Lenovo Multimedia Remote

I was a little bit embarrassed when I pulled out a wired keyboard and a mouse to show some guests a Youtube video on my HTPC. I saw that the Lenovo Multimedia Remote with Keyboard was on sale directly through Lenovo, so I ordered it without a lot of research. My cost was about $33 with free shipping.

The remote fits very nicely in my hands. It is a full-featured keyboard which reminds me of a Blackberry, though the feel is not as good. The remote is very lightweight, so much so that it makes me question the quality. However, I have not had any issues with it yet. The rollerball could be a bit smoother and it takes some getting used to the operation, especially clicking.

The USB dongle is extremely small. One great design point is that it fits in the base of the remote, next to the 2 AA batteries, in case you want to retire the remote without losing the dongle. Another good feature is a on/off switch under the remote to save on batteries.

One missing feature this keyboard is a back-lighting on the keyboard. It is impossible to see the keys in the dark, which is a PITA if you want to use this to control your HTPC. The remote worked immediately with Ubuntu and the dongle is almost invisible with my HTPC. Overall, I am happy with my purchase and would buy this keyboard again, especially at the $35 price point. It was definitely worth it to retire the wired keyboard I had before.