Buy a media keyboard. Editor's Choice Microsoft Wireless All-in-One Media Keyboard. Customizable multimedia hotkeys

We tried to make the description as good as possible so that your choice would be unmistakable and informed, but... We may not have used this product, but only touched it from all sides, and after you buy it, try it out, your review can make this world a better place, if your review is really useful, we will publish it and give it You have the opportunity to make your next purchase from us using the 2nd column.

— Good keyboard

5 Sergey 17-04-2017

Microsoft Wireless All-in-One Media
Advantages:
Good keyboard. Convenient to use for TV and other remote devices. Hint: to make the F1-F12 keys work without fn, press fn + caps lock - changes the operating mode before turning off the keyboard power.
Flaws:
I haven't found it yet

Microsoft Wireless All-in-One Media - Good device

5 Alexander 08-02-2017

Device owner rating: Microsoft Wireless All-in-One Media
Advantages:
Takes up little space on the table, excellent quality. Surfing the Internet is very convenient.
Flaws:
If you are going to edit the text, there is no "Home" key. You work with the file manager (Far, ..commander..) - F1-F12 only via the "Fn" key :(

Microsoft Wireless All-in-One Media - Great TV keyboard option

3 EvgeniyR 02-01-2017

Device owner rating: Microsoft Wireless All-in-One Media
Advantages:
I took it as a keyboard for the TV. It copes with its function at 5. I have not yet figured out how to adjust the sensitivity of the touchpad. I'm not sure it's even configurable in this use case.
Flaws:
I compare it with the touchpad from my Dell XPS 9550 and understand that the touchpad could be of better quality.

In the end I decided on Microsoft keyboard. Not because I'm a fan of hers. It’s just that out of everything that was presented on the showcase, I liked it more than the rest. Now, when the keyboard is already lying in front of me on the table and it is on it that this text is typed, when my hands have already become accustomed to the unusual movement of the keys and their slightly unusual location, I can write my first objective review, without the risk of finding myself in the role of a person who, without really understanding it, starts to find fault with a good thing.

This is an ambiguous thing. There is something about it that evokes positive emotions. There are also disadvantages that manufacturers could pay closer attention to. However, the overall impression of the device is still more positive than negative. Now I will try to take it apart, piece by piece, before your eyes, to show everything as it is. And you decide for yourself whether this miracle of hostile technology is suitable for you.

Why I bought a new keyboard

I want to immediately explain why I bought it. The thing is, and I already mentioned this, I had a completely working and comfortable keyboard. I have had it since time immemorial. It is full-size, connects to the computer via the PS2 port, has deep key travel, and typing text on it is a pleasure.

However, it has a couple of outstanding disadvantages, which made me think about replacing it. The first trouble is that it is very noisy. If you have a small child at home, loud key clicking becomes a problem. During the day at a quiet time and in the evening after 8 o’clock you won’t have much fun - in the sense, you won’t be able to type text. You have to limit yourself, try to work as quietly as possible. This results in a bunch of missing letters, which is sometimes infuriating.

The second problem is its large size. You know, when the keyboard takes up the lion's share of space on the desktop, working with notepads and other printed materials becomes not very convenient. You have to constantly move the keyboard and put it away, it was terribly uncomfortable. More than once I had the thought that if the keyboard were smaller, it could simply be placed on the leg of a 27" monitor and the space on the desk would be freed up for other tasks where a keyboard and computer are not required at all.

And at some point I, as they say, made up my mind. At first I looked around for a long time, chose, tried on, and then went and bought myself a new keyboard.

How I chose the keyboard

In general, there are probably different smart criteria by which you choose your text input device. I heard something about them, but decided to simply rely on intuition and the trial method. For me, the criteria for choosing a keyboard were:

• size and weight,
• the size of the keys themselves,
• noisy operation,
• position of the keys relative to each other,
• the presence of a touchpad (not necessary, but I thought it could be convenient),
• if possible, not an astronomical price.

It's probably worth giving some clarification here. Among the many keyboards I've tried, there were some that I didn't like at all. The main problem was that the keys on them were tightly fitted to each other. This led to the fact that when typing I kept touching neighboring letters. I think the speed of operation on such a keyboard would be very low due to the constant need to go back and correct typos. That's why I was looking for a keyboard on which the keys are spaced some distance apart.

