Any health risks associated with RF KB/Mice?

[isuru]

I am thinking of buying the Logitech Cordless Freedom Optical kb and mouse and I've heard that they use RF technology. I am wondering whether there are any possible health risks involved with this (kinda like with mobile phones).

I know this seems like extreme paranoia , but any info would be greatly appreciated.

btw any other normal home appliances that use RF?

thanks

 

[Soccerman]

not that I know of

why? well RF (radio frequency) is around you all the time in Radio, and at multiple other frequencies. I don't think the health risk would be as high as Cell Phones (which use Microwaves, which are a shorter wavelength than radio, but they're the same type of signal, ie, they're all electromagnetic waves).

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

A bit off-topic, but my brother got me that mouse for Christmas, and I feel I should warn you. I've been having some trouble getting certain functionality to work right in a handful of games.

The mousewheel doesn't work in RtCW or in UT (works in OGL, but not in D3d). Also the thumb button isn't recognized correctly by Halflife and its mods. Oh, and you can't use the mousewheel is a separate button. I.E. you can't "press" the wheel down to use it as a fourth button. This IMO is the biggest let down because I used it all the time with my old intellimouse.

Aside from these problems, its precision is quite good and it feels great in my hand. Odds are you won't have the same problems as me, but I just wanted to let you know somebody has them. Hmmm would logitech have newer drivers for this thing out?

 

[saltedeggman]

<< A bit off-topic, but my brother got me that mouse for Christmas, and I feel I should warn you. >>



when i read the first sentence, i thought you were trying to warn him regarding health problem....

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

<<

<< A bit off-topic, but my brother got me that mouse for Christmas, and I feel I should warn you. >>



when i read the first sentence, i thought you were trying to warn him regarding health problem.... >>


Heh, its true. In the month I've had it doctors have found a large cancerous tumour in the palm of my hand. I have an appointment for amputation next week.

BTW, I've found a fix for the RtCW (and Quake games) mouse wheel problem on Logitech's website. I'm about to test to see if it worked. I'll let you know!

Edit: How cool is that?! A simple registry entry fixed both the RtCW and UT problems. Although according to the readme, "A possible side effect is that some "double scrolling" may occur in some applications that can receive wheel messages from both DirectInput and Office compatible wheel messages." I hope this doesn't become a problem.

 

[MWink]

<< I am thinking of buying the Logitech Cordless Freedom Optical kb and mouse and I've heard that they use RF technology. I am wondering whether there are any possible health risks involved with this (kinda like with mobile phones). >>



That crossed my mind as well. Then I got to thinking and realized a cell phone's range is 20 miles while a mouse or keyboard's range is 6 feet. I think that could make a slight difference.



<< Heh, its true. In the month I've had it doctors have found a large cancerous tumour in the palm of my hand. I have an appointment for amputation next week. >>



LOL

 

[sharkeeper]

You are at far greater risk of repetitive motion injury from a keyboard or mouse than any RF radiation. The levels emitted are very low. Handheld wireless phones (especially nextel!) emit far stronger fields.

Cheers!

 

[Elledan]

Heya, isuru! Still as paranoid as always?

 

[arcas]

I'm not aware of any health risks but in the past there have definitely been some security issues related to the use of these wireless devices, especially RF keyboards. Maybe some of these issues have been addressed/solved but I would still be wary of using an RF keyboard.

For reference, Bugtraq