Logitech diNovo Edge with a Mac

I blogged about these keyboards when Engadget first ran a pre-release announcement about them. And, now I have one hooked up the the G5 Media Center.

The good: I had ordered from Amazon and they initially gave me a delivery date of 1/10/2007, then abruptly (ie, yesterday) changed the delivery date to today. It came this morning, nice surprise.

It works well with a Mac about as well as any other Windows keyboard: Windows is Command, Alt is Option, F12 for a second or so is Eject. The mute key works, and the volume slider serves as a single-point “unmute” button (ie, there is no control of levels of volume.)

There are some other fancy light-up keys like zoom-in/out, sleep, start menu, etc. which I will have to find a decent way to remap. Oddly, these keys don’t seem to send a key code which any of the Apple applications recognize. I have some code around to read raw keycodes, we’ll see if I have time to dork with that over the weekend. Specialty keys have never been a big draw to me, not sure why, maybe because I’m already well trained in arcane OSX multiple-key combinations. (Print Screen? Who the ?!@$ needs that? [ The diNovo Edge has a Print Screen key ])

Bluetooth pairing was pretty painless, and, once paired, both the keyboard and the “TouchDisc” are automatically set up, no hassle involved. (The included USB wireless adapter seemed to work pretty well, too, for non-Bluetooth users).

The bad: Why does this keyboard have an on/off switch when removing the keyboard from the charging station should be an implicit on, and returning it should be the implicit off? It only adds one more potential source of confusion for those of us who never read manuals (even when the manual is basically a 1-page flyer).

The really bad: The TouchDisc mouse. It’s nothing at all like an Apple trackpad, though it’s supposed to be a round trackpad with scroll areas at the top and side. Frankly it handles like a Vespa with two flat tires, I had to turn down the mouse sensitivity in System Preferences because the thing is so imprecise. (I usually have it cranked to the maximum because my wrist is lazy)

No, seriously, this input device is pretty bad. It pretty much rules out any mouse-driven gaming. In comparison I can usually play games with maybe a 15% handicap when using an Apple trackpad rather than a real mouse.

The good: Still, I want to close on a positive note because the overall design of the keyboard is so damn striking that despite the usability problems with its TouchDisc mouse, I still think it’s a good fit for a living room computer. I mean, this keyboard, perched atop your stereo rack with receiver and G5, it makes a statement with its glossy black, sub-1/2″ thick, orange LED-covered looks. Even if that statement is faintly reminiscent of the sleek veneer of the 1980’s, it’s still a statement.

The keyboard itself is nice to use, the keys have an amount of resistance and travel which should be familiar to those who use Apple laptops or the Apple standard keyboard; the layout of the keys is a little tight horizontally for my taste, but not so much that I start typing nonsense.

Another plus: the keyboard also feels sturdy yet weighs nothing. I only charged it in its accompanying charging station (which, BTW, is equally easy on the eyes — the power adapter is designed to only take up one slot in a power strip, and the jack on the base into which the power cord plugs is subtly recessed, almost invisible — nice) for about five minutes before using it for a few hours. Logitech claims that two hours of charge will last a month, we’ll see.

So if you can live with a subpar pointing device on your media center, but value style and are looking for an integrated keyboard/mouse unit, the diNovo Edge isn’t too bad. Given that the rest of the wireless keyboard/mouse combos out there currently look like they were designed by chimpanzees given clumps of beige Play-Doh, you might find that in your living room, style counts for more than you might think.

[UPDATE 12/4/2006: Two weeks with the keyboard and I still love the keyboard and hate the mouse. Because I use my G5 as my living room DVD-player, and I’m somewhat addicted to e-mail and RSS on the big screen, this keyboard gets a lot of use. There seems to be some odd bug where the keyboard spontaneously goes nuts and tries to use its volume up/down key all on its own, repeatedly. This is a little less annoying since I use the S/PDIF out on my G5, so these keys actually have no effect — but be warned. Power cycling the keyboard sometimes, but not always, solves the problem.]

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Published:
11.15.06 / 3am
Category:
Everything Else