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Several years ago I came across a wireless mouse that was able to recharge itself by being docked on the receiver unit.  If memory serves me correct, this was the Logitech MX700 unit.  I was reminded of this piece of kit by the arrival of a wireless keyboard set from Sandberg.  Like the earlier Logitech mouse, the Sandberg product featured a rechargeable mouse using a docking station.

The Sandberg Wireless Keyboard Set consists of three units, each coloured black with a silver Sandberg logo.  The three items are a full size keyboard; wheeled mouse; and the USB receiver unit that doubles as the recharging element.  You also get two AAA standard batteries; two AAA rechargeable batteries; software CD; and a small User Guide.

See also: Keyboards and Mice

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Setting up the kit is straightforward but time consuming.  You need to insert the batteries into the keyboard and mouse before attaching the receiver unit to a vacant USB port.  The keyboard and mouse should be automatically recognised by the operating system.  You can then install the provided software that allows you to customise the two elements.  However before you can actually use this kit, you will need to charge the mouse batteries.  This process can take up to eight hours using the Receiver/Recharge unit.  To avoid this long delay before using the mouse, I would suggest, if possible, charging the batteries using a third-party charger before they are inserted in the mouse.

Measuring 485 x 200 x 15mm, the keyboard unit has a permanently attached wrist rest.  It adds twelve hot keys and a scroll wheel to the standard arrangement of QWERTY and computer specific keys.  Running down the right side of the keyboard are hot keys for multimedia tasks, calculator, sleep and My Computer.  On the left side are the hot keys for activating a browser, email client, search facility and favourites plus the scroll wheel.  Using the supplied software you can change the default settings for each of the hot keys.

The mouse supplied with this kit is slightly larger than my current input device.  Measuring 132 x 68 x 38mm, this mouse, with a smooth rubber panel running along the top, features a centrally positioned thick rubber wheel between the left and right mouse buttons.  While the shape of the mouse might give the impression that this is an ambidextrous device, the presence of forward and backward buttons on the left side of the mouse make it far more suitable for the right-handed user.  As with the keyboard, you can program the various buttons to perform specific actions.

In order to save on battery life, the mouse slips into a sleep mode when not used for a period of time.  When this happens you need to reawaken the mouse by pressing one of its buttons.  Unlike other aspects of this desktop set which are programmable, I could find no method of adjusting or turning off this feature.

By storing the mouse in the docking bay provided as part of the receiver unit, you can ensure that the mouse batteries are kept fully charged.  The receiver unit has two LEDs, coloured green and red, on the front.  The green light pulses to indicate it is working in conjunction with the keyboard and mouse.  I found this a little distracting.  The red light glows when the mouse is being recharged.

Overall I felt more comfortable with the keyboard rather than the mouse.  The scroll wheel on the keyboard was a distinct advantage and one that I found useful on several occasions.  Although the mouse felt comfortable in the hand and glided smoothly over various surfaces, it was not as responsive as my current model and the sleep feature did not really suit my mode of working.  The Sandberg Wireless Keyboard Set is available for £29.99 including shipping from Amazon on the following link:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0013KDJJK?ie=UTF8&tag=gadge0a-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634

http://www.sandberg.it/product.aspx?id=630-93