LAN Adapter for Nintendo Wii by Datel Our Rating:
This third-party adapter for Nintendo’s Wii console is a convenient solution to the lack of ethernet port on the Wii.  It creates a high speed LAN connection via USB.  For most people, this product will probably work exactly as it should.  It is definitely more convenient to find than Nintendo’s official LAN adapter which can only be purchased online at Nintendo’s official website.  However compared to their first-party solution, this offering from Datel does have some problems.

First off, the first unit tested was defective.  That is not to say that Nintendo’s adapter is infallible, but it does not say a lot for this product.  After finding a replacement, there are still a few shortcomings for this product.  If you are on a secured network in which all devices’ MAC address must be allowed by your router, it is much more difficult to obtain the MAC address of this product.  The address is not printed anywhere on the device, and because it is not officially made by Nintendo, the address does not appear when the Wii’s system settings are accessed.  To find the MAC address of this device, it has to be connected to a PC, have drivers downloaded for it, and then have an ipconfig run.  More than an inconvenience.

Overall this product should work fine for most people, but it may cause problems and frustrations if the network is configured a certain way.  The official Nintendo Wii LAN Adapter is a more recommended solution.

Microsoft Bluetooth Explorer Keyboard Our Rating:

This one grabs your attention pretty quickly – it’s a cool blue color with transparent keys, perfect to fit it’s bluetooth connectivity. While it looks appealing, it loses some of that lure after you use it.

Let’s start with the good stuff. First off, they keys press very nicely. We like the touch of the keys. It also has a comfortable palm-rest that can easily be taken off. All of the special keys on the top of the keyboard are helpful too. They have defaults to Microsoft programs that the keys represent, but they can be programmed to do many custom actions. The media player keys are also very useful.

What we didn’t like really took the scores down. Because it is wireless, it need batteries. This keyboard eats them like candy. Also, they keyboard tens to get caught up with lag now and then. You may be typing, and then all of a sudden it repeats a key-press for about 30 seconds. This is tragic while playing a game, and an annoyance while typing a document. This may have been from bad batteries, but at the rate that they use batteries, this is bound to happen often if that is the cause.

In conclusion, this is not a bad keyboard at all. It is very appealing, easy to use, customizable, and comfortable. However, you just might have to get past some lag issues.