Logitech DiNovo

[Dazzla Veteran]

What can I say, I'm a compulsive buyer :D I've bought the DiNovo for 2 reasons; first being that I had geek lust and was yearning after it for ages and secondly because I'm getting a 7610 so I would have needed to buy a bluetooth adapter anyway. So I figured, why not buy a slightly more expensive bluetooth adapter with a kick ass keyboard and mouse connected! :woot:

Compulsary first photo, awwwwwwwwwww:

First impressions:

The first thing that greets you when you open the box is the Media Pad, on first thoughts it felt heavier than the keyboard :| now the batteries are in it's levelled it up a bit but this doesn't mean the Media Pad is heavy, far from it. The keyboard is insanely light :| First test you've gotta do on all keyboards is the creak test, we all do it, where you pick up the keyboard, give it a little twist and a turn to check out the build quality.... Silence... This thing is built like a rock.

The keyboard is extremely thin, unbelievable so "Zero Tilt" design it's called, I just call it Laptop keys :p If you hate typing on a laptop, chance are you'll hate this keyboard too. I myself love the silence, the flatness of it, the travel of the keys, everything; so I love these keys :D

By default the keys along the top are F1, F2 etc; there's a F-Lock key a-la MS keyboards yet I can't imagine this will ever, ever be pressed. I hate the stupid functions like "Reply", "New", "Send" etc, I see no point, they're just there to annoy :pinch:

Setup:

This is a pretty complex kit in what it all does, you've got the keyboard (with all the fancy keys), the Media Pad (again, with said fancy keys ;) ) and the MX900 mouse. Not to mention that the base station doubles as a bluetooth hub. So I was pretty surprised to see I could sit back and just watch the show as it set itself up :D

The base station plugs into a USB port, the Keyboard port and the mains. Stick the battereries in the keyboard and the media pad, Logitech supply 6 x Duracell batteries, the MX900 comes with rechargable batteries like my former MX700. On first boot with it all connected the Keyboard and the Mouse worked fine with no drivers, the Media Pad didn't, instead it politely asked me to "Install my software" (written on it's LCD screen) which was pretty cute, so I headed on over to the Logitech website. Now the software for the DiNovo desktop is called "Setpoint" it's not a particulary attractive application but it certainly gets the job done and it does it well.

Upon installation of the software all devices are disconnected, it then proceeds to install all your drivers with the Windows "Add New Hardware" wizard appearing in the backgrond every now and again. The first time it appeared it was waiting for me to click next, I got into a bit of a panic but it timed out and proceeded to search for drivers :rofl: You're prompted to press connect on the mouse then the base station then when it's confirmed it's connected and the BT address you have to click on a chain, then again with the keyboard you connect then you have to type a 4 digit number and press enter (this is to confirm the BT address and authenticate the BT device). Finally you do the same with the Media Pad, 4 digit number then enter (with a cool prompt on the screen :D ) When it's all connectec you're ready to configure the software.

Setpoint:

My personal opinion is that the software is reasonably ugly, I've seen far better designed applications but thankfully it's a good little app :happy:

The mouse section offers all the functionality of the MouseWare software I used with my MX700 so I'm pleased as punch :happy: Now, I've never owned a Logitech keyboard, my last was a MS wireless keyboard. Gladly the keyboard software matches up to the Mouse section, full customisability (if that's a word :p ) every button can be assigned to anything, absolutely quality.

The Media Pad is a little different, it has the same ablities to be customised as the keyboard and mouse but it has an additional section set aside for the unique features offered by the media pad:

As you can see from the screenie there's quite a cool selection of features, recieving messenger notifications and emails on the pad is pretty cool. I dunno how useful it is but hey, I'm a geek :D Seeing "Redmak has just signed in" appear on the LCD is cool :cool:

The Media Pad supports e-mail notifications, messenger info (it tells you when someone signs in and when tey type a message), ID3 info, so when you're playing songs of movies it displays track information and has a seek bar showing you the progress. It has a calculator function so it's a kinda flash, overpriced bluetooth calculator :D Cool thing is when you do sums and crap on it it copies the result to the clipboard in windows so you can quickly work something out and paste it right in. And of course theres's the media controls such as next, previous, stop, play/pause, volume up and down and mute. It also has basic navigation by selecting the NAV key, you have your regular up, down, left and right; but you also have additional functions, back and forward for internet browsing (works flawless in Firefox), Start button, Open and Close. So there's quite a bit this little Media Pad can do.

