Rocketfish Bluetooth Keyboard & Mouse: RF-BTCMBO2

Along with the migration of the PC from the home office to the living room comes a bunch of new challenges. Some of these challenges are simple and some are not so simple; one of my greatest challenges was controlling my HTPC from across the room. I will not accept having a wired keyboard and mouse attached to my HTPC nor will I suffer from relying on line of site wireless devices. With that said, a solution proposed itself in the form of the Rocketfish RF-BTCMBO2 Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse one day while I was strolling through Best Buy.

First, the Rocketfish keyboard and mouse combo comes in at the perfect price ($69.99 USD) while providing much of the functionality I expect with some added bonuses. The bluetooth range for the combo stretches to 33 feet (documented) but benchmarked only to 25 feet without any issues… anything farther than that resulted in some lag and double double clicking clicking. The keyboard features your standard 104 keys and an additional 18 keys for convenience. The mouse sports 1200 DPI tracking along with a 4 way tilt wheel, back and forth browser buttons, and an ergonomic shape that fits your hand nicely. Joining the party is the Bluetooth Nano Adapterev.

Keyboard

The Keyboard uses 2 AA batteries and features a black face with a “leather-esque” wrist rest. The extra features buttons are located on both sides of the keyboard and are very functional. The play, stop, fast forward, etc, buttons are heaven sent when in Windows Media Center and make for a better HTPC experience.

1. Gadget Button (Vista & 7) or Calculator (Windows XP)
2. Flip 3D Button (Vista & 7) or Application Switch (Windows XP)
3. Play/Pause
4. Stop
5. Next Track
6. Previous Track
7. Increase Volume
8. Decrease Volume
9. Mute
10. Help (Opens help for currently opened application)
11. Spelling Button (Runs spell checker for open app)
12. Slideshow Button (Windows Picture viewer or Fax Viewer)
13. Status LED
14. E-mail Button
15. Sleep Button
16. Home Button
17. Search Button
18. Favorites Button
19. Back (web pages)
20. Forward (web pages)
21. Refresh (web pages)
22. Stop Web Page