ARCTIC K481-Wireless Keyboard with Multi-Touch Pad (US)

Pros: small, lightweight
media buttons work in archlinux
touchpad is great, vertical scroll works good (two fingers)
ON/OFF button is good to prevent crashing the party
good receptioon wwith line of sight 9 feet

Cons: difficult to type; small keys
tab key is very small
home, end, page up, down are function keys
it took me a long time to write this review
only left shift key
notice how im not usin any ' very diffic8lt

Other Thoughts: Not someething you want to geyt usedtoo typing on.
Im going put a rubber tack thing on the tab key because i use it so much.

I boughtt this mainly to type a few commands at the most. too annoying to do much more as one might expect.

Pros: Tight form factor that doesn't take up alot of coffee table space. Decent build quality - doesn't feel cheap and flimsy. Hasn't burned through AAA batteries yet in the month that I had it. Responsive at range. Great for an HTPC - something where you're not doing any serious typing. Size is "exactly what it says on the tin" - See other thoughts.

Cons: This is my first RF remote keyboard so maybe I'm not the best judge, but Line of Sight is required for this thing to get an 11 yard range. I had to use a USB extension cord to make this work the way I wanted without using front ports on the PC (where my pc is sitting is a hazard for something like that, but that's my problem). Size is "exactly what it says on the tin" - See other thoughts.

Other Thoughts: (IE- Why this is a 3 star product) My fat fingers were TOO BIG for this keyboard configuration. The key layout takes some serious adjustment and is not conducive for heavy typing (think linux console navigation). I couldn't get another keyboard fast enough for when I wanted to do serious setup. But if you have pointy, articulate fingers that can adjust or are a 7 year old, then putting this keyboard to normal use is workable. But in an HTPC setting, you probably won't use this keyboard past basic stuff like using arrow keys and the glide point. But I can't stress enough this keyboard sucks for typing. But don't let that deter you from buying. This is going to sound dumb, but if you're not worried about typing this keyboard isn't bad. In a simple navigation and short search criteria, it's passable. But without serious practice, you won't be able to type as fast as you like.

Pros: None

Cons: I bought from a local shop. Product was DOA. Their website is a joke and no support available.

Pros: Great size for a HTPC.

Cons: Does not work. This is my second review. The first time I got this keyboard a few of the keys along the right side did not work at all. Now that I have the 2nd one, any key that has multiple characters automatically goes tot he character that would normally require the shift key to be pressed. In order for the standard character to work you have to press the fn key. I have requested a refund.

Other Thoughts: Good concept, but i will never again order an item from Arctic.

Pros: The size is perfect for my living room coffee table. It offers all the benefits of a full keyboard plus mouse pad but can be easily tucked away or placed on a shelf for storage.

Cons: I just tried to use it for the first time and there is a section of keys just off center to the right that do not work! There are about 6 keys that will not work at all. As there are no drivers, that's not the issue. I just submitted a return request, so we'll see how it goes. I want to give this toy a try, but it's not looking good.

Pros: Small, sleek. Won't clutter up your coffee table and doesn't look out of place or raise any eyebrows like a full-sized keyboard would (Length is a bit longer than a large remote). Blue LEDs to indicate caps lock. AAA batteries included which is a small plus. Keys small but feel solid.

Cons: Only half of advertised RF range of 33 feet despite lack of obstructions. Difficult/impossible to use at around 15 feet.

Other Thoughts: Great for surfing your home theater computer from your couch and adding a high-tech when placed next to your remotes. Noticeable input delay on touch pad, but this isn't really made for gaming so that doesn't matter. Don't buy if your TV setup is more than 15 feet away from your HTPC.

Pros: I bought this keyboard for an Ubuntu media system I built, and I am pleased with the result. My couch is about 15' (4.5M) away from the system, and on good batteries, the keyboard has thus far had no issues with connection.

The touchpad is positioned perfectly so that you can use your thumb to navigate the mouse, and is sensitive enough for detailed navigation between dropdown menus and the like (not so with some others I have utilized).

Even for my huge man hands, this product is the perfect size for a media system keyboard. Its profile allows it to go in a drawer, on a coffee/end table or even on the couch at your side without competing for valuable space. The weight is so little that you can hold it for extended periods of time without it feeling cumbersome or "in the way" unlike full most sized wireless keyboards. Overall, I am pretty impressed with this product, especially for what I gained with regards to price.

Cons: The only downside so far is that the touchpad has some issues recognizing multi-touch input. To use "mouse wheel" like scrolling abilities, the software should recognize two finger input, but about 1/2 the time it does not respond. If you are as stubborn as I am and just keep at it, the command will eventually recognize and scroll the page. This normally wouldn't be such a big issue, but when browsing blogs or trawling YouTube, what is usually an almost unnoticed process of scrolling down becomes taxing when you have to move the mouse to the down arrow and back constantly. That they thought of this and included a feature to circumvent it is excellent. Unfortunately, the execution of this process on my device leaves a little to be wanted.

Also, I prefer wireless devices to use AA over AAA batteries for longevity, but the optimal size and weight of this device understandably restricts this.

Other Thoughts: While I have not had this product for long, overall it has been a great device and fits exactly into what I wanted for a wireless media system keyboard, and for a price that's tough to beat. If the scroll functions worked better, I would have done a 5* review in a heartbeat.