Digital Media Pro Keyboard
Buy Now...
Say what you will about Microsoft, it does produce some quality input devices. Whether it is a keyboard or a mouse, you know you will be getting a well made piece of kit that often incorporates stylish design concepts and increased functionality. Take the Microsoft Digital Media Pro keyboard as an example. This keyboard comes with a stylish look and adds increased functionality into the bargain.
Most of the keys making up this input device are coloured black to make them stand out from the silver coloured body shell. There are a couple of exceptions to this, namely the hot keys that can be assigned to favourite Web sites and files plus three keys for audio control. Running across the top of the main key pad layout on either side of the previously mentioned favourites keys are a group of keys for media centre implementation and access to specific applications and folders.
The media centre keys allow you to start, pause and stop audio and video tracks. The other hot keys have been designated for giving access to My Documents, My Pictures, My Music, Web Home Page and Windows Messenger. It is surprising how often you need to call up these items.
As has become standard with Microsoft keyboards, the traditional twelve function keys have dual functionality. Options, such as Help, Save, Undo, Send, Spell and Open, now double up with the original function key features. An F-Lock key allows you quickly switch between the two different sets of controls.
Earlier I mentioned that this keyboard does have increased functionality. This is a new feature that goes by the name of zoom slider. This built-in slider control is situated on the left side of the keyboard. By using this slider control you can zoom in either direction when viewing various types of content. This will enable you to get a closer or wide angle look at pictures, maps, documents and Web pages that are displayed on the screen. The slider control features plus and minus signs to indicate which direction it needs to be moved in order to achieve the appropriate effect. I was pleasantly surprised how quickly this feature became part of my normal working routine especially when images and graphic pages were involved.
The keyboard has a detachable wrist rest which I tend to leave in the box. I prefer having the extra space on my work desk to any possible benefit that this particular item might bring. Both USB and PS/2 connections are provided for connecting to a PC or Mac machine.
While the keyboard should work with earlier versions of either Windows or Mac operating systems, functionality will be reduced. In order to have access to all the features of Microsoft IntelliType Pro keyboard software with Hot Keys support you will need to have later versions of the appropriate operating system. In the case of Windows this means you need to be using Windows 2000 or Windows XP with 128MB of Ram. Mac users should be running Mac OS 10.1 or later.
If you are looking for a new keyboard then you should definitely consider this model. It has been priced reasonably at £29.99 and gives multimedia and various application control features plus the ability to quickly adjust the size of document content.
| add to del.icio.us | Digg this review |
| StumbleUpon | |
!!
