Working From Home Keyboard review.
Logitech K400.
It is wireless, has a touchpad, and is 10 Keyless but it is just not for me.
I, like a lot of people, am now working from home. I really did not have a great setup to work from home so I spent some money and created a workspace for myself. Unlike normal times, I cannot just go to Ikea and get a desk. I also did not want to wait for deliveries from Amazon, so I stuck with local stores that offer pickup to minimize my and others exposure. I picked this up at Walmart along with the next two items that I plan on reviewing.
So why did I buy this keyboard?
Honestly, I picked this keyboard for three reasons.- It was at the store.
- It was cheap.
- When I left my office with my laptop I did not know that I was not coming back for awhile and left two good keyboards on my desk and with the external monitor, it is hard to use the laptop.
As I said, I do not really like this keyboard but that does not mean that it is a terrible keyboard for the right use case. It does have some nice features that may make it a good choice for some.
Features
Features
- Wireless. The K400 uses a wireless dongle to connect to your target device.
- Small.
- It does not feel too flimsy or cheap.
- It has an integrated touchpad, so you do not need a mouse in addition to the keyboard.
- Multi-media keys.
- Inexpensive, as low as $19.95.
So why don't I like the K400? It all comes down to how I need to use it and personal preferences. If you want this to connect to a Rasberry Pi hooked to your TV or a Media PC, it is a good choice. You can put it next to the couch and control the device. Others may like it because they can put it in their laptop case and have an external keyboard and touchpad to use.
What I need it for is to write code. I am a software engineer and currently writing Linux device drivers. I am also a big guy, at almost 2 meters tall. I will be using this at a desk hooked to my work laptop or my personal laptop. So, a lot of the features of this keyboard require trade-offs that I just do not like.
So what is it that I do not like.
The small size.
The trade-offs to get a small size are just too great for me and the small size offers me no benefit. It is too small and feels cramped to me. Many of the keys are not are full-sized. For example, the enter key and the right shift keys. Also, the home, end, page up, and page down keys require the use of an fn key as well as the function keys. Another trade-off is that it has a very short keystroke and a mushy feel. The height of the keyboard is also not adjustable.
The integrated touchpad.
I find it terrible to use. It may be a setting I need to change but it is useless to me. I admit that it has a lot of potentials, if I can get it working well but right now it just does not work for me. It takes forever to move the pointer. Because it is so slow, I have plugged in an external mouse. I do like that it is located to the right, so you are less likely to brush or hit it by mistake which I feel is a real plus.
Not a Bluetooth device.
For many, this is not a problem but a feature. It is simpler to just plug in a USB dongle and not worry about pairing a Bluetooth device. Also, if you are going to use it for gaming, in theory, the property wireless connection offers lower latency than Bluetooth. For me, it is not a benefit. Both my laptops have Bluetooth and I do not find pairing them an issue. So to switch between computers, I have to swap the USB dongle and mouse when I switch between laptops. It would be much simpler if whichever laptop was on would just grab the keyboard and mouse. I could get a KVM switch to handle all this but that is an added expense.
So should you buy it?
That really depends. If you do not mind the small keys and the feel of the keyboard, it is not a bad choice. If you are going to be writing a lot of code with it, I just think you can find better options.
If it sounds like a good fit, you can buy from Walmart for only $19.95
Other options?
Tom's guide has a review of cheap keyboards that may offer you some better choices if you can get them or have time to have them delivered.
Stay safe and have a good week.
If you are working from home and have a secure job like I do, please consider donating to your local food bank, homeless shelter, animal Shelter or charity of your choice.
