11959 The first thing I'll say about the Logitech diNovo Edge Bluetooth keyboard is that it's very likely the most aesthetically stunning keyboard that's ever been made for Mac computers, with its high-gloss, piano black, semi-translucent plexiglass finish accented by a brushed aluminum palm rest, all imparting an aura of posh elegance. It looks even better first-hand than it does in pictures, and it's mighty impressive in pictures.

It's stunningly good-looking in the way that, for instance, the Apple G4 Cube was, only this Logitech keyboard is built to a higher standard of finish than the Cube ever was. Build quality is superb, and it has an extremely solid and substantial feel that belies its delicate detailing and slim profile.

The aluminum palm rest with its extremely nicely-done anodized-silver finish looks good with any Mac computer, especially the aluminum iMac and the MacBook Pro and aluminum PowerBooks. The 'board housing is fabricated from a single-cut piece of black Plexiglas and then set in an aluminum frame and the aluminum palm rest that should make MacBook Pro and PowerBook users feel right at home.

IMHO, the diNovo Edge makes the Apple BlueTooth keyboard look like a wallflower to its belle-of-the-ball, the aluminum unit a bit stark and kind of gimmicky with its anorexic thinness by comparison. The Logitech 'board is slim as well, but still with enough meat in its section to have just about the right amount of key travel and conventional, slightly contoured keys.

Logitech boasts that the diNovo Edge is the "world's most advanced keyboard," and after using it I have to agree that they may have an arguable point.

My second observation is that I've tested quite a number of keyboards over the past several years, and they have all had their virtues, but after I had put them through their paces I was always eager to get back to what has been my favorite keyboard by a wide margin for some time - the Kensington SlimType. Not with this one though. I find the diNovo Edge such a pleasure to use that I'm in no hurry at all to switch back. The SlimType is still probably my favorite keyboard all round, but this Logitech diNovo Edge is definitely a powerful contender, and of course it wins the appearance laurels hands-down.

However, it's not perfect. For one thing, it's a Bluetooth wireless 'board, which means that you have to muck about with Bluetooth pairing to get it set up. Fortunately, Mac OS X makes this process relatively simple and straightforward, but it's still a modestly time-consuming task. If you;re not familiar, the User Guide that comes with the keyboard walks you through it. I found that I had to make several pairing attempts, "restarting" the keyboard by turning it on and off, before my PowerBook's built-in Bluetooth finally recognized it. Subsequently, every so often the "Connection Lost" dialog will appear and keyboard response gets interrupted. The issue remedies itself momentarily, and it may be some sort of idiosyncratic glitch particular to my PowerBook/Leopard setup, but I've never noticed problems with other Bluetooth devices. There is also a short latency when you wake the computer from sleep mode while Bluetooth re-establishes a connection, and you can't just hit the spacebar to make the Mac wake up like you can with a wired keyboard.

On a positive note, you don't have to clog up a USB port with a cord or receiver dongle if you have a natively Bluetooth-equipped Mac. Range is 30 feet, although I'm buffaloed as to why that's even a bragging point for a keyboard.

The keyboard is claimed to be the first ever wireless unit (and I can't think of another) powered by rechargeable 950 mA worth of lithium ion cells, which must be recharged from time to time by inserting in the supplied charger dock, which is also highly styled in that drop dead gorgeous piano black, and serves as a storage stand for the keyboard when it's not in use. Logitech says a full charge takes about four hours and will last up to two months. A quick 5-10 minute charge will give you about a day's worth of power if you're in a rush. A small light illuminates on the keyboard while its charging.

The Logitech diNovo Edge emulates Apple's Bluetooth keyboard in dispensing with the numeric keypad and the numbers 13 through 15 F-keys. This helps make the 'board extraordinarily compact , measuring 16.1 in x 8.3 in x 0.4 in. The trim dimensions will be welcome where desktop space is at a premium, but I miss the dedicated number keys and particularly the Enter key which is more convenient to hit than Return in many instances, and IMHO you can never have to many F-Keys. I especially miss the right-hand number keys when switching between OS X 10.5 Leopard Spaces, of which I keep nine configured, constantly switching among them, which now requires a reach to the top of the key array with this unit. I'm fairly used to being without a numeric keypad and a full set of F-keys, being a laptop aficionado, but I'm of the school of thought that external keyboards should have one.

