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Here are our Top 3 Keyboard and Mouse Desktop Sets!

1. Microsoft Desktop 1000 – Its cheap, reliable and has good battery life…what more could you want!?  We use these here in the office and they’re brilliant, a really nice feel to type with and we seem to replace the batteries every 6 months, Simple and Cheap is sometimes the best and most reliable way!  It’s easy to install and on Vista it doesn’t seem to need a disk!
2. Microsoft Desktop 3000 – For those who liked the old style natural keyboard this might be the one for you.  The curve isn’t quite so sharp but this is certainly a comfortable keyboard to use.  A bit more than the desktop 1000 but if you need the natural layout well worth considering!
3. We don’t have a third keyboard.  If you don’t want to use the one that came with your machine then we would personally go for one of the two above.  If you really don’t like those options then the best suggestion is to visit a local PC supplier and have a try on a few.  Most big stores have a variety of Microsoft and Logitec keyboards and mice on display for people to try out!

Do you have a keyboard and mouse desktop set that you can recommend?

Here are our Top 3 ADSL Wireless Modem Routers:

1. Linksys WAG160N – This is the ‘new’ type of wireless technology.  The router is excellent, easy to setup, and made by Cisco so has bags of features if you need to do things like VPN pass-through or just want to set it up to be able to Remote Desktop into one of your machines from elsewhere.  The range is good, if not better than any of the other Wireless N routers we have used.  If you’re interested in the Wireless-N Technology have a read on Wikipedia.  This product is currently priced at £69.94 which is a really good price!!
2. Belkin 125g Wireless Router – Now this is a fairly old router, we have been using these for a couple of years now, and for home users or if you aren’t connecting to a Server then this is a brilliant router.  It is under £45, it has a fantastic range, definately the best we have seen on a router of this price and they last, we’ve got a number of clients running these and we have had no problems what so ever with reliability.  This really is a contender for first place.  It is only Wireless G+ so no the new N Technology and the 125 speed only works if you have a compatible adaptor, but still just for the great range I would recommend this router.
3. Linksys WAG 54GS – Yes another Linksys router, but they are by far the best and also some of the cheapest from the big name brands!  This one is excellent for networks that don’t require a long range but require all the features of a Linksys router as mentioned for the WAG160N.

Do you have any Wireless Routers you can recommend?

Here at PCToolbox we are always being asked which products are worthwhile buying and which aren’t, so we are going to start doing posts with our Top Three Items from a product range, this time round its Portable Hard Drives.  Portable (External) Hard Drives are beccoming increasingly a necessity in the average household as nobody wants to risk loosing their music, photos or documents.  Here are our top three:

1. WD Elements – A very small, reliable and stylish portable hard drive from Western Digital.  Western Digital are one of the best in their market and the hard drive works out to be extremely good value for money.
2. Freecom – Slightly more expensive but it is a network attached storage device, so multiple machines can easily access the drive over the network and backup.  Perfect for small businesses or home networks.
3. WD MyBook – Yes another from Western Digital!  WD MyBook isn’t quite as small as the elements drive but you get twice as much space for your money, and it is still portable and stylish.  We have found these drives to be very reliable!

Do you have any you can recommend too?