Read All Adesso Inc FK-760 Customer reviews
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Category: Personal Computers
Brand: Adesso Inc
Model: FK-760
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Adesso Inc FK-760 Product reviews
Adesso Inc FK-760 Review by S. Hoge (Santa Cruz, CA United States)
ORIGINAL REVIEW, Sept 2007:
I inserted the batteries in the keyboard, plugged in the USB dongle, pressed the ID buttons on both units and the keyboard was talking to my Mac Powerbook from across the room within 3 minutes of unboxing it. Voila! No control panel, no tweaky drivers.
The ergonomics of this compact and very lightweight keyboard are ideally suited for sitting on your lap on the couch in front of your HDTV. As you grasp the upper corners in both hands there is a trackball under your right thumb and a left mouse-button-equivalent under your right index finger. There's a scroll wheel under your left index finger and additional left and right mouse-button-equivalents under your left thumb. The plastic trackball feels a bit grainy but actually operates quite smoothly and I have no problem placing the cursor with near-pixel accuracy on a 1920x1080 screen from across the room. You do have to shift your hands entirely if you want to move them into typing position - in that mode the mouse buttons are not very conveniently placed.
Now for sixty bucks, don't expect the highest quality key action, or completely glitch-free operation. The scroll wheel action seems to slow way down when scrolling slowly and speed way up when moving fast - but I have to say that it does scroll any Mac OS X window that displays a scroll bar. Occasionally the trackball loses its connection to the cursor, but typing any keys on the keyboard syncs it again. The reliable range seems to be about 20 feet - beyond that it can be hit-or-miss. However, you have to give Adesso some credit for decent buid quality; while one look tells you it's clearly a budget keyboard, it does not feel cheezy or flimsy at all.
There are a number of special-purpose multimedia and application launch keys across the top of the keyboard; unfortunately, because there is no Mac-specific driver for this keyboard (it's a USB plug-and-play device) the only ones that work on the Mac OS are the speaker volume up, down and mute - which are still quite handy.
As others have noted, it's difficult to put down after sleeping your computer without inadvertently waking it up again; something inside the keyboard (probably the trackball) is VERY sensitive to jarring and you'll have to learn to place this keyboard down very carefully if you want your machine to stay asleep.
I have only about a week's experience with this unit, but so far, so good.
UPDATE November 2010:
I actually ended up with another one of these and they've been operating fairly reliably for 3 years; one is used as the primary keyboard on my Mac Pro and another as a controller for my Mac Mini HTPC. The ergonomics on these units have proved to be amazing due to the left AND right-hand mouse-buttons, trackball and scroll wheels; unless you need to type characters on the keyboard you can hold it in two hands and navigate fully around any modern GUI. As an HTPC controller it's been great with the caveat that you're basically cradling the thing in your lap while sitting on the couch - it is NOT suitable for one-handed operation.
After a couple of years of regular use the left-hand scroll-wheel on my primary unit started to flake out; opening the case and reconditioning it mechanically didn't do too much to improve the reliability, and it eventually stopped working altogether, so I swapped it with the HTPC unit. (No other functionality on the unit was affected by the scroll-wheel's failure.)
Also, on one of my units the mechanical trackball began to exhibit alot of "stiction", which made fine positioning difficult; I solved this by opening the case (8 small screws) and 1) Cleaning the gunk out, 2) removing the fabric gasket ring that was supposedly sealing the trackball unit against more incoming gunk, and 3) lubricating the ball and contact points with a SMALL amount of silicone lubricant. This made the trackball a looser fit inside its socket but made it rotate very freely and restored its fine positioning ability.
One of the things that made this keyboard feel a bit cheap is the lightweight hollow plastic trackball; I've searched for a steel ball bearing to replace it but haven't found exactly the right size.
Battery life on these units has been less than I'd hoped; however, the keyboard's sleep mechanism is quite effective and the HTPC unit has run on the same set of 4 AAs for much longer (3-4 months) than my desktop unit (~2 months), which gets alot more continuous use without sleeping.
Adesso Inc FK-760 Review by DD "Deepak" (California USA)
I bought this keyboard and Before you buy I want to write pros and cons
CONS:
1. This is typical china made keyboard [...], I ordered ADESSO brand, but the packaging was completely different. The actual brand printed was X Gene. Big surprise to me.
