Battery Status of Wireless Keyboard/Mice? 10
Elvii
asks: "I'm looking for a wireless keyboard/mouse
solution for my system. My first choice is the Logitech
Cordless Desktop because I've seen them and like them,
(works as standard keyboard and wheel mouse, to the best
of my knowledge) but I'd like to be able to monitor the
battery life in the keyboard/mouse as the Windows software
can do. Anyone know of software or specs for these types
of things? Logitech hasn't answered my email request for
help yet." Is this yet another closed spec that Logitech
would do well to open up? Is this feature available for
any other OS aside from Windows?
Re:Some comments about the Cordless Desktop (Score:1)
and seeing as i sometimes have so much clutter I don't even know where my desk is, i'd bet the only way I'll know the batteries are dead will be keyboard not working anymore...
Re:compatiblity of Cordless (Score:1)
Long answer:
To address your compatibility question, I had a ps/2 mouse (ms wheelmouse) and regular keyboard. Put the batteries in the mouse/keyboard of the one I linked to above, and plugged in the reciever (both ps/2 connectors, but adaptors included to go to larger keyboard plug or serial mouse). Worked fine, no reconfig required at all. I expect most cordless would be as easy... standard ps/2 stuff functionally except for things like battery status, extras type stuff.
P.s. Been out in the sun too long today.. if i made any mistakes, get stuck in the sun all day then you'll not notice them either.
Re:Some comments about the Cordless Desktop (Score:1)
When I first got it, the wheel on the mouse would stick a little. I mean it was physically harder to turn it past one point. Turned out the mouse was just screwed together too tight, loosening the front screw fixed that problem. The other thing I've noticed is that if I place the mouse on a metal surface, (with or without a pad) it works very poorly. If I put a book between the surface and the mouse however, it's raised far enough that it doesn't interfere with the signal. My desk is wood, but I have an empty metal computer case as a mouse stand next to an easy chair where I sit sometimes.
I play quake and other games with it all the time. I can't feel any difference from playing with a cordful keyboard and mouse, and not having a cord on the mouse just rocks for games.
Placement is critical. (Score:1)
I have experienced some of the problems others have reported of skipped key presses, etc. But, they all went away when I found a good place to put the receiver. As the documentation says, placement is important. Don't place the receiver near anything that emits RF. That means keep it away from your display and your Linux boxen.
My PII-300 makes both the keybd and mouse go lame. Likewise my displays and the network hub. My HP Inkjet printer and my NetWinder don't do anything bad. In fact, I usually keep the receiver right between the two with no ill effects.
Re:Some comments about the Cordless Desktop (Score:1)
Some comments about the Cordless Desktop (Score:1)
Here's my Cordless Desktop story:
I bought the Logitech Cordless Desktop back in December 1998. Got it back to the dorm, unpacked the box, plugged it in, installed the NT drivers, and away I went. Three days later, I turned my machine on and found the mouse was dead. I changed batteries, mashed the Connect button more than I probably should have, and ultimately got frustrated. One of my friends had an older version of the Cordless Desktop, so I borrowed his wireless mouse. It worked with my receiver. I then took my mouse to his receiver -- no dice.
Off to the store for a return...
So, I return it, find I had bought the last one three days earlier, get a refund, and buy another from a different store.
Get it back to my room, plug it all up, everything's peachy. Three months later in March, the mouse goes dead. Same situation -- my friend's mouse works on my receiver, but my mouse doesn't work on his receiver (or mine, of course). Since it was way past the time period I could've returned the stuff to the store, I'd have to deal with Logitech directly. Great. I still haven't contacted them about warranty service... Anyway, enough of that. Some important things to note about the Cordless Desktop:
- It eats batteries for lunch. Don't even think about using rechargable NiCad AA batteries -- they last me a whopping two or three days between charges.
- Keys randomly "stick," which makes playing Quake or any other game that uses the keyboard hell.
- It sometimes eats keystrokes, especially when the batteries are low.
- If the batteries start dying and you don't have spare batteries, you're screwed. I had my keyboard die while I was finishing off a rather lengthy English paper at 3:30am, and I ended up having to plug my roommate's keyboard into my computer so I could finish it.
- I will admit, though, that the Logitech cordless stuff is a thousand times better than the infrared-based wireless crap. With the Cordless Desktop, you don't need line-of-sight to the receiver or anything, and I get a good nine foot range with it. (Expect a range of just under three meters outside of the US...)
As for checking the battery levels with Linux or a non-Windows OS: The receiver has four LEDs on it. The standard caps/num/scroll lock LEDs and a "Connected" LED. When the battery level in an "attached" device gets low, the Connected LED will start blinking. While it would certainly be nicer to have a program to graphically show the battery levels like the Mouse/Keyboard Control Panels in Windows, at least the flashing Connected LED will tell you when batteries are low...Re:Some comments about the Cordless Desktop (Score:1)