Gyration GYM1100CKNA Air Mouse GO Plus with Compact Keyboard Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)*******HOW LONG HAVE I OWNED THE GYRATION GO AIR MOUSE & COMPACT KEYBOARD?*******

I have owned this Compact Keyboard and Go Air Mouse Combo for well over a year. I bought it to replace my IR (infra red) Silitek SK-7551 compact keyboard + pointing device for my Home Theater PC (HTPC).

*******WHY DID I NEED IT?*******

Since I have an HTPC it's connected to my HT receiver in my living room and its used to play back DVD, music, stream online video (YouTube). And usually in an HTPC setup the the actual computer case is next to the TV and HT Receiver while you sit a couple of feet away (11ft in my case) from the set up. So you need a wireless keyboard/mouse and remote to work everything.

I have had some sort of an HTPC for about 6 years and in these years the MOST used device (besides the universal remote) is the MOUSE. The SK-7551 retailed for $25 but is no longer made. The OLD mouse was a pointing device in my Silitek Keyboard which meant I had to cradle the weight of the entire keyboard just to use the mouse. So I realized that I need a separate mouse and keyboard but did not want to spend on high end stuff like Logitech DiNovo. Plus the Silitek Keyboard was IR which means I needed to ALWAYS point to the receiving station (placed under the TV) for me to make it work. *******SO HOW WELL DOES IT WORK?*******

Note the OLD keyboard on my HTPC was an IR or infra red keyboard which means the two sensors MUST be in the line of sight to work. That was the bad news, the good news was that it was immune from interference. Any RF product that run at 2.4 Ghz (like the Gyration Keyboard&Mouse) will have some interference. Even a microwave can cause some interference.

Here are some observations:
1) The Gyration KEYBOARD is a compact 88 keys RF keyboard and it's very light. But I do have some delay between initial keystrokes and them appearing on screen. But once the letters start appearing on screen the delay is minimal. But it can get irritating but you get used to it.

2) If you plan to use this as the ONLY keyboard & mouse connected to your PC you need to enable USB mouse and keyboard in your BIOS. The RF receiver that comes with the product plug into your USB device. Otherwise you cannot use the mouse or keyboard when you are in the BIOS.

3) The RF USB receiver seems to work better when plug it in the front USB ports. This could be because my HTPC has 802.11G PCI card with antenna in the back and plugging it in the back with both devices on 2.4Ghz may not be a good idea. But if you have a toddler in the house like I do, that's not very feasible to put it in the front USB port. So I bought 3 ft USB extension cord and plugged one end in the rear ports but the actual RF receiver is safely hidden in the TV cabinet. Since its RF it works through walls.

4) The STAR of the system in the Gyration GO Air Mouse. It can be used as an optical mouse and if you pick it up it becomes an gyro controlled air mouse. It works "pretty well" most of time. The Go Air tools software controls hand gestures and they work well too. But I cannot get the back and forward swipe motions for Firefox to work. Every time I gesture to go back in the FireFox browser it will do it but it will also open ANOTHER Firefox window. The solution is to open an IE window, minimize it and then use Firefox. When you do this the back and forward motion in Firefox works fine. This is a Firefox specific problem...its irritating but I have learned to live with it.

The above problem only happens with back and forward gestures in the Firefox browser, if you use IE you wont have to deal with it. The short cut to programs are really cool and they work well.

The other problem is with the battery. It does not hold charge that long (and I mean like a standard on your table bluetooth or wireless mouse), the solution is pretty simple keep the mouse + charger as close to your couch as possible this way you use it and when you are done put it back on the charge and its always on the charge till you need it. It will hold a charge for about 2-3 hours enough for you to get through a DVD movie.

*******OK OK...DO YOU RECOMMEND THAT WE BUY IT?*******

I did NOT buy this from Amazon, there was a very very slickdeal for this combo and it cost me about 1/4th of it's current Amazon Retail (at the time of writing).

Do I think its a great product for $100 + ? No, go for a Logitech DiNovo Mini for a little more.

Do I think its a great product for $50-100? Meeh, it depends.

Ok so is it a great product for under $50 ? ABSOFRIGGINGLUTELY :-)

Click Here to see more reviews about: Gyration GYM1100CKNA Air Mouse GO Plus with Compact Keyboard