Something the Logitech diNovo Edge has in common with laptops that most freestanding keyboards don't is a built-in trackpad or "TouchDisc" in Logitech terminology - located not in the center but to the far right (where a numeric keypad could be if they hadn't left it out). Fortunately, this tiny (38 mm diameter or about the size of a Silver Dollar) TouchDisc supports "tappable" gestures just like a laptop keyboard, because the commensurately tiny left and right click buttons are much too small, awkwardly placed, deeply recessed, and stiff of action that I found them little better than useless. The TouchDisc also supports scrolling gestures, both vertical and horizontal, and that certainly can be useful, although I generally prefer just to use a mouse. Moving your finger in a circular motion from respective starting points around the perimeter of the TouchDisc lets you to scroll horizontally and vertically through documents. To scroll vertically, touch the white dot on the right side of the TouchDisc and rotate clockwise (to scroll down) or counterclockwise (to scroll up) around the perimeter. To scroll horizontally, touch the white dot on the top of the TouchDisc and rotate clockwise (to scroll right) or counterclockwise (to scroll left) around the perimeter. It's more intuitive than it sounds. According to Logitech specs., scrolling speed accelerates from a resting state to 10 times the average cursor speed with a flick of your finger.

The advantage, and the point being of course that at least theoretically you could get along with just the diNovo Edge and no separate pointing device that all, but trust me; you wouldn't want to. The TouchDisc is circular as its name implies, and very small, but has a peripheral Orange ring that illuminates when the pad is activated. Just above the touch this is a volume control touch slider and a mute button. I found that they work OK, but I would still rather have the numeric keypad. Okay, I'll shut up about that.

There is also a button to activate Apple's Front Row, if you have it, which I don't, so I couldn't check that feature out.

As for the feel of the keys themselves, it is excellent. I think I still prefer the feel of the Kensington SlimType keys, but the diNovo Edge's key action is excellent, more than a bit like a good laptop keyboard, which is high praise coming from me. It's no coincidence, because the PerfectStroke technology used for the diNovo Edge's keys is the same scissors action that most laptops use these days rather than the rubber membrane domes that are more typical of desktop keyboards these days. The scissors action distributes force evenly across the key surface - so pressing the edge of a key works as effectively as pressing its center - a boon to haphazard typists like me. As I noted above, the Edge's keys have just about the right touch and amount of travel - short, light-but positive, and with a soft landing, but longer travel than with the Apple aluminum keyboards or the also ultra-thin Kensington Ci70 wireless keyboard. Specifically, the PerfectStroke keys require 60 grams activation force have a travel of 3.2mm, shorter than a typical desktop keyboard's 3.5mm to 4.0mm, but longer than your typical notebooks' (or Apple's aluminum 'boards' 2.0mm to 2.5mm. As Goldilocks would say, "not too long; not too short; just right.

OK, enough with generalities (for the moment) and let's get down to some particulars.

The diNovo Edge's box is extremely attractive, albeit a bit large considering the svelteness of its contents. When first unboxed, the diNovo's surface and that of the charging dock are covered with a thin, protective clear plastic film. Some users might opt to leave it in place, but if you do you'll miss out on the full aesthetic joy of this unit. The extreme glossy black reflectiveness of this unit made me apprehensive about it showing smudges, dust and fingerprints, but actually it's less of a problem than I had imagined. INdeed, my deduction would be that it will age more gracefully than my poor old white kensington SlimType has, the latter now stained and yellowed, with the labels beginning to wear off the most frequently-used keys. Logitech thoughtfully includes a soft polishing cloth with the diNovo, to help keep it spotless, so to speak. Actually the 'board is so lovely to look at, you do feel a bit inhibited about using it. It inspires you to make a bit of effort to keep it looking spiffy. Incidentally, don't go overboard with the spiffiness. Logitech warns somewhat ominously to not use soap or any other type of cleaning product on this 'board, and to stick with the supplied soft cloth.

