10 Top Windows 8 Peripherals for Tablets and PCs

If you’ve just bought a Windows 8 PC or Windows RT tablet, check out this list of the latest keyboard and mouse peripherals that are designed for Windows 8. Many were crafted with an eye for portability and offer some form of touch capability or shortcuts that will increase the usability of the Windows 8 operating system.

Paul Mah is a freelance writer and blogger who lives in Singapore. Paul has worked a number of years in various capacities within the IT industry. You can reach Paul at paul@mah.sg and follow him on Twitter at @paulmah.

The Logitech Touch Mouse T620 is a slim, wireless mouse that does away with a physical scroll wheel in favor of a touch-sensitive surface. You can scroll through a document or Web page by swiping one or two fingers across its surface; this works great whether you’re right- and left-handed. More importantly, the T620 mouse offers a number of unique gestures designed to switch between applications, bring up the Windows 8 Start screen and to invoke Windows 8 Charms.

Price: $69.99

The Logitech Wireless Rechargeable Touchpad T650 is a large touchpad that offers 13 unique multi-touch gestures designed with Windows 8 in mind. The glass surface is resistant to fingerprints and scratches, and the touchscreen is something that built-in touchpads can’t match. A single charge provides up to a month of battery life, while a dedicated on/off switch and low-battery status helps ensure that you won’t run out of juice just before an important meeting.

Price: $79.99

The Logitech Zone Touch Mouse T400 is a wireless mouse with a touch zone in place of the scroll wheel. Eliminating a physical scroll wheel ensures that performance is not compromised over time by grime; it also provides smooth horizontal and vertical scrolling. The mouse is also lined with rubber for better comfort and handling. The T400 itself is designed to offer 18 months of battery life with just two AA batteries; a dedicated on/off power toggle and dedicated battery status indicator will help you save energy.

Price: $49.99

The Microsoft Wedge Touch Mouse is a compact mobile mouse designed for use with a Bluetooth-enabled Windows 8 laptop or the Microsoft Surface tablet. The minimalist design makes for a mouse that’s half the size of your typical wireless mouse, and it comes with a touch interface with four-way touch scrolling and navigation. Switching off or hibernating your PC or tablet will out the mouse into power-conserving mode automatically. Moreover, the mouse is also equipped with BlueTrack technology, which allows it to track on most surfaces.

Price: $69.95

More: Hands-On with Microsoft’s New Wedge Touch Mouse

The Microsoft Sculpt Touch Mouse is a Bluetooth mouse that replaces the scroll wheel with a metallic touch strip. Designed for Windows 8, the touch stripe supports four-way scrolling and vibrates gently to offer tactile feedback. The Sculpt Touch makes use of two AA batteries that deliver up to nine months of battery life; it also incorporates BlueTrack technology.

Price: $49.95

More: New Microsoft Mouse Ditches Scroll Wheel for ‘Touch Strip’

The Microsoft Touch Mouse is a wireless mouse with a large touch-sensitive surface optimized with navigational experiences designed for Windows 8. The Touch mouse recognizes one-, two-, and three-fingered gestures as well as horizontal and vertical scrolling. You can configure gestures to correspond to actions such as snapping, moving and minimizing and maximizing windows in Windows 8, while the thumb can be used to move back and forth between pages. Surface sensitivity can be tweaked though the Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard Center settings.

Price: $79.95

The Logitech Bluetooth Illuminated Keyboard K810 stands apart from the crowd with its sleek and compact form factor. The keyboard offers laser-etched backlit keys that adjust their brightness based on the light conditions in the room and the proximity of your hands. Designed for Windows 8, the portable keyboard comes with specific keys to navigator the new Windows 8 user interface, but it will also work with the iOS and Android operating systems. The K810 incorporates an internal battery that is recharged via USB.

Price: $99.99

More: The 5 Best Wireless Keyboards for Your Tablet

The Microsoft Wedge Mobile Keyboard is a Bluetooth keyboard specifically designed for mobile devices running Windows RT. It comes with a robust multipurpose rubber cover that doubles as an adjustable tablet stand that will comfortably support a 10-inch tablet. Soft-touch keys make for a more comfortable typing experience, while built-in media keys make it easy to control music and videos.

Price: $79.95

More: Microsoft Announces New Hardware for Windows 8

The Microsoft Sculpt Mobile Keyboard is a slim Bluetooth keyboard designed with an ergonomic curve for a comfortable, natural wrist position. Its light-touch keys offer a pleasant typing experience, while shortcut keys provides convenience access to commonly used Windows 8 functions. The mobile keyboard sports up to 10 months of battery life, while an on/off switch and battery status indicator will help conserve battery life.

Price: $49.95

The Microsoft Sculpt Comfort Keyboard is the wireless desktop variant of the Sculpt Mobile Keyboard, complete with home row keys and a numeric keypad. The Sculpt Comfort Keyboard is similarly contoured for comfort and incorporates hotkeys for the most commonly used functions in Windows 8. It ups the ante slightly with the addition of a cushioned palm lift, split spacebar and adjustable keyboard legs—all of which you’d expect from a desktop keyboard.

Price: $59.95