7. Keyboard & Other Operational Elements

Key travel on the keyboard is adequate, but the keyboard bends inward when pressure is applied, making it unsuitable for those doing a lot of typing. We saw the same phenomenon with the Gateway M460XLb .

The keyboard of the W511A

Convenient: touchpad with navigation wheel for quick vertical and horizontal scrolling.

The touchpad has a widescreen format, with dimensions of 3" by 1.8" (7.5 x 4.5 cm). An experienced user can quickly navigate and use programs even in the most basic mode. The navigation wheel with horizontal and vertical scrolling function shows itself to be particularly practical and comfortable for editing Excel sheets. But you will also soon come to appreciate the useful aids under the touchpad, which allow rapid navigation through web sites.

Unfortunately, neither the touchpad nor the keys belonging to it can be deactivated, a function that people who type a lot have especially learned to appreciate.

Practical, but hard to use: Four programmable quick-start keys

Four quick-start keys are located to the right, above the keyboard. With these, programs like the user's mail client or Internet Explorer can be opened by the touch of a button. Assigning other programs to the four keys, such as a word processor or audio grabber, is also possible through the Keyboard manager tool. However, the keys have been made a little too small, and are hard to press because of their raised edges. To the left of the four keys are three blue LEDs, which show hard drive activity as well as showing the status of the Num Lock and Caps Lock keys.