Cordless Desktop MX for Bluetooth, Keyboard & Mouse Combo
1 Awesome KB/Mouse Combo!
It took me a long time to finally give a chance to a wireless mouse/kb combo simply due to the inferior response times of previous products. I can honestly say this duo works very, very well and works just as good as my MX510 mouse it replaced. The BT hub station is excellent too and makes this combo even more of a value. Highly recommended.
2 Logitech Bluetooth MX Duo VS Logitech MX Duo
I purchased this product to upgrade from my regular Logitech MX Duo, because I needed a bluetooth mouse for my laptop, and figured I might as well upgrade my keyboard as well.
While the bluetooth duo (referred to as the bt duo form here on) appears to be a good upgrade from the original MX Duo (referred to as the rf duo from here on), there are some drawbacks worth mentioning.
The keyboard and mouse of both sets are essentially the same, just with cordless technologies. What is not clear from pictures of the product is that the bluetooth duo uses an entirely different color scheme! The rf duo is black and silver, and in the pictures on this site and logitech's site the bt duo appears exactly the same. This is not the case! The bt keyboard uses a very elegant dark gray/bluish silver scheme similar to that of the dinovo keyboard. The mouse on the other hand, replaces the black and silver of the rf mouse with a cheesy looking dark grey and a more sparkly silver. Obviously this is a matter of personal preference, but I think the new color scheme should be noted and made more obvious on the logitech site and store sites. I wish I had known about this color difference when I purchased it, because it doesn't quite match my black tower and monitor.
In addition to this, the new materials in the bt mouse are inferior to those of the rf mouse. The solid feeling, smooth black rubber on the rf duo mouse has been replaced by a rougher, harder feeling substance which doesn't feel very pleasant. The side back and forward buttons don't feel as solid as those on the rf mouse. Overall the bt mouse feels much more like a toy.
The hub for the bluetooth duo is about the same in appearance as that of the rf duo. It is much more powerful however. It is an actual bluetooth hub, and you can connect any bluetooth device to it. One minor gripe for me is that the connect button is lit in this set, with a blue led which looks cool in the daytime. I sleep in the same room as my computer however, and this little light being on at night is going to annoy me.
The most obvious advantage of the bt duo over the rf duo is range. My rf duo could get maybe 6 feet from the computer on a good day. The bluetooth duo has a range of about 5 times the rf duo, and works through walls.
This extended range is not at a price, however. The bt keyboard requires 4 batteries, instead of the original 2 of the rf keyboard. It has been said by other reviewers that battery life is much shorter on the bt keyboard also. I would imagine the more powerful bt radio would cause a significant decrease in battery life. My old rf keyboard went for months on end without replacement batteries. Hopefully the bt keyboard won't bankrupt me from new batteries.
For the mouse this is not as much of an issue due to the charging station, but I will still be bringing extra batteries when I use the mouse with my laptop.
Software wise, I had no problems with the set up and installation of the bt duo. It is a very good, albeit memory hungry software set. The rf duo software used less memory, but this is not as much of an issue to me as it would be to some.
Overall, this is a fine product, but if you don't need the range or versatility provided by bluetooth, I would stick with the tried and true (and cheaper) rf duo.
3 Good set, but not for beginners
Overall- Hardware is good, software is NOT
I consider myself an expert computer user, and had many difficulties installing this product. Installing the software on the CD as per the instructions provided is NOT recommended. Instead, skip the CD and go directly to Logitech's website for the latest versions of the SetPoint software (it's around a 60 mb download).
When installing the CD version of the software, I received errors stating I already had bluetooth solutions installed, which I did NOT. After spending 30 min scouring the computer to ensure I didn't have random bluetooth drivers installed, and wasting another hour trying to get the CD to install, (and completing maybe 4 system restores in the process) I went to Logitech's website, which was absolutely ZERO help. On a hunch I downloaded the latest version of the software (the software on the CD is 2 years old...) and it seems to be working well now.
SetPoint is not compatable with some software, such as Mozilla Firefox. Particularily, the middle mouse button, an integral button if you're used to the Tabbed browsing, does not function with the SetPoint software running. After installing it for the drivers, you can end the SetPoint task and re-enable the middle-mouse functionality in Firefox.
