So XArmor's website has been offline for weeks and they aren't responding to my emails. If they don't reply to my last email by the end of the month I'm going to assume they've gone belly up (or that the brand/division has been disbanded), which frees me to do what I want with this:
An early prototype of the iOne XArmor U9W/U27 (I'll refer to it as the U9W from here on). This was given to me for product testing purposes in October 2010, and has seen moderate use on and off since then.
Info:
- Wireless (2.4GHz)
- Cherry MX Blue switches
- Steel plate construction
- Can use standard miniUSB cable if you prefer wired
- Accepts AA batteries
Since this is a prototype it's a little rough around the edges. This early version does not feature an on/off switch, which is its biggest con (this feature was added to the design after I commented on it). The top half of the case is from an XArmor U9BL, and so has the rubber coating, but does not perfectly snap together on the right hand side. There is no battery cover. It is designed to work with XArmor's snap-on wrist rest, but one did not come with this sample.
Build quality is otherwise pretty decent, with the same basic plate mount construction as the U9BL and Razer Black Widow.
Useful range of wireless operation is about 5-10 meters from the receiver, works with glitches out to 15 meters, does not work at all past that. Using a typical 1100W microwave within 5 meters may reduce useful range temporarily.
Battery life probably varies based on battery quality. Cheap-ass Kodak ZnC batteries last about six to ten weeks of moderate usage. Alkaline or Li batteries probably last about two to three times as long.
Keycaps are lasered and infilled, not sure what type of plastic. Lettering can be felt.
Keyboard came with an iOne wireless optical mouse. The mouse isn't very good and I advised them to package a better one with the keyboard or none at all. Still, it's good enough for couch mousing and can track (however poorly) on a number of surfaces including wood, glossy paper, fake leather, and jeans.
The wireless "nanoreceiver" is, naturally, very small. It's been tested to work flawlessly on multiple PCs (Windows and Ubuntu, haven't tried Mac OSX) and on a Play Station 3. All systems detected the device and installed drivers automatically, first time install takes about 3-5 seconds, after that generally takes no more than one second. The keyboard has a little slot on the back that the nanoreceiver can slot into during transport.
If I do have to conclude that XArmor is dead (if they don't get back to me) then I'll be selling it since I don't have a pressing need for it. Any appraisals?
