Preview: Microsoft Wireless 900 Desktop And Bluetooth Mobile 3600

Microsoft makes a lot of peripherals, everything from Type covers to a sizable number of keyboard and mice. The latest additions to the peripheral family are the Wireless 900 Desktop and the Bluetooth Mobile 3600 mobile mouse.

The Wireless 900 Desktop is a basic mouse and keyboard setup that is designed to simply work and not offer too many thrills along the way. With quiet touch keys, USB plug and play functionality, and an average of a two-year battery life, the keyboard is a about as vanilla as they come.

One unique feature that this keyboard does offer is an encryption feature that helps protect your information by encoding your keystrokes. For those of you who are worried someone may try to sniff the communication channel between your PC and the keyboard, this will offer a little bit of piece of mind. Although, if you are truly that paranoid, you are likely using a wired keyboard anyway.

Included in the desktop is a full size mouse that can be used with your left or right hand and and also has a two year battery life like the keyboard. The mouse also has a customizable button that you can map using the Mouse and Keyboard Center; the 900 desktop retails for $49.95

The Bluetooth Mobile 3600 is a portable mouse that has a four-way scroll wheel and uses the company’s BlueTrack technology for tracking. The Mobile 3600 is on sale now and costs $29.95.

If you have ever used any Microsoft’s standalone keyboards, Wireless 900 Desktop feels nearly identical to their previous line. They offer up the same style of keystroke, confident and firm, and have a row of dedicated media and function keys too. There is no denying that they are made of an inexpensive plastic but at $50 for the mouse and keyboard, that’s not a big surprise.

The mice (both the mobile mouse and the bundled mouse with the keyboard) are accurate and are comfortable, but there are more ergonomic mice out there, although you will pay a premium for them too. I’ll have a lot more about these devices in an upcoming review once I am able to spend a bit more time with them.

Both of these products have a three-year hardware warranty and of course work with Windows 10.