Anker® Mini Wireless Keyboard for Google Android TV / HTPC / PC / Windows 7 / MacOS 10.x or later/ Linux Debian 3.1 with Touchpad / Mouse / Laser Pointer

GET THE RIGHT MODEL
This is an updated model of the KP-810-10, it’s the KP-810-10A. The OLD 810-10 has a cut off corner on the right side for EZ visual distinction; make sure you get the 810-10A. “A” with no cut off corner. There are a lot of middle men sellers for this unit giving it differing names that omit the model number making it easy to buy the wrong one, if you are still looking around.

** UPDATE 5-5-2012 UPDATE **
iPazzPort has been coming out with “upgrades” to this model on a regular basis. I have spoken to the guy at unisen-usa. the USA distributor for iPazzPort. He indicated that the manufacture “iPazzPort” is currently, continually, perfecting their models. iPazzPort has already released two newer models than this (priced higher) with the most valuable added features being an IR learning remote function, air mouse ability & a back side Media Center circular clustered button layout. The KP-810-18V allows you to clone & replace almost any other remote you have with it. It also has a speaker & microphone wireless connection to your PC so you can plug the remote into a headset or headphones; making voice control possible to boot!

WIRELESS DISTANCE REPORT – SELLER PERFORMANCE
I read a number of reviews where the units were not performing well as far as wireless distance and pairing problems. Mine goes 28 feet (I measured it) line of site & 10-15 feet through walls. I have not had to pair it at all; it just worked out of the box. (envelope in this case). Pre-Order, I e-mailed the manufacture about the distance problems; they indicated that older models do have a distance problem by replying, “new revisions don’t have any problems with distance”. (indicating the older revisions did & do). This seller has the new revisions in stock; at least that is what I got. The standard free shipping (USPS) took 5 days and arrived in a envelope with no paperwork. Documentation is included in the re-closing plastic, peg hanger’ clear display packaging.

PERFORMANCE – USAGE
The iPassPort KP-810-10A works as advertised for me, but keep in mind IT IS VERY SMALL & LIGHT! 2.25 x 6 and a 1/4 inch thick. It is made to be used holding it in your hands and typing with your thumbs, or one handed finger typing. The touch pad is small but works great, it’s 1.25″ square. You may have to fine tune your preferences in the MS Win Control Panel – Mouse setup for your double tap and precision settings.

The buttons-keys are beveled up in the center making it easy to feel each one and confirm pressing them as they quietly click. The back-light works very well, but a little uneven light wise. My cat loves the red laser pointer & my fish are terrorized by it. It is a little awkward to use at first but would work in a demo.

5-5-2012 PERFORMANCE UPDATE – 7 MONTHS OF USAGE LATER!
I have noticed I can no longer rely on the radio signal being sent when I press a key getting to the receiver. If I type a sentence I always have to go back and correct it. This problem seems to be getting worse. I guess its the ware of usage on the keys that is doing it.

BATTERY LIFE
I have had the unit for about 2 weeks now. I had to recharge it once (after the original charge when I received it). It lasted a week with pretty heavy usage. It recharged fast, 2- 3 hours (I was not watching it when the light came on indicating it was fully charged). The unit does not seem to use much power if left on while not in use. According to what I read, it does not shut itself off after a time out period, but it does not seem to make much difference.

WHAT’S INSIDE?
I dissembled the unit by removing the 6 screws on the back. The 4 Volt battery is about 1.25 x 1 x .2 very small and not replaceable. There is 1 main PCB with the laser and transmitter-receiver as tiny separate components. There is no visible antenna but that does not seem to degrade it’s performance. The keys don’t fall out and are built into the face. It looks well made.

PRO:
It works as advertised and I no longer have a full size keyboard clogging up my remote control table. No distance problem for me at all. I have no regrets.

Perhaps even more attractive, the manufacture has been constantly in R&D on this product line; perfecting it and making future upgrades not only possible, but affordable. Even their high end units are under $50 USA

CON:
1. There is no SHIFT-DEL key for permanent delete. You have to send everything to the trash can first. (press FN-DEL<- to delete a file)

2. Dragging objects is awkward. It would help if they had a left click mouse button you could use with your left hand; as your right is busy dragging the object on the touch pad and it’s hard to get your finger underneath it; I use my thumb.

3. After 7 months of usage; I’m finding I have to correct what I’ve typed more often than when bran new. The signal sent with each keystroke is not as reliable as it once was.

I bought this somewhat out of desperation, mostly out of being cheap. I wasn’t going to spend the money for a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse that Apple wanted, nor did I want to have to have my sofa cluttered up like that. This was for my ancient 2006 Intel Mac Mini media center, and I didn’t want to spend a lot for an experimental platform.

In short, it not only works well, but it exceeded my expectations by miles. (It also exceeds my ability to read the tiny text on the big screen from the corner of my sectional, but that is a good thing on its account.) Granted, I was expecting a piece of cheap Chinese afterthought electronics, but it ended up so much more.

Pictures don’t really relay the size of this keyboard. It is about the dimensions of a thick chocolate bar. The keys work very well, and have a nice, positive click when you hit them. The touch pad is excellent, and gets the job done.

It also comes with a mini-Bluetooth dongle. That in and of itself will often go for the price of the whole unit. It slips neatly into the side of the case for convenient storage if you don’t need it at the moment.

Would I want to write War & Peace on it? Not on your life. But for editing movie titles, clearing error pop-ups, and generally operating a media center PC, it is fantastic.