Additionally, I have trouble with the Windows Media Player controls on the top of the keyboard, they work perfectly when the SetPoint software is NOT running, but with the software running it crashes SetPoint. Annoying, but I'm learning quickly to live without SetPoint.
On to the hardware- Mouse is a bit heavier than I find comfortable, but it's a minor issue. Keyboard types well, having no troubles with it thus far. Bluetooth hub is extremely useful, synchronizing with my Sony Ericson T637 is no problem, along with my ipaq3115.
So is this set good for you? If you need/want bluetooth, and have some patience or luck when it comes to installing tricky drivers, go ahead, it's worth the money. Otherwise, pass on this one.
4 XP SP2
Just had an interesting experience with a rebuild:
My machine was starting to exhibit the usual Windows syndrome of running slower and slower due to registry bloat so I finally decided to copy off all my important stuff - documents, photos and savegames mainly - and rebuild from the ground up. Naturally, the first thing that I did was to trawel around looking for the latest drivers for all my components and made sure that I had a CD full of everything that I would need.
I'd previously already been running SP2 with the Logitech MX with no problem and was surprised to see so many people having problems but went ahead anyway... and hit exactly the same problem: no Bluetooth control panel icon, no Bluetooth device in Device Manager etc. And yet my mouse and keyboard worked (at a basic level) just fine.
The order of my installation was:
Install Win XP Pro SP1,
Load device drivers for all components,
Load Logitech Setpoint software,
Test !,
Load SP2,
Test !,
Load Office apps etc,
Run Windows Update,
Wait for a couple of hours for updates to complete..,
Restore documents,
Test !,
It was at that point that I started to Google for tips and found that I was one of many who had now lost complete Bluetooth functionality. I saw a few tips about hacking the registry, dowloading Widcomm drivers for other devices, invoking demonic spirits to plague Logitech etc., and was just about on the point of thinking that I could probably live without the BT functionality since the mouse and keyboard seemed to work OK (albeit without being able to set the additional function keys). I used the machine for several days with no problem but still had this nagging annoyance about the lack of BT and decided that I would spend some more time investigating as soon as I got a few spare hours. Who knows, by the time I got around to it Logitech might even have solved the problem for me...
I booted up my machine this morning and I experienced the peculiar circumstance of not being able to click on my name on the Welcome screen. The mouse was moving around just fine but XP wouldn't register a left-click. I tried to navigate with the Tab key and then noticed that the keyboard had lost connectivity. A swift hard reset and I prepared myself to go thorugh the "Press Connect on Mouse, Press Connect on Hub" routine that I've had to every now and then (for no obvious reason that I can determine). XP booted up just fine and my mouse and keyboard were back to normal without having to do the re-discovery bit after all.
I then decided to, just for the heck of it, reinstall the Setpoint software and give it one more chance to behave before I demoted the whole MX setup to the kids PC (and once it gets to that stage its life expectancy becomes very short!) and buy myself a MS BT rig instead on the basis that, surely, MS must be able to write decent drivers for their own hardware... ;-)
Anyhow, imagine my total surprise when, on running Setpoint 2.22 setup, a dark blue BT icon appeared in the Systray !!!! At this point it had the red insert but I was confident from previous installations that this was temporary and that once the devices had rediscovered themselves through the "Press Connect" routine we would be rocking..... AND WE ARE !!!
It's like finding a long-lost cousin and discovering that he still likes the same homebrew - we fit back into the same old routine with no problem. I'm a happy bunny again. I love the feel and weight of the mouse and the responsiveness is the best of any optical mouse that I've used. I can re-sync my phone to rebuild my Outlook address book and they have even put the headset function back in so I can go handsfree with my headphones again.
Thank you Logitech - my faith is restored. I guess that it's sometimes easy to forget the 101 of diagnosis: try re-installing the software before looking deeper and thinking about registry hacks etc. I don't know what we would do now without the web and the combined experiences of millions when trying to solve the tricky problems, but just be careful not to forget the basics...
So endeth the lesson. Good luck!
