Logitech MK710 Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Combo

I bought this keyboard for two reasons: I am an Senior English Major at University of Michigan and I am a trained typist, so between work and school I literally pound keyboards to death. I got this to use while I waited for the parts and the time to replace the keyboard on my Toshiba Satellite 17 inch laptop, which I literally used so much in the first year that I wore the paint off the keys. I finally blew out the space bar in the unit's built in keyboard last month. It's worth noting that I received this today, the day after I installed the laptop keyboard replacement and installed it. So though it was meant as a quick fix to keep me working, it took longer and could not be used for that purpose. But having a wireless keyboard is nice since I work from home a lot and I like to leave my desk and sit comfortably if I can. Logitech is normally lightning fast on delivery and in their defense, I was given an arrival date with a week-long window after. It arrived a day before the window began, but that's still slow, in my experience, for this company. I use Logitech products exclusively...even if I get a new laptop, I'll replace the accessories and I will never use anything but this brand. So it pains me to give a lesser review than five stars. Here's why: Overall design: This is a neat little keyboard with a fair design. I give it fair because the positioning of the keys push way too far left. Not a little: a LOT. There is literally a quarter inch border and that's it. This matters to me more than I would have considered, and the minute I put my hands in position, I hated this part of the thing. The buttons for insert/delete/home/page up & down/end have their own panel with dedicated directional keys that take up a lot of room on the board. Some of these should be at top with some of the function keys, etc. Had they not been given a dedicated area between the number pad and keyboard, the keyboard could be well-centered and thus far more ergonomic. The padded hand rest was a big seller for me, but it does no good if the entire access to the text is at the left edge. The bottom of my left hand keeps falling at the side. Imagine a day of typing like this equated to sleeping on the very edge of your bed: You can get the job done but at the end of a full night clinging to edge of the thing, you're a little resentful. -----If you are a trained typist this will just make you crazy at "set". ---- As a tactile experience, it runs between what us older typists remember as a quality electronic typewriter and a modern laptop. I appreciate the depth of the keystroke and the response, although it's a little springy. That's just a matter of adjusting muscle memory for me and it may not be an issue for you. If you're looking for a 'soft-pad' short-depth keystroke that is common in higher end laptops, you won't get that with this unit. These are hard plastic keys with a more classic response. That is to say that if you go from a soft rubberish keypad to this one, your fingers will get tired and you'll be making some mistakes at first, until you adjust. It's quieter than an old school keyboard but the keys are made of molded plastic so you're going to get a little rattle and pop. I've heard worse, and this is on the quiet end as the keys engage, but it is what it is. My husband is a light sleeper and I write all night on top of my daytime work, but this hasn't bothered him too much. My desk is near the bed so he'll hear me but it won't keep him awake. He can't hear me on my laptop. The function features all appear to work. I like that I can open up my office programs with the F buttons, which are clearly labeled, so that is a nice touch. FN function is on the wrong side of the keyboard for me... I wish this would become industry standard. Trying to work between various keyboards makes this a pain. Caps and number locks do not illuminate and that is a big minus one full star. This is basic stuff and it should not even be an issue in today's world of encrypted passwords and PINS. I would have never expected Logitech to chince on this aspect of any of their products, so you can chalk up 1/2 of that negative star to disappointment. The wireless response... my jury is still out on that. With no underlying processes running, no variables that would impede the thing, it seems variable. That is to say that the mouse, even with adjustment, feels laggy to me; not comparable to my other Logitech wireless products. The clicks are decent but the wheel feels laggy--not at all smooth, and I can feel little bumps or clicks as I roll the thing. Doesn't seem to effect functionality but it's distracting as all get out. Though it's not, this keyboard feels like a fifteen inch keyboard based on the placement of the keys. I use a seventeen inch laptopop to get as close to full size as I can. Though the size is close the placement is a little off for me, and it feels slightly cramped. If you are a typing traditionalist this will immediately bother you. You should note that if you plug in this additional keyboard to your laptop it will override the keyboard on your laptop. I haven't seen anyone mention it and it doesn't bother me, but as it's wireless, if you left this thing across the room because you have a big screen, and you had to jump on the laptop to deal with something quickly, you won't be able to use the existing keyboard and mouse. This is usually the case but sometimes this surprises people. Installation: a head scratcher. I'm not really clear on why this is has a USB charger that fits inside another USB with a cord. What the heck with the cord? If the thing had decent instructions, I might know. But it really makes no sense. My other Logitech wireless products work with an unobtrusive USB so this design is puzzling. It's a clunky space-swallower. This keyboard is not backlit. My bad, I thought it was, which is how I self-justified the order. I should have looked more closely. So I generally give Logitech five stars. It lost one to bad ergonomics for those of us who type for a living, and one star for the lack of indicators on caps and number locks. Otherwise for the price it's a good deal and you'll become accustomed to the quirks. It looks cool, feels pretty good (if a smidge cramped) and does what it's supposed to. I'll forgive the slow delivery given Logitech's stellar customer service and constant tendency to exceed my expectations on delivery. Worth the price, but not a steal. Go ahead. Get the thing.