The Keyboard
If you are at all familiar with the Dell enhanced multimedia keyboard then you know exactly what you will be getting for the keyboard portion of this Bluetooth kit. The only differences I have thus far found are 1) Lack of CAPS/SCROLL/NUM lock indicators, in their place is the Bluetooth indicator and 2) No wires. It has the same 8 “quick” buttons along the top, which can be reprogrammed, and the same “multimedia cluster” between the Function keys and Print screen key block. Only one of these, the Media Player button on the far right, can be reprogrammed.

Typing delay seems minimal, less than I had expected with a wireless keyboard, but there was a noticeable increase in lag after installing the Dell SitePoint software. If I had to guess (and it is just a guess at this point) I say that this is related to encryption being enabled, which almost makes it worth it. I’ll have to do some more testing with the encryption disabled before I can say for sure. I only used it for about two days before installing the Dell software.

Overall, my initial impression is a 4 out of 5. It looses points for the lack of indicator lights for CAPS/SCROLL/NUM lock. Dell could have found a place to put these, and using newer LED’s could have stayed within a low power usage threshold.

The Mouse
The mouse included with this Bluetooth kit is functional, but is not designed that well from an ergonomics perspective. The back and forward buttons are under the left thumb, making them all but useless for a left-hander (thankfully not an issue for me). The other main issue is the design of the left & right mouse buttons. They choose to use the “seamless” style button, which means that to get reliable button pressing you have ride the top of the mouse with your palm. This is also necessary to be able to comfortably reach the forward button under the left thumb.

One thing which shocked me when I first turned it on was the pointer speed. I had to go into the mouse properties and jack the speed down to two notches to bring it back to “normal”.

I am thankful that, based on reviews I read at Dell’s site, I purchased the Microsoft Wireless 8000 mouse as a replacement. As I stated previously, it is a perfectly functional mouse, but it would not be comfortable for daily use.

Overall, my initial impression is a 2 out of 5. This mouse is merely functional, and Dell could have done a much better job at producing a high quality product to go with their keyboard.