The size of the keyboard also mattered, with both being too large and too small considered unacceptable. Large keyboards would still be awkward to use on a desktop. Too small ones could not be placed on your knees and type large texts in a comfortable low chair. And the size of the keys on very small keyboards was appropriate.

Microsoft All-In-One Media Keyboard it just met all the above requirements, although it was not cheap - almost two and a half thousand rubles. Its closest competitor is keyboard LOGITECH K400 it cost a thousand more and had a smaller touchpad. In a word, my choice fell on the Microsoft keyboard.

By the way, just on the day when I decided to buy, the price of the keyboard suddenly dropped by almost 400 rubles. It was fate.

Microsoft All-In-One Media Keyboard. Opening the box

No matter how much they criticize Microsoft, when you pick up its products, it immediately becomes clear that they were made not in some underground, deeply secret workshop, but still in a serious company. Even the box evokes a pleasant feeling. I would like to look at it from all sides, read the inscriptions. While I was riding home on the subway (I don’t drive a car in winter, I have a subway station right next to my house), I managed to examine the box from all sides and read all the inscriptions.

It would probably be an exaggeration to say that everyone in the carriage was jealous of me, but I think some people would be willing to trade their keyboards with me.

Having opened the box at home, I saw the keyboard itself, and under it a couple of volumes of instructions, a separate brochure on using the multi-touch panel, and, of course, a radio signal receiver. And in my opinion, that's all. At first I thought that batteries were not included, but then it turned out that they were already inside the device.

I would like to say a few words about the design of the keyboard itself.

Firstly: the quality of workmanship is very high. There are no burrs or sharp edges sticking out anywhere. The keyboard is a fairly solid design. You can take it by the edge with one hand and it will not deform or creak. In principle, with some effort you can slightly bend it, holding it with both hands, but I think you should not expose the product to strong unnatural influences.

Secondly: the key travel is shallow, but this does not prevent you from getting used to them quite quickly. As I wrote earlier, I worked on a regular desktop keyboard. Its peculiarity was that the keys sank quite strongly when pressed. In principle, this is considered a good option. Experienced typists prefer these types of keyboards. However, the Microsoft All-In-One Media Keyboard has very little key travel, much like a laptop. Nevertheless, after a couple of days I completely lost the desire to type on the old keyboard with such a convenient “deep” stroke.

Thirdly: the touchpad really, as I expected, turned out to be a very pleasant addition to the main keyboard. Of course, working with it in a graphic editor would be inconvenient, but some small routine tasks that arise constantly and for which you have to pick up the mouse every time can be performed with a touchpad. It turns out much faster and more convenient, especially once you get used to it. For example, pressing a button, launching a program, scrolling a page in a browser - all these are just tasks for the touch panel, which is right at hand.

First impressions of connection

Of course, the very first desire upon arriving home was to connect the keyboard and try it in action. What was a little unusual was that the batteries were already installed in the device. All that remained was to pull the locking plastic tab, the contact would close and the countdown of the keyboard’s life would begin.

Deciding to look at what kind of batteries were installed, I opened the compartment on the bottom of the case and found not some cheap “Cosmos”, but Duracell. They can still show care for the client even in small things. Why don't we adopt this positive trend.

It immediately caught my eye that the keyboard does not have folding legs that would allow it to be placed at a slight angle. True, the case itself is designed in such a way that there is still some tilt, but you won’t be able to tilt it any further unless you place an object under the far edge of the keyboard. Looking ahead, I will say that it turns out that this tilt is not so necessary. We’ve just gotten used to it, but we can just as easily get used to doing without it. After all, the laptop keyboard is also not tilted, but we can handle it quite well.

First, I connected the signal receiver to a desktop card reader. It has three USB sockets. So I decided to try to stick into one of them first. The computer immediately perked up, reported that it had detected a new device, installed the drivers and said that the computer needed to be restarted.

I tried poking the keyboard - no response. Then I thought that I should plug the receiver into the USB connector of the system unit itself. Having done this, I again watched how the computer installed the drivers. The keyboard still didn't work.

