Usability: 8<\/p>\n
Features: 8<\/p>\n
Appearance: 9<\/p>\n
Overall: 8<\/strong><\/p>\n Well, after a thoroughly disappointing time with the Logitech Gaming Keyboard, I replaced it last week with the diNovoEdge.\u00a0 I\u2019d read some reviews of it and it seemed to be getting positive responses, so after some consideration I decided to give Logitech a chance to redeem itself.\u00a0 After a week, I can say that yes, this is a really decent piece of hardware.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been wanting to do a lot of writing on my main desktop, and the sticky \u201cO\u201d area on my other keyboard was becoming an enormous pain in the ass.<\/p>\n On the con side \u2013<\/strong> the keys are small.\u00a0 Not Herve\u2019 Villachez small, but small.\u00a0 Left shift and Enter most notably are narrow.\u00a0 In a form factor as wide as this, I don\u2019t really understand why they didn\u2019t spread out a little more and carry the keys closer to the edges.\u00a0 This is not a major buzz-kill, more just a feature that causes me to wonder a bit about its design.<\/p>\n The mouse buttons take a solid press to activate.\u00a0 Don\u2019t like that.\u00a0 When I click something, I want it clicked now, not after my third try.\u00a0 To counter this, the trackpad\u2019s sensitivity is pretty standard, so I can get things done there when I don\u2019t want to deal with the mouse buttons.<\/p>\n Number pad:\u00a0 this is my biggest beef with this keyboard.\u00a0 I like<\/em> number pads.\u00a0 A lot.\u00a0 Enough that I\u2019m considering buying one anyway to sit on my desk, since this keyboard doesn\u2019t have one.\u00a0 Sigh.\u00a0 Could have been a 10 with a number pad.<\/p>\n Charging:\u00a0 charging\u2019s fine. \u00a0It recharges when put in its cradle. \u00a0However, for some reason leaving the keyboard in the charger (which is powered by its own electrical cord, not by USB) causes the computer to wake up from Sleep mode.\u00a0 That\u2019s a pain.\u00a0 I put my PC to sleep when I stop using it most of the time, not shut down.\u00a0 Having my keyboard keep the machine awake is not optimal.\u00a0 I don\u2019t even know why it\u2019s doing that.\u00a0 I would have thought the programmers at Logitech would have said \u201cKeyboard is charging, send the message to the driver and then stop sending messages until I\u2019m picked up out of the charger, or unless the driver asks me specifically what my charge level is.\u201d\u00a0 Instead, I suspect what\u2019s happening is that the keyboard is doing the equivalent of the Microsoft Clippy-the-Paperclip:\u00a0 \u201cHey, looks like I\u2019m charging!\u201d\u2026\u201dHey, looks like I\u2019m charging!\u201d\u2026\u201dHey, I\u2019m still charging!\u201d etc.<\/p>\n Pros:<\/strong> I\u2019ll start with the fact that it\u2019s pretty.\u00a0 Very pretty.\u00a0 Aluminum base and wrist-rest, black something elsewhere, and good non-intrusive lighting (orange, which doesn\u2019t freak out my night-vision if I\u2019m up late).\u00a0 It looks very cool, and sits low on the table even with legs extended.<\/p>\n Keystroke travel is short \u2013 about on par with an average notebook \u2013 and very smooth.\u00a0 The keyboard itself, while thin, has a satisfactory weight to it that gives it a good \u201cheft\u201d, as well.\u00a0 It is wireless, which I am unsure about (I don\u2019t like the idea of my keyboard running out of charge at an inopportune moment, but that hasn\u2019t happened yet, so I may be worried about nothing).\u00a0 I haven\u2019t yet figured out the distance at which it loses its ability to talk to the included Bluetooth hub, but it seems fine within my living room, which is probably about all that matters.<\/p>\n Having a built-in track pad is a pretty nice feature \u2013 though it\u2019s mounted on the right rather than in the \u201cnotebook standard\u201d center beneath the keys\u2026so I find myself occasionally going after it with my thumb only to find it isn\u2019t there.\u00a0 This is actually a benefit, because with notebooks I am constantly cursing them for letting my thumb accidentally swipe a select across entire paragraphs of text, which then get wiped out with the next keystroke.\u00a0 Just having the track pad there on the keyboard saves me from switching to a mouse all the time, which is itself really good when I\u2019m just navigating on the desktop.\u00a0 Wouldn\u2019t use it in a game, but it does the job.\u00a0 The touch-volume control is also pretty nice, even if it is \u201cgadgety\u201d (read: I don\u2019t really know why they went with this metaphor \u2013 it\u2019s cool, but it takes up a lot of space that could have been better served with some extra key space).<\/p>\n The included software (used for re-mapping certain keys) installs okay, but is a pretty awful UI for its intended purpose.\u00a0 Someone needs to clue in the folks at Logitech that they can use a bigger chunk of my screen if it\u2019ll help me figure out how to use their apps better.\u00a0 I won\u2019t be running their config tool that often that a big screen footprint will bother me.<\/p>\n Charger has a really small footprint, and can be set on a tower case without blocking the ventilation grille.\u00a0 No problem.\u00a0 Dropping the keyboard in there gives you both an audio and visual cue that the board is now charging.\u00a0 Good on both fronts.<\/p>\n Overall: <\/strong> 8 out of 10.\u00a0 I’m glad I bought it, and I\u2019d recommend buying it to practically anyone.\u00a0 I certainly am looking forward to doing a lot of writing on it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n