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Key Placement is Non-Standard
By: steve
January 19, 2006 @ 9:21 AM
The shift key is not in the same spot as “normal” keyboards. You need to apply varying pressures on the different keys making it difficult to typle. I find myself having to make multiple corrections
Rating: 3 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Awesome
By: Ben
July 19, 2005 @ 8:09 AM
I’m not sure if some of the batches are defective or something but the one I got works great. The hotkeys are a little small and hard to use but the feel of the keyboard more than makes up for it. Using it is very much like using a laptop keyboard in that it is very quiet and compact but the curved design is more comfortable than a laptop. Most of the people that use my computer comment on how nice the keyboard is. Once you get used to the slightly changed layout (the whole insert-page dwn block has been incorporated into the main block) you’ll never want to part with it. The two usb ports are nice too, especially if you have a usb mouse.
Rating: 10 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Defective
By: James
April 14, 2005 @ 2:24 AM
For some reason my keyboard is defective!! I dont know why, maybe just bad luck…The only good thing I think is about this keyboard is the looks, but then again, I think Kensington or i-rocks have good looking keyboards too. i-rocks even have a keyboard that has its keys light up.
Rating: 5 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Looks nice -- but it's useless
By: Blake
March 18, 2005 @ 10:15 AM
Love the design but hate the way it functionss. Keystrokees often reggister as double orr tripple keey pressses (I have not corrected any of the keystroke prroblems in this review to give an example). I’ve had the keyboard for three months and thiss problem appears to only be getting worse. I’ve ordered a replacement (old sschool) keeyboard. at which time, thiss one goes in the garbage.
Rating: 4 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Looks nice -- a little boouncy
By: Jeff
January 20, 2005 @ 12:28 PM
Positive: Looks nice, comfortable.
Negative (minor): sometimes it is a little bouncy although this seems to be app dependent.
One of it’s big selling points for me was that the keyboard layout exactly matched my laptop (Inspiron 5160). At least the demo model’s did, AND the picture on the box did. However when I got mine out of the box three keys were in different places! This was rather disappointing.
Rating: 8 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Wireless
By: Martin
May 2, 2003 @ 5:52 AM
I really like the design of this keyboard. I haven’t yet used one since I just ordered one and it will be delivered sometime next week. I always used a laptop and just bought my first “real”pc. One thing that kept me from buying a PC is the keyboard they come equipped with. ‘They’re too big and I really don’t like the noise it makes when you’re typing… Now I finally found a keyboard which has the same look and, hopefully, feel as a laptop-keyboard.
Since I, like other reviewers here, would like to get rid of those cables, I bought me a keyboard which is exact like the Viewmate but is totally RF wireless!
If anyone is interested in “upgrading” to a wireless version, look for the Zippy Wireless RF-711 on Google.
I ordered mine from http://www.coolexpress.com but there are more resellers out there. It’s only $59,- and that’s including a wireless optical mouse! Unfotunately the Zippy does not have the built-in USB ports, but hey…, there’s always something you have to wish for right…..?
Well, I hope I will enjoy using my new keyboard and I rated an 8 just for the looks only:-)
Rating: 8 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
"Got style and functionality!"
By: Jael
April 3, 2003 @ 9:21 PM
I just got this keyboard as an attachment to my laptop for when I want a full keyboard and number pad. I’m very pleased with the styling and the extras such as the built in 2 port USB hub. I keep my PDA and extra mouse plugged into the keyboard and it’s a simple 1 plug to dock situation. The keyboard look is truly satisfying and many of the shortcut key’s are actually usefull (power down, e-mail, internet, etc). If I were to be truly picky I’d like to see this type of design done in a metal casing as the keyboard, although sturdy feeling suggests a heavier construction than it actually is. And yes, I suppose cordless would be cool too;)
Overall I’m more than happy with my purchase it satisfies both my keyboard needs and my aesthetic sensibilities! (How much can you ask from a keyboard really?) Love it!
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Very Nice
By: Cerebral
April 3, 2003 @ 7:13 AM
This keyboard is stylish, functional, and I love the laptop-esque style to it. Typing has moved from banging keys to effortlessly tapping where I need to tap. The USB ports are also a godsend, since I don’t have USB on the front of my case and using the digital camera was a pain.
