IOGEAR GKM561R Black 2.4GHz Wireless HTPC Multimedia Keyboard with Laser Trackball and Scroll Wheel

Pros: Small, but large enough for my fat fingers Everything is on the board Great range

Cons: The track ball does not go up and to the right very well

Overall Review: I am usually pretty picky on my keyboards. This is the not the very best feeling, but it is decent.

Pros: Great keyboard. Great price. Love the feel of it and the option to change the sensitivity of the mouse with just a push of a button.

Cons: Came with two letter V's and missing the C. I called IOGear and asked them to send me the C key but after being on hold for about 45 minutes they refused to do it and said I would have to ship the whole keyboard back. Which costs me or Newegg time and money so I will probably just cover up the letter V and write a C on it.

Overall Review: Newegg is a great company and they would probably take care of everything for me but it isn't Newegg's problem it is IOGear. It can't be that hard to mail a key to me.

Pros: Cheap and compact. Compared to other wireless keyboard/mouse combos, this is about as cheap as you can get. I use this for my media PC and it does the job for the most part (see cons).

Cons: I, like many others, received a unit which exhibited an "erratic mouse." There are two main symptoms of this problem: 1) Frequently, when you click the mouse (even when not touching the trackball) the cursor will jump, causing you to miss-click. 2) When you click and drag something on screen the mouse will fly all over, completely out of control! Unfortunately, IOGEAR does not make a driver for this keyboard/mouse, so it is not a driver issue. Other people with this problem have contacted IOGEAR, who are apologetic, and they were able to get a RMA. *****However, I DID find a solution that fixed the problem!!! See Other thoughts*****

Overall Review: As noted above, IOGEAR does not make a driver for this product. However, on a whim, I installed the driver for the GKM521R (this produce is the GKM561R) to see if that would work. See http://www.iogear.com/product/GKM521R/ Well... this driver installed two separate, independent, drivers simultaneously- one for the mouse and one for the keyboard. The mouse driver FIXED THE PROBLEM of all erratic behavior. However, the keyboard driver was not compatible and disabled all keyboard functionality. Therefore, I simply removed the keyboard driver and left the mouse driver installed. PROBLEM SOLVED.

Pros: I'll take a trackball over a touchpad any day, and this one works great for my HTPC install. As long as you wipe the ball clean every once in a while, you're good to go. This does have a middle click if you push down on the scroll wheel.

Cons: This is just a basic design of the keyboard, since the mouse buttons are on one side and the ball is on the other, mousing is always a two-handed affair. I knew this going in and I'm fine with it. The buttons are a little delicate like you would find on a laptop. We have to keep the keyboard away from our two-year-old because the first thing she does is start to pop buttons off. Under normal use, this isn't an issue. USB Dongle did stop working after 6 months, but customer service made up for that!

Overall Review: After 6 months, the USB dongle starting acting up and I could no longer get it to connect to the computer. I called customer service and explained the problem and told them the troubleshooting procedures I had gone through, and the agent said, "OK, let me just get your info so we can send you another dongle." Wow. No stupid troubleshooting check off list that I had to follow, no communication problems, just an agent that knew I understood the problem and was willing to help, quickly. The new dongle is on its way and she told me to return the old one "when I got a chance, no big deal." Wonderful.

Pros: I'm a huge fan of this keyboard. It'll run for months on one set of AA batteries, it's lightweight without feeling flimsy, the range is good (though our room is too small to *really* test that...), typing on it is surprisingly enjoyable, the layout is good, we've never had a problem with it disconnecting from the dongle. We've dropped it several times, and it's still soldiering on. Oh, and it was less than $40. What more can you ask for??

Cons: The trackball can be a little wonky at times, but it's never been that big a problem for me.

Overall Review: This keyboard's about as close to perfect as you can get, IMO. It's durable, functional, and still cheap. That's the trifecta, right there.

Pros: Good quality keyboard. Good range. Excellent battery life

Cons: The trackball sometimes gets sticky and hard to move due to dust and natural oils I just get a wet microfiber cloth and it seems to free up the trackball.

Overall Review: It is good to replace the ball bearings every six months or so and clean out the trackball area I use 2.5mm ball bearings and they are very cheap online. Makes it glide like a lizard on ice.

Pros: Perfect for HTPC. Full size keyboard. Track ball/mouse buttons built in. On/Off switch Range

Cons: Trackball has too much play in the socket.

Overall Review: This keyboard/trackball combo is the best thing I have found for my HTPC in the living room. Tried several other products but each of them left me wanting for more or always having to do something to make them work or the range would not reach where my chair was sitting.. This one is just the right size and the range reaches all the way across my living room (about 15') so I can sit in my chair and control the HTPC. Wife loves the full size keyboard so she can use it for work or look things up while sitting on the couch. If you have a HTPC that double as a living room PC then this is certainly what you want. Only problem i found is when i hold the keyboard vertical the trackball moves around in the socket making mouse movements after I stop moving it. Minor annoyance.

Pros: -Very Comfortable to use in your lap on the couch (where I'm typing this now) -Thumb trackball is great when it is clean (More in CONs) -Scroll wheel is in a good spot (when it works More in CONs) -Lite weight, next to nothing -Keys feel good to type on -Price -Batteries last forever -Tech support is helpful (more on this also)

Cons: -Trackball eye gets dirty and cant be cleaned -Scroll wheel works when it wants too, erratic more often then not -USB Receiver dongle almost wants to be in "line of sight" to work (I have a USB extension with the dongle on the wall above TV) -Rubber side trim falls off in first 2 weeks (I have owned 2 of these and it was the same for both)

Overall Review: I have had 2 of these KBs, each with its own issues.. I like the shape of it, very comfortable to use the mouse TB and click at the same time. The First one: After the first 30 days it was always needing the trackball cleaned due to it feeling rough or not moving the pointer. Cleaning it is almost impossible bc you have to tear it apart to clean it (13 screws, 15mins, 1 Q-tip). Putting a removable retainer on top that holds the ball in would solve this issue. Rubber side bumpers/trim fell off very quickly, The place they put it is right under your palms when holding the KB using the mouse. I had a problem with the spacebar, called IOGear and they mailed me a replacement which was nice. In the end it lasted less then one year. The Second one: Well obviously I liked the first KB (when it worked) enough to buy another as replacement. The second one has its own issues though.. First the rubber side trim was gone again in 2-3 weeks, it just starts peeling and then its so bad you tear it off. This unit has a major scroll wheel issue that the first one did not. It is super erratic, uncontrollable even. I called IOGear and the only option was to send them the KB and they would send me a replacement. This option was unacceptable, I would be without a KB or I would be buying another to use until it arrived. I have just dealt with the silly scroll wheel b/c unlike the first one this one seems to have a self cleaning trackball (I have only had it open to clean once in 5 months). In closing.. Would I buy it again? If I cant find another with the same layout and trackball, yes! Do I think there is room for improvement? Most Deff Should you buy one? Yes, its a decent KB, Price is ok, maybe you will get one that works perfectly all around.. Now lets see if I can scroll down to click submit :D