PC World - USA (2020-09)

60 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

REVIEWS CHERRY DW 9000 SLIM

black. (It’s also available in a very Apple-like

silver-and-white color scheme.) There’s a bit

of cutaway around each key to allow a sliver of

bronze to show through, creating a nice

accent trim. Despite the plastic casing, the

keyboard weighs about half a pound due to a

solid metal plate placed inside the chassis to

increase stability. It feels very durable.

The keyboard measures 17.3 x 5.1 x .06

inches. That’s ample room for a full set of

alpha-numeric keys; a dozen function keys; a

number pad; scroll keys; and Windows lock,

browser, volume up/down, mute, and

calculator buttons. It runs on a rechargeable

lithium-ion battery, and there’s a micro-USB

port on the back for connecting the supplied

charging cable.

The DW 9000 doesn’t include

backlighting, but that’s a minor quibble. More

surprising, given the lux look of the

low-profile keyboard, is how it handles height

adjustment. Instead of the integrated flip-

down feet you’d expect, a quartet of

individual rubber feet are included as

accessories. To attach them, you have to peel

off a sheet of plastic covering some adhesive

and stick them on the bottom.

It works well enough, but it makes

ergonomics feel like an afterthought. And

unlike with retractable feet, which allow you

to change keyboard postures at your whim,

these adhesive ones require you to make a

commitment. While I suppose you could peel

them off and reattach them when needed,

they will undoubtedly lose their stickiness

over time.

CONNECTIVITY

The DW 9000 and its accompanying mouse

can connect via Bluetooth or a 2.4GHz USB

receiver. Each of these

connection methods is the

same for both devices.

For Bluetooth, you slide a

switch—on the back of the

keyboard and bottom of the

mouse—to BT, and press a

button next to it to activate

the connection, then follow

the prompts on your PC to

complete the process. To

connect using the receiver,

you remove the USB dongle

slotted magnetically into the

The keyboard and mouse are attractively designed and durable. The

stick-on feet feel like an afterthought, though.