StarDestroyer.Net BBS

I was given a wireless mouse and keyboard by a friend who could not use them....the reason why is that there is no scroll lock key which means can't switch computers via a KVM Switch.

Does anyone know how long batteries last on average in wireless keyboards and mice?

I don't know for sure myself, but suffice to say I have zero use for them because they last significantly less than a wired keyboard and mouse.

Being that I have several operational keyboards that are PS-1 and are from IBM 8088s, that could still be a huge length of time

Kitsune wrote:Being that I have several operational keyboards that are PS-1 and are from IBM 8088s, that could still be a huge length of time

I meant the whole needing to charge them aspect; I haven't had to charge my keyboard or mouse yet.

Does anyone know how long batteries last on average in wireless keyboards and mice?

Depends on the brand and the battery, but with moderate use... say six months for a keyboard and half that for a mouse. From watching other people use them, mind, I use wired.

In my experience... about 3/4 of the way through a Karazhan raid in WoW, and they will inevitably fail in the middle of a boss fight. Unless you are very careful to keyboard as much as possible and put the mouse back on the charger even more frequently than the raid Paladins call for a mana break.

I've seen some models (probably with poor power-saving logic) burn through batteries pretty fast, say a few weeks. Casual (normal-person) use would probably be longer, of course.

If you really like the wireless feature, then i'd recommend rechargeable batteries. When I had my wireless setup, i'd go through them often enough (at least once a month or so, less if on vacation or out of the thouse more often) that it became cost effective to do this. Eventually though I went back to the wired setup, because I no longer had the need for wireless.

It continues to surprise me the variety of wireless things that just don't have a charging cable you can use sometimes. AA batteries are complete balls compared to a quality sealed pack, and if it's designed so it's usable while charging like console controllers you get the best of both worlds.

I have a Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse combo that I've had for almost six months now, and I've changed the batteries once in the mouse and never in the keyboard. Wow has it really been that long? I'll have to check with my girlfriend to see if she's changed them any, but I don't think she has.

Which Logitech is it?

Cordless Desktop EX110

Same one as I got

I had an old Logitech K+M with no real fancy stuff, infared I think, which was excellent. Having dropped them one too many times (They still worked, just got a bit battered) I upgraded to a shiny Bluetooth set (MX5000), which to be honest really aren't as good.

Every so often the mouse freezes, the keyboard battery life is much less (still a couple of months to be fair), and the random buttons are mostly pointless (except for the volume controls). Plus it keeps telling popping up a box to tell me the keyboard batteries are low, when they've got weeks of life left.

Next time I'll try a non-Bluetooth set.

After owning my mouse and keyboard for over 2 years now, I'm finding that I need to put the mouse in the cradle every 2 or 3 days, and the rechargeable AAs seem to last 6-8 weeks in the keyboard. The mouse fully charges in a couple of hours, and I leave the AAs in the charger overnight when they get low. I'm currently using my computer for about 8 hours a day, and your mileage may very if you use yours less. I'm also finding that I still have at least an hours use of the mouse, and several hours use of the keyboard after the low battery warning pops up.

My Logitech VX Nano has run forever on a single AAA. Several months but with very light use, I'll admit.