Logitech Cordless Desktop Comfort Laser (Black)
by Logitech
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Our Price: $299.00 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $99.99 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Logitech Cordless Desktop Comfort Laser (Black)
Customer Review: Better than the MS equivalent
Summary: 4 Stars
For a wireless keyboard, I've been incredibly impressed with Logitech's offerings. While I fell fondly in love with the ergo MS keyboard, since they first released their wired version wayyyy back when, their technology has largely remained "static" (e.g, they innovate like pondwater moves).
Logitech, on the other hand, even with the occasional quirk, has impressed the heck out of me.
I'm writing from this particular keyboard at the moment, and with no drivers installed, it friggen flies. Even with the sometimes glitchy drivers, it still flew. Unlike some of Logitech's other products in this price range, this comes with a USB cable-based receiver, rather than the dongle (which I'd prefer) On the other hand, I've moved the wireless receiver as far away from the PC as possible, next to the phone, for weeks it's been happily sitting smack on top of the PSU on my PC - with no interference problems at all.
Logitech even goes so far as to include a "locked" (coded mode) secure trasmission (if you install the drivers), sorta like setting up a bluetooth device, just easier. I've found it runs fine without the drivers - particularly this model, which doesn't have many extra special function keys (the calculator, media player controls both work without drivers - only if you wish to use non-MS warez, or the 4 preset buttons, would you need the drivers (or if you want an on-screen display of your caps status - if your receiver is stashed).
It is a joy to work on, for writing. If you're not comfy with split keyboards, this is not for you. Try it on for size at a local store. It does help me "keep it up longer" (my fingers), but at the same time, it's a bit awkward moving from platform to platform, straight keyboards to ergonomic... short "relearning" curve each time. While this has been ok for gaming, I'd not take it into multi-player mode due to lack of mouse precision and that slight lag that all wireless models have.
Speaking of the mouse, it eats batteries like candy. I'm still on the same set of keyboard batteries that came with it two months ago, but the mouse has already been thru 6 AA's in the same timespan. Not quite sure why that is - I know the drivers never accurately reported the battery state (there were two states, full green, and replace now) - and it would go from ok to replace in moments - not quite perfect, as I said. I suspect some of the power management is in the drivers, as the battery charge state (on the mouse) does not light up without the drivers installed.
Other things I like about it - USB or PS2, keys that click when I tap them, full size F keys.
Besides the battery issue, the only other issue I've noticed is the letter paint has worn off on some of the keys already, across the board - not good. Although I am a touch typist, I would expect a bit more quality - this thing is only 2 months in service, after all.
Customer Review: Keyboard unusable, mouse OK
Summary: 1 Stars
Note that a Logitech tech support person said the keyboard in this pkg is the same as in their Comfort Duo so you could look there for keyboard comments. This pkg has a laser mouse rather than just optical (whatever that means).
Anyways, like a few other Duo keyboard commenters my keyboard had a noisy click when pressing the space bar on either side. Being a touch typist this is my natural spot. The click was quite loud. A 45 minute call with tech support had me removing it, inspecting it, and re-installing it - all to no avail. She also very kindly explained the design and said some units may suffer from this but it might be worth trying another unit. I decided I'd invested enough time already and returned it.
Other than the clicking the keybd was OK. Never missed a stroke and I noticed no delays. I've used a MS full-size Natural keybd for a number of years. The Logitech one is not as large. My elbows ended up tighter to my body and I'm not sure that would be as comfortable over time. Some of the keys were smaller and more tightly packed - this was annoying at first to be sure but would probably improve over time. Although inherently there is less space around different groups (function keys, cursor control, etc) and that made it more difficult to "feel" my way around - hmmm.
The mouse seemed adequate although didn't impress. It moved much too fast but slowing it down in Control Panel Mouse settings solved that. Oddly though the setting kept returning to the default after rebooting. This seemed odd and I may have figured it out eventually but it happened several times.
Even slowed down one thing did bother me and that was the lag after it "rested". I'm assuming it shuts itself off partially after a certain period of non-use to conserve battery power. The first movement after that period is a noticable lag. Other than this though it seemed fine - although I really didn't use it long. Because of the keyboard problem I returned the whole thing after 1 day.
One more thing I noticed and didn't like was the front extended wrist rest on the keyboard. It was comfortable and provided legs to tilt the keyboard away from me which I liked. However, my skin is oily and even after one day I could see discoloration on the wrist rest. I can't imagine what it would look like after months of use.
I really wanted to like this package - but I just don't.