5 Best Keyboard/Mouse Combo
Pros:
Great Range
Rechargeable Mouse
USB Hub
Keyboard Function Keys
Long Keyboard Battery Life (6 months for me with heavy gaming use)
Cons:
Mouse a little big might need a wrist rest
6 Don't get this if you have XP SP2
Because Windows XP SP2 includes its own Bluetooth stack, it's been a frustrating experience getting this product to work! The two stacks aren't compatible, and Logitech wants you to disable the stack that comes with XP. Even then, things don't go smoothly. Most of the time, when I boot up Windows, my mouse doesn't respond. I have to manually ask the base unit to discover all the Bluetooth devices. I waste a good 30 seconds during bootup just to get my mouse to work!
The other frustrating part is that Logitech, despite all the complants on their website, hasn't done a thing to fix this problem. I've had this combo for about 5 months now, and Logitech still hasn't come up with a fix!
In summary, don't buy this product if you have Windows XP SP2!!!
7 Not for Noobies
I've been using the MX for about 4 months now, and haven't had a single problem. The keyboard batteries haven't been a problem, and I hammer away at the keys for 10 hours a day. The mouse is nice because it has some weight to it, not like the crappy mice you typically get with a new desktop computer.
The only complaint I've got is the amount of clutter on the keyboard. It's got office short cuts, F-keys that double as additional short-cut keys, and it's even got a scroll wheel on the left edge. Why? And the worst design decision of all: the hibernate key is just to the left of the escape key. All you vi users out there may find yourself putting your PC to sleep instead of getting out of insert mode.
Overall, a great product, if you have some amount of clue with which to use it properly.
8 When it works, it works
I bought this keyboard because i have had good luck with logitech products. when this keyboard works, it's nice. i'm running under windows xp home sp2, and every other day or so i need to unplug the usb cable from the back of the computer to get the mouse or keyboard to work. this is after a cold boot. and also everytime i boot the connection wizard wants to restart my mouse. it's annoying, i also purchiced the microsoft product that goes for around the same, and installation was easy and haven't had any issues with the microsoft product. the Logitech on the other hand, i'll think twice before i buy another. I'm using the microsoft bluetooth keyboard to write this review.
9 A great Idea, but poorly executed
Preveously I used the Logitech "cordless elite duo." This product worked reliably, installed easily, and the bundled "itouch" software was intuitive and easy to use. The only downfall was the limited range. If I set the keyboard on my lap, below the level of the desk where the receiver rests, the connection is poor resulting in missed keystrokes. Even with it's heafty price tag I was egar to buy what I thought would be the same keyboard with the extended range of Bluetooth, as well as bluetooth connectivity. Sadly, the "Cordless Desktop MX for Bluetooth" has been sorely disapointing for the following reasons.
1) Fragile transmission device in keyboard. Don't so much as sneeze hard on the keyboard of the transmitter will stop functioning rendering the keyboard useless. I am very careful with my keyboard and still had this problem, and "damage caused by the user" is not covered under waranty.
2) Cumbersome to set up.
3) Bundled Software Stinks. The bundled has been changed from the previously used "itouch" software which was intuitive and easy to use to "setpoint" software which is slow and cumbersome. For example w/ the old software any of the extra buttons at the top of the keyboard could be assigned to almost anything (program, web page, etc) quickly and easily (eg ctrl + button assigns current web page to that button). The new software allows only programs for certain buttons, and only web sites for other buttons, and th process of assigning the button is cumbersome.
4) Several of the keys lack previous functionality. The Mouse wheel lacks the universal scrooll functionality that every other mouse has. Specifically it scrolls ok, but pressing the scroll wheen does nothing. Additionally the scroll wheel at the left of the keyboard no longer has re-assignable functionality (for example many users assign the volume to this wheel, as the other volume controll wheel on the logitech keyboards doesn't work very well.
5) The point about the new setpoint software being bad, really can't be over-emphasized. In addition to being more cumbersome to use, it is a 40mb poorly functioning monstrosity that creates a noticable lag when it's functions are used. (for example when clicking on the "back" button on the mouse, there is a noticible delay before the jump to the prevous web page/folder etc. It is considerably slower that other mice.
I give it 2 stars rather than just one, because during the time it was working (in it's own cumbersome slow way) during the 1 month I used it before the keyboard transmitter stopped functioning, it did connect wirelessly without inturruption.
