' switched positions of the command and option keys.

(3 out of 5)

Good and bad points

I bought the mouse/keyboard to supplement my office laptop for two reasons:

1) For ergonomic reasons, I wanted a wireless keyboard that fit into my desk's small pull-out keyboard tray, while still allowing room for a full-size mouse on the same tray. The keyboard fit perfectly. The keyboard is similar in size to a laptop keyboard, so don't buy it if you want a regular full-size desktop keyboard.

2) The idea of an in-air mouse seemed cool. OK, it is cool, but it was not easy to control smoothly. The only situation where I'll use the in-air function is when I'm giving a presentation with my laptop screen being projected onto a wall screen, and I need stand away from the laptop.

As someone who has suffered a previous repetitive stress injury related to computer usage, I found my hand hurting using this mouse within the first hour of use. In my opinion, the mouse is too narrow, causing me to unnaturally clench my hand around the mouse to grasp it. As such, I don't use the mouse. Everyone is different. Test this mouse at a store, if you can, before purchase.

My solution was to buy a separate Microsoft wireless mouse. Yeah, that's right, I have separate USB antennas for my keyboard and mouse plugged into my laptop. It's a shame about the Gyration mouse being narrow, because I think an in-air mouse would have good potential for people with certain disabilities. A crude measurement shows perhaps a 3/8ths of an inch difference in the width of the front end of the two mice, but the contour of a wider mouse was important to me.