Microsoft wireless keyboard and mouse Microsoft wireless keyboard and mouse

Sometime early in the year, my old ergonomic Microsoft keyboard flaked out. It still works, but some of the keys don't work that well. I got a lot of good use out of it, so figured I would get another just like it. But all I could find was a wireless Microsoft keyboard and laser mouse.

Last time I bought a wireless mouse and keyboard, it was from Logitech, and they just weren't that responsive. But I figured I could return them if they weren't responsive, and so spent over $100 on the package. The next day, I found the identical combination at Sam's Club for about 60% of that prices, so bought another set and returned the first set to Best Buy and got my money back there.

Overall, they have worked fairly well. Surprisingly, I get a message about once a month that the batteries in the mouse are running down, and replace them. No problem, I now buy my batteries at the Dollar Store, and have bought as many as a dozen or so for a buck there. They work fine in the mouse, but not in my digital camera.

Interestingly, the software has never given a similar message for the keyboard. I have been having problems with a couple of the keys recently, and after cleaning the keyboard, the problems persist. Indeed, it got so bad that I couldn't select more than one item at a time (using the control key with the mouse). So, I checked the battery monitor on the keyboard control panel. The batteries looked almost full - which is surprising after almost 9 months. So, I tried swapping them for another set, and, voila, the keyboard works perfectly now.

Overall, I am very happy with the keyboard / mouse combination. Because the mouse is a laser mouse, I do have to clean it at least once a month. But other than that, I have been quite satisfied. Now if that company could build software like it builds hardware....