Customer Review: Happy with the purchase
Summary: 4 Stars
Overall, I am pleased with the purchase of this keyboard and mouse. One of my biggest concerns was being able to find a keyboard that had keys that weren't too difficult to press down. I went to a local store and tried typing on the Microsoft Natural Ergo Keyboard 4000, and found that the spacebar was unbelievably stiff. Plus the keys didn't seem spaced well to me. They did not have the Logitech ergonomic keyboard there, but Logitech does have a tendency to make keyboards with lighter keys which is why I took a chance on this one. I was not disappointed. The keys have a perfect amount of resistance (not a lot). The keys make a soft clicking sound, but the space bar makes a much louder click, which could be annoying for anyone who hates noise while typing. I think the keys are perfectly spaced apart for me (medium sized hands), and the wrist rest is made of a soft material which is nice support. There are two sets of feet on the bottom of the keyboard. Two large ones on the bottom of the keyboard and two small ones on the bottom of the wrist rest. Something which could cause concern for others is the fact that the "home" and "end" keys have been shifted in order to make a more condensed keyboard. There are 4 preset buttons at the top of the keyboard which can be used to quickly open a folder or website of choice and this is a nice feature. The mouse is an extremely nice mouse. It curves nicely to the hand and has some extra buttons which are placed well. When I called Logitech's customer support and asked what the difference was between this keyboard and the keyboard in the Logitech Cordless Comfort Duo (as they look the same) she said that this keyboard is better made. What that means specifically, I am not sure. I do know I read a review for the other one about the feet on the bottom of the keyboard not being very sturdy, and the feet on my keyboard seem fine. So, perhaps that is the issue. Anyway, my hands are just flying across this keyboard with ease, and I am quite happy with it. I gave it one less star for the noise of the space bar (which I am already used to) and the fact that after shipping costs I almost paid $100 for it. Probably about 15 - 20 dollars more than I would have liked to pay for it. The keyboard and mouse also look sharp.
Customer Review: Great product, needs Mac support for keyboard
Summary: 4 Stars
I am a big fan of Logitech, and this product is one of the reasons. I replaced a Microsoft Ergo 4000 keyboard and a Logitech MX620 mouse, and the new products are superior.
The Microsoft keyboard is quite good, but after several years of use, it had started to get flaky. The Logitech keyboard has a better feel, and it is quieter. In addition, the build quality seems better to me (time will tell), and the wrist rest has a very nice feel. I especially appreciate the fact that the "Window" key (which I use as the "Command" key on my Mac) is indented. This makes it much easier to find.
In addition, I prefer the MX600 mouse to the MX620. Ergonomically, they are equivalent, and the tracking in both cases is flawless. (I should mention that I have a flat black mouse pad, which is a very difficult tracking surface.) The scroll wheel on the MX620 was a good idea, but it doesn't work very well in practice. After using the MX620 for about a year, I prefer the more conventional scroll wheel of the MX600. The MX600 is also a bit lighter. I have used quite a few mice over the years, and this is probably the best one I have every owned.
Another nice touch is the USB dongle. It includes LEDs for the Scroll and Num lock status, which is generally absent from wireless keyboards.
There are a couple of negatives that I must mention. First, I don't like how Logitech rearranged the six keys above the arrow keys. I have been using keyboards with the "standard" layout (i.e., two rows of three keys) for many years, and my fingers are used to it. Second, I use a Mac, and while Logitech's "Control Center" software recognizes the MX600 mouse, there is no driver for the keyboard. Despite this, some of the "extra" keys are regognized by Mac OS X (I am running 10.6): the volume keys work, the play/pause key works with iTunes (but only iTunes), and the sleep key works as well. Still, I would like to see Logitech get its act together and provide full Mac support for this keyboard.
These negatives, which are fairly minor in my view, are the only reason I did not give this product five stars. Overall, I am very satisfied, and I would not hesitate to recommend it to a friend.
Customer Review: Excellent Hardware, Iffy Software
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this Logitech Cordless Desktop Comfort Laser to replace my Microsoft Wireless Laser Desktop 6000 (which I'd come to loathe). With the hardware, I'm very satisfied. The keyboard is a nice ergonomic version which I'd grown used to from my long-ago Microsoft Natural Keyboard Pro. It's got a nice typing feel (not too hard, not too soft) and I've had no problems with it (the keyboard in the Microsoft Desktop 6000 dropped keystrokes). The only negatives I can come up with for the keyboard are that the space bar makes a bit of a clanking sound (which I probably wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't read about it here) and the palm rest does show the location of your hands from the oil residue (trivial really). The mouse is very comfortable and I've had no problems with it at all.
Where I have had problems is with the Logitech Setpoint 3.3 software. I'm using Vista, so since it's so new, that might be the issue (though the Logitech forums indicate the XP version has similar problems). In my case, even though the software loaded without trouble, I sometimes couldn't open the Setpoint program. It would basically hang when I attempted it. I also was getting no mouse status from the Logitech icon (keyboard status, yes -- mouse status, no). The forums indicate there's also a problem with the Secure Connect hotkey of CTRL-SHIFT (it conflicts with quite a few important keystrokes in Vista and applications) and with multiple keystrokes generating spurious letters. Because Setpoint was hanging on my system, I just uninstalled it and am running on the native Vista drivers (again, without problem). Without Setpoint, I'm lacking some features. But, I rarely use those things, anyway.
So, overall, I give the hardware an Excellent rating of 5 stars out of 5. However, because of the problems with the Setpoint 3.3 software, I'm subtracting 1 star. Still, that leaves an overall Very Good rating of 4 stars out of 5. Recommended.