Good buy?


The small charger has a USB output at 5.15V 100mA DC and is suitable for a lot of mobile phones and similar.

In reply to a post by MHC:

Good buy?

So far, so good. I like the way the scroll wheel can side zoom (my previous one did too), but also responds to pressure so side scrolling speed is variable.

In reply to a post by camieabz:

Excellent piece of kit...and at £90+ so it damn well should be!

Only £90? This comes to you from one of these (click) - the price is not a typo because they're hand built and hand wired. Cherry MX black switches mean it's a little heavy under the fingers (it reminds me of the BBC Micro days), but I'm sure they'd be amenable to building a keyboard using a different Cherry switch if you ordered one. I'd like to try a Maltron keyboard using Cherry MX brown.

The Maltron layout takes some learning, but it's so much more efficient. The more optimised layout and the ergonomic shape of the keyboard means I'm able to type for much longer before my neuromuscular condition kicks in. I can still type on a conventional QWERTY board (it helped that I learned to use the Maltron board in Maltron layout, so my brain automatically adjusts for the correct layout depending on what sort of keyboard I'm using), though not for very long. I have the dedicated pilot style case for the Maltron keyboard - if necessary, I take it with me!


The trackball is very useful and in just the right place, but I wish Maltron would switch to using an optical trackball. The OEM makes one that should be a direct replacement for the mechanical trackball they use. Mechanical trackballs are so 1990s - I get a little fed up of taking it to bits to clean out all the fluff in its innards. I rewired my button PCB to make the buttons left centre right (default is left right left - you have to cut some tracks and solder in links to change it), with the centre button also triggering a mouse wheel emulation.


If you struggle to get on with the software for your keyboard buttons, there's always Autohotkey with AHKHID.

I like the ability to have a very large drawing or picture, zoomed right in and then depress the wheel to get a click and the four way icon appears then position the cursor anywhere around that and there is a slow/fast scroll in that direction. A lot easier than zooming out and re-centering or scroll left/right the up/down ... as it works in all 360^o

i know you got the keyboard and mouse now, but just to say there is no such thing as a perfect keyboard as mouse as such.
What may be perfect for me, may not be perfect for you.

I got a Logitech G110 keyboard and a Logitech G500 mouse. Both corded as I got fed up with cordless ones.

I think they are both great, certainly the mouse in that I can unlock the wheel and put it in free spin.
i hope you are happy with what you choose, the corsair keyboard looks nice.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

What may be perfect for me, may not be perfect for you.

Indeed. Hence why I specified my wants.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

i hope you are happy with what you choose, the corsair keyboard looks nice.

Looking back on my original criteria:

I want something which will improve my typing speed.
I want plenty of media/programmable keys (I tend to launch up to six websites from my keys at present).
Wireless

Preferably with backlit option, but this is optional. Not interested in gaming keyboards, but will consider one if it satisfies the three main criteria.

So I got mechanical, and the typing speed improves, although when I start trying to use the home/end/del keys, I get all mixed up. Different layout to Logitech. It'll come though.

Loads of shortcut keys!

Not wireless, but the wired solution is more than acceptable. The braided cable isn't inclined to get all out of kilter the way normal cables can. It behaves when slack.

And it's back-lit, which is a little added bonus. I was £20 or so over my £120 budget, but that's normal when planning techie kit.

Assuming there's no hitches, and my productivity improves as get used to it all, I can volunteer a cautious "I'm delighted".