Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop Elite

This wireless keyboard and optical mouse come with 5 alkaline AA batteries and the required software. The wireless receiver can either be hooked up to the PS/2 ports, or to any free USB port. Coming to the hardware, quality is topmost. The keys on the keyboard have just the right feel to them — neither too soft nor too hard. There is a cushioned palm rest that feels like leather to support your wrist. The keyboard is loaded with extra keys: 5 ‘My Favorite’ keys that can be programmed to launch any program on the computer, 8 keys to control media playback through software like Winamp, Media Player etc, and shortcuts for My Documents, My Pictures, My Music, mail, web/home, messenger, calculator, logging off, and the sleep function. There are also two keys to emulate the ‘back’ and ‘forward’ functions in a Web browser, and a wheel to control horizontal and vertical scrolling. The mouse is also ergonomically designed and sits very well under the palm. Apart from being optical which gives it a high accuracy, it also has two extra buttons that default to ‘back’ and ‘forward’ as well. The mouse wheel can be used for vertical and horizontal (useful for scrolling spreadsheets etc) scrolling. Microsoft claims a battery life of roughly 6 months for standard usage, which is pretty good considering the fact that the mouse has a laser pointing down all the time. The keyboard layout might take a little time to get used to, especially if you use the F1-F12 keys quite often since they serve dual functionality using a special ‘F Lock’ that switches between functions. At Rs 7258, this product’s market will mostly be limited to those with deep pockets, which is quite a shame since it is quite appealing. 

S N   A   P   S   H O   T Price : Rs. 7,258 Key specs : Additional functionality keys like shortcuts, tilt wheel on both keyboard and mouse Contact : Microsoft, Delhi. Tel : 6294600, 6292650  E-mail : mohita@microsoft.com

Anuj Jain