2. It does not come with any Manual and there is hardly any info available on net.
3. My scroll mouse button stopped working in a month. ( I was thinking I will manage with arrow keys)
4. My shift keys stopped working after while.
5. One day I realized that inside of keyboard was making noise (it was fallen of internal screw that was moving inside keyboard as u shake the keyboard. When I opened this keyboard realized all the plastic used is cheap quality and screw fell of when the plastic that holds the screw cracked after using this keyboard. Lot of time u have to press hard on some keys because they don't work and end result is plastic cracking inside and screws falling off.
6. You may see some missing keystrokes if your PC /laptop is busy doing something else.
7. Keyboard is not water proof, tea spill off on this keyboard and that was end of it.
PROS:
1. if you think keys dont work at all, then press the ID button continously until the LED on USB stick lights. this actually matches RF channel on keyboard with USB receiver.
2. Use this keyboard gently if you want good life
3. Keyboards works in general, it takes 1-2 weeks to get used to it so dont give up, u actually will love it once u got used to its trackball mouse and side buttons.
4. Battery life is good and battery indicator is useful to remind you when its going to be low. it saves battery when keyboard not in use.
Adesso Inc FK-760 Review by usaf_drew (Middle GA)
**EDIT -- OK, so now it is over a year later and I have bought two more of these for each bedroom. All three have worked flawlessly! I have even dropped some of the units on the carpet a few times. This is one sturdy keyboard :) A bit about the battery life: batteries usually last about 2-1/2 months. So, I decided to buy good quality rechargeables for all three keyboards. This makes life a whole lot easier.
This IS the keyboard/mouse combo to get if you have a HTPC - HANDS DOWN...
I was using a Microsoft Bluetooth Elite setup for my HTPC and got sick and tired of the keyboard loosing the connection. Sure bluetooth is 100ft radius, but it was getting rediculous. Plus the mouse was giving me wrist pain using it on a sofa. Then I decided after reading reviews on this product here to get it. Let me tell you I cannot be happier.
I would personally llike to thank the person(s) who designed this keyboard. They must have done the research on ergonomics because every button is placed well, keyboard shape/curves are optimal and trackball setup feels great. Many designers for input equipment just don't take the time to plan like this I suppose.
Well, I will keep it short although I could write a short story about how great this unit is...
PROs:
- NEVER loses connection. Huge plus! You have to wake the keyboard up after a few minutes of inactivity by pressing a button (not moving the trackball). The key press does not register on the computer (just wakes the unit up). This wakeup feature is awsome in 2 respects. First, it really saves battery life and second, it keeps from something bumping the trackball and moving the cursor.
- Every button is optimally placed. Left/right click take some getting used to. Trackwheel is awsome. Keys are not small, yet fit on such a small keyboard. Key press feels like a normal keyboard. Has essential browser and media buttons :)
- Keyboard itself is sturdy, made of good plastic, lightweight and perfect sized for HTPC environment.
- Trackball is sweet! If you get this product and find that the trackball misses a bit, don't be discouraged. My unit came with the trackball coated with a semi-slick protectant which will wear off in a day or so of movement. The mouse pointer can move as fast or slow as your thumb wants it to without missing skipping. Another HUGE plus!
- Battery life for me is 1+ month strong already. Great sign.
- Setup is quick and fully XP/Vista compatible. Plug in dongle, push ID button on keyboard, use keyboard. Done.
- RF range is about 50ft for me even through multiple walls! If you stray too far and it looses signal, as soon as you come back in range it works. NO RECONNECTING!!!
CONs:
- Wish it had a sleep button.
- No software available to track battery life.
- USB dongle is about 3in long. A bit large for dongles nowadays. Might be a problem for a laptop.
I will be buying one more of these soon for the bedroom.
Worth every penny IMO!!!
More Reviews...
2.4 GHZ RF WIRELESS MINI KEYBOARD W/OPTICAL TRACKBALL:: Technical Details
- Wireless frequency: 10 meters.
- 4-AA batteries included for up to 3 months use.
- Compatible with Windows ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista
- Integrated optical trackball.
- Notebook keyboard module enables handheld operation.
- Item Dimensions: 0 x 0 x 0 inches; 3 pounds
- Brand: Adesso Inc
- Model: FK-760
- Product Type: Personal Computers
Adesso Inc FK-760:Limited time only!
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