Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave Set
by Logitech
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Our Price: $184.97 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $38.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave Set
Customer Review: Wireless Keyboards and Mice have come a long way.
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
It has been awhile since I last picked up wireless accessories like these. Back then, it was very cost INeffective to have wireless keyboards and mice because they went through batteries like SUVs guzzle gas. I have not had this product pack long enough to speak to the validity, but the box says that the battery life is up to 6 months for the mouse and up to 15 months for the keyboard. Each takes 2 AA batteries (which came included with my set). That is a great improvement. And while I would prefer rechargeable products, the battery life of these two products is tolerable.
The wave design is not what you are used to. It will take some time before you will be as good of a typist as you were on other keyboards, but you will get there. The learning curve is not a long one. I am not sure that it is a more comfortable design, but it is not less comfortable.
The keyboard is heavily branded for Microsoft products (in terms of icons on programmable function keys) but has all of the necessary buttons to operate with MacOS.
The design team took some creative license with the key map (it is still a QWERTY keyboard), but those moved are less-used keys and are just another (small) thing to get used to with this keyboard.
One neat feature which I have not had on a keyboard before is the variable tilt angle. The tilt legs have two sizes so you may lift your keyboard 0, 4 or 8 degrees.
The mouse (LX8) is nice. I am not brand loyal per se, but I have had nothing but Logitech mice for the last decade. When I have done my research the Logitech products were best rated and I have never been let down. As far as I am concerned the company makes better mice than this one, but it should meet most user's needs. It is comfortable in my hand and is dominant-hand ambiguous, so you Lefties won't have to buy a different mouse.
Customer Review: Keyboard keys are too small, Ok mouse.
Summary: 1 Stars
I thought I'm making the right choice here by choosing Logitech because all of my friends who uses Logitech brand have had a good experience... Well, I use logitech webcam and very happy too with the camera. But this keyboard is my first logitech keyboard, because I usually use Microsoft keyboards and mice, and has been pretty happy with it. Here's the bottom line based on my own review after a few days using it:
1. The keyboard's keys are too small. I'm Asian and has lean fingers, but if I consider the keys to be pretty small, imagine if a caucasian people using it.
2. This is not really an ergonomic keyboard, I know that!, because it doesn't have a split keys... but this keyboard makes my fingers cramp after a few minutes using it. Before I change to this, I used similar wavy keyboard from microsoft which is only $15 compare to this, but it doesn't give me that cramp.
3. Software for this keyboard n mouse is terrible. Doesn't do anything. I download the latest driver/software from logitech site and it's almost 50MB in size. Yet after installing it, it doesn't have any selection/features in which we can control the keyboard n mouse more effectively.
Update: I was wrong for my no. 3, the software actually works fine n great. What I did wrong was, I'm using a KVM switch and plug the receiver through the KVM's USB.. not directly to the computer's USB. After pluging in directly to my computer, the application do come out more selection to control the keyboard n mouse. And then when I read on Logitech website FAQ, it does say that it will not work properly when pluging it through a switch or USB hub, etc.
4. The mouse is ok. It is a normal mouse with back n forward button as an additional function, which can be very useful for browsing. No complain for the mouse part.
Hope this helps! Don't be fool. Try it at your local store before buying it online. Kudos to Microsoft for making better ergonomic keyboard. Somehow I could not update the star that I give for this keyboard, since the software works... I'll increase the star for this desktop set to 2.5
Customer Review: Delayed key response - update
Summary: 1 Stars
I've had this board and mouse set for a couple of years. The mouse is OK. The keyboard is not. As others have experienced, my board has a random delay between key strike and screen response. Sometimes there is no delay; other times the delay is a second or longer for several keys in a row. I'm constantly making typos or waiting for the screen to catch up with what I've typed. Same with the navigation keys, so it's hard to position the cursor accurately.
This started soon after I got the board and has gotten worse over time. I tried all the canned suggestions on the Logitech website and others offered by their tech support staff (short of getting into my system config files, which I don't think should be necessary to make a keyboard work. I believe it is a hardware defect, so I'm trashing the board. I won't buy a wireless Logitech keyboard again, after this experience (and that's basically all they make now), so I guess I'm stuck with MS.
