Logitech DiNovo

[2226]

Hi! I just signed up and, would you believe it, I used a dinovo to do so. :)

Anyway, here's the deal I was hoping someone could help with.

I've only had the dinovo setup since Thursday. Plugged it in at work on my workstation running WinXP and an Intel motherboard running the pain-of-my-life 1GHz Celeron. Everything hooked up fine, not a problem in sight. Even got my nokia 6820 all hooked up and running like a dream. The hub stays connected, no faults, nothing, and the thing runs the whole day with loads of typing going on.

But, this little desktop flash-bit is for home. My current setup at the moment is most likely a 5-year old relic, a total nightmare and I'm in the process of piecing bits together for a new machine which must last another 5 years. This old thing is running Windows 2000 on a FIC VA-503+ motherboard holding a AMD K6-2 300MHz (at 400Mhz) [yeah, I know, it is really a relic, but it's done the job of a home PC and the 1MB L2 cache makes a difference :)]. The USB on this is off a riser card.

The dinovo software is installed fine now, but for whatever reason, ever now and again, the hub leaves the party. It switches off from the USB (hitting the keys on the keyboard or moving the mouse makes the blue light on the hub flash indicating it's still there). Win2K reports that there are no drivers installed for my "Generic USB hub".

Who has dealt with crud like this? Is it really the older machine causing the problem or is it Win2K that's too old?

When the hub goes down I cannot reconnect it without rebooting. It went off 5 minutes before I signed up here. :) So I've got no mouse right now.

Another question; wise me bought the US version of the dinovo, complete with 110v power supply. I've now replaced that with the closest 240v supply I could find and this puts out 6V and 1A, which is close to the 5.8V and 1A of the original power supply. When I put the mouse in the hub for recharging the mouse LED blinks green, then immediately starts a furious flash of red. Who knows what the deal is here? Is it overcharging? Does the flashing red indicat that the voltage is too high, must it be 5.8v? According to the "documentation" the LED blinks green while charging, followed by a 5 minute solid green.

Any help appreciated. I guess tomorrow I better source the DFI NFII Ultra Infinity motherboard and get a new machine up and running

[Creamy]

Nice keyboard, but it's definitely not worth it's price at all :) plus I hate flat notebook style keys.

Same here! Although they look really nice! :yes:

[bayrider]

hey Dazzla... or anyone that owns the DiNovo. I know the LCD display notifies you if you have a message on MSN or AIM... but does it say who the message is from? i think its cool if ur playing a game and u get a msg and u know who its from (like a gf :s), so u can tab out and tell her to F-Off without calling u a 100x because ur not answering her msgs.

[SonComet]

I didn't know it could work with AIM. I have AIM and it doesn't notify me... I can see how to turn it on for messenger, but I don't see how to do it with AIM.

[rogerlb]

hey Dazzla... or anyone that owns the DiNovo. I know the LCD display notifies you if you have a message on MSN or AIM... but does it say who the message is from? i think its cool if ur playing a game and u get a msg and u know who its from (like a gf :s), so u can tab out and tell her to F-Off without calling u a 100x because ur not answering her msgs.

lol :D

[digistil]

hey Dazzla... or anyone that owns the DiNovo. I know the LCD display notifies you if you have a message on MSN or AIM... but does it say who the message is from? i think its cool if ur playing a game and u get a msg and u know who its from (like a gf :s), so u can tab out and tell her to F-Off without calling u a 100x because ur not answering her msgs.

Yeah, it shows you who IM'd you, but it currently only works with MSN Messenger (maybe Yahoo Messenger too), but not AIM. I expect AIM to be supported in the next software upgrade (the latest software upgrade finally added Outlook 2003 support).

[blueshirt]

Nice review. Makes me wanna buy one.

[zephiK]

great review :p i think i might wanna get 1

[2226]

Well, to answer my own questions and have it up for reference... seems somewhere along the line on my Win2K installation a set of USB filters for USB 2.0 were installed in place of that for USB 1.0. Hence the switching off and not coming back to life thing with the dinovo hub. Got VIA USB filters installed and, although something still disconnects the hub, just re-plugging it into the USB port again gets it all running sweetly. :)

As for my charger problem, if you see blinking red lights when the mouse is charging in the hub then it seems to indicate an over-voltage situation. I now use a 5.7V 800mA power supply which, amazingly, plugs snuggly into the dinovo hub's USB connector. :) Where'd I get it? Strangely enough the charger I use for my dinovo is the very same one that comes with the Nokia phones! :) My 6310i and 6820 both have a 5.7V 800mA power unit with an identical connector as the logitech's. :)

Now, next problem....

Dazzla, from your use on the dinovo, have any of the keys started to sound a bit "springy" when you release them? My right shift key is doing this. Not impressed.

[SonComet]

My right shift key does this too, and my keyboard is only about a month old. Guess we didn't get 200 dollars worth of quality. I use that key for shift-delete so it doesn't get much use and it still sounds/feels a bit funny.

[Post-It Note]

How easy is it to clean? Say I accidentally pour milk on it. Or soup. On my crappy 3 dollar keyboard I just pop the keys, unscrew the screws, and clean everything with water (carefully drying that sensor paper thing so it doesn't oxidize).