The laser works well, but is a wast of battery power in my application. I’ll probably plug it to keep my boys from blinding one another.

Other than that, it paired easily and just plain works.

This is the ultimate media center PC remote for when the Mac Mini little white infrared minimalist remote will not suffice. I give a hearty thumbs up!

I bought this keyboard with the intention of using it on a HTPC, and so far all expectations have been met. The HTPC setup I have is a bit different than most folks; instead of a dedicated HTPD computer I’m running one W7 Ult computer with a monitor in my office and my flatscreen in the living room. Life is good, until you want two keyboards and discover the functionality issues caused by driver conflicts (my other desktop is a MS wireless). On a whim, I went with this bluetooth mini keyboard hoping to get past the conflicts, and the result was exactly as hoped for. Installation of this product is easy, simply insert the bluetooth dongle into your computer, up comes the driver installed/bluetooth setup window in windows, turn on the mini keyboard, click on bluetooth setup window in the appropriate location to enable bluetooth device search, and press bluetooth device on mini keyboard. The bluetooth setup window in W7 displays a unique to the keyboard number, type this on your mini keyboard, and you’re done.

Working distance between the keyboard and the computer is ~20 feet, HOWEVER, I am going through a wall and a TV set when the mini keyboard is used in my living room for the HTPC. A usb extension cable could be in order to get that last few feet of range or move the computer in the office to eliminate the TV from shielding the signal. I also noticed that the ins and prt screen buttons on the mini keyboard don’t work for some reason, but this is not really a concern on a HTPC. Also, it is possible that my running two keyboards on one computer is causing this.

All in all, a great product that works very well. Buyers take note that the previous rendition of this device, model #KP-810-1-BT had a variety of complaints, including range. This does not seem to be the case with this model.

I use my Linux Pc hooked to a projector for serious movie watching but I really need something like this gadget. Worked instantly and very well.

got it for my galaxy note i717, and using it for that, my pc ,as well as my ps3. does not work with the vita, though…but sweet across the board… great product feels well built great features, cat’s love the laser pointer.. just a great little keyboard to have. works great on ginger bread, mouse is a little low res on android and takes you a few swipes to get across the screen, but I think ics corrects the problem. no matter what,, just a great mini keyboard to have around.. I also love the page up and down buttons for reading pdf etch.

First the Good.

It has good range. (I’m using it at ~12ft)
The touch pad works well.
Has all the function keys.
Has fwd and rev keys on the side.
Bluetooth works without issues.
It’s small and you can change the orientation.
–update to the good -
Apparently solid customer service.

**** Update to the update. One of the biggest asset to a product is support. This company has contacted me and given me a contact number to replace my item if I’m not happy. That’s top notch customer service, so I’m going to bump it up to 5 stars.
****

The Bad.
-*-The BLUETOOTH reset key is right next to the backlight button. Accidently push that one in the dark and you can guess what happens.
-*-It has crtl-alt-del as a secondary function, (fn) key. Problem, it’s on the ENTER key and the (fn) key is right underneath so you can easily push by accident while going for the enter key. Happens to me too often.
-Laser pointer on the side can be fired anytime. I accidentally put pressure on it and it fired. While not deadly or anything, I’d rather not had a red laser in my eye. (Yes I put tape over it. But it comes off over time.)
-The battery life isn’t what you’d think. Mine seems to work for few days before it dies. It has improved after a few charge cycles. I guess the battery need to be conditioned.
-Constuction isn’t the best. The storage compartment for the bluetooth donggle is very loose. I don’t expect the cover to be around forever.

veryy veryy tiny like a small remote control size…..light…made in china cheap plastic feel…key board too uncomfortable to type excessively

but easy to use and connect everything works as advertised packed with features and just really cool how small it is… i use it to surf the web with my laptop plugged into my tv.

range [im using it from 15 ft away havent tried further]

works for my mac

good battery life

excellent sleepmode feature to conserve battery

automatically reconnects when i open and close laptop or when you turn the unit off and on

blacklight and laser work great

would recommend

i used the keyboard to type this review

I purchased this keyboard to use with an Android TV box, a Raspberry Pi and various Windows and Linux PCs. All worked out of the box and very easy to set up, basically plug and play. Range is not so great though. In my experience, some keystrokes are going to miss or double register if used 6 feet away. Overall a good wireless keyboard.

Installed with ease and a snap, but I can’t get reliable response from it more than 3-4 feet away from the HTPC. Clear line of sight to the receiver, but sitting on my couch a mere 8 feet away I have to lean forward to MAYBE get it to work, but more often have to actually get up and walk closer to the PC. Obviously that just doesn’t cut it. Based on other positive reviews I’m guessing maybe I got a dud???

Otherwise it’s a great little keyboard but I only wish it would actually work reliably. On the plus side, I’m burning more calories getting up off the couch every time I need to use it!

I think it’ll eventually need to go back though as clearly it’s not working as designed.

****UPDATE July 12, 2012****

Tried the unit on a different PC and it worked like a charm. Too bad that’s not the machine I need it on! Time to troubleshoot why it refuses to work reliably on the machine that actually needs it… Further update coming but I’ll give it an extra star for now.

****UPDATE****

Choppy performance found to be due to interference caused by a plasma TV. So at the end of the day the device is fine, but be aware if you’re going to be using it near other electronics that may give off some strong fields.