Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsClassic layout - perfect for muscle-memory, mouse makes no noise at all
Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2019
I was having issues with my previous wireless keyboard/mouse combo after using for a number of years now, plus it was a very loud keyboard. My wife told me she could hear me typing all the way across the house, and coworkers told me to mute my phone on conf calls since it was too loud while people were talking. With this new RATEL keyboard, you can't hear it unless you are sitting right next to me, and even then it is fairly quiet and wouldn't bother anyone. No one can hear me typing when I'm on calls anymore either. I've been running this new keyboard for a week to give it a spin, and am quiet pleased.
It took a day or so for me to adapt to the chicklet type keys, my previous boards have always been full-height keycaps, and hence the noisy clacking sounds (not even mechanical keys, just a regular keyboard). But by the end of the first day, I found I am typing away at full speed again having adjusted to the shorter keypress depth required. Actually, it's kind of nice. They feel a bit like the type of keys on laptops.
I am a programmer and I type all day long, but there are a few things that are critical to me - and anyone who is accustomed to the standard 104 key layout: This keyboard is designed correctly and doesn't insert the Function Key the left of the spacebar like most manufacturers are doing now. Instead they have properly added the function key to the right of the keyboard, and further they kept the right-click (context menu) key. So, muscle-memory works right out of the box. I have tried other keyboards, where there are now 4 keys to the left of the spacebar, and they have placed the function key where the windows key goes, and windows where alt goes, and then alt in that space below the "C" key where they spacebar used to extend to... what a pain. With those other keyboards, I spent half the day fixing typos, popping the wrong menus, etc. because when you type all day for a living your muscle-memory kicks in and your fingers just go to where the "right key" is supposed to be for the action you are performing - except when the manufacturer moves the keys it trashes your ability to type full speed. Sounds petty right? Try it sometime.
Anyway, THIS keyboard is the proper layout for us old-school people who are very used to the classic keyboard layout. This fits the bill, and on a scale of 0-10 where 0 is silent and 10 is a gamer's clackity keyboard, this is a 1 or 2. So for me, it's great.
The mouse - I might mention this vendor brags about long battery life. they are probably right (I'm only a week in at this point). The mouse goes to sleep if you haven't grabbed it in a while (e.g. come back from lunch) so I found you just RIGHT-CLICK to wake it up. Simple enough, and hey, I'm glad to save on batteries because I go through quite a few every year with these accessories. Keyboard, just tap anything and it wakes right up and continues.
I have Windows 10, and I plugged in the dongle, and it only took about 2-3 seconds for Windows to install the drivers it wanted - no problems at all. up and running by minute 1, and frankly - quite pleased.
- Typing in peace, for the first time ever.
