Product ReviewsNmedia X-GENE Black Wireless Keyboard & Remote Combo RF 2.4GHZ with Trackball
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18%
59%
12%
0%
12%
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With 17 User Reviews
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 Rating: Review Date: 12/15/11  |
Cons: trackball is kinda cheap
Pros: wireless works anywhere in my living roomremote has a great feel to itworked in the bios |
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Rating: Review Date: 11/17/11 |
Cons: Terrible responsivenessOften loses receptionJumpy and GlitchyMisses keystrokesOverpriced
Pros: Amazing designPerfect SizeAutomatic standby modeScroll Wheel Comment:
I have a lot of history with this keyboard and its previous models. A few years ago I originally purchased a black one which was essentially the exact same keyboard, but without a remote. Despite it’s wonderful design it was consistently plagued by Lag, unresponsiveness, glitchiness, lost connections and missed keystrokes. So I RMA'd it. That model was replaced with a slightly different version that came in two different colors (Black & Silver) and a remote (also essentially the same keyboard as this one). I ended up getting a silver one and after about a week, it was RMA'd for the same reasons as detailed above.So after a few years, I figured that nmedia MUST have gotten their stuff together and finally produced a decent product... I was wrong. This keyboard still suffers from the same issues that all previous models have suffered from the start. This keyboard is a joke, especially at the price they are charging. Innovation doesn't trump shoddy craftsmanship and definitely doesn't justify the price.To top it off, NCIX for an unknown reason has denied my RMA requests. Save yourself he hassle. |
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Rating: Review Date: 10/26/11 |
Cons: the USB IR receiver can be a tad finicky at times
Pros: nice price pointnot a fingerprint showing high gloss black like Logitech likes to use Comment:
i bought this for my HTPC system, it seems to work all right but every now and then i have to pull out the receiver and plug it back in, sometimes 2 or 3 times, bur for the most part it works just fine, and has a decent range. the trackball gets a bit of getting used to tho and its not like a 2000dpi gaming mouse so don't expect to be wowed by some amazing sensitivity. that being said it works well for the computer I've dubbed "The Overlord" as it allows me to sit comfortably in the couch and play what ever i need on the 52" TV attached. I've brought 3 of these in now. 1 didn't last long before it mysteriously died. but the outer 2 are going strong |
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Rating: Review Date: 12/25/10 |
Cons:
durability is lacking, controls on remote are awkward.
Pros: good layout, nice features, remote and reciever included. Comment:
I bought this keyboard to replace nMedia's previous HTPC offering, which did not come with a remote.I was very pleased with the controls on the keyboard. There are left- and right-click buttons on the left, a scroll wheel on the left back edge, and an additional left-click on the right back edge behind the trackball, all making navigation very easy without a mouse. I already had an MCE IR remote that came with a Happauge TV tuner card, and I like it much more than the remote that comes with this setup. The included remote has the trackball in the middle of the arrow buttons. The OK button is above the arrows, which makes it awkward to reach. However, the included remote uses RF instead of IR, so I use it to control my music from other parts of the house where there isn't line-of-sight.My girlfriend and I have each dropped the keyboard more than a few times, and after 6 months or so the trackball on the keyboard started to do funny things, like moving on its own and not responding to inputs (either intermittently or incorrectly). I ended up disabling the trackball in the device manager, but this also disabled the trackball on the remote. I'm back to using a wireless mouse on the couch. All of that being said, I'll proabably buy this item again (in black this time, NCIX only had the silver model when I bought it). |
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Rating: Review Date: 11/07/10 |
Cons:
Trackball sometimes isnt very responsive
Pros: Easy to use Comment:
I bought this keyboard for my HTPC and so far I love it. The remote is very nice too when you don't want to have anything on your lap. Would recommand this item |
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Rating: Review Date: 10/28/10 |
Cons:
Signal Strength, don't need mouse
Pros: Wireless, compact Comment:
Use this for my HTPC. It took a little while to get used to the trackball but now it is better. I still prefer a mouse but for a HTPC this will do fine. Unfortunately the the keyboard seems to lose connection sometimes. If you are not in line of sight of the receiver you might only get about 6-8 feet. If you have line of sight you can probably go to 10-20 feet. Line of sight to the receiver seems to be a big thing with this setup. Overall it is a good keyboard. |
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Rating: Review Date: 09/01/10 |
Cons:
Trackball sensitivity
Pros: Keyboard and RemoteWireless Comment:
