SnapStream Blog

This review is the first in a series of product reviews written by the SnapStream community members. This review is of the BTC 9019URF wireless RF keyboard/mouse written by terminal, a member of the SnapStream community since April 2002 with more than 2,000 posts in our forums.

About a week ago, SnapStream gave me the opportunity to get a free BTC 9019URF wireless keyboard. All I had to do was review it. Since I like ‘free’ very much, I said yes. This actually occurred at a pretty opportune time because I had been looking for a new wireless keyboard. The BTC seemed like it would fit the bill quite nicely.

My needs are pretty simple for my PVR keyboard. It’s seldom used — only for the occasional install or hardware change. Since I can also log into my server remotely, the keyboard is only pulled out occasionally. Accordingly, I need something compact that I can easily store when it’s not in use. My current keyboard is a Parex Webboard, and it has served me very well. Someone on the SnapStream forums pointed me to it. I purchased it 4 years ago this month and it has started to show some signs of wear. It uses the PS2 ports on my PC and uses infrared (IR). So I thought I might like to move up to something a little newer. The IR on my Parex Webboard was a bit of a pain, as I could never sit back in a recliner and use it — my big feet kept getting in the way. I was always moving it this way or that to get it to make contact with the IR receiver. So I was looking forward to switching to the BTC 9019URF, since it was radio-frequency (RF) instead of infrared like the Parex.

First impressions

Well right off the bat I was a little disappointed because the BTC was a little bigger than I would have liked. My Webboard was compact and fit nicely on top of my case with room for my wireless bridge to sit behind it. The BTC keyboard, with the handles on each side, is just as big as a regular desktop keyboard. I could pick up my Webboard with one hand from front to back, but the BTC keyboard is too deep for that. But the BTC’s handles on each end make it just as easy to pick up with one hand. As you can see from the picture the BTC 9019URF, the top keyboard, is quite a bit larger than my original keyboard. The next picture shows it beside a standard logitech desktop keyboard.

The BTC 9019 compared to my old Parex Webboard

BTC 9019 compared to a full-size keyboard

The layout and feel of the BTC keyboard is quite nice. The mouse/joystick is a little awkward to use, but no more so than my webboard or any keyboard with this type of arrangement, I imagine.

Installation

The installation can be tricky so play close attention to the following steps.

Step 1 Put batteries in the keyboard. It takes two AA batteries, which are provided.

Step 2 Plug it in to a USB port. It works with USB 2.0 or 1.1.

Step 3 Done.

Got that? OK so maybe that was actually pretty easy.

When I installed the keyboard for the first time I thought it wasn’t working. I had the receiver sitting on top of my computer (see position #1 in the picture below). From the angle I was at, the TV was blocking the receiver, even though I was only about 2-feet away. When I placed the keyboard right in front of the receiver it started working. I ended up moving it up on top of my TV (see position #2) and from there it did seem to function, until I started moving away from the TV. I usually sit in one of three places in my living room. The maximum distance I sit from the TV is about 10-feet. This was about the limit of the receiver, like my IR keyboard I had to sit on the edge of the furniture in order to have consistent functionality. From what I gathered from the instructions (I am still working on improving my engrish) it has 255 different IDs that can be selected by pressing a connect button on the receiver and then a connect button on the keyboard. I went through this procedure a number of times, trying a few different IDs, but the reception never seemed to get any better. And I was not going to try it 255 times.

In the end, the cause of my range problem was the television set itself. I had written a pretty scathing review of the BTC, but then I thought I should see if others using this keyboard had seen similar results. From the few reviews I found, most people seemed to be happy with the range. So I decided I should try again. I ended up getting out a USB extension cable and moved the receiver about 5 feet out in front of the TV (see position #4). I can now move anywhere in my living room, a maximum distance of about 12 feet, and the keyboard works great. In fact, I was even able to go to my office, log into my server with VNC and operate the Viewscape with the BTC keyboard. My office is probably 20 to 25 ft. away.

Position #3 is where I would like to put it. The problem is that any of the positions around the TV work no better than my IR keyboard.

BTC 9019 receiver placement in my living room

Usage

The keyboard is a pretty standard keyboard layout with 13 buttons across the top. These extra keys can be programmed for various functions. They could be set to control volume, skip ahead, skip back… well you get the idea. To be able to use these functions you need to install the driver disk that comes with the keyboard, but I just needed a keyboard and mouse, and since this is my primary PVR server, I do not install anything on it that is not absolutely necessary. So I left the disk alone.

The joystick mouse on the BTC 9019URF is very responsive and easy to use. I sometimes trim the ends of movies using Hauppauge’s video editing software. This software only works on a computer that has a Hauppauge TV tuner installed, so I have to make the edits on the server. Using my Webboard this was always a bit tricky because the joystick mouse on it was pretty much binary. The pointer was either stopped or moving full speed across the screen. The pointer on the BTC 9019URF, on the other hand, accelerates the mouse pointer as you move the it further out towards its extremes. It also moves very smoothly. I used it to trim a file and it was much easier to move to the point I wanted to in the file. You would have to use the Hauppauge software to realize how tricky this can be. Being able to get close to the point you want to trim to is important and the BTC keyboard mouse made this quite easy.

The keys on the keyboard feel pretty much like any basic keyboard. For me, and I imagine for most who are using this for a PVR, speed typing is not something that will come up a lot. Even though the box says this keyboard is “Smart for the Multimedia and Gamesâ€? I wouldn’t want to try and play a game or have to type 60 words a minute using this keyboard (although my typing 60 words a minute on any keyboard is pretty much never going to happen). For a basic keyboard mouse combo, however, it’s fine.

Bottom line
Pros
     Easy to install
     Nice layout
     Light and easy to handle
Cons
     Might have some issues with range.
     A bit to big for my taste

So, all in all it’s a nice keyboard and works well with a PVR.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 13th, 2007 at 12:50 am by Rakesh and is filed under SnapStream Store. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.