Apple Wireless Keyboard Review

For the full story of what happened to my laptop display and why I chose to not fix it just yet and use it as a desktop computer, see <a href="http://www.viewpoints.com/Dell-IN1910N-Flat-Panel-Monitor-review-235b5">Dell IN1910N Flat Panel Monitor</a>. Yet, it goes to reason, that once I decided on that route and chose a monitor, I now needed some type of keyboard/mouse. Because I was used to doing everything on a laptop and having the ease to move around at will, I wanted to duplicate that as much as possible. Unfortunately, the monitor would have to stay put, so I decided to do a wireless keyboard and mouse.

At Best Buy, I was advised to go with an Apple Wireless keyboard and mouse setup. The salesperson reasoned I could go with non-Apple and it would function, but I would have to have something plugged into my USBs for that, and with only two available on the old MacBook, I needed to save those as much as possible. An Apple employee that was stocking product on the shelves chimed in that in addition to that, the hot keys would work. I recognized that, as I have used non-Apple keyboards before, and the non-compatible hot keys is annoying. The problem is that for this set up, I paid more, but us Mac enthusiasts are used to that. The keyboard itself was $79.

The Apple Wireless keyboard is function. There are no extra keys on it. It's a standard keyboard and small, just the same as I had on the MacBook. It's very lightweight and doesn't heat up like the laptop did, meaning I don't get the heat rash on my leg anymore that I used to have with the laptop. It has a simple push button on and off system and runs on lithium batteries. It functions from far away, but my eyes aren't s young as they used to be, so I still find I have to be within a few feet of the monitor to do my work.

For the negatives of the keyboard, I had a hard time setting it up, an oddity for an Apple product. The literature that comes with it is from an older OS than what is currently available, so setting it up didn't happen the same way it said it would. Between using the non-Apple monitor and trying to get the keyboard working, I wasn't sure where I was going wrong, but eventually I figured it out. It operates on Bluetooth, so you have to get the computer turned on with the old way of using the keyboard and open it up to have it recognize it, meaning I had to open up the laptop and use that keyboard to get to that point. In addition, the other thing that is irritating is a sticky key effect. While typing, it would repeat every three or four keys three or four times, causing way too much editing. I worked around this by going into the system preferences and taking off the key repeat option. The problem with this is I can't hold down the delete key to repeat, I have to manually hit it that number of times as I just did when I realized I'd spelled "down" wrong and had to go back to it.

For now, it's a setup that works. As mentioned in the review of the monitor, once I replace the laptop, I'm thinking of still using a monitor occasionally, as I'm getting used to the quality and size of it. When I do, I'll be able to still use this wireless keyboard. In addition, when using my laptop without a monitor, I'll still be able to use the keyboard separate, for matters of comfort.