Product Description:
With Gyration-s intelligent Air Mouse GO Plus featuring MotionSense, the world just got easier to navigate. No strings, no wires, no trick, no gimmicks - just better technology that allows you a more comfortable and versatile mouse to operate in the air or on the desk. Take control of your presentations, entertainment, and Internet browsing with natural hand movements. You-ll wonder how you ever did it any other way. Experience the patented MotionSense technology inside the Air Mouse GO Plus that delivers precise in-air cursor control and convenience. Ideal for any desktop computer user, the Go Mouse features an ergonomic ambidextrous design that is comfortable to use. Use natural and comfortable wrist movements to take in-air control of your computer. Trigger activated MotionSense technology translates your hand movements into on screen cursor motion for in-air operation. Unleash yourself from strain-inducing surfaces. Interference free 2.4 GHz RF technology allows you to take mouse control from up to 100 feet (30m) away with no line of sight restrictions. Initiate application commands with Gyration MotionTools software. Get to grips with customize controls for a quick hand motion that control volume or skip music tracks with multimedia players, or highlight important points in presentations. The Gyration MotionTools software for Windows features over 80 dynamic tools including freehand drawing, highlighter, special effects, dynamic zoom, multimedia player controls, Internet hotkeys, Windows shortcuts, and PowerPoint and presentation tools. And with three additional programmable buttons, in-air application controls, features, and configurable functions are at your finger tips. Gyration-s compact keyboard has an ergonomic, portable design with protective cover. The keyboard features 88 whisper quiet keys plus 15 hotkeys for Internet, e-mail and media access. Technical Support - Phone: 1-888-340-0033 E-Mail: support@gyration.com.

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Toshiba Satellite P505-S8025 TruBrite 18.4-Inch Laptop (Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I purchased one of these elsewhere ([...], its a bit cheaper) and it is probably the best laptop I have ever used for the things I do. I have had it a little over a week and everything seems sturdy, which is good since I am known to abuse electronics. The screen is massive, which as a downside makes the machine fairly large and heavy (it absolutely dwarfs my HP G60 that it replaced. Go ahead and get the Toshiba branded case, as finding one locally is not only hard, but is pretty much impossible. The guy at best buy laughed at me when I told him how large it was.
The processor and GPU are amazing for the money, this is the cheapest I have seen an i5 machine sell, especially one with a dedicated GPU and 1 gig of graphics memory. I tested it on Half Life 2 (which as I know, is outdated) and Crysis. Both of them ran smoothly, not a single point of lag. HL2 was on the highest settings, and Crysis was set pretty high up there (you could probably pull off the highest settings with a little tweaking). It also runs Photoshop CS4 smoothly and quickly, so it is overkill for any word processing programs.
The sound out of the Harman Kardon speakers is great, but I recommend deleting the factory drivers and using the Windows default driver. The pre-installed driver has some major issues that causes the audio to be choppy and drop volume randomly. But that is an easy fix.

The power consumption and battery life are respectable for a machine this large (18.4" screens dont run on air), I have gotten 2 hours of battery life out of it under normal usage, and a little over an hour playing games (both of these tests done in "High Performance" mode). If you are just surfing the web or working on a spreadsheet, I would recommend making use of the "eco mode" which has a dedicated button under the power button. This dims the screen, underclocks the processor, and turns off the unneeded lights on the keyboard to save power. Just surfing that dropped my power consumption from 36 watts to 21 watts with the push of a button. That should drastically lengthen the battery life.

The mouse and keyboard are overall layed out well. Although with my large hands I accidentally hit the "soft buttons" to the left of the keyboard with my little finger and I keep opening windows media player and muting the volume. The touchpad is textured, so you can tell that you are on it without looking. There is a minor issue if you are used to other laptops though, as the gap between the pad and the left/right click buttons is larger than most. I got used to this after about 3 days of use.

The wireless card has a nice range, and having B G and N capability is good if you aren't always on the same network. The webcam is decent, not the best I have used but it does the job; and it is also used for Toshiba's "face recognition". Which allows you to log in without typing the password. I personally don't see what is wrong with typing it, but if you are the forgetful type and don't mind looking a little stupid using it, the face recognition could be useful.

Overall the laptop is the best out there in this price bracket (if purchased for the 850 I mentioned on another site). I am very satisfied with mine and a few of my friends have purchased them after using mine.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Toshiba Satellite P505-S8025 TruBrite 18.4 Inch Laptop (Black)

Product Description:

Toshiba Satellite P505: Exceptional Power and Extra-Large 18.4-Inch Screen

With exceptional power, features and room, the Toshiba Satellite P505-S8025 is a portable alternative to a desktop computer with its extra-large 18.4-inch screen--giving you the freedom to work and create, plus super-size your music, 3D games, photos, movies and more. The bright 18.4-inch TruBrite LCD has an HD+ native resolution (1680 x 945) and the P505 is great for using as a media center with the touch-sensitive media keys placed above the keyboard.



Fusion Finish in Quantum Black.

The Satellite P505 is a portable alternative to a desktop PC thanks to its HD+ 18.4-inch display (see larger image).

The sophisticated styling of Toshiba's Fusion Finish in Quantum Black (see larger image).

Media buttons on the left side let you control video and music playback (see larger image).
You'll also be able to burn through the hottest new digital media, content creation and advanced 3D gaming with the breakthrough performance of the Intel Core i5 processor--with 4-way multitasking processor power to work on four tasks simultaneously.


Thanks to the built-in webcam and Toshiba Face Recognition software on this machine, you'll enjoy a more convenient way to communicate, log on or share your laptop among the family. Other high-tech features include a power-saving Eco Button to help reduce power consumption based on your needs, USB Sleep-and-Charge port, a hard drive impact sensor that protects your data, and a dual-layer DVD