I decided to convert an old computer of mine into a HTPC (Home Theater PC) and quickly realized that I wasn't going to be happy with any old keyboard/mouse combo. After doing a fair amount of research I came across the Nmedia wireless keyboard & remote combo which was perfect and very reasonably priced. While, overall, the product is absolutely top notch, I think Nmedia needs to spend some time fine-tuning the trackball sensitivity and operation on both the keyboard and remote. That said, great product. |
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Rating: Review Date: 04/14/10 |
Cons:
WeightReprogramming buttons issuesUgly big neon green logo
Pros: SolidQualityScroll WheelTrigger ButtonRemote has trackball Comment:
I am happy with my purchase of this product. The quality, so far, is satisfying. You never know when you go with unknown brand names. The plastic on the remote has a nice smooth solid feel to it. Both trackballs have a decent amount of stiffness to them, not some wabbling ball. That's right, the remote has a trackball too which is a nice feature. There is also a scroll wheel under the top left corner of the keyboard which is fantastic.Compared to my bro's htpc/wireless keyboard this one is a bit larger and heavier but his didn't come with a remote or a scroll wheel. His was also just as expensive as this one.My complaints are pretty minor... I haven't been able to figure out how to disable the functions of the forward, rewind, Email launcher, etc. function buttons on the keyboard so that i can make it work for XBMC through Eventghost. I had better luck with the reprogramming the remote though.And lastly it's the ugly logo. I'm guessing this is a relatively young company who felt it necessary to put a neon green logo on the front of their product. Guys.. if you don't want to look like noobs try applying your logo a bit more discretely... |
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Rating: Review Date: 01/17/10 |
Cons: 2.4 ghz frequency causes and receives a lot of interference. Lags and misses keystrokes. Trackball is a little sensitive and takes time to get use to. Remote does not have Control, Alt or or scroll functions.
Pros: butttons and design are perfect for Media Centre applications, good range, quality craftmanship for both keyboard and remote (does not feel flimsy), fair price, keyboard is a good size and the keys are great (sits great on your lap with quiet keys) Comment:
I had bought this product to use with Windows and Media Centre 7. I originally wanted a small keyboard and a mouse that did not restrict me to use a table top or flat surface, after purchasing this product, it has exceeded my expectations by far and has done everything I wanted it to do and more. Both keyboard and remote has just the right amount of hotkeys. The remote is made with quality material and has a nice soft feel to it. It also feels very durable. Remote is very usefull when viewing videos, or listening to songs with Windows Media Player or Media Centre. I have been transfering files for one nas to another sitting on my couch with my laptop hooked up to my bigscreen using mostly the remote. My complaints are that a lot of wireless devices such as bluetooth devices, cordless phones, wifi, Nintendo Wii controller, anything in the room using 2.4ghz RF causes interference with the keyboard and remote. The trackball on the remote for some reason is more sensitive than the one built into the keyboard, and it takes some time getting use to. The keys for CTRL and ALT are a little awkward to get to when using the trackball. There's also no CTRL, ALT, or scroll functions on the remote, but I guess you can't have it all on the remote. Overall, I am extremely happy with the purchase, and would recommend it to anyone who has a HTPC. |
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Rating: Review Date: 01/01/10 |
Cons: RF signal can be blocked and interrupt typing
Pros: Wireless all in one! Multi media quick keys. A must have for HTPC Comment:
I have a love hate relationship with this keyboard. It works awesome for HTPC. The mouse works perfect and the auto sleep is great (press a key to wake it). The shortcut & media player quick keys are the best. The stock batteries are still going strong(8 months later!!) Keyboard works from 15-20+ft away!! Easy plug & play stall. The only problem is when you block the RF signal it creates a lag which causes missed letters, characters & spaces! Other then that buy it!!!! If you need an all in one wireless keyboard mouse what are you waiting for feel the freedom!!!!! This review was typed using this product!!! This review was modfied by poster @ 01-01-10 11:47 PM |
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Rating: Review Date: 11/16/09 |
Cons: buggy connexion with windows 7
Pros: has the potential to succeed Comment:
the 5 and 6 keys did not work out the box with windows 7 professional for some reason. i installed windows and it updated its drivers and it worked after that. then for some reason it once again reverted back to its original non fully functional state. if i want to use 5 6 i must turn on the numlock and use the number pad function. also the home, control, delete, minus and plus keys do not function in this state. PRODUCT FAIL; utter disappointment |
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Rating: Review Date: 11/11/09 |
Cons: Remote trackball is where "OK" button should be.Remote only does basic MythTV functions out of the box.
