The Kensington Ci70 Wireless Desktop Set is the perfect wireless solution for a desktop keyboard and mouse. The Ci70 also makes a great portable mouse and keyboard set for notebook computing.
Ease of Use, Performance: 22/25, Look & Feel: 22/25,
Features 22/25, How much I enjoy 22/25
Total: 88/100
The Kensington Ci70 Wireless Desktop Set is a great wireless keyboard and mouse set for great wireless communication from the mouse and keyboard to your PC. The Ci70 has a great set of features that complements both a desktop as well as a portable notebook computer.
Features
Mouse features a design up to 35% thinner than a standard mouse
Keyboard footprint is 35% smaller than standard multimedia keyboards
Unique secondary function keys
Mouse docks into keyboard when not in use to save space and conserve power
Automatic sleep state conserves power and protects the optical sensor
Sleek, ergonomic design provides comfort and mobility
Symmetrical design works with both right and left hand
Eject button (Mac OS only)
Specifications
PC and Mac® compatible
1 USB Receiver for both devices — 27 MHz wireless
Performance Optical™ sensor (1000 dpi)
Up to 6-months battery life
Low battery indicator on scroll wheel of mouse & keyboard
The Ci70 Wireless set comes with the Keyboard, Mouse and wireless BlueTooth receiver as well as batteries to run the set. The set uses AA batteries for easy use and the BlueTooth receiver fits snugly into the base of the mouse that also turns the mouse off.
Using the wireless device is plug and play simple and it works very well at keeping the clutter of cables out of your way at the office or home.
The mouse is great with its receiver slot that holds the receiver when not in use and also shuts off the mouse. The slot has a small button that turns the mouse on and off and when the receiver is placed in the slot it shuts off the mouse. The keyboard has a cradle slot on it for the mouse to rest in when not in use as well as act as a stand for using the keyboard as a picture frame.
I know, not what you would expect from a keyboard but the bottom of the keyboard has a slot for a 4 x 6 inch picture. The mouse fits into the slot and when you turn the keyboard onto the mouse and have the keyboards bottom facing at an angle to the desk you can have the picture on the bottom with the keyboard as a frame. This may be a bit silly, it seemed like it to me but it makes sense as well.
For a home office I often have my keyboard pushed out of the way or for my wireless one I usually set it to the side. What better way to get it out of the way and enjoy a picture of a loved one or great outdoor scene.
The keyboard is one of those lower profile keyboards with scissor keys that are pretty flat against the keyboard like a notebook has. These types of keyboards are nice for typing for prolonged periods of time like for business and writers as it takes less finger movement to strike the keys. As long as the keyboard is a regular size I prefer to use these types of keyboards for general typing.
The keyboard of the Ci70 Wireless Desktop Set is nice and a full sized keyboard set with all the function keys and number keypad set. The keyboard includes the extra keys like Home, Delete and Page Up/Down in one row and on the top of the right hand side. The number keypad is a regular number pad set with multimedia buttons above it for media players like Windows Media center and Media Player.
There are also some multifunction buttons on the top of the keyboard that include an eject button for MAC use only, a search button, a mail program button, an internet browser button and a music button that opens your selected music program. All these buttons are preconfigured for a general system and use the common programs as defaults and are unchangeable. They work very well for their functions but are not changeable, being tied to the regular default modes of your system.
The multimedia buttons are also functioning using your systems regular default modes like the volume up and down as well as the media play buttons. All the buttons for the extra functions work well and right off the bat when you connect the wireless adapter to your system.
All the keyboard functions are great and work without any setup on your system using plug and play ease functionality. The wireless mouse also works with plug and play and uses the regular mouse function buttons like the left and right clicks as well as the middle mouse scroll wheel that also has the wheel button function. The low profile mouse works very well with the keyboard for a great desktop set.
This keyboard makes the best portable keyboard for use with a notebook I have seen yet. The keyboard fits easily into a notebook carry bag and with the wireless mouse on the same receiver the two make an excellent combination. The mouse and handy recess for the receiver in the bottom of the mouse that turns the mouse off makes carrying the mouse and keyboard easy.
The only real complaint that I have with the Ci70 Wireless Desktop Set is the mouse cradle and how it takes a little force to push the mouse in completely. The cradle is designed to shut the mouse off when fully seated but this takes a little shove to get it in completely.
If you then stand the keyboard up to bring your picture on the bottom into full view and set the keyboard on edge with the mouse as the base it often dislodges the mouse from the cradle partially. This will often not turn the mouse off as the cradle is meant to shut down the mouse to save battery life so this little feature is one that does not work as well as Kensington had hoped.
Other than the little mouse cradle deal the Ci70 desktop set works very well and I highly recommend it. The Kensington Wireless Ci70 Desktop Set is a great wireless mouse and keyboard with all the keys and special functions you need and a fantastic low profile mouse.
