So with my newlyfound Christmas riches, I decided to make a couple of purchases recently for my home office.

1) Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Desktop 8000

2) HP MediaSmart Server EX470

Once my server arrives, I’m sure I’ll have a blog post about it. But today’s post is about the WED 8000.

First, let me say that the mouse and keyboard work EXCELLENTLY. In fact, I love them. The keyboard is wireless, bluetooth, and BACKLIT. The backlighting comes on as I approach the desk. For a guy that likes to work in the dark, that’s a huge plus. It’s even got a trackpad (like a laptop) on the keyboard, for when you’re leaning back in your chair. Just awesome.

The mouse has what seems like 74 buttons, all configurable. 4 direction scroll wheel…basically everything you’ve ever heard of in a mouse is there. And it’s bluetooth as well.

They both charge on a dock. The dock has 4 USB ports, in case you need to plug other stuff in, and it also is the Bluetooth receiver. This was the cool part of my installation experience. I got everything set up, and it immediately told me that “your device is locked. Unlock your device to connect via Bluetooth.” I disregarded the error, since the keyboard and mouse don’t have locks. Then I realized what had happened. It was trying to connect to my Palm Treo 700wx in my pocket. Once I unlocked the phone, it immediately connected and allowed me to sync with the computer. Goodbye phone dock.

Now to the appearance of the set. Brushed aluminum. Beautiful. Could be the centerpiece of my desktop. I’ve been using the mouse for about two weeks now, and every time I walk to my desk, I can’t help but notice how pretty this stuff looks.

That’s when the trouble begins. This morning, while catching up on email, something stabs me on my wrist. I look down to see a small, roundish fleck of metal. I look around to see where it could have come from, but my desk is messy, so it could have just been laying there. About twenty minutes later, though, I get another stab in the wrist. Another very similar little fleck. As I pull my hand up, I now figure out where these are coming from. On the bottom end of the mouse, the Microsoft logo is there in shiny silver metal foil. Running my finger over it, there are almost no edges. But it now reads: Microso.

They put foil letters right in the place where your hand not only contacts the mouse, but probably where it shifts the most as well. I’m enamoured with this mouse and keyboard, but it just feels a little “ruined” now. I’ll certainly get over it, but I just want to know…did anyone use this thing before is was packaged and shipped to stores?