In summary, bluetooth connectivity for keyboards and mice is a good idea, because of the icreased range, but Logitech really missed the mark with this product
10 Rechargeable Batteries OK
I have used rechargeable (NiMH) AA batteries in several Logitech wireless keyboards and they all work fine. There is a sticker right on the keyboard warning you not to do this, so do it at your own risk. However, I have been doing it for over a year and have had no problems.
11 Won't work with dell bluetooth card
Bought this product and discovered (after hours with Logitech and Dell tech support) that the keyboard will only stay connected if you are using a Logitech Bluetooth hub.
After discussions with Logitech, and telling them I would write this review, they asked me to point out that this problem will occur with any hub other than a Logitech hub, and that they have hammered Bluetooth to solve this compatabilty problem to no avail.
So unless you want to spend 5 minutes reconnecting the keyboard every time you reboot , don't buy this.
12 I'm sorry I bought this
A lot is made in the product description about how the mouse and keyboard can communicate long distances to the hub at the computer, and do so accurately. Well, the communication is spotty at BEST. I have the receiver hub RIGHT NEXT to the keyboard and the mouse and their response often goes into fits where they are both totally unresponsive! It is amazing how useless a computer is when neither the mouse nor keyboard respond! At other times they are only slightly responsive. What a headache to use! Also, I can't figure out why this product is so expensive. You can buy a bluetooth hub for $30 and wireless mouse and keyboard for much less as well. I would recommend going that route. It can't be any worse than this.
13 Perfect until XP SP2 Install
This Keyboard and Mouse combo is a dream. Wireless perfection with a great range -- thats until SP2 came around August 2004. No end of problems as the new Bluetooth functionality of XP SP2 doesn't recgonize the Logitech Hardware. Logitech's software gags on the installation so I'm back to a wired setup. CAUTION: Check the Logitech Website for a SP2 Driver update Before buying this, but once its fixed -- happy days.
14 Logitech Bluetooth MX Duo VS Logitech MX Duo
I purchased this product to updgrade from my regular Logitech MX Duo, because I needed a bluetooth mouse for my laptop, and figured I might as well upgrade my keyboard as well.
While the bluetooth duo (referred to as the bt duo form here on) appears to be a good upgrade from the original MX Duo (referred to as the rf duo from here on), there are some drawbacks worth mentioning.
The most obvious is price. (...) closing that gap considerably.
The keyboard and mouse of both sets are essentially the same, just with cordless technologies. What is not clear from pictures of the product is that the bluetooth duo uses an entirely different color scheme! The rf duo is black and silver, and in the pictures on this site and logitech's site the bt duo appears exactly the same. This is not the case! The bt keyboard uses a very elegant dark gray/bluish silver scheme similar to that of the dinovo keyboard. The mouse on the other hand, replaces the black and silver of the rf mouse with a cheesy looking dark grey and a more sparkly silver. Obviously this is a matter of personal preference, but I think the new color scheme should be noted and made more obvious on the logitech site and store sites. I wish I had known about this color difference when I purchased it, because it doesn't quite match my black tower and monitor.
In addition to this, the new materials in the bt mouse are inferior to those of the rf mouse. The solid feeling, smooth black rubber on the rf duo mouse has been replaced by a rougher, harder feeling substance which doesn't feel very pleasant. The side back and forward buttons don't feel as solid as those on the rf mouse. Overall the bt mouse feels much more like a toy.
The hub for the bluetooth duo is about the same in appearance as that of the rf duo. It is much more powerful however. It is an actual bluetooth hub, and you can connect any bluetooth device to it. One minor gripe for me is that the connect button is lit in this set, with a blue led which looks cool in the daytime. I sleep in the same room as my computer however, and this little light being on at night is going to annoy me.
The most obvious advantage of the bt duo over the rf duo is range. My rf duo could get maybe 6 feet from the computer on a good day. The bluetooth duo has a range of about 5 times the rf duo, and works through walls.
This extended range is not at a price, however. The bt keyboard requires 4 batteries, instead of the original 2 of the rf keyboard. It has been said by other reviewers that battery life is much shorter on the bt keyboard also. I would imagine the more powerful bt radio would cause a significant decrease in battery life. My old rf keyboard went for months on end without replacement batteries. Hopefully the bt keyboard won't bankrupt me from new batteries.
For the mouse this is not as much of an issue due to the charging station, but I will still be bringing extra batteries when I use the mouse with my laptop.
