In my most recent review, I took a look at the Amazon Fire TV Stick, and I said that Americans are now seeking to move away from the cable and satellite TV subscriptions.
Well, while I concluded that the Fire TV Stick was an excellent alternative, the more technology advanced of readers may take it a step further and choose to create a multimedia computer designated for the living room.
These compact entertainment computers are budget-friendly machines that are connected to a living room home entertainment system. Their advantages are limitless as with a Windows operating system, everything that can be performed on your desktop PC, can be performed on these. Furthermore, since they are fully customizable PCs, components like sound cards, video cards, can be tweaked to give more functionality.
The only challenge one might face is how to control the computer from a distance. A remote isn’t the best option and running USB cables for a keyboard and mouse makes things messy. That’s where wireless steps in as there is a plethora of wireless keyboards and mice available on the market. However, using a mouse and a keyboard tends to take up space and without a desk they can get lost or broken very easily.
As one of the largest producers of keyboards and mice, Logitech took two of their components and decided to throw them into one device. This created their k400 keyboard, a device that incorporated a full QWERTY keyboard with a touchpad for mouse navigation. Branded and advertised as a solution for those with living room PCs, does the k400 live up to its words?
Welcome to my review of the Logitech k400 Plus wireless keyboard. Throughout this review, I will be discussing the following topics: the design, functionality, and my final thoughts. Thank you to Logitech for providing this keyboard.
Design
Over the past few years, I have had the great opportunity to review some of Logitech’s greatest keyboards and what I’ve discovered on all of them is the astonishing time and effort that goes into designing each one.
Out of the box, I pondered on what might have happened when designing the k400. The keyboard is constructed out of an all plastic body that comes in a space gray finish with yellow accents. Due to its plastic construction and small internals, the k400 is incredibly light and can be easily operated with one hand.
My pondering from earlier comes from the k400’s resistance to flexing or the lack of. With little effort, the keyboard can begin to twist more than you may be used to. While this does not affect its functionality or cause cracking, it should be mentioned. That said, its ability to be light and flex easily, means that you don’t have to worry about dropping or accidentally sitting on the keyboard.
With a length of 14 inches (354.3 mm), most of the surface of the device is covered by the QWERTY keyboard. The keys on the k400 include what you’d expect them to, including function keys that double as media and PC control keys. Key sizing is similar to any laptop keyboard and shift, caps, and tab keys are all a suitable size while arrow, enter and backspace buttons are slightly dwarfed. Wording on the keys is on applied stickers which should withstand the oils from your hands.
To the right of the keyboard layout is the 3 inch (76.2 mm) touchpad that is located above two physical buttons for right and left click. Moreover, above the touchpad are the volume control buttons for increase, decrease, and mute.
One extra key on the k400 that I found very useful, is the single yellow button found on the far top left side. With one click of this button it sends a left-click command meaning you can navigate the mouse with one thumb while the other thumb clicks.
Lastly, the keyboard is powered by two AA batteries and had a physical on/off switch to save battery power for when not in use. This keyboard, like all Logitech products, connects to a Unifying USB device so your Logitech products can connect to more than one USB device.
Functionality
While most living room computers run on a Windows OS, Logitech isn’t limiting their product to one operating system and instead allows the k400 to function on Windows, Mac, Android and ChromeOS; all you need is a working USB port.
Since it supports multiple operating systems, the k400 has a Windows key, Android navigation keys, music control, ChromeOS keys, and Apple users are left with nothing special.
When sitting at the couch about ten feet away from the TV, the keyboard performs flawlessly with a direct line of sight to the USB receiver. Logitech says the range of the k400 is 10 feet, but from my usage, it goes much farther than that, unless you’re behind a wall for some reason.
The typing experience of the keyboard is easy and smooth with each key on the keyboard having a soft actuation and suitable volume noise. Recall the feather-like weight I mentioned above and this comes into play while typing. The k400’s weight allows it to be used with one hand and can even be typed on with one hand. Whether resting it on the table or holding it in the air, my typing experience was good enough for a multimedia PC.
Using the touchpad can be a love/hate relationship it seems. I’m used to using my Dell laptop touchpad which has very good accuracy and when transitioning to the k400, the touchpad became a little challenging to use. It would sometimes not detect my thumb until more surface area of my thumb was applied or I pressed down with more force. When lying on the table, it worked well, but in the air it takes a little getting used to.
The touchpad on the k400 can also be customized to enable finger gestures so familiar pinch to zoom, two fingers to scroll, and others can be added. These two can be a hit or miss on working to their fullest potential.
Finally, most of the k400’s usage was found during nights when movies were playing and although I’ve memorized the keyboard layout, it can be a little challenging to see in the dark which is something to take note of for those with poor eye sight.
My Final Thoughts
For $39.99, the Logitech k400 Plus keyboard is a suitable device for the living room PC. It solves the issues of using both a mouse and keyboard and performs well enough for those seeking this alternative to a remote. Logitech does offer different products like the TK820, which I reviewed a little while back, but for this $40 price tag it’s hard to beat especially with the feather-like weight.
Buy it Now:
© 2015 Justin Vendette
1 Comment
I guess they don’t make a left handed version. 🙂