After the reboot the situation changed slightly. True, the touch panel worked, but they stubbornly refused to enter letters. Then, just in case, I decided to disconnect the old keyboard from the PS2 connector. And as soon as I did this, the new keyboard immediately felt like the mistress of the computer and immediately responded to my touch - the entered letters appeared on the screen.

That is, if you immediately disconnected the old keyboard, the installation of the new one would go without any comments.

Microsoft All-In-One Media Keyboard. Impressions from work

Probably, for the sake of objectivity, we should discard the first day when our hands got used to the new keyboard. I’ll say right away that there were no complaints about the alphanumeric block from the very beginning. The keys are really comfortable, quite quiet, spaced from each other at a small but still distance, so accidental touching of adjacent keys almost never happened.

Some features and differences from a regular full-size keyboard became apparent quite quickly and caused some inconvenience at first. For example, unusually small cursor keys. The up and down arrows are adjacent to each other and are half the size. Even now, after several days of active work, I would like to see them at normal full size.

The second thing that I can’t get used to is the very small and out of place Delete key. In general, the top row of keys could, in principle, be made not as narrow as they are. There's still plenty of room to make them full size. Unfortunately, this was either impossible, or the developers did not think about it. In principle, you can get used to it, but every time I press the Delete key, I have to look where it is so as not to “miss”.

The Enter key, in principle, does not cause any complaints. It is as large as possible and stands in its usual place. But why, pray tell, is the word “Enter” written there, while the other service keys have the usual English inscriptions (Shift, Backspace, Delete and so on). This is probably an attempt to stylize the key to resemble the key of the same name on old Soviet computers.

Now I would like to write about the key Print Screen. The fact is that it simply does not exist! There are also some other service keys, for example, Home, End... But this is not so critical. And here is the screenshot key!

I remember how I discovered this. Then I was just writing a letter to one of my course participants and decided to show him how the title slide of the presentation could be more successfully designed. Having made all the necessary preparations, I reached out with my hand to the Print Screen key and suddenly realized that there was nowhere to press. She simply doesn't exist!

I must admit I was a little taken aback. After all, I use this key quite often. How can you order to take screenshots if there is no key? I started digging into the description and went into the keyboard settings. We managed to find out that the three keys above the touchpad can be reprogrammed. I made one of them with the Print Screen key. In general, there are a lot of different settings. You can record macros, and then launch them with the press of a button... Maybe over time I’ll figure it out and use it, but somehow I’m not up to it yet.

Another thing I can't get used to. If you look at a row of function keys, you can see that each of them has some kind of additional function. For example, on the F1 key - go to the previous CD track, F2 - pause/play, etc. Typically, on other computers, in order for these additional functions to work, you need to press the function keys while holding the Fn key. But the Microsoft All-In-One Media Keyboard does the opposite. Here, by default, these additional key functions work.

For many people this makes no difference. And I have Adobe Photoshop macros hanging on the function keys. I can't count the number of times I've put my computer to sleep while editing an image. After all, on the F4 key I have the “rotate 90 degrees” function. On the same key - switch to sleep mode. Thus, you have to constantly remember that the function keys must be pressed with the Fn key. Perhaps it switches somewhere, but I haven't found where exactly yet. I'll have to dig into the settings again.

Finally, the last fly in the ointment can be considered the dark blue color of Russian letters. You know, on a sunny day you can clearly see them in the light. But if you try to work in the evening with a desk lamp, the letters begin to disappear. It would probably be better to make them lighter and use yellow or light green rather than the disappearing blue. In my particular case, I do not feel any discomfort in this regard. My hands have long since memorized the location of all the keys and I can, in principle, type text without even looking at the keyboard. But for someone who is still forced to look at it, dark blue letters in the twilight can become a problem. Probably will win in this case keyboardLOGITECH K400, since both Russian and English letters are made in the same white color.

Conclusion

Summing up all the advantages and disadvantages, I am still inclined to think that I made a successful purchase. In fact, with the purchase of the Microsoft All-In-One Media Keyboard, I solved the tasks that I set. I received a quiet, compact keyboard that was almost identical in ease of use to my former workhorse. The touchpad, as I expected, really turned out to be a convenient thing that allows you to quickly perform simple actions instead of a mouse.

