Gyration Ultra cordless mouse/keyboard combo

[Mr.D]

Read a fair few glowing comments on these things on the AVS forums and a few newsgroups. One or two people on here have them already.

Its a cordless RF keyboard ( no numeric pad) and optical mouse combo pack.

RF reciever plugs into a spare USB port: push a couple of learn buttons and you are away.

The keyboard is great! So far its accomplished its task with no problems whatsoever. Really nice action , very compact without the size of the keys suffering too much. Its a very nice looking unit in its own right even before you start using it .

The mouse is a bit special. It comes with a rechargable battery and sits is recharger dock when its not in use. Its a little smaller than your normal mouse and slightly heavier because of the battery pack but its still lighter than I expected. The mouse works in two modes : normal optical mode which works fine , and "in-air" mode.

Its the second mode that really impresses. The mouse has an extra button in a curved recess underneath. Holding this down like a trigger with the index finger allows you to use the mouse off surface where it will respond to any inclination of your hand ( hence the gyroscope bit). Your thumb now operates the mouse buttons and wheel. This sounds a bit awkward but in use its very much like swinging a laser pointer about with the mouse pointer replacing the red dot!

On a 9 foot screen it works a treat although it does show up how shaky your hands are!

The ultra pack is priced around the hundred pounds mark and available from the usual culprets: I bought mine from dabs.

I don't run games on my HTPC but this might encourage me to give Half Life a blast just to see what its like with the floating mouse!

[rooster]

Mr.D anything else to add now you have had it for a few days. Sounds like just what im looking for

[Mr.D]

So far its been great. It would be nice if the keyboard had luminous characters or even light up keys( bit heavy on the batteries) but its a minor irritation.

The mouse works really well on a 9 foot screen!

[Julia]

Mr. D Thanks for the review. :smashin: I'm thinking about buying a Gyration combo myself too.

I wonder why nobody thinks of making a luminous keyboard. It would be really cool. And I think the great majority of HCPC users would be interested.

Julia

[Mr.D]

I've actually been looking around to see if I can find some luminous stick on characters : no luck yet.

So far I think its a great piece of kit .
I admit I still get a buzz picking up the mouse and waving the pointer about!

Idon't think it would be all that great for fast games but I'm going to try it with Myst3 running on the HTPC (breaks my no games rule). Its nice and cinematic so should look good on the pj.
(assuming I don't get any powerstrip and audiophile issues )

[Mr.D]

Just discovered that if you double click the air mode trigger it stays activated rather than having it pressed down constantly. Also have to say whilst the update is very acceptable in the air when you use the mouse on a surface its very very smooth and reliable: its actually a bit better than the corded intellimouse on my serious nonHTPC . ( which I find acceptable for pixel accurate paintwork so the gyration mouse is if anything a bit special even by normal mouse criteria)

[Jeff]

I've been using the Gyration mouse/keyboard combo for a few months now, its great. So good in fact that I have no intention of using the pronto anymore for PC control.