Upon unpacking the box, you will find the keyboard module and charging dock module. an AC power adapter for the charger, a CD with the Logitech Control Center driver software installer, about which more in a moment, the aforementioned polishing cloth, and a small manual, which is very attractively presented and covers all the basics of setting up and using this keyboard. Another classy touch is that the latter three items are packed in a discrete envelope, printed to match the box design theme.

THe diNovo is supposed to come with its battery at least partly charged so you can get up and running without delay. I didn't bother checking that out, and charged it before I put it to work. To charge, just plug the power adapter into the dock and drop the keyboard module into its storage slot. Two electrical contacts connect by default, and you're good to go.

Basic keyboard functions are supported by OS X without the Logitech Control Center drivers installed, but if you want to get the full functionality like the fn-key shift configurations and the TouchDisc scrolling functions, you'll need to install the drivers, which requires a restart of the Mac.

The General Control Center pane (Control Center is accessed through the OS X System Preferences) includes a battery charges level gauge and several configuration options.

THe Keys pane lets you assign custom functions to the F-keys.

THe TouchDisc pane does likewise for the Touch Disc. It's all pretty intuitive.

The diNovo Edge has an 84-key QWERTY layout (as opposed to 105 keys on a standard desktop keyboard), with 18x18mm keys, and in appearance (other than color) it reminds me a lot of the keyboard in my 17" PowerBook. The basic alphanumeric keys are conventionally arrayed laptop-style, and the Caps Lock key has very charming and melodious chimes accompanying its on-off cycle, which helps compensate for its close-coupledness which makes inadvertent activation more likely. There are full sets of Command/Option/C ontrol modifier keys flanking the Spacebar (bravo!).

It's to the right of the main key array that things get a bit unconventional, although there is a full-sized set of inverted-t navigation keys where you would expect them to be. North of their central limb we find a double-sized Forward Delete key and a Home key, while to the right of that row (bottom to top) are Page Down, Page UP. and End keys (the latter location being something I'm finding difficult to get used to). Then across the top of the 'board are, left to right, an Escape key, the 12 F-keys, an Eject key and a fn key which allows you to assign optional functions to the F-keys when the Control Center Drivers are installed. Over on the far left periphery are a set of tiny, flush-recessed multimedia control keys and at the very top a Launch Sleep Mode key.

The 57 mm, touch-sensitive, vertical strip, volume control slider on the right increases or decreases audio volume as you move your fingertip up or down and has orange dots that light up where your finger is, following its track until you release it from the keyboard. During Front Row playback, the volume slider on the diNovo Edge keyboard duplicates the functions of the + and – buttons on the Apple Remote, adding more fluid control and visual feedback.

What else? Oh yes, there are a couple of flip-down legs at the back of the keyboard for those who prefer that ergonomically-incorrect mode. I prefer my keyboards flat.

As you may have deduced by now, I'm pretty smitten with the Logitech diNovo Edge Bluetooth keyboard. The main downside is its price, listing at $159.99 for the Mac version, which is happily 20 bucks less than the Windows version, thanks presumably to not having to include a USB receiver dongle with the Mac unit. Let's see; you could get five Kensington SlimTypes for that and have change left. However, all that high-end goodness does cost money.

I'm giving the diNovo Edge Bluetooth keyboard a 4.5 out of 5 Applelinks rating.

System Requirements
• Mac OS X 10.4 or later
• Internet connection or CD-ROM drive
• Bluetooth enabled Mac computer

For more information, visit:
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/keyboards/keyboard/devices/4429&cl=us,en

Charles W. Moore

Tags: Hot Topics ï Reviews ï Hardware Reviews ï

Login † or † Register † †