Introduction

With some many of us now using Home Theater PCs in our homes it about time someone came up with a design of a keyboard that is designed primarily for the HTPC market. Their have been some attempts to make keyboards for this market albeit the ones we have tested never lasted very look due to poor choice of materials and the lack of planning that went into them. So today we are going to look at a keyboard that I feel is a far better choice than most of the the others.

Features

• Brushed aluminum with diamond-cut edges for utmost looks
• supports Windows Vista via the Vista start button
• Audio I/O for the best VoIP
• Built-in audio chip allowing VoIP over USB
• "Scissor keys for ease of use and dependability
• 10 million keystrokes is possible
• Built-in dual USB ports on keyboard
• 3-position height adjustment
• Built using industrial design and components

Specifications

Press Release for the Aurora Keyboard

This will give you the opportunity to see how Enermax introduced it new keyboard to the general public.

- First true full-functionality wireless compact keyboard -

City of Industry, CA – December 10, 2009

ENERMAX is proud to announce new addition to its award-winning AURORA keyboard series, the AURORA Micro Wireless first wireless compact keyboard featuring total media functionalities. With integrated trackball, left-right buttons plus scroll-wheel, this wireless compact keyboard is best solution for using media center and home theater software.

AURORA Micro Wireless also has two stair grasp bars on the bottom for easy & comfort remote usage or while on your lap. The adjustable 400/800/1200 dpi laser trackball gives perfect control with the right thumb, while the left-right buttons plus scroll-wheel are tangible with the left one. Both sides can be easily reached as well as its 7 Hotkeys (Home, Email, Search, Volume Up, Volume Down, Mute, Play/Pause).

AURORA Micro Wireless features massive 2.5mm thick aluminum plate firmly engineered with the key module, diamond-cut edges of the aluminum plate, “SCISSORS” key switch technology (patented), plus ultra flat profile with zero degree angle. It uses 2.4GHz RF wireless technology for operating distance up to 30 feet and an advanced power saving management with battery status LED Indicator.

This product won the prestigious "red dot design award: product design 2009" against 11,000 submissions from 61 countries in 14 categories.

More about "red dot" visit, www.red-dot.org

KB008W-B will be available in January 2010. MSRP is US$85.

Packaging

The packaging used on the Enermax Aurora Keyboard is very attractive and provides a great deal of information to the prospective buyer and this is something we encourage all manufactures to do. Whether they realize it our not but by placing a bit of writing on a package you can cut down the number of customer service calls in half. There are three stickers in the upper right-hand corner of the case. The first is the reddot design winner 2009 sticker. Followed by US Keyboard sticker so as not to be confused with a European keyboard. Finally a Good Design sticker which I am not familiar with. Moving to the other corner you can see that this keyboard is Windows 7 compatible. Next we have a nice top-down view of the amazingly pretty keyboard.

 

The rear of the keyboard has a complete breakdown of each of the features on the keyboard, whether it be the dual USB 2.0 connector on the keyboard which makes hooking up any accessories that much easier. Or how about the three setting laser trackball used on the Aurora, with the trackball you can adjust its setting from 400 to 1200 DPI. To cover just one more before we move on how about Media Center Edition remote controls that are mounted directly on the keyboard's upper panel.

 

Here you can see that the Aurora keyboard is carefully packaged in it shipping carton and since the unit is made from machine aluminum it is able to take a pretty good tussle before we would expect to see any breakage on the unit, whereas a plastic unit might have some cracked or broken pieces.

 

 

 

Now lets do a little size comparing to see how large the Aurora actually is, the keyboard that I am currently using is the Microsoft Sidewinder X6 which has the detachable keypad on. The total overall length of this keyboard is 20", whereas the total length of the Enermax Aurora is a scant 12" or 8" smaller than the keyboard we are currently using. Since this keyboard will be spending most of its time in either living room near the television or in the family room in the basement the last thing you need there with kids rumbling and tumbling in the room is a 20" keyboard.

 

When looking at the keyboard from the end you can see that is a short little fellow which measures about 1.5" at the high end of the keyboard. Even with the small size of the keyboard it is still using the standard QWERTY format, which means you will not have to learn how to type again to use it.

 

 

 

Starting in the upper left-hand corner we have the a split round disc that serves as the separate mouse buttons and positioned next to them is the roller wheel for scrolling the mouse. The feel of the mouse buttons and the scroll wheel are both very fluid and should not be a problem for anyone to use once you become oriented as to their layout.

 

 

 

Along the top of the keyboard are the Media Center Edition keys, in other words these key will not only control the media player for movies and such, but it will also handle MP3 playback. To give you a breakdown of what the keys actually do here is the breakdown:

• Fn + Esc = MCE

• Fn + F1 = My TV

• Fn + F2 = My Videos

• Fn + F3 = My Music

• Fn + F4 = My Pictures

• Fn + F5 = Record TV

• Fn + F6 = Play DVD Disc

• Fn + F7 = Previous Track

• Fn + F8 = Next Track

 

On the upper right-hand side of the keyboard is the adjustable DPI mouse ball, so you are wondering how does one adjust the DPI of a mouse ball aren't you? It is really very easy as we are about to show you.

• Fn + F9 = 400 DPI

• Fn + F10 = 800 DPI

• Fn + F 11 = 1200 DPI

 

 

You can see that the bottom of the keyboard has a center square cut of it which will allow you hold and carry the keyboard a lot easier due to the two handles it creates on each side of the keyboard. Also located on the bottom of the keyboard is the battery compartment which will hold two AA-batteries. Also found here is the connect button which allow you to connect the wireless link between the computer and the keyboard.

 

 

The receiver for the keyboard is quite small compared to most of the unit that usually come with wireless keyboards. They rate the receiver to be good up to 30' away and we found that as long as it was line of sight we could easily handle 50+ feet, but put a wall or any type of obstruction in the way and it was back down to 25 to 30 feet.

Conclusion

We found the Enermax Aurora keyboard to be not only well built but easy to us due in part to the small foot print of the keyboard. The fact that the keyboard has both a mouse controls and a variable speed trackball.

We really liked the feel of the keyboard in hand thanks to the great handles that have been molded using a simple redesign of the base of the keyboard. The tactile feel of the keyboard is very nice and we found it far easier to use than say a laptop keyboard. If you are looking for a keyboard to be used in you entertainment center this is the keyboard for you. It will match any decor and is tough enough to take a fall of an end table.

A special thanks to Enermax USA