My only qualm is the location of the arrow keys. Many a time I have been typing in IRC and hit the up arrow at the same time as the enter key, causing me to repeat my last typed message instead of what I intended to write.
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Beautiful but flawed
By: Chad
March 28, 2003 @ 10:16 AM
Out of the box this keyboard looks absolutly incredible. I wish all keyboards had this kind of thought put into their look. Unfortunatly, I couldn’t stand how it functioned. The keys feel like an extremely stiff laptop keyboard. It actually felt like I was pounding on them to get an accurate response.
I didn’t mind how they moved around the keys too much but two keys I had an extreme problem with. The first is backspace. It has been placed to the left of another key (sorry, can’t remember which). For someone like me who has been working with a keyboard since he was 6 years old, backspace is ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS at the top right hand side of the keyboard. I actually didn’t miss the key very often but occasionally I would hit backspace and the key to the right of it at the same time. Spacebar is the other key I had a problem with. Its set so low that its almost flush with the frame of the keyboard. Its probably just my hands but I had to put way too much effort into how I was using my thumbs to use it reliably.
My last problem with the keyboard is that its not programmable. How can a company make a multimedia keyboard this incredible without making it programmable?!? I can’t believe it would have been that hard to implement.
Anyway, if you can get used to the layout and feel of the keys, and don’t mind non-programmable multimedia keys, this could be the keyboard for you. I wish I could have, it really is probably the best LOOKING keyboard I have ever seen.
Rating: 5 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Small and Pretty need I say more?
By: Ryan
March 27, 2003 @ 3:42 PM
Bought it to match my silver pc case and LCD monitor. I couldn’t believe how small it was. The layout is nice but may take some getting use to. The shortcut keys are a nice addition. Seems to be well built and sturdy. Great product. Didn’t give it a ten mainly because it isn’t cordless but its still great.
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Great ergonomics, Luke-warm hot buttons
By: ChiefKujo
March 27, 2003 @ 11:22 AM
WinXP Pro, 845PE board.
Hot keys are not programable. Internet keys don’t work with IE 6.0. Multimedia keys work fine.
Rating: 7 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Better than normal, but can improve.
By: unpure
March 26, 2003 @ 7:43 PM
I’ve had this keyboard for 4 months now. It is an improvement from my other normal keyboard, but some of the improvements aren’t as great as they are hyped to be.
- Since it is a USB keyboard, some diagnostic apps that require a boot disc won’t work with the keyboard even though the feature is turned on in the BIOS. Luckily, I can still plug my normal PS/2 keyboard in at the same time and have it work. Both keyboards function in the win32 environment at the same time, btw.
-Only one of the two USB ports work at one time. You can’t plug 2 devices in. This has to be the most annoying thing about the keyboard. I use win2k, maybe xp would be better?
-The extra 18 buttons are really stupid. For example, a refresh button for your web browser is located directly above the F5 button. What is the benefit of this? Another stupid thing is the back/forward buttons. How hard is it to press ALT + left or ALT +right? Especially if a user is used to it anyways?
-In addition to the stupid extra keys, you can’t reprogram them for custom actions. It would be really handy to be able make them open up your more frequently used apps, or even associate them with a desktop shorcut.
-The material the frame is made of is kind of weak. The frame just below the keys has a curve up, which looks nice, but if you press down on it with any strength at all the whole keyboard warps.
-The learning curve to the new placement of the keys takes a while to get used to. I am finally getting used to it. My old keyboard has a backspace key that is on the top right corner of the main keyboard block. When I first got the new one, I kept on hitting the HOME key instead, which gets annoying real quick.
I am glad I own this keyboard, but I don’t think it’s worth the money if the only added benefit is the extra USB port. The only reason I have it is because it is a gift.
Rating: 6 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Excellent device
By: pk
March 26, 2003 @ 4:54 AM
I’ve been using one of these for a few months. It is very similar
the feel of a laptop keyboard except much wider!
The only thing I wish it had were more USB ports built in.
It is handy having the one but I use it as “mini-dock” for my laptop
so sometimes I like to have more than one device.
All in all, a great device.
Rating: 8 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No