The software works well with everything I've tried with it so far, unfortunately iTunes track info doesn't display on the LCD, only WMP9 so I'm a bit gutted but perhaps another driver release will fix that. Time for some pictures :woot:

To top it off, my new Workstation photo :woot:

[X@vier]

:o nice workstation. I have the Bluetooth MX Duo and I have problems with Firefox, I just wanted to know if u r having any with ur new toy?

Nice new toy (Y)

[mstx]

That's a realy cool keyboard, looks great with those speakers & TFT (Y):woot:

[Rek]

Nice Review :o

Cant wait for my keyboard heh ;)

[SMeK Veteran]

that looks like a very nice keyboard

its got the same suspend button as my logitech, i find it too tempting to play with, keep putting my pc into suspend and crashing it :(

are you left handed?

just asking cos you put the numpad on the left

i would find it annoying on that side, or are you just doing it cos you can?

[rock30]

Damn you Dazzla! Now I'm going to have to go and buy one! :D I have the same speakers and LCD, and your setup looks too sweet to pass up.

[djsaad1]

i have this keyboard and mouse but have a lot of connection problems. It works fine now but i know if my computer ever resets it will have problems again. By the way its only the keyboard the mouse connects fine everytime

[Zetter]

Nice review, i'm not drooling at all.... well i'm trying not to

You didn't mention how much you got it for?

[Dazzla Veteran]

Got it for ?147.99 from Overclockers.co.uk. The set hasn't had any problems reconnecting on startup, all seems hunky dory. I stuck the pad on the left just cause I could:DD What problems do you have wih Firefox X@vier?

[Symbiotic Hat]

Nice look. Too bad it's laptop keys.

[ApostolicFire]

Give it to me..... NOW! lol

Great pictures and just makes me want to get it even more. (I've had my eye on it ever since it has been announced... just the price kinda hurts the pocketbook)

[djgramma]

Wicked review! I loved this thing from the start and wanted it ever since the media bathed over it. It's a lovely set and will look great with my new computer I'm building.

Hmmm... how's gaming with that thing? Not that it would change my view of it, just curious. hehe... I WANT!

Cheers

[Redestium]

That is one sweet board, I saw it when it was first announced but the price pushed me away.

[russellc]

very nice keyboard and mouse...i saw this on the logitech site some time ago and i wanted to get it, but the $200+ didnt help me :p . congrats :) enjoy :hmmm:

[ForeverUnknown]

wow nice. someone loves to spend :p

[kak]

That desktop is amazing. Are those the z-680s?

[morkuma]

can the numpad attach to the kb, or is it permanently seperate?

[Dazzla Veteran]

Permantently seperate, there's nothing to attach them.

And acid, ya, they are the 680's.

[edmonton]

It rocks!

[PCKing]

I would place that center speaker right underneath that monitor...

Have the drivers gotten any better for that set? I had that set for 2 days and sold it cause the drivers sucked... not worth the 200

[hed_]

is there a "package" without the mouse?

[jaffa]

good review Dazzla.

i would really like this set.. but IMO.. it's not worth that price :no:

i already have a bluetooth dongle.. and i think the screen on the numpad is not something like :woot: .. i mean when you are using the keyboard.. your are sitting behind your pc.. and if you change a song you WILL see it on your screen :p

but other then that.. this thing looks great.. i really like the laptop keys.. soon im getting a keyboard to match my coolermaster preatorian.. maybe the coolermaster q-board it self.. :shifty:

[X@vier]

Got it for ?147.99 from Overclockers.co.uk. The set hasn't had any problems reconnecting on startup, all seems hunky dory. I stuck the pad on the left just cause I could:DD What problems do you have wih Firefox X@vier?

Well the problems only occur when the logitec software is running:((

1) the scroll wheel doesn't work (to open links in new tabs)

2) the go button on the keyboard doesn't work

3) the back/forward buttons on the mouse don't work

if u find a fix for it plz let me know;))

thnx

P.S.

I have no problems with IE :wacko::

[]EGG[]

Daz,

Where did you get your desk from mate? I'm after a few new desks for the home office and it would be nice to find out as we have a very similar setup.

P.S. Lose the net curtains mate, good grief ;)

[NY1]

I got the same cooler master case :) Except my LED's are blue :D