Software wise, I had no problems with the set up and installation of the bt duo. It is a very good, albeit memory hungry software set. The rf duo software used less memory, but this is not as much of an issue to me as it would be to some.
Overall, this is a fine product, but if you don't need the range or versatility provided by bluetooth, I would stick with the tried and true (and cheaper) rf duo.
15 Works Great
Hey, This is a great bluetooth unit. Finally one that I can use to transfer pictures from my phone (T616). And the keyboard does work with rechargable batteries. I am really pleased with this unit on the whole and I reccomend it for anyone who is switching over to bluetooth.
16 Probably the best wireless keyboard+mouse set out there
I bought this set after a long search for a wireless set with a USB keyboard connector for my laptop (thanks to Toshiba for not putting one on my P10). When I opened the box and installed it on my laptop (prior to installing the drivers, which I had to download from Logitech's website) and no problems of detection (both on my Windows XP and Gentoo Linux systems). And everything worked like a dream after installing the software packages. If you take to time to play with the iTouch settings you can create a monster of the keyboard (attaching menus (instead of direct commands) to the hot keys, etc.)
I actually had no intentions of writing a review for this set, I didn't even buy it from Amazon but some of the reviews here gave such a bad impression that I had to. First the bluetooth hub works fine with non-Logitech devices, however if a bluetooth hub or similar device is installed prior to this set, the setup utility limits the hub to the keyboard+mouse set in order not to screw your existing Bluetooth configuration.
Someone made a point about the hotkey icons.
"Shopping Cart" for Shopping
How can you better describe shopping. The same goes for all the other hotkeys. I'm starting to doubt that you are talking about this particular product.
Also the keyboards battery consumption is quite economic, compared to my heavy usage (about 10-15 hours per day)
Why 4 stars? No users manual or software is included with the box. Downloading the software (around a total of 40 MB) can be frustrating for people using Dial-up.
17 Bluetooth is Worthless
I bought the Logitech bluetooth keyboard and mouse because I wanted to use the Logitech bluetooth headset HS01 and thought the combo might be worth it. I should have listened to the hints buried in other reviews.
First the Logitech bluetooth adapter stinks. With the Logitech Hs01 there is lots of static and the headset constantly drops. The adapter also drops the mouse and keyboard at times, and then forces setup again which takes a couple of minutes! When I pair the headset with a Belkin bluetooth hub it works almost flawlessly, and yes the mouse also works. The keyboard seems to have Logitech only logic so forget it.
That leaves the mouse and keyboard. The feel of the keyboard is very nice which is why I give it 2 stars. The funky special keys I could get used to and eventually use.
The mouse I like the shape and feel of, although it is heavy. Can probably get used to half the functions on it. What I do not like is that it takes a couple of seconds for the mouse to be active after you have been idle. This does not appear to be the case when it is linked to the Belkin bluetooth hub, although I only used it that way for a couple of hours.
But the whole thing is going back. I will probably replace it with the MX duo which is the same mouse and keyboard but with just RF. After all why pay the premium for the bluetooh version when the Logitech implementation of bluetooth seems to be poor.
18 Keyboard doesn't work
I eagerly awaited my Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and upon arrival I immediately installed it. That began five frustrating days of troubleshooting. There is no "Manual", you just get this huge picture setup page (like comes with new Dell machines). The troubleshooting contained on this thing does not exist. Since the keyboard would not work, my machine was effectively shutdown. I tried putting my old keyboard and mouse back on, but the machine didn't recognize them either. Spent many hours searching for solutions on the web (on someone else's machine), and have finally found a work around, but it defeats the purpose of installing the system in the first place. The work around allows me to use the keyboard and mouse, but the computer no longer recognizes the Bluetooth hub (even though my keyboard and mouse connect through it).
Logitech's support consisted of "Put it on another machine and see if it works there." That advice came two days into troubleshooting and research. Research found many people with the same problem, so why would I want to "Lock up" another machine? Logitech has yet to respond. Support -5 stars since they are actually hurting my troubleshooting at this point!
Bottom line: Unless you want to take a chance on locking up your machine, wait a few months until Logitech can figure this problem out (may take longer at their current speed of advance)!