The instructions say that this keyboard can be used with smart TVs. I can’t check this because I have a regular “stupid” TV, which, by the way, is mostly inactive. I don't have time to watch it :)

If I had to choose my keyboard again, I would choose again Microsoft All-In-One Media Keyboard until they came up with something better.

Choosing a compact multimedia keyboard usually comes down to a trip to the nearest offline store. What is available is what is bought. Unfortunately, until recently, on the shelves of Russian stores there were only Chinese crafts, poorly suited for long-term use, inconvenient for printing and fragile.

Apparently, Microsoft engineers also suffered from using such products, so they released a compact All-in-One multimedia keyboard on the Russian market, equipped with a touchpad with mechanical buttons. Interesting? A small spoiler: we have to admit that this keyboard turned out to be better than similar options from Logitech, despite my boundless love for the Swiss brand.

Contents of delivery

The colorful packaging contains a pack of waste paper, a tiny USB adapter for connecting to a computer, and the keyboard itself, carefully packed in a plastic bag.

The USB stick is really very small - I’ve probably never seen anything like it before. Work with third-party adapters is not supported, despite the universal communication protocol.

Specifications

Appearance

The Microsoft All-in-One is a compact keyboard with a built-in touchpad. The company's engineers managed to solve the main problem and make sure that small dimensions do not affect ease of use: typing on the keyboard is as easy as on more serious options.

The body is made of flexible, rough, dark gray plastic. The big advantage is that scratches and minor dirt will not be noticeable. And yes, the keyboard bends quite freely, but not like the rubber Chinese ones. This solution does not cause any inconvenience when printing.

The rear panel is equipped with rubber feet, unfortunately, without the ability to change the angle of inclination.

There is also an impressively sized battery compartment for two “little finger” (AAA) batteries.

Next to them is a compartment for the transmitter.

On the right side there is an on/off switch tinted green and red.

The top row of keys has a multimedia function by default. The set is standard. There are also separate “miracle buttons” arranged in two blocks.

On the left side of the front panel there is an additional block of keys: the “Left Click” function button (which is very convenient to use - the button is located directly under the left thumb), a volume control and a separate button to mute the sound.

Above the touchpad there are three keys designed to launch the browser with the home page, audio and video player.

Ease of use

The keyboard has a classic laptop layout. The model has fairly small keys (concave, which adds convenience), but there is sufficient distance between them to avoid accidental presses. It is almost impossible to miss, press accidentally or hit two keys at the same time.

To use multimedia keys combined with the usual F1 - F12, pressing additional keys is not required. They all work on Windows starting from version 7. There is no need to install drivers. Major Linux distributions also support full functionality of the top row of keys.

To press, for example, F5, you will need to hold down the Fn key, which is located next to the right Alt key. Quite inconvenient, you may have to use two hands. But the bottom row of keys has increased dimensions and the arrows are well spaced, so it’s very easy to use them, whether you’re browsing through the menu or playing a race.

Gestures and additional keys

Even without using special software downloaded from the official website, this keyboard is simply a treasure trove of successful solutions.

Firstly, the touchpad is very comfortable. Its surface is moderately rough and pleasant to the touch (as is the entire keyboard). This ensures high-quality glide and excellent response. At the bottom of the All-in-One touchpad is a button area with a mechanical backing. To click, accompanied by a characteristic click, you need to apply a little force.

Secondly, the touchpad has a lot of capabilities:

• touch with one finger - click with the left button;
• sliding with one finger - moving the cursor;
• holding your finger on the selected element - dragging;
• touch with two fingers - right-click;
• sliding two fingers up/sideways - scrolling;
• two-finger zoom;
• sliding from the left edge - viewing recent applications;
• sliding from the right edge - Charm Bar control menu;
• sliding from the top edge - application management menu.

Gestures eliminate the need for mechanical keys. When you get acquainted with the keyboard, of course, you are drawn to use the classic, familiar functions. But once you understand the gestures, you completely forget about the buttons. A mouse with an All-in-One seems like a relic of the past - the additional pointer is more of a hindrance than a benefit.

conclusions

Past keyboards from Microsoft were famous for their carefully designed design and amazing ergonomics. Our guest today, All-in-One, has collected the best solutions that Microsoft has developed in the entire history of its own keyboard manufacturing, and received very attractive properties: shock resistance, surface flexibility and moisture protection. Now you don’t have to worry about the safety of the keyboard: you can leave it on the sofa and even drop it from a height of human height without harm (and it will be much safer on the table than many competitors).

