November 10, 2008 at 06:10Optimus Mini Three Keyboard Review
So, we will not pull the cat by the tail - relatively recently, about a month ago, a friend and I won a rather unusual gadget at the competition - the three-button keyboard Optimus Mini Three (Optimus Mini Three) from Artemy Lebedev.
Now, having taken advantage of it for some time, it is already possible to draw some conclusions - about the pros and cons, about convenience, and indeed about something firsthand.
So, I open the box with the autograph of the villain Runet - inside, besides the keyboard in the bag, there is a small brochure. After reading it, it becomes clear that the drivers need to be downloaded from the network, and the device itself works only with them (I decided to read the help after I had enough time to push the gadget into the USB port).
Downloaded, installed. Connected. Earned. New, unusual, cool!
Now it will be easier and faster for me to talk first about the appearance of the device, and only then about the software part.
So, Optimus Mini Three is a device the size of a mobile phone, from one end of which a USB cable sticks out. When you install firewood and when connected to a PC, three buttons light up on this device. The raisin is that these three buttons are simultaneously OLED displays, the resolution of which is 96x96 pixels (the same as, for example, in the Siemens C65). The screens do not just burn - they display various information, depending on the settings.
The plastic is pleasant enough for hands, on the bottom there are two rubber inserts that are even more pleasant to touch. In general, the device does not slip with them. It seems collected in good faith, nothing creaks.
What I liked is that the key is pressed even if you press its very corner. It would be much worse if the keys twisted when pressed off-center.
Having pressed a lot of buttons, I decided to do a more thorough study of the possibilities. So, about the software - about the configurator.
The distribution itself weighs 2.2 megabytes, after installation - 5.2 MB. The program eats neither more nor less - about 30 meters!
Another icon appears in the tray - there is practically nothing to confuse it with, except perhaps with USB Safely Remove .
Now I will tell you what raisins are. So, looking at the main window of the program, you can notice three main fields - Layouts (Layouts), Available Plugins (Available modules) and the viewing window .
Initially, the Global layout was chosen - what is shown when something specific is not shown Well ... let's just have a desktop in front of our eyes - you can display the launch of ICQ, the song being played in the player and, for example, the computer lock. These icons are selected from the "Available Modules", dragging them to the viewing window and they will always burn.
But it’s worth pressing some key - Ctrl , Alt , Shift , Alt + Shiftor Ctrl + Shift - how these icons will change to others. Those. it turns out that one modifier key (or combination thereof) has three possible functions, not counting the three default functions. In other words, only one layout can be hung 3 + (3 * 5) = 18 functions! This is enough for most programs.
By the way, about the programs. Initially, the configurator is configured so that the keyboard displays the functions assigned to a specific application. It turns out that you can add as many programs as you like, assign up to 18 functions to each - and during operation you are not guaranteed to be lost, since each function has its own picture.
Of the available modules, in principle, there is everything necessary - work with files, clipboard, hot keys. Lock, system information, lock. Manage your player, skype, office applications. Well, all sorts of informers - weather, mail on gmail, news feeds.
In principle, everything was more than well done, but it was not without tar - read on.
You can display not only static information, but also a simple animation.
An interesting opportunity is to add a site address to the button, while it is not necessary to draw an icon - the program will load the site itself in the window and you can select an arbitrary area.
But here the minus also hid - you cannot assign an arbitrary picture - you have to do an informer.
When creating an informer, everything is not smooth either - you can only upload a picture from an Internet to a button.
Local images can only be loaded into the AFOF module (Application, file or folder).
About two weeks, everything works without errors, pah-pah-pah. However, you can download and test the program without a keyboard - to understand what it is about.
The most important plus, I think, is that the program can really very well embellish the grayness of computer everyday life - there are practically no restrictions on the settings. Everything is thought out and done honestly, but, as you know, there is no aisle to perfection.
The device is the first and unique of its kind, which probably hides most of its shortcomings. If there was some kind of competing device of this type, it would be something to compare. The first pancake is lumpy, but lumpy is good.
In the meantime, this is a really interesting keyboard, simple and functional - anyone could find it to use. Remain only positive impressions. I think that Theme again worked on "Excellent . "
Can be used as a universal gift. And you can as a remote control
Soon there will be a review of the Optimus Maximus keyboard ;)
Success!
