wireless keyboard - life expectancy

[juliad]

How long would you expect a keyboard to work? Mine goes on and off unpredictably and I'm wondering whether to buy another or go for something more durable

 

[pigoo3]

How long would you expect a keyboard to work? Mine goes on and off unpredictably and I'm wondering whether to buy another or go for something more durable

If you are nice to it…it will be nice to you. Should last a long time.

Make sure you're using new batteries.

- Nick

 

[Stretch]

Life expectancy of the keyboard, or life expectancy of the batteries in the keyboard? The keyboard should outlive the usefulness of your computer. The batteries, at most with regular usage, maybe 6 months or so.

 

[Slydude]

A bit depends upon the quality of the keyboard too. I bought one of the first Apple Bluetooth keyboards. It survived several years of almost daily use for multiple hours a day. It survived numerous drops from lap or desk level to the floor. My current Logitech solar keyboard was dropped twice and I've already had to glue a keycap in place after only a few months.

Edit: Some cheaper bluetooth keyboards I've tried seem to have trouble staying connected with the Mac but have little or no trouble pairing with the Apple TV.

 

[juliad]

life expectancy of keyboard

Well, it's not the batteries, I've replaced them with new ones several times already and have tested them. It loses its light, and can't be turned on, then I leave it for a while and it works for a bit, then stops suddenly again. I've borrowed one temporarily and was wondering about buying a new one, but it sounds like it might be worth getting it repaired - I bought it with my Snow Leopard about 4 or 5 years ago, and the computer is still going strong. It's not been dropped and no spillages, so I can't see a reason for the malfunction. The wireless mouse also stopped working! I may stick to usb accessories, though I do prefer wireless.

 

[harryb2448]

Even if ou have wireless, and mine are now five years old, always have a wired set of kb and mouse as a backup. For what it is worth quality Energizer Lithium batters last six months on mouse/trackpan, ten to twelve for keyboard.

 

[juliad]

wireless keyboard life expectancy

thanks, yes, I'm buying a new one, can't cope with unpredictability, it's hard enough getting down to work anyway without technology failing. It's not the batteries, I have replaced them with brand new ones - but I will use the lithium ones in future. I'm giving up on wireless gadgets, mine have both let me down too many times, back to spaghetti junction of leads for me…. thanks for the replies everyone
Julia

 

[chas_m]

Your posts make me think that the actual problem you're having is Wi-Fi interference from other devices (like cordless phones) or from neighbours' Wi-Fi networks.

Even though your kb and mouse use Bluetooth rather than Wi-Fi, they are all on the same bandwidth (2.4GHz) and so interference is possible. Obviously your solution of using USB-based equipment will also solve that problem.