Wireless keyb+trackpad opinions?

[hemflit]

So I'm considering getting a wireless keyboard+trackpad (or something similar) for my old man.

He won't be typing a lot, so it doesn't have to be awesome. But it's also not like he'll only type in an occasional URL, so one of those rubbery remote controls passing off as keyboards won't do.

I want it compact (definitely no numpad) but I want the keys to be full-size or nearly so. Backlight would be neat, but it's not necessary.

I'd even consider a trackpad-less keyboard if it's really cool otherwise.


I'm surprised I'm not finding something like 20 different models right away - it's not like I'm looking for something exotic in this day of movie-watching PCs. The only reasonable thing I've found so far seems to be the Logitech K400.


Any experiences or opinions?

[fauxy]

Rii Mini i6

[schmolch]

I have the K400 since a week. I use it for controlling my PC from the couch and guess what, now i sit on the couch all day.
IMHO it is good. It would be perfect if they just made it a little bit wider because unfortunately they squeezed the return key and the + and # keys. All the others keys are fullsize. The touchpad is huge and works great. The small return-key is the only annoyance for me.
I have looked around for other keyboards but there seems nothing else which would be even worth trying.

[hemflit]

Thanks guys.

I've been aware of the Rii thing, looks cool on its own merits, but it's definitely not the class of product I'm looking for. The use case isn't starting movies on an HTPC or informing game-lobby dignitaries that "lol ur ghey", it's typing emails and stuff like that. Plus, old man, poor eyesight, thick fingers, used to banging away on mechanical typewriters etc.

Schmolch, so it does sound like the K400 is what I'm looking at. I did notice its squeezed right-hand ISO keys, that's going to be a problem (I'd need those for letters of the alphabet). Looks like they did a reasonable narrowing of the US layout, but noticed too late they'd painted themselves into a corner for fitting ISO layouts in the same chassis. I'll probably have to push the shop to get me an American version.

Ripster, I remember you being very happy with the Google TV keyboard. Since you have both, how do they compare? They look extremely similar to me except for the "island keys" business - does it make a difference? The K400 I tried had stiffer keys than I'd imagine (based on looks) the Google TV kbd to have.

[hemflit]

I'll probably have to push the shop to get me an American version.

****ing impossible! The biggest electronics chain around won't even bother to order any version other than the local.

Now I've been calling all possible shops across three countries for the last two days. 15% of salespeople mix up "horizontal" and "vertical". By now I've developed a script that just gets me to "tell me the part number from the box" in minimal time. You can't just open with that question, it offends their delicate sensibilities, you have to lead in to it and build up rapport.

And it seems more and more like Logitech just doesn't export that version into Europe. My last attempt will be Dutch shops, but I don't speak Dutch so I first need to gather some energy and goodwill for that over the weekend.

I take it for granted this kind of trouble is part and parcel of getting a Topre. I didn't expect it for Logitech too.