Perixx PERIBOARD-804 III Bluetooth Keyboard - Multimedia - UK Layout

This is a good sized keyboard. It's close to a normal desktop keyboard in key pitch so easy to touch-type on. It has a spongy feel with no positive click or tactile feedback but everything is in it's normal (UK layout) place so you can just get on with typing.Mostly.The first big problem is that shift-space is a dead combination. It types nothing. If your finger lingers on the shift key a moment too long and the next character is a space, the chances are it won't register so you and up with words running into each other with the space missing. E.g. 'I will' becomes 'Iwill', 'SPECIAL OFFER' -> 'SPECIALOFFER'. That's just annoying.Second slight issue is that there's no way to turn it off. You turn it on by pressing any key but there's no off button. If it's paired with your phone and you then pick up your phone and leave the room, you can't get the phone's on-screen keyboard up until the keyboard goes to sleep (8 minutes) or you turn Bluetooth off. It's a little thing but it's annoying.It also means that there's no way you can carry this keyboard in a backpack. It will constantly be turning itself on and connecting to your phone - thus disabling your phone's on-screen keyboard, leaving you no way to type.

I had the following criteria for a compact keyboard:* UK layout. This means not just a pound sign, but a correct shaped enter key* Left hand control must be the leftmost key - rather than FN* No extra column of keys on the right hand side - so enter must be the rightmost key - no extra column of Page Down etc.Basically I wanted a Bluetoothable keyboard with something approximating the UK Surface type cover layout.You would be surprised how hard this is to track down. Most keyboards have either an incorrect shaped enter key or the irritating extra column on the right side.This keyboard fulfilled all my existing layout requirements (although it introduced me to a new one - the cursor keys are flanked by the shift key on the right hand side, so when you're going for the right cursor key you instinctively hit shift). The feel of the keyboard is also very mushy. The design is that of an old school keyboard rather than a chicklet, and it is well made other than the feel when in use.So, in short - good layout, poor feel. OK for occasional use but I wouldn't want to use it on a regular basis. So the hunt goes on for me...

Works like a dream, it's very quiet. I don't find the keys mushy, they have the feel of rubber dome keys but not mechanical which is good for taking outside and working in quiet environments etc.It is not a super slim keyboard but lightweight enough to pop in a backpack. The layout doesn't feel cramped but like a tenkeyless with slightly slimmer arrow keys to make space for the right CTRL key.It has a CTRL key on BOTH sides of the keyboard which is increasingly rare in these portable BT keyboards.Holding Fn will do media keys, otherwise the keyboard has the ESC and F1-F12 keys as default. This is becoming really hard to find as so many manufacturers are obsessed with putting the media keys as default leading to a lot of annoyance if you're trying to do real work. Good job Perixx!Fn and F11 together give Print Screen, Fn and F12 give Pause/Break. There are insert, del and backspace keys and the enter key and spacebar keys are large and easy to press. Fn plus arrow keys gives page up/down, home and end.This is a well-thought out keyboard layout which connected to my Win 10 machine easily. I'm really happy to be trashing my old travel keyboard which had media keys set as default. Am considering getting the slimline chiclet version too.I wish that the feet had more grip as they do slide around a lot on slippery glass surfaces, so I'll be adding some grip stickers to the base. I'm still really happy with the keyboard overall.