19 Not as bad as the_emperor_of_ice_ (reviewer two below) notes
I'm not here to do a full-fledged review. Just that I've installed this combo for both my wife and a friend of mine and have seen a few months with both. Nobody has complained about the batteries or poor icons or what have you. Logitech keyboard designs have been using the same batteries for ages. We have owned about three Logitech keyboards and the batteries have only needed changing maybe once or twice a year tops. I basically just keep an eight pack in the house and have never run into issues. BTW, I get paid to review games. And I'll be honest, I like the Microsoft wireless keyboard/mouse combos as well but I prefer this Bluetooth combos to Microsoft's current one.
The Bluetooth hub worked with both Nokia and Ericsson Bluetooth-enabled phones. The mouse is basically modeled on the Logitech MX700, which has proven to be my favourite mouse since Logitech's iFeel Mouseman (no longer in production). I don't notice lag in games and the charger is nice to have.
I've been using computers (heavy, heavy usage) since 1983-ish and this mouse is nothing close to as terrible as TheEmperorOfIce made out (no disrespect to you--I just don't agree with your summation and I've used these combos for several months). In addition to these reviews, go out and Google this item and read some other reviews and see what they think. Don't just take my word for it. This combo is not quite perfect, but it's pretty damn good.
Last but not least, head over to your local Best Buy/Circuit City/CompUSA/Fry's and check the combo out in person before you go online and order it for less cash. Not every keybaord/mouse combo is perfect for every person. Have a good one and enjoy.
20 awesome
best keyboard i ever had no wirers no problem
21 Half-baked at best
Two things before I begin:
1) I would be EXTREMELY cautious about the positive reviews listed below -- I don't believe that a reviewer giving this more than 3 stars has taken the time to perform a comprehensive or well thought out evaluation.
2) As crazy as this sounds, do not expect this product to work with non-Logitech Bluetooth enabled hardware. This statement is based on my personal experience and is supported by the following language from step 8 of the quick install guide included with the product: "**Important** (Logitech's emphasis): If your PC has another Bluetooth wireless hub or Bluetooth software already installed, the Logitech wireless hub will be installed to connect **only Bluetooth products by Logitech** (my emphasis). Read www.logitech.com/bluetooth/howto for more information about installation." The problem here is that the primary (exclusive?) value-add of Bluetooth is that IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE PLATFORM INDEPENDENT -- CLEARLY IT IS NOT!!! In addition, the aforementioned website is only the entrance point into a maze/blizzard of URLs that detail the compatibility (but more importantly: incompatibility) issues that you can expect to have with this product.
And you know what, this product is so stupid and souless that I'm not going to waste my time giving it the blisteringly savage flame it deserves -- I'm just going to net it out from here...
1) Mouse has 7 buttons plus a click-able wheel -- half of these aren't recognized by popular software packages and games
2) The flippin' (the familial nature of this site prevents me from using a more appropriate adjective) keyboard runs on 4 double-A ALKALINE (i.e., not re-chargeable) batteries. What the H E double hockey sticks was Logitech thinking?!?!?!?!? This outrage alone makes this bundle completely and totally useless for gamers, high-end multimedia users, and/or anyone interested in not having to run around their home in search of 4 batteries to have fun or complete work on their computer. Doh! Doh! and double Doh! (special thanks to Mr. H Simpson for a well appointed phrase).
3) The keyboard icons used to label the easy/quick access buttons are unfamiliar at best, and positively esoteric at worst -- you really need a rosetta stone (I'm sure sold separately) to understand when/why to use these.
But why 2 stars instead of one? If someone at Logitech/Bluetooth had actually spent five minutes trying to understand how consumers want a wireless keyboard/mouse combo to work, rather than bemoaning my purchase, I would be lauding both the miracle of how the soft touch keys/responses of the unit are premo and how the install instructions are so well thought out as to be approachinhg bullet-proof. But at the end of the day, this shouldn't drive anyone to drop almost two bills on this peice of junk.
22 Logitech Cordless Desktop MX for Bluetooth is amazing
The Logitech Cordless MX Duo provided comfort, style, rechargeable mouse and most importantly MX technology. With the new advancement with the MX technology, it was still missing one main component, Bluetooth technology. It makes any component capable of achieving wireless range of thirty feet and nearly perfect communication integrity with the Bluetooth Wireless Hub. Not only does the Logitech Cordless Desktop MX for Bluetooth contain Bluetooth technology, it still retains all previous terrific features from the keyboard and the mouse. ...
