Microsoft Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 6000

Comments about Microsoft Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 6000:

This keyboard is extremely slim and comfortable to use. The key feels the same as any netbook or notebook computers. I really like the curve keyboard design which makes my hands less vulnerable to carpal tunnel. The slim form factor makes me feel like my fingers are typing on a flat table. I like it.

If you just want productivity at work and don't need extra features such as media control, this keyboard is good enough. It has basic volume up, down, and mute control only.
There are no dedicated Home and End buttons except on the Number Pad when Num Lock is OFF. On the keyboard, you have to hold the blue Function Key combine with Page Up or Page Down to Press the Home and End key respectively. It just takes time to get used to. If you want dedicated Home and End keys, use the Number pad instead. However there are no printed secondary features on the number pad but it is just a standard number pad with the same function as a regular Num Lock On/Off as any other keyboards on the market.

My Asus notebook PC that runs windows 7 has a built-in Bluetooth chip which makes paring extremely easy. I just follow all the on screen instructions and able to pair both the keyboard and number pad within 2 mins without installing any single software nor drivers.

There is however a conventional Bluetooth connection issue. Both the keyboard and number pad enter to sleep mode after 8 to 10 mins of inactivity. There is around 1 second delay to wake up the keyboard with a click on the keyboard or number pad. You do not need to press the same key many times to wake it up, just allow around 1 second to let the device wake up and have the input display on the screen. This is common to ALL bluetooth devices on the Market including the Logitech MX5500 when directly connected to the standard bluetooth devices. But since Logitech MX5500 provides user with a special type of Bluetooth USB dongle, it bypasses the wake up delay. Without that Bluetooth USB dongle, it will also have delay.

Since this is a Bluetooth keyboard, so it doesn't work in the BIOS because BIOS does not have Bluetooth keyboard driver. If your Linux has Bluetooth driver, this keyboard should work. You cannot use this keyboard to wake up your computer either especially those Bluetooth equipped ones. When the computer is in sleep mode, the Bluetooth antenna for both WiFi and Bluetooth is OFF.

As long as you get used to the Bluetooth issue, this should be a great ergo compact keyboard.

Comments about Microsoft Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 6000:

I was attracted to this keyboard because of the small size coupled with complete set of keys and the detached keypad. I enjoyed the design and feel of the keyboard. I would have been very pleased if this keyboard were a standard wireless model. However, the bluetooth connection was a problem.

I tried this keyboard with an iMac with internal bluetooth and with a Windows laptop with a bluetooth dongle.

Setting up the connection on the iMac was easy but the keyboard kept disconnecting when it sat unused for several minutes. This resulted in a connection lost message that became annoying when it appeared in the middle of doing something else. Also, when waking from sleep it took many seconds and key presses before the connection was reestablished.

Getting bluetooth to work on the Windows laptop with the dongle was difficult but finally succeeded. However, the same periodic disconnection problem occurred and restoring the connection after sleep or hibernation sometimes required a restart.

Perhaps some of these problems have to do with bluetooth connectivity in general but it also seems as if the keyboard has been programmed to go into a disuse mode when idle that can cause effective disconnection. I was very disappointed because it is a great keyboard which I think would have worked without incident if it were standard wireless.

Comments about Microsoft Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 6000:

We bought this for my daughter to use with her Apple Ipad and it works great. We could never get the keypad to work with the Ipad although it did work great with our laptops. I don't know why both pieces didn't work with the Ipad, maybe a driver issue. At any rate, that is why we didn't give this 5 stars. This is the perfect size to take on the road or just sitting at home. For our intended use, it works great and I would recommend it to others.

Comments about Microsoft Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 6000:

I can see why this product wasn't popular at the original price. Overall a good product, but there are some things that could be improved. I moved to this from the MS 4000 keyboard for the slim profile and bluetooth connection. I'm an IT professional using this keyboard almost 5 hours a day.(7.5 hours a day if my boss happens to read this review)

It is nice being able to use the keypad with the left hand. The ergonomic layout is as ergonomic one can get with such a thin keyboard. (It is taking some getting used to) It paired with my Windows 7 machines without any issue. There are volume controls on the keyboard.

Home and End keys are "Fn" of the Page Up and Page Down keys, so if those are a staple of your keyboarding be warned Home and End require two keys to be pressed. There are only volume keys; no hot keys, nothing else fancy. The big issue for me is that the keyboard (and keypad) only pair to one device at a time. I use this for my laptop and desktop, needing to delete the devices and re-add them when I switch between the two.

Overall for an ergonomic, slim form factor, bluetooth keyboard this is a good piece of hardware. (Although don't pay MSRP for it, buy something with more features)

Comments about Microsoft Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 6000:

I work from home when not traveling. With my work laptop, I have it on a stand to put the screen more at eye level. Doing so, I really needed a separate keyboard that was lower so I bought this product. The keyboard works fine, the keys work well and the "bend" in the keyboard is helpful. The simple and sleek design is good and the small footprint was important to me. Overall I am satisfied with the purchase. The only two things that bug me are, first, when coming out of hibernate or first starting to use the laptop in the morning, the keyboard is slow to "connect" and I have to first type in passwords, etc. with my laptop keyboard. Once the separate keyboard is recognized it works fine. The second thing that gets to me is not having separate HOME, END, PgUp, PgDn and INS keys. I am a heavy user of these keys regularly but on this keyboard, to save space, you have to use a function key "FN" to enable them. I've worked around it but it does slow down my productivity slightly when those keys are needed.

Comments about Microsoft Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 6000:

I used this keyboard for my TV, notebook, PDA. It pairs easily and fits in small spaces.

Con: A travel sock was included for the numeric keypad, but none for the keyboard. I have been searching for a case that size but probably will just make one.