Had to get this when the keyboard docking terminal cable on my Asus Transformer finally gave way. Perhaps surprising that a 3mm diamter cable with 40 cores regularly flexed lasted 5years.Having learnt the lesson of non standard key layout with a Rii board, I selected this Periboard because all the keys are in the right place.What arrived was Periboard 804II, not the version III as described on the Amazon website. Though magnifying the picture on that site, the rating label does state PERIBOARD-804II and not 804IIIHowever, the delivered product is identified as 804II on its box, rating plate as well as the instruction booklet.Although key finish is ok, the casing moulding quality is distictly 20th century with flow and sinkage marks, though only plastic experts may notice these imperfections, it certainly isn't the glossy finish common in modern peripherals.Notwithstanding the uncertainty to the version, with only Bluetooth v2.0 on my tablet rather than v3.0, tried the keyboard for feel and key layout. As reported by some buyers, the keys are slightly mushy in as much as they do not spring back as quickly as some "crispier" boards but not a problem for me as I don't type that fast.Otherwise, the keys are soft touch and layout is excellent with large Enter key and Control key on the bottom left rather than the Function key which is more common on mini boards. The Control key on the bottom right, however, is a bit of a nuisance when using the arrow keys.Having a Delete key is wonderful, Google and many mini keyboard manufactures seem to think that Backspace is sufficient. Well, it isn't. But an Insert key to switch off the default insert mode is hardly ever necessary, though there's nothing wrong in having this additional key.The keys do wobble and cause slight rattling noise when typing fast. Again, reminescent of old keyboards from the last century.The problem is the power consumption. 6mA according to Amazon, less than 8.5mA according to the instruction booklet but either way, it is far too high by modern wireless keyboard standards.Perixx have tried to deal with this by introducing an agressive power saving feature. According to the instruction booklet, it goes into idle mode after 5 seconds and turns off the bluetooth signal connection!This may be ok for tweeters who type whatever come into their heads, but 5 seconds isn't very long when you stop to consider what you are typing,If the Bluetooth window is open in Win10, you can see the Periboad BT go from "connected" to just "paired" after only a few seconds of non use. And the next key you press reconnects the bluetooth signal but that key press doesn't always register or there is a slight time delay, so you press again and the computer ends up belatedly registering multiple key presses- which has been reported by buyers of other Perrixx bluetooth boards.If you are changing file or folder names in Explorer, the reconnection key press causes havoc.This problem was severe when I first tried the board, so took out the battery, and repacked it to return to Amazon the next day. The next day, in order to describe the fault fully to Amazon, reactivated the board.Surprisingly, the keyboard functioned with no problems. It no longer disconnected after 5 seconds and Win10 Bluetooth window showed it remained "connected" until it goes into sleep mode, which, according to the instruction booklet, is after 8 minutes. Although there is the usual hassle of reconnection after 8 minutes with unregistered or multiple key inputs, unless you are a particularly deep or slow thinker, you would rarely stop typing for 8 minutes, so sleep mode is not a problem for me..So, I changed my mind and decided to keep the keyboard. It may belong in the 20th century, but so do I.So I started writing this review. Stopped for tea and the tablet and keyboard went to sleep.And when I came back and woke the tablet and keyboard, woe and behold, 5 second disconnection started again.Took the battery out to check the voltage. Read 1.62volts which is fresh battery voltge, albeit after not much use.Put it back in the Periboard and it's working again. No disconnection after 5 secondsIf it had an on/off switch, it wouldn't be much of a problem to reset, but this keyboard doesn't, so it can only be reset by opening the battery cover and reinserting the battery.Microsoft introduced a power saving feature in some past Win10 upgrade which would disconnect bluetooth devices after a very short period of non use to save power. Though not as short as 5seconds, it was still a real hassle, until I discovered on the internet that the solution is simply to untick the box for "allow the computer to turn off the device to save power". Having sorted out the problematic power saving feature on the computer side, the last thing I need now is a keyboard with its own nuisance power saving feature that disconnects bluetooth after 5 seconds of non use.No doubt the problem can be cured by adjusting the eprom in the Periboard.Of course, it's possible that the problem of 5sec disconnection is unique to my keyboard. Maybe it is faulty and goes into sleep mode rather than idle mode after only 5 seconds, not 8 minutes. But the instruction booklet does say that that it turns off signal connection when keyboard is in Idle Mode...and that happens after 5seconds of non use.That may certainly increase the battery life but it shortens mine. Missed key inputs during reconnection is annoying.So, this Periboard 804II is being returned after all.