Home > Consumer Reviews > Adesso 2.4 GHz RF Wireless Mini Keyboard with Optical Trackball

I don't know how this keyboard gets as many good reviews as it got. If you do the math its 3.8 stars (Amazon pads the reviews by rounding up). This keyboard frequently skips characters wile typing making using it a chore. I have tried 2 different USB ports with no change and the receiver is only 3.5 feet away. Also the track ball is unusable due to skipping around probably due to the same issue that make it skip characters. I have fixed about 15 errors in this review due to the problem - maddening!!!

Good:
Second keyboard I bought works flawlessly. Relieves repetitive stress pain from using a regular mouse for hours each day.

Bad:
This is why I give this keyboard 4 starts instead of 5 - I had to buy the keyboard twice and return the first one, which had a malfunctioning trackball. The second keyboard that works properly IS a 5-star keyboard.

Details:
I deleted my original 3-star review and I'm replacing it with this review.

The first time I bought this keyboard, the trackball would not work smoothly, if at all. I emailed Adesso support and they responded quickly, asking me to change batteries and to test the keyboard on another system - which I did with identical results. They also asked me to check for a red light under the track ball, which tells me they sent me a stock reply or the rep was clueless about this model. The trackball is enclosed, there is no red light.

I liked using this keyboard with my laptop, which I use for hours each day, so I ordered another keyboard in hopes that it would work given the good reviews of this product. The second keyboard works perfectly! The trackball works smoothly and does not intermittently stop working altogether as the trackball on the first keyboard did.

I write for a web site and I use a mouse as often as I type. This keyboard is fantastic for the hours I use my laptop nearly every day for work. I love the size of this keyboard (I have small hands), and having the mouse buttons, scroll wheel and trackball right on the keyboard relieves the repetitive stress pain in my wrist and a couple of fingers. I use the trackball with any finger or the palm of my hand to avoid over-working joints.

Having to return the first keyboard is a disappointing inconvenience and expense. But, the physical comfort the second, properly functioning keyboard provides is worth it for me. Unfortunately, I think sometimes a "clunker" is shipped.

This keyboard is the absolute worst. I received this keyboard with low expectations, but when i oped the box it became a lot worse...
When i first opened the box i was excited (because now i can sit on the couch and surf my computer!) but was quickly reminded that quality comes with a price. When i first hooked it up the trackball was a little skippy (aka. not registering movement) and was very hard to click on anything due to not being smooth. The trackball doesn't come out of the board, so i couldn't try to clean the (if it has?) rollers, god forbid they still use those, / or clean the optical so it would actually see when i was moving the trackball.

This wasn't the end of it, i tried typing something in and only half of the keys actually worked. This made typing ANYTHING a problem due to having to go back and fix all of the mistakes left behind by the keyboard not registering what i was hitting.

After using this keyboard for about 3 hours i sent it back. Do yourself a favor and skip this. Nobody needs this crappy of a keyboard or the hassle this has caused.

The keyboard if great - light, small but not too much, with scroll wheel and mouse buttons on both right and left side. It feels very natural when using it. The problem is with sensitivity of the RF - it works 100% up to 1 meter, then starts loosing typed chars or mouse movements. At around 5m you need to point the keyboard directly to the RF receiver, which must be in clear visibility (forget placing it in the USB port at the back of the PC). I had to use USB extension cable to make the RF more reliable. The RF reset did not improve the sensitivity. Also, after some time with no activity (1-2 mins), the mouse cursor does not respond. You need to press any key and then the mouse cursor works again. Looks like if the keyboard goes into some sleep mode and mouse movement is not waking it up. Apart from this RF issue, the keyboard is excellent and would get 5*.

I am very happy with my Adesso keyboard. I have just made the transition from cutting my cable bill to viewing all of our television shows across the internet. It saves us about $60 a month now and makes our Tivo kinda useless! We connected a small computer to our flat screen and are using the Adesso for navigation instead of a mouse and wired keyboard. It is fantastic!

Any cons to list? Well... The connection is flakey if you plug the USB dongle behind the PC. I ran a USB cable and put it so that the signal didnt have to bounce off the wall to get to the back of the PC. You must activate the keyboard if you havent used it in like 5 minutes by pressing one of the mouse buttons. That isn't so bad and at least it saves battery that way. I keep rechargables in it and recharge them about every 3 weeks. That's not so bad. Putting the batteries in was a brainteaser, but wasn't too bad. The wife gets frustrated with it because it goes to sleep, but the kids have no problem working it any time they want. I think that is just a training issue. The low battery light doesn't seem to be useful at all as that you know the batteries are starting to go down when you notice flakey behavior in the keyboard. So I have never seen it light up.

Pros? Well... since I have switched to internet television now I don't lose the remote! No seperate mouse to deal with! It is small enough to be comfortable but large enough to be usable. It meets our needs quite well.

Thanks Adesso for a good product.