Microsoft Arc Wireless Keyboard for PC and Xbox 360 – Black

Microsoft Arc Wireless Keyboard Light & Sexy
I tried this keyboard for a week, this Arc keyboard is much lighter and slightly smaller than Logitech K340, very compact with a very sexy arch, I’m not a heavy typist so I got all the keys that I needed,
Although I used Photoshop & publishing program more than any other program, I find it easier to navigate with the Logitech K340 because of the full separated arrow keys, the combined arrow key on the Arc works, but needed getting use to. Aside from no number pads and cap lock indicator, this is an amazing keyboard from Microsoft, it’s a keeper for me, and hits my soft spots for sexy compact keyboards.

Pros:
Super compact & light, even lighter than Logitech K340
Nice Soft Edges
Arched typing surface is very user friendly
On & off key is nice
Small & concealed almost compact receiver
Better battery Life (Still too early to know)
USB plug and play, no software require
Clean with no complicated special multimedia keys
Find this receiver from responsive than Logitech K340, need more time to really know.

Cons:
Glossy Black finish is nice but it’s a thumb prints magnet (but easy to clean LOL) same as Logitech K340.
No Unifying Receiver to combine with Arc Mouse, less USB clutters.
Some key location needs getting use to, same as Logitech K340.
No Cap Lock light indicator.
Combined arrow key is a letdown.
No number pad.

Conclusion:
One of the best compact keyboard around, very similar to Logitech K340t’s, but lighter and more compact, K340 feels too heavy next to it, Good job Microsoft !
Its better than: SlimBlade Media Set & Logitech DiNovo Keyboard.
For the heavy typist, I recommend try it out first before getting one.

U Wish !
Universal unifying receiver for less clutters…one for all manufacturer, WHY NOT !!!
Optional number pad with separated arrow keys.

A: Let it be known that I am not a gamer nor am I a MAC user. If I were either I would have purchased differently as this keyboard is not designed with gamers or MAC users in mind. Furthermore, I find it rather disconcerting when gamers purchase products clearly not designed with the gamer in mind. Clearly, there are many products on the market designed specifically for gamers. I have no doubt that if I purchased a gaming keyboard and gave it 2 stars because it had all these bells and whistles for which I had no use and only served to convolute the layout, I would be overwhelmed with the onslaught of outraged gamers politely telling me to purchase something else designed for non-gaming.

B: I’ve been using this keyboard for several days and I’m completely satisfied. The arrow key, however, takes just a little getting used to but was expected because I had sense enough to look at the photo before I made my purchase and decided, although I love using my arrow keys, the remaining features make the purchase worth it.

C: I purchased this key board because, as it was described, it is compact, light weight, and wireless. I wanted such a keyboard and with no mouse as I already have several to which I have grown accustomed. Moreover, I can use this with either my desktop or my laptop. I may purchase another just to use for my desktop. Sure, I would like a keyboard and mouse combo; however, I have yet to find a set that I like. Nevertheless, I like this keyboard. I do not like the arc mouse. I like that I can purchase them separately.

D: So far I can say that I like the responsiveness of this keyboard. It is tight with little noise but just enough feedback noise to let you know you are hitting the keys. The keys themselves are well spaced and firmly positioned. The design is somewhat ergonomic; good or bad I cannot attest as I am not a traditional typist, although I can hold my own if I can look at the keys while I type. It has a nano USB transceiver that also stores conveniently on the underside of the keyboard. It is equipped with PgUp, PgDn, Home, and End, mute, volume up and volume down; one Ctrl, two Alt buttons, a Function (Fn) button to activate f7 through f12, power, ins, and print screen; all the keys I’ve ever needed with the exception of the arrow key – its one key for all four directions.

E: While many a consumer might think of a plethora of uses for which this keyboard might come in handy, I use this keyboard to type documents and surf the web. This keyboard has not locked up on me nor has it demonstrated any delay in response. It comes with a brief manual that explains how to turn it on and off (Fn+Esc). Windows recognized it immediately and I was typing in seconds with no trouble. Obviously, no troubleshooting guide is needed as there is nothing you can do in terms of software or hardware adjustments or corrections. It either works or it doesn’t. There is no software tweak that I know of that will magically enable the use of this keyboard if it is not recognized by your computer as it uses standard keyboard protocols for most operating systems. It is a Microsoft product. If I were a Mac user and need troubleshooting instructions to enable the use of my hardware, I would not be very computer savvy. I might even consider myself computer illiterate. If I had any common sense I would not buy a Microsoft product for my Mac, but I digress.

F: Lastly, I went to the other side of my apartment and into the next room and was still able to input with no delay. Thus, I have no placement problems. I hope this review was helpful.

