nMedia 2.4GHz Wireless Media Keyboard Review

After the Honeymoon (Lasting Impressions)

After the initial usage of the keyboard, some "issues" or grievances popped up while a lot of the initial positives remained. I was surprised when the nMedia MCEKB not only worked great for a PC but was also handy for consoles with USB ports, namely the Wii and PS3 with their Internet browsers. On the PS3, the mouse portion also works while the Wii remains reliant on its Wiimote technology.

The USB wireless receiver dongle has worked remarkably well in picking up the keyboard’s signal and not once have I had to use the wireless ID button despite encountering other wireless keyboards and peripherals in the vicinity. This is for the best since the dongle is the shape and size of a USB thumb drive and doesn’t have a wire to keep it within reach unlike previous generation wireless receivers. The connection definitely works a lot better than any other wireless keyboard and mouse I’ve come across.

The MCEKB does go the distance…wirelessly. The keyboard stays true to its claim of working up to 40ft. away from the receiver and even through walls since it is RF. However, after twenty feet I found that keys may have to be pressed longer to register, which isn’t a problem if you’re still viewing the screen or within earshot of what you’re listening to.

The disadvantage of being wireless is that the nMedia MCEKB employs an almost ruthless power saving feature where the keyboard will shut itself off after a couple of minutes. To reactivate it, one of the buttons must be pressed; however, this button will not be relayed to the computer and won't register as input. I became used to having this happen but since there’s no indication of whether the keyboard is on or off, I had no idea when a double key press would be necessary.





The Media Center buttons are useful and do what they have to do in Media Center. Outside of Media Center, they perform random functions in different programs and I almost found myself wishing for a driver that would allow mapping functions for specific programs, similarly to how a Wacom Tablet driver functions. However, that would be a time consuming and tedious procedure that only a small percentage of people would want to do and a driver would be required. Beware the deadly close button that will close any program immediately.

The Media Center buttons are spaced out unlike their letter key brethren that are sometimes packed in too tightly together. This is especially true for the delete and insert keys that ended up between the space bar and left arrow key.