Logitech Cordless Desktop® LX 500 Keyboard and Mouse (967420-0403)
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Similar in Keyboards and Mice
- Ergonomic Fit: Ergonomic Keyboard Layout
- Input Interface Type: Keyboard and Mouse
- Motion Device Type: Optical
- Connectivity: Wireless
- Interface: USB (Mouse) PS/2 (Mouse) USB (keyboard) PS/2 (Keyboard)
- Platform: PC
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An interesting duo
Pros
Wireless, light, easy to use and program buttons
Cons
No rechargeable batteries, PS2/driver problems
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
If you get a good price or need to upgrade, then go for it. Don't go out of your way for it: there are better products on the market.
I must start by admitting that before this purchase, I used the same keyboard and trackball for nearly 10 years. Shocking as this may be, I get quite attached to things. My keyboard had an extra back space where the left part of the space bar was. I also prefer a trackball to a mouse, so I had to reason to upgrade as technology hasn't really changed as far as trackballs are concerned. So what caused me to upgrade? Why, a sale of course. My old set (which didn't even match each other) was getting old, so it was probably time. Don't worry - I keep them around for remembrance.
So here's how it worked out. I get home to find my package on my doorstep - hooray! I open it in anticipation and hurriedly unwrap everything. I get 5 pieces: the keyboard, wrist rest, mouse, receiver, and cd/installation stuff. I follow the directions for using the ps/2 ports and nothing works. Reading the directions I decide installing the software might help. I do and restart and everything is wonderful. Until the next day after I logged out. I then proceed to spend a good portion of the next 3 days trying to get the duo to work using the ps/2 ports. I have tested and it works fine via USB, but I want to use ps/2. A call to Logitech gets me a "bring it back to the store" response even though they admit nothing is wrong with the device itself. It is clearly a driver/windows problem, but no one knows how to fix it. I've tested it on other computers ps/2 and it works fine. So, here I am with a brand new USB hub I had to purchase just so I could use my stupid new keyboard and mouse. So much for the sale.
Down to the good stuff: how does it work? It's great. The keyboard is much quieter than my last (I tend to type pretty loudly - too many years of piano probably). It has a million different buttons which you can use and/or customize if you install their software. On the left are web browsing buttons which include home, search, switch, and back. There's also a scroll thing to zoom. I'm not sure I understand that, but for people like my mom who like things VERY big and share a computer I can sort of see it. However, you can change it to be used as a scroll scroller.
On top, the F-keys all have other functions. They'll open up various Office programs or whatever you tell them to. There is also a media center at the very top to control videos, music, and all of that stuff. Apparently you can use the keyboard itself as some sort of remote, but this seems kind of pointless to me. The keyboard is kind of big to bring all the way across the room and you can't actually see on the keyboard what you're playing next. Also, you have to install additional software to do this.
There are also "My Documents", eMail, Messenger, and other buttons at the top that can be customized and are quite useful. My personal favorite button is the calculator button. I'm an accountant; I can't help it.
The feel of the keyboard is quite nice and it even has some of the short cut keys marked in case you don't know them by now. The wrist rest actually helps and the back lifters come from the side so they're harder to break.
You might wonder why I'm concentrating on the keyboard so much, but the truth is the mouse is not that wonderful. It's a nice optical mouse and has programmable buttons, but it pales in comparison to my MX900. It's functional and good enough though. Besides, it matches the keyboard.
The downside? Well, first you might have problems getting the ps/2 to work if you care about that. I can't be the only one. Second, both the mouse and keyboard run on AA batteries. This is fine, but a charger would have been nice. I already own a few AA/AAA chargers and batteries, so I take this all in stride. As far as battery life is concerned, I've been using both for a few weeks (at most a few hours a day) and everything still works. Reception is okay for the most part. Sometimes I find that what I type isn't all recognized, but that's pretty infrequent.
Overall, it is a pretty nice set, but I wouldn't spend too much money on it. After all, it is still just a keyboard and mouse.
So here's how it worked out. I get home to find my package on my doorstep - hooray! I open it in anticipation and hurriedly unwrap everything. I get 5 pieces: the keyboard, wrist rest, mouse, receiver, and cd/installation stuff. I follow the directions for using the ps/2 ports and nothing works. Reading the directions I decide installing the software might help. I do and restart and everything is wonderful. Until the next day after I logged out. I then proceed to spend a good portion of the next 3 days trying to get the duo to work using the ps/2 ports. I have tested and it works fine via USB, but I want to use ps/2. A call to Logitech gets me a "bring it back to the store" response even though they admit nothing is wrong with the device itself. It is clearly a driver/windows problem, but no one knows how to fix it. I've tested it on other computers ps/2 and it works fine. So, here I am with a brand new USB hub I had to purchase just so I could use my stupid new keyboard and mouse. So much for the sale.
Down to the good stuff: how does it work? It's great. The keyboard is much quieter than my last (I tend to type pretty loudly - too many years of piano probably). It has a million different buttons which you can use and/or customize if you install their software. On the left are web browsing buttons which include home, search, switch, and back. There's also a scroll thing to zoom. I'm not sure I understand that, but for people like my mom who like things VERY big and share a computer I can sort of see it. However, you can change it to be used as a scroll scroller.
On top, the F-keys all have other functions. They'll open up various Office programs or whatever you tell them to. There is also a media center at the very top to control videos, music, and all of that stuff. Apparently you can use the keyboard itself as some sort of remote, but this seems kind of pointless to me. The keyboard is kind of big to bring all the way across the room and you can't actually see on the keyboard what you're playing next. Also, you have to install additional software to do this.
There are also "My Documents", eMail, Messenger, and other buttons at the top that can be customized and are quite useful. My personal favorite button is the calculator button. I'm an accountant; I can't help it.
The feel of the keyboard is quite nice and it even has some of the short cut keys marked in case you don't know them by now. The wrist rest actually helps and the back lifters come from the side so they're harder to break.
You might wonder why I'm concentrating on the keyboard so much, but the truth is the mouse is not that wonderful. It's a nice optical mouse and has programmable buttons, but it pales in comparison to my MX900. It's functional and good enough though. Besides, it matches the keyboard.
The downside? Well, first you might have problems getting the ps/2 to work if you care about that. I can't be the only one. Second, both the mouse and keyboard run on AA batteries. This is fine, but a charger would have been nice. I already own a few AA/AAA chargers and batteries, so I take this all in stride. As far as battery life is concerned, I've been using both for a few weeks (at most a few hours a day) and everything still works. Reception is okay for the most part. Sometimes I find that what I type isn't all recognized, but that's pretty infrequent.
Overall, it is a pretty nice set, but I wouldn't spend too much money on it. After all, it is still just a keyboard and mouse.