Pros: Keyboard works without any problems on Linux.Keyboard trackball + mouse functionality is very handy.RF doesn't have line-of-sight problems like IR does. Comment:
I got this keyboard/remote to work with MythTV, and it is very easy to get working on Linux. Since the remote acts like a second keyboard there is no messing with lirc to get it working, but unfortunately only basic remote functionality is working out-of-the-box (up, down, left, right, OK, numeric keypad, and I mapped backspace to ESC).Would be nice if the remote trackball could "click" instead of having to reach for the "OK" button, but it isn't fatal. I haven't yet made the effort to map the rest of the remote keys for MythTV, since I'm going to upgrade MythTV soon. |
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Rating: Review Date: 11/01/09 |
Cons: I'm not a fan of grey keys. Black peferred.
Pros: Rests easily on your lap for typing. Easy to hold with one hand because of rounded left/right side shape. Battery life. It works. Just plug in the dongle. Comment:
At first I wasn't going to get this keyboard combo because it didn't look as sleek as some I was considering, but I read some reviews and decided to give it a try and I'm glad I did.The ergonamic design is such that it is easy to handle moving it around which is what you end up doing a lot of with an HTPC keyboard compared to a standard PC setup. Little things like when holding the kbd you can scroll the wheel, press the "mouse buttons", you can press enter, bkspce, del, tab, shift etc... with your thumbs. Stuff you wouldn't normally do happens with a HTPC kbd. |
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Rating: Review Date: 10/16/09 |
Cons: the two trackballs have very different sensitivity
Pros: nice design Comment:
Just bought this and it works better than i expected. I can now use my computer hooked up to my bigcreen while sitting on the couch and litterally only "lifting a thumb" to navigate. The remote control is wicked, and is not some crappy bonus item. |
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Rating: Review Date: 08/28/09 |
Cons: Causes vista to stall during boot for about a minute (after the bios check completes) unless a key or button is pressed immediatly when windows starts to take over booting. NMedia says they've never seen this before and NCIX says this is normal for usb keyboard. Guess i'm stuck with this.Track ball on remote should be in different location. Its in the center of the directional buttons where the OK button really should be.Have to press num lock sometimes to get character keys to display characters instead of numbers. Also - num lock on remote seems to be off by defaultPressing & releasing remote buttons requires precise timing ie: if you hold the button down to long when pressing certain functions such as popup windows in media center closeRemote buttons are too small IMO.
Pros: Well made, worked out of the boxPerfect size and weightThere are extra mouse related keys on the backside which after you discover them make its mouse functionality even easierI've used up to 14 feet away and no problems with range Comment:
Bought this as part of an HTPC build. It's well made and overall I'd buy it again. However it's not without its issues. |
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Rating: Review Date: 12/11/08 |
Cons: Trackball on remote is a bit stiff
Pros: Works well. Batteries included. Comment:
Bought this for a HTPC setup. Just installed the USD dongle (doesn't seem to matter whether it's in the front or back) and it works as well as a corded keyboard/mouse. The unit may seem to go to sleep or not work (mouse unresponsive) but you just press a mouse key and you're in business. |
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Rating: Review Date: 09/15/08 |
Cons: Standby time is too short. You have to press a key to activate. On the other hand, it saves battery life. It is a cons and pros too.
Pros: Great signal, trackball on both KB ad remote, easy to use, no driver needed, great price. Comment:
I owned this combo fro more than a week. Very easy to install on my Vista Home Premium. I like the remote a lot and I use it to browse my pictures, music, videos with one touch and library function. Signal is strong in 10-15 feet from my counch. Before, my girl friend doesn't bother to use my HTPC. Now, she "controlled it" with me sitting by the side watching. If you own a 42" plus LCD TV, and a HTPC of course. I will sure recommend this combo. No doubt. Far superior than any remote and keyabord that I used b4. |
Got this for an htpc and it worked right out of the box. My mobo was set to boot num lock on but fixed that and it works great.My only complaint is the trackballs are junk. Gotta take away a star for that. The trackball works fine but it's just cheap plastic and if you put the remote down on a couch and it's not level the trackball will move the cursor. Pita when your watching a movie so I just put it on the floor.Overall a decent unit and probably the best deal for the price I paid. Got it for 65 bucks.