I have a bit of a "thing" for keyboards (they are afterall your main interface with your computer!). Over the past five years, I’ve probably owned 10 different types of keyboards from several different manufacturers.
Recently I’ve been using the Microsoft Wireless Laser Keyboard 6000 v2.0 with its matching Laser Mouse 6000.
The Good
The feel of the keyboard is fantastic. I love the short stroke keys and the fact that Microsoft has put the arrow keys and navigation keys back to the way they should be, and even more importantly, the stupid F-Lock disaster has been changed to work the way it should have from the start. That is, the function keys work normally, unless you toggle the F-Lock key to make them do other things. I can’t believe that MS messed those two things up so badly, but they may have seen the light (good thing we have Logitech around to keep MS in line).
The visual design of the keyboard is very nice, and the "comfort curve" design is, in fact, quite comfortable.
The Bad
The wireless reception of this keyboard and mouse combination is by far the absolute worst I’ve ever experienced with any wireless product. This has been all over the internet, and if you read the reviews on Amazon, you’ll get a sense of people’s frustrations. I’ve personally experimented with having the reciever right next to the keyboard all the way to having it on the other side of the room. Funny thing – having it on the other side of the room provided the best experience.
Unfortunately, even the best experience is not a great one. Dropped keystrokes are the norm, and missed mouse clicks are very common. Regardless of what you’re trying to do, it is incredibly frustrating.
The truth is, I read the reviews on Amazon (for the v1.0 version) before purchasing the keyboard. The problem was, when I went shopping for a keyboard and I saw this one, it was tagged as "v2.0" on the bottom, which I thought meant that perhaps the problems had been fixed. As I found out rather quickly, they had not been.
In the interest of complete troubleshooting, I’ve even tried switching the wireless receiver that came with this keyboard (version 3 receiver) with an older version (version 2). The reception is better (although not perfect), but the special function keys and "extra" mouse buttons don’t work correctly with the older receiver, so that isn’t a viable solution.
Given the current situation, I unfortunately have to put this keyboard and mouse in the closet and dig out an "older" set. Regarding Microsoft and this keyboard, there are three options that would make me a happy camper:
1) Microsoft can bring out a wireless version that actually works
2) Microsoft can bring out a BlueTooth version
or
3) Microsoft can bring out a wired version that works.
Next time, I’m going to pay attention to those Amazon reviews!