Introduction

The Rii Mini Bluetooth Keyboard with Touchpad from Brando is a multifunctional device that helps a lot during presentations, and also incorporates an easy to use laser pointer. The product can be easily recharged with the help of the included USB cable.



I would like to thank Brando for making this review possible of their Rii Mini Bluetooth Keyboard with Touchpad device.



About Brando:

”usb.brando.com, member of Brando Workshop, offers a wide range of special, useful and helpful USB products for our customers. We deliver happiness and convenience to everyone.”

Features:

- Wireless Bluetooth (V2.0) connection, smart & portable size
- To enjoy PC Multi-media Entertainment at home
- Convenient & efficient for Conference, Presentation & lecturing
- To share large TV and projector screen
- Large PAD for handwrite
- Built-in lecture laser pointer
- Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery
- Backlight function with a handheld keypad
- Support Window 7 / Vista / XP / 2000, Linux (Debian-3.1, Redhat-9.0, Ubuntu-8.10, Fedora-7.0 tested or above)
- Standby time: 500 ~ 700 hours
- Operation range: up to 10 meters
- Dimension: 151 x 59 x 13mm (approx.)
- Weight: 98g

Package contents:

- Rii Mini Bluetooth Keyboard with Touchpad
- USB Bluetooth Dongle
- USB Cable
- User's Manual

A Closer Look:

The Rii Mini keyboard from Brando comes in a little cardboard box, with the photo of the product on top, the Bluetooth technology logo in the bottom right corner and the description of the product in the top left:



On one of the box sides, we can see the full list of features, the specifications, along with the computer requirements and the mobile system requirements:



On the bottom of the box, we are explained that we can use this remote to control or PC, smart phone or even the PS3; the touch pad can be used the same as one found on laptops; the included lithium-ion battery allows more operating and standby times and this keyboard can be also used as a laser pointer:



When opening the box for the first time, we can see the keyboard in the center and for extra protection it has been also wrapped inside a transparent bag:



After the keyboard is removed, we can see that inside the box we have two other dedicated spaces, one for the Bluetooth dongle and one for the cable used for charging the device:



The keyboard is supplied also with a manual, in which we can learn how to synchronize and use the keyboard with both PCs and mobile phones:




When looking at the keyboard we can see that it is well organized considering its size and on the right side we can find the touchpad, which is much more pleasant to use compared to a little trackball; the keyboard also features the “Fn” key, familiar to the ones that own laptops; this key practically doubles the number of functions for some specific keys, for example, when pressing Fn+F2=Print Screen. This function is practically there to compensate the missing keys or to add new functions:



The directional keys are put inside a little joystick and to its sides we can find the left and right mouse buttons:

In the top left corner, we can find the activity LEDs, but also the button with the Bluetooth logo on it, which must be pressed once to synchronize the keyboard with the device we want to control; the activity LEDs are for Caps Lock, Power(solid green when synchronized and blinking during a synchronization), Charging (red LED which stops when the battery is fully charged) and Activity (which blinks when the keyboard is transmitting data):



An interesting function on this keyboard has the Enter button, which, when the “Fn” button is also pressed, it can act like when pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL:



On the back of the keyboard, we can see only 3 icons, representing the main functions of the product: keyboard, touchpad, laser pointer:



On one of the product sides, we can see a little button which, when pressed, lights up the laser pointer:



The laser pointer can be found on the right lateral of the keyboard:



On the opposite side, we can see the USB port for charging the device and the ON/OFF switch:



The USB Bluetooth dongle has a red/black theme, but no other inscriptions can be found on the sides; the good thing is that it occupies very little space and we can plug it in a spare USB port and leave it there:



The projected laser pointer looks different on the surface, depending on how much light we have in the room; it is powerful enough, because I have tried to put the pointer on the building nearby (30 meters away) and it worked perfectly:




If the room where we need to do the presentation does not have a lot of light, we can enable the LEDs underside the keyboard, so it won't be a problem operating the keyboard, even in those conditions; it is necessary to say that the backlight won't be able to be used if the device is not previously synchronized:

When I have plugged the USB Bluetooth dongle inside a spare USB port, Windows 7 x64 Ultimate instantly installed the necessary drivers:



To synchronize the device with our computer, we must go in Control Panel, to Devices and Printers section, Add a Bluetooth device; a simpler way is to click on the Bluetooth tray icon which appears after the drivers are install and select “Add a Bluetooth device”:



After selecting this option, we must turn the keyboard power on and click the Bluetooth key; the name of the keyboard will appear in the list:



For the synchronization to be complete, we must enter a code on the keyboard that is written on the screen:



The confirmation that the synchronization is successfully completed will follow:



The Iphone is not listed in the manual as a supported smart-phone, but it seems it works just fine:

Conclusive Thoughts

The Rii Mini Bluetooth wireless keyboard is an interesting item that we could use on all our machines that support Bluetooth technology; for the ones that do not have it, they have supplied in the box a small USB Bluetooth dongle, which can be used with the software of our choice.

During the testing period, I used the keyboard to type a little and I cannot say it is as comfortable as a normal keyboard, but it does what it is meant to do, meaning that we can use it with a Media Center, browsing for short periods of time, but not Office work. The Pad can be used much easier than a trackball to move the mouse pointer and the little joystick which takes the functions of the direction keys is also easy to operate (I have even tried to play a little NFS World Online with this joystick and I could say I managed to finish the race on a decent position, from the first try).

The Laser Pointer is another interesting feature that this small device incorporates and is very helpful for presentations, especially because we do not have to hold it in our hands as a separate device, along the keyboard. The keyboard is also backlit, so we can use it even in low light conditions.

This multifunctional device can be found at the usb.brando.com website for about $62.



I would like to thank again to Brando for making this review possible!