23 The curse of cordless is powerless
I still remember when I bought my first Palm III: it was a cool product, but the replacement of batteries made it a very annoying toy. I also find it very un-ecological. Fortunately, the Palm V eventually came out, with a rechargeable battery built in. That made the whole difference to me.
Any cordless device is bound to have this problem, since we haven't yet discovered how to transfer power through airwaves (wouldn't that be a great invention).
The Logitech Cordless Desktop MX for Bluetooth is a perfect example of the above. The mouse ahs a built-in battery that can be recharged in a station, just like a cordless phone. More unfortunately, the keyboard uses four AA batteries.
Any desk product that trades off batteries for a power cable is very questionable in my opinion. If it was hardly justifiable for a Palm, I just can't find a reason to do so for your desktop keyboard. The mouse, on the other hand, is an excellent item. I see that it can be bought without the keyboard--probably a smart trade-off.
The set itself is very beautiful and sturdy, and the installation on XP was extremely easy. I cannot wait to use Bluetooth with my Palm m515. Whether it will drain the battery in two hours is a question I would like to know the answer to.
24 The Best Bluetooth Desktop System
Pros:
Rechargeable mouse unlike Microsoft. Best optical mouse you can buy. Keyboard can enter Bios and wake from suspend unlike Microsoft keyboard. Able to use through a USB switch to share with my laptop and desktop. Excellent feel and feature set. Long range makes it an excellent choice for a HTPC.
Cons:
Short delay while Bluetooth devices are first detected on power up.
25 Finally, a competent Bluetooth keyboard/mouse combo
After the disappointment that was Microsoft's Bluetooth keyboard/mouse combo, I wasn't expecting too much from Logitech's product. However, I'm glad I gave Bluetooth a second chance.
The mouse: Logitech's MX700 is one of the best wireless optical mice on the market today, and it's great that a Bluetooth version is now available. The mouse tracks accurately, without the jitter and lag of the Microsoft BT mouse. I can notice some skipping compared to my MX700, but overall the mouse included with this set works very well.
The keyboard: It's basically the same one as the keyboard in the Cordless MX Duo set, only with a Bluetooth radio instead of an RF transmitter. I like the key travel and tactile feedback of the keyboard, with a satisfying "click" at the end of the keystroke. Old-school IBM keyboard users will know what I'm talking about. Text input doesn't lag, and there isn't a 2-second delay for the keyboard to wake up after a few minutes like on the Microsoft one.
My only complaint is that battery life is on the short side, the included batteries ran out after only three weeks of somewhat heavy usage. Previously, I used a Microsoft Wireless Desktop and Logitech Cordless MX Duo, and those could go for months on one set of batteries. The Microsoft Bluetooth set I used also suffered from short battery life, so I'm chalking it up to the Bluetooth radio.
The charging station for the mouse on this set also serves as the Bluetooth transceiver, so you get a little less desk clutter. The wonderful thing is that unlike the Microsoft transceiver, you can actually connect your other Bluetooth peripherals through the Logitech device. I currently sync my Sony Ericsson T616 phone and iPaq 4155 PDA over Bluetooth with no issues to speak of.
Overall, this is an excellent product and the best Bluetooth input solution on the market. Though it's a bit expensive, it does its job well.
26 So far, rather thrilled
I purchased this product due to its Bluetooth capabilities. While it takes a bit more setup than your standard keyboard and mouse, it works extremely well. The keyboard and mouse work very well and have a great feel. The keyboard is extremely comfortable. The mouse charger also acts as a Bluetooth hub, which I used to connect my Palm Pilot and hope to use with a Bluetooth enabled phone soon.
The software also provides a few nice extras, such as onscreen volume display. Cap Lock/Num Lock/Scroll Lock onscreen display.
It came down to this product or the Microsoft Bluetooth setup. I chose Logitech both because of my previous success with their products and because the keyboard is a standard layout. The Microsoft version moves the Insert/Delete// block of six keys into a two column formation and doubles the size of the delete key. As a programmer, this frustrated me to no end.
Overall I am very impressed and I am planning on purchasing a duplicate set for my home.