This is a really nice keyboard. The keys have a good amount of travel, some click, and good tactile feedback. Every key is reachable without moving the hands. The four-way arrow key switch surprised me – I expected to really dislike it, but instead I find myself wishing every keyboard had one, maybe in addition to regular arrow keys. It’s really fast for navigating text and saves a lot of hand movement. The curvature of the keyboard is very natural and didn’t disrupt my touch-typing at all.

The keyboard doesn’t have:
a right-side Ctrl key, so Ctrl-Alt-Del is necessarily a two-handed operation, and Ctrl-arrow is a little awkward
a Break key… which probably bothers no one other than me, but I really miss it
a hard F8 or F10 key – F7-F12 are Fn-key chords, and so my often-used Shift-F10 is a three-key chord
a Menu key, which would have mitigated lack of hard F10

My employers arranged for an ergonomist to come in and see if I could alter my behavior to minimize my risk of RSIs. I’m very keyboard-centric, so mostly she watches me type for a while. Then she asks, “Have you considered a compact keyboard?”

I hadn’t. I’ve been touch-typing for 25 years! Change is scary. I tried several compact devices before settling on this one, which I’ve been using as my only work keyboard for two weeks now. It’s very pleasant, and I can recommend it with little reservation.

I bought this after seeing it at Best Buy and also because I wanted a small wireless keyboard that I could use with my Wii for gaming online and to occasionally use the browser on it. I love everything about it. It’s very slick, the design is very nice and compact, and it’s not so small to where I struggle to type. It’s also portable and very quiet too. You definitely hear yourself typing, bit it’s not loud and clunky like most big keyboards.

Another great thing that I love is that the rubber pads keep the keyboard in place. I had problems with my last keyboard always sliding back and forth if I gave it a bit of a push by accident. Not with this one.

If there’s one thing that I can complain about, is that there’s no light notification to tell you that you have Caps Lock on. You can obviously tell it’s on when you’re typing, but what about when you accidentally turn it on and you gotta put in your password? Happened to me. Typed in my password correctly, website said it was wrong. Puzzled, I put in other passwords that I may have used, and still nothing. So, I had no choice but to go to the reset password option. When filling my e-mail, I noticed that the caps lock was on. I could have avoided this confusion if the keyboard had the indicator to begin with.

Other than that inconvenience, I recommend this keyboard to anyone that wants something compact and portable.

the keyboard is a great size and very cool looking (aesthetic not as important, but nice, and it doesn’t eschew function for form). Keys have a nice snappy tactile response, and the USB dongle is really discreet. The battery life seems to be keeping up so far, particularly as I tend to log a lot of hours typing while working. Turning the keyboard on and off is easy too, making it simple to power down if I plan on being away from my desk for a while.

I bought this keyboard to initially just try it out because I go through keyboards about once a month trying to find one that is slim, but still comfortable to type on for extended periods of time. I have to say that this is one of my favorite keyboards to date, even more than the slimline Logitech one. The only part that has taken some getting used to is not having a number pad and having all of the directional buttons replaced by one 4 way key. I primarily use it at work, but with it being so small, I’ll regularly throw it in my bag and take it home if I know I’m going to be doing a lot of work. A final added benefit is I noticed I’ve also started typing faster since it requires less press to type and the keys are slightly closer together than a full size keyboard. I definitely recommend getting this keyboard if you prefer slimmer keyboards with a light key press.

I bought the Black Arc Keyboard for my PS3. It’s small so it sits on my lap comfortably, it’s light so I can carry it around easily with one hand, and it’s sexy to match my PS3. So I bought the Amazon.com exclusive White Arc Keyboard for my XBOX360. In the pictures on Amazon.com, the color on the back of the keyboard looks yellow but it’s actually LIME GREEN; the same exact color as XBOX360′s trademark colorway! It’s perfect. I recommend this keyboard for every PS3/XBOX360 users.

I have had this keyboard for about three weeks now. It looks very sleek and takes up minimal space; as others have pointed out, the shiny parts do show fingerprints very easily.

I’m a programmer and I spend all day typing, which I do really quickly (over 130 WPM). I was looking for something with a short throw that did not suffer from phantom key blocking. While I did not have a problem with the latter, the feel and layout of this keyboard did not meet my needs for daily use.

The Arc has a decent feel, but it’s not comfortable to type on all day long. The keys don’t have very much give to them. The arrow combination key is also pretty difficult to get used to, and can be frustrating if you require precision.

The quality and construction of the keyboard itself are great; it’s light, but does not have the cheap feel from which many keyboards suffer.

I can see this being very easy to use on the go, whether it be on a trip or just out for the day. The USB insert is extremely small and fits into a little groove on the back of the keyboard that has a magnet inside to hold it in place.

I’m using this keyboard now for the Xbox 360, PS3, etc.

I feel it’s worth mentioning that I have not had any connectivity issues, but I haven’t tested the range beyond a few feet so far.

In summary: if you’re looking for something for heavy, daily use, you can do better. If you’re looking for a media keyboard or something convenient to take on the go, it’s definitely worth a shot.