Now, having taken advantage of it for some time, it is already possible to draw some conclusions - about the pros and cons, about convenience, and indeed about something firsthand.
So, I open the box with the autograph of the villain Runet - inside, besides the keyboard in the bag, there is a small brochure. After reading it, it becomes clear that the drivers need to be downloaded from the network, and the device itself works only with them (I decided to read the help after I had enough time to push the gadget into the USB port).
Downloaded, installed. Connected. Earned. New, unusual, cool!
Now it will be easier and faster for me to talk first about the appearance of the device, and only then about the software part.
So, Optimus Mini Three is a device the size of a mobile phone, from one end of which a USB cable sticks out. When you install firewood and when connected to a PC, three buttons light up on this device. The raisin is that these three buttons are simultaneously OLED displays, the resolution of which is 96x96 pixels (the same as, for example, in the Siemens C65). The screens do not just burn - they display various information, depending on the settings.
The plastic is pleasant enough for hands, on the bottom there are two rubber inserts that are even more pleasant to touch. In general, the device does not slip with them. It seems collected in good faith, nothing creaks.
What I liked is that the key is pressed even if you press its very corner. It would be much worse if the keys twisted when pressed off-center.
Having pressed a lot of buttons, I decided to do a more thorough study of the possibilities. So, about the software - about the configurator.
The distribution itself weighs 2.2 megabytes, after installation - 5.2 MB. The program eats neither more nor less - about 30 meters!
Another icon appears in the tray - there is practically nothing to confuse it with, except perhaps with USB Safely Remove .
Now I will tell you what raisins are. So, looking at the main window of the program, you can notice three main fields - Layouts (Layouts), Available Plugins (Available modules) and the viewing window .
Initially, the Global layout was chosen - what is shown when something specific is not shown Well ... let's just have a desktop in front of our eyes - you can display the launch of ICQ, the song being played in the player and, for example, the computer lock. These icons are selected from the "Available Modules", dragging them to the viewing window and they will always burn.
But it’s worth pressing some key - Ctrl , Alt , Shift , Alt + Shiftor Ctrl + Shift - how these icons will change to others. Those. it turns out that one modifier key (or combination thereof) has three possible functions, not counting the three default functions. In other words, only one layout can be hung 3 + (3 * 5) = 18 functions! This is enough for most programs.
By the way, about the programs. Initially, the configurator is configured so that the keyboard displays the functions assigned to a specific application. It turns out that you can add as many programs as you like, assign up to 18 functions to each - and during operation you are not guaranteed to be lost, since each function has its own picture.
Of the available modules, in principle, there is everything necessary - work with files, clipboard, hot keys. Lock, system information, lock. Manage your player, skype, office applications. Well, all sorts of informers - weather, mail on gmail, news feeds.
In principle, everything was more than well done, but it was not without tar - read on.
You can display not only static information, but also a simple animation.
An interesting opportunity is to add a site address to the button, while it is not necessary to draw an icon - the program will load the site itself in the window and you can select an arbitrary area.
But here the minus also hid - you cannot assign an arbitrary picture - you have to do an informer.
When creating an informer, everything is not smooth either - you can only upload a picture from an Internet to a button.
Local images can only be loaded into the AFOF module (Application, file or folder).
About two weeks, everything works without errors, pah-pah-pah. However, you can download and test the program without a keyboard - to understand what it is about.
Keyboard Cons
: - [Control weighing
The most important plus, I think, is that the program can really very well embellish the grayness of computer everyday life - there are practically no restrictions on the settings. Everything is thought out and done honestly, but, as you know, there is no aisle to perfection.
The device is the first and unique of its kind, which probably hides most of its shortcomings. If there was some kind of competing device of this type, it would be something to compare. The first pancake is lumpy, but lumpy is good.
In the meantime, this is a really interesting keyboard, simple and functional - anyone could find it to use. Remain only positive impressions. I think that Theme again worked on "Excellent . "
Can be used as a universal gift. And you can as a remote control
Soon there will be a review of the Optimus Maximus keyboard ;)
Success!