I got a Logitech K330 (mouse and keyboard), with some dongle which I assume is bluetooth related, sort of a Bluetooth for dummy’s connection. It worked great out of the box (plug the dongle in and turn the mouse and keyboard on and they works - basically that was the instructions and how it worked). IIRC it was on sale at Staples for about $20.
The standard used for the general run of wireless keyboards and mice is not Bluetooth. I don’t know of any device that has a receiver for then built in, which is why each one comes with a dongle. The advantage to Bluetooth is that a lot of devices have it built in, including small devices that can’t take a plugin.
Well, I’m now in possession of a shiny “new” (as in, never used, although it’s presumably at least 5 years old*) Dell keyboard, ready to replace my current one as soon as I decide I’ve had enough of missing keys and my volume knob.
The new one looks so shiny! And I swear the keys have a better typing “feel.”
Managed to snipe the auction at the last minute and got it for $21.51. Of course, that doesn’t include $15 for shipping and $5 for the snipe. But since these things are apparently as rare as hen’s teeth, I think it’s a decent price. (Came with a wrist-rest and mouse, which I don’t need, but no dongle, which I also don’t need since I have the one with my current keyboard.)
Best of luck with that Logitech hunt, emcee2k! Be diligent, I’m sure if I could find this old thing, the Logitech will show up soon.
- The batteries included expired in 2013!
Hope the dongle you have matches the new keyboard. Like cheap locks, many of such things come in limited numbers of paired frequency, key code, etc to prevent interference between adjacent users…
Oh dear, I’m not home now and I haven’t hooked it up yet to try. What happens if the dongle doesn’t match? If they sell keyboards separately (and this was in an official Dell box, so I assume that’s how it was sold), mustn’t there be a way to pair this thing up with a generic dongle?
I was looking for the same thing recently and came up quite short… Looked again today and found this thread. Anyway I did find one…
https://www.diatec.co.jp/en/det.php?prod_c=1874
Same site has others with different switches.
They have them with different switches and say the AA batteries last about 6 months. Not cheap by any means though ($179 on NCISUS, $232 on amazon), no idea about the quality though they look pretty good. Not the option I was looking for either but…
FYI, since this has been bumped and I left everyone on tenterhooks (I’m sure!) re: whether that eBay-purchased Dell keyboard works…
It works perfectly, the dongle issue Amateur Barbarian mentioned wasn’t a problem. Typing on it now.
And emcee2k or anyone else who wants this keyboard, there are, like, at least ten of them available now on eBay. Easy as pie to get. Better hurry before I decide to order another one and hoard them like a dragon sleeping atop her gold stash.