I recently bought a wireless keyboard and mouse combo set because I wanted to unclutter my work desk. There are just too many wires snaking in and out of my PC that I’m already endangering my pet dog’s life. I thought that by removing at least two cables from my PC it will be result in a slightly more organized mess. And hey, who doesn’t want to have a cool wireless device on their desk?

I bought a relatively cheap A4tech R7 set and proceeded to install the drivers on my PC. I have to admit I loved the freedom that a wireless keyboard brings. For one, I can type even when my feet are propped up on the side of my desk (my ankles swell if I sit down for a long time) and the mouse, unshackled from wires, meant that I can use any surface as a mousepad.  Everything went great for the next two weeks. It was on the third week that I started encountering problems.

First, I discovered that my keyboard does not work anymore on the dual boot screen, which is on the DOS level. I couldn’t solve the problem so I just attached my old keyboard for making the OS choices. Then I noticed that my mouse began to act very sluggishly. Sometimes the problem was intermittent but soon it worsened so that from the initial boot up it was already sluggish. I replaced the batteries twice, reconnected the connection with the RF unit to no avail. The final complication that happened was when I booted up my PC and discovered that my keyboard was also not responding like it used to. It was slow to respond to key presses. I tried everything I could think of and even tried consulting online articles on wireless input devices. Nothing worked. It dawned on me that there may be some interference at my house that I couldn’t pinpoint.

Frustrated and at my wits’ end trying to solve the problem I finally made a crucial decision… I unplugged the RF unit, removed the batteries on the keyboard and mouse, replaced it in its box, took out my old optical mouse and attached it to my PC.

I’m now back to where I started — using a wired keyboard and mouse. My desk may look cluttered but at least I can actually get some work done.

[tags]wireless keyboard, wireless mouse, A4Tech[/tags]

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