All this is complemented by an excellent price. Of course, in the official store the cost of the device is 3,600 rubles, which is very expensive for a multimedia keyboard in modern realities. But in some stores All-in-One can be purchased for 2–2.5 thousand rubles. And in this price range there are no equals to it.

Advantages: - For me, the advantage is that the design of the keyboard is similar to the wireless keyboard from Apple “Apple Magic Keyboard”, which I am used to and use on a Mac, I purchased the same one for a PC. - It works wirelessly, but for the system it appears as wired, that is, you can enter the BIOS from it without problems before loading the OS. - Uses AAA batteries (I like to use rechargeable ones so as not to waste money on them), so the life of the keyboard will not be shortened due to a deteriorating built-in battery, which tend to die after a year or two and are especially harmful for them if you don’t use the device for a long time (for example, Apple’s greed has led to the fact that in the latest versions of their keyboard and trackpad they abandoned removable batteries). - Waterproof, you don’t have to worry about spilling coffee on it, nothing will happen to it. Disadvantages: - The fn button is located on the right, which is not so convenient for those who are used to using it with their left hand to emulate the Home/End/PageUp/PageDown buttons. - The touchpad after the Apple Trackpad turned out to be not so convenient (the surface is not so smooth and the size is smaller), moreover, Windows 10 gestures do not work, for example, three fingers up (Win + Tab) and others, and Microsoft, are not moving to release drivers for support for Win10 gestures, despite the fact that there was a compatibility sticker with Windows 10 on the box with the keyboard, a scam... - In the settings of WIndows 10, the touchpad does not appear on the keyboard at all, that is, the keyboard itself emulates the touchpad, like a mouse. - There is no indicator on the keyboard that Caps lock is enabled or function keys are disabled, although there is one light that lights up only when turned on, and is then not used by the keyboard for anything. - It’s a pity there are no alternative drivers for fine-tuning the keyboard and touchpad. The program from Microsoft "Mouse and Keyboard Center 2.8" does not provide much to configure, and the configuration of the Media Buttons generally works with glitches; if you assign a call to your program or some function to the Media Button, then when you press them, the keyboard can perform an action default (which you erased, hello Microsoft?!), in place with what you configured. Comment: If you lose the “USB whistle” from the keyboard, you can use it as a footrest, unless... It's hardwired to the keyboard and you can't buy a replacement. But I wouldn't say that this is a minus. By default, the function keys F1-F12 are not activated, and if you press the usual key combination to close the program (Alt+A4), the computer will instantly go into hibernation, because F4 is assigned the sleep function. To enable function keys (without using them in combination with fn), you need to press fn + Caps lock, although these settings are not saved if you remove the batteries or turn off the keyboard.

The All-in-One Media Keyboard is the perfect device for your living room or home office. It has a full-size set of keys and an integrated multi-touch panel (the latter supports a variety of actions: print, swipe, drag, zoom and tap). There are also customizable media hotkeys for quick access to the Internet and your favorite music, photos and movies. The keyboard is durable, so you don't have to worry about bumps, falls, or spilled coffee, which sometimes happen in life. All-in-One Media Keyboard is everything you need for comfortable typing and hassle-free navigation.

PECULIARITIES

1. Integrated multi-touch panel

The integrated multi-touch panel provides easy-to-use, gesture-enabled navigation designed to make Windows easier to use. Supports various actions: tap, swipe, drag, zoom and press.

2. Customizable media hotkeys

Customizable media hotkeys provide quick access to music, photos and videos.

3. Available volume controls

Easily accessible and easy-to-use volume controls provide added convenience when working with multimedia

4. Durable, spill-proof design

The keyboard is designed to stay intact even if you sit on it or drop it from time to time. It will also withstand accidentally spilled coffee.

5. Wireless (USB)

Move freely around the room while maintaining a reliable wireless connection to your computer up to 10 meters away.