My obsession with space and wireless devices has always been a weakness. I own a Microsoft wireless keyboard and mouse, super reliable, sometimes I wish they die on me so that I have excuse to buy a fancier keyboard and mouse.
This full size keyboard has served me pretty well for the past few years. I have used the same keyboard and mouse on three different computers. Anyway, despite of its reliability, I still think it is not a suitable device to control a HTPC. You need something small, something you can hold in your palm and control the HTPC from viewing distance. I have been searching for this type of device for quite a while until I saw this mini keyboard only costs AUD20 in Ebay. Online shopping has been my favourite, goods are cheap and you can get it without leaving the house. The only disadvantage is, it takes time to arrive if you are buying from oversea seller.
After a week of waiting (surprisingly fast compared to other oversea goods I bought), it reached my mail box. Well, it looks smaller than I expected, it come with a mini bluetooth dongle, build-in battery that can be charged using mini USB port, and backlight that is rather useful in the dark. The device works after I plug in bluetooth dongle, no software installation is required in Window Vista or 7.
Only trouble I had was, the keyboard seems to be laggy when I was using it 2 meters away from the dongle. This is ridiculous as the seller claims that it has a working distance of 10 meters. After several hours of trial and errors, I realize the keyboard works when the dongle is sitting almost the same level with the keyboard. So, I connect the bluetooth dongle to a USB extension cable and let the dongle sits on a higher position. Now the keyboard works flawlessly. The mouse pad is rather sensitive but small to navigate if you have big finger. This mini keyboard is suitable for casual use (HTPC) and it is not a replacement for full size keyboard and mouse. Overall, I think this is a nice addition to your HTPC.
You can see a 'Fn' button sitting at the bottom left, so it allows media controls.
The mouse pad is small but its quite sensitive.
This is how the mini keyboard looks like when it sits beside a GoCard.
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