Update: I was wrong. The comment on my review is correct. Before I tossed the keyboard, I looked around the web, again, for more advice and found some on PC Advisor (uk) that eliminated the delay. The problem was a piece of Microsoft software that loads at startup and runs in the background.
Here's the tip that worked for me: "Click Start - Run. In the dialogue box type the word msconfig, then click OK. Click the Start-up tab. Scroll down until you find "PCMServices", and uncheck the box. Then restart your computer."
I also unloaded and reloaded Logitech software; I don't know if that was necessary. Anyway, this completely took care of the problem for me. I also noticed that others have had success by disabling other MS startup programs on the msconfig list.
I gather that PCMServices has to do with using a remote control (e.g., for TV) with the computer, which I don't do. Maybe this is why my keyboard zoom control doesn't work any more (and maybe other specialized keys that I don't use, too). For me, that's a small price to pay to get rid of the delay, when other keyboard commands work just as well.
Customer Review: Keyboard feels great to type on but media functions are missing on Macs until Logitech releases new Mac drivers.
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought the Wave Cordless Desktop because I just couldn't get used to typing on split ergonomic keyboards and I've been searching for a keyboard that offered the feel of precise, quiet keys and something of a "comfort curve" design. I've used the Wave for a little over a week now, and really like the way it feels. The key action is precise and fairly quiet, and the key travel feels good to me. That's the 4 stars part of the review.
The bad part is that Logitech inexplicably released the Wave Desktop set without drivers to make its multimedia function keys actually work! After spending more than an hour on the phone with Logitech support over the course of two days, I've been advised the most current version of the Logitech Control Center software that one must download for the Mac (Mine is an Intel C2D iMac) doesn't work with this new keyboard and Logitech will release new Macintosh-compatible drivers for the Wave desktop in about a month.
So....all the letter and number keys work and the volume adjustment and sleep/restart button works. But the buttons that control media functions and others like the zoom rocker switch, and buttons that launch the web browser and mail application don't do anything....yet.
In addition, the mouse that comes with this keyboard is pretty basic; not nearly as nice as the Logitech VX Revolution I was using, so I plan to keep using the Revolution with this keyboard.
EDIT: I am returning my Wave cordless desktop to Logitech for a refund next week after talking to yet another technician on Sept. 21. After several technicians had me install, uninstall and reinstall the Mac drivers LCC 2.1.4 and LCC 2.2.2 in mid-August, then told me to wait a month for Logitech to release new Mac drivers, as of one month later NOTHING has been done and my $90 keyboard only works as a basic keyboard with no other media functions.
I would lower my rating to no more than 3 stars for the lack of Mac support.
Customer Review: Mixed bag in this bundle
Summary: 4 Stars
The keyboard itself is nearly perfect for me. I can just rest my palms and my fingers just float over the keys. On a flat keyboard I usually feel like I need to arch my fingers up a little (like a spider walking) when typing and that gets tiresome. With this keyboard my fingers feel in a more natural, less-arched position. Very good key feel and travel. Best keyboard I've ever used for extended typing. Though for quick typing where your hand moves frequently over the mouse it might feel like it's a little cumbersome to get your hands in position. Also there is a lot of key travel here so if you like really shallow key presses you may not like it. Personally I would prefer a little less travel but I don't know of any other keyboard shaped like this and the overall shape feels great. If you often look down to make sure your hands are in the right place you won't with this one.
I have two negatives about this particular package. This is not the 'pro' set which advertises a higher-end wireless performance. The wireless for this one lags just a little. It's not terrible, but if you watch your curser closely there is often a slight lag. I personally don't like lags with typing. I make a lot of mistakes and frequently use the backspace. If you are a sloppy typer like me then you'll probably be annoyed by this intermittent input lag. If I were to do it over again I'd get the wired version which is much cheaper and has no lag (I'm assuming). Also the mouse that comes with this set is so-so. I have the higher end laser mx mouse (that comes in the pro combo) and it is superior in every way. This one just feels kind of cheap. It's not bad but it's about the same as what your pc probably came with, though it's wireless.
So the keyboard gets 5 stars. But with the laggy, low-end wireless and lesser mouse in this package I'd rather have gotten just the wired keyboard or sprung for the 'pro' combo. So 4 stars for this buy.