Just in case... :happy:

[Slimy]

PRICE???

looks amazing

[2226]

Yeah, would be nice to know how to clean the thing.

I'm also amazed that such a fine piece of equipment is already showing some flakey keys and I've only been using it for a week. :blink:

And now I really need to upgrade to a new machine 'cos there's something very wrong with my USB on my home PC. Had the dinovo switch off several times again last night. When it connects properly, with USB ports functioning correctly, then it detects and comes back alright, but last night when it switched off I disconnected for 30 minutes and then reconnected and only then did it power up and hook up again. Silly machine.

So, I have a 3200+ AthlonXP sitting in the closet at home, looking to get myself a DFI LanParty NFII Ultra Rev B, but that's kind of pricey too. Anyone know who has a decent price on the NFII Ultra Infinity Rev A+? I don't need flashy glow-in-the-dark cables and PCI bus connectors, so the Infinity A+ is what I want, but they don't import the thing into my country. :(

I checked online, can get NFII Ultra Infinity A+ for around $86, but they won't ship internationally from the USA. Any ideas where I can get one?

Recommendations on a decent case would be welcome too. :) Needs to be plain, business-like, black and silver in colour (the wife has spoken! It must all be colour matched and the dinovo has set the trend :)), must have door on the front (no bays exposed) and big enough for some decent ventilation. Was looking at the AOpen H-700B but that's been discontinued.

I digress... so how do you clean this keyboard?

[Crunch]

Pics look great

Looks nice to me

[PeterClark]

And now I really need to upgrade to a new machine 'cos there's something very wrong with my USB on my home PC. Had the dinovo switch off several times again last night. When it connects properly, with USB ports functioning correctly, then it detects and comes back alright, but last night when it switched off I disconnected for 30 minutes and then reconnected and only then did it power up and hook up again. Silly machine.

So, I have a 3200+ AthlonXP sitting in the closet at home, looking to get myself a DFI LanParty NFII Ultra Rev B, but that's kind of pricey too. Anyone know who has a decent price on the NFII Ultra Infinity Rev A+? I don't need flashy glow-in-the-dark cables and PCI bus connectors, so the Infinity A+ is what I want, but they don't import the thing into my country. :(

I checked online, can get NFII Ultra Infinity A+ for around $86, but they won't ship internationally from the USA. Any ideas where I can get one?

Recommendations on a decent case would be welcome too. :) Needs to be plain, business-like, black and silver in colour (the wife has spoken! It must all be colour matched and the dinovo has set the trend :)), must have door on the front (no bays exposed) and big enough for some decent ventilation. Was looking at the AOpen H-700B but that's been discontinued.

I think you want the hardware section.

[2226]

I think you're right. Will head that way in a little while.

[Mister Lamar]

How easy is it to clean? Say I accidentally pour milk on it. Or soup. On my crappy 3 dollar keyboard I just pop the keys, unscrew the screws, and clean everything with water (carefully drying that sensor paper thing so it doesn't oxidize).

Just in case... :happy:

my sister spilled milk on my logitech keyboard, not one of the cheap ones either, now I doesn't want to work :angry:

[Mystical112]

dyamm if keyboard/mouse die im getting that thing... i got the logitech mx duo right now... no bluetooth just the normal wireless one...

[Galley]

You can get a refurbished DiNovo for $130 from JustDeals.com.  I got a refurbished Driving Force steering wheel from them and it looked brand new.  They carry tons of Logitech stuff.  I think I'm gonna get me one.  :yes:

Just ordered one. :woot:

Subtotal 129.95

Shipping 12.90

Tax 0.00

Total 142.85

[Galley]

I just noticed that it has special F-Keys, but can't quite make out from the photos what they are assigned to. Can someone please post a list? Thanks.

Also, can the volume and mute keys on the keyboard be configured separately from the ones on the media pad?

[Judge Verbose]

I just noticed that it has special F-Keys, but can't quite make out from the photos what they are assigned to. Can someone please post a list? Thanks.

Also, can the volume and mute keys on the keyboard be configured separately from the ones on the media pad?

They appear to be just like other logitech keyboards. so starting at F1 they are as follows(this may be off a bit, but I think it is mostly right).

New, Reply, Forward, Send, Undo, Redo, Print, Save, My Comp, My Doc, My Pic, My Music.

these are used by dissabling F-Lock.

[SOOPAH256]

Also, can the volume and mute keys on the keyboard be configured separately from the ones on the media pad?

i don't think the volume and mute keys can be configured seperately. although the media key can be.

although the global volume should be best, no?

[Galley]

I picked mine up this morning. Contrary to what the store ad said, it was packed in the original box, and it did contain the software disc. It's in excellent condition.

[xSammyx]

the dinovo looks really good but it ****es me off. the bluetooth connection with my keyboard always gets lost and i have to reconnect it. it happens always when my computer is restarted, or comes back from standby. it some times takes a really long time to reconnect cuz it cant find the keyboard.

[sandman78]

Dazzla, it looks like the keyboard might have a very faint green tint to it. The same "greenish blue" color that the mouse is. Am I seeing it right, or does it not have a greenish blue tint to it? Getting ready to order this set and want to make sure I know what it looks like.:D

BTW, GREAT review!