Easily one of the best productivity investments I've ever made!

Great Keyboard | Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave Set

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	• Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave Set Logitech Logitech average customer review:based on 92 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Mouse is not great

Although I like the way the mouse fits my hand, I inadvertently click the "browser back" button constantly with my thumb. Also, when highlighting text, the mouse has a disturbing tendency to shift focus when I let go, so that I end up typing over text I wanted to keep instead of the portion I intended to delete.

Easily one of the best productivity investments I've ever made!

I have to tell you first off that I am not an employee of Logitech.... I know, pretty suspicious to start with that, right? The reason I say that is because this will be one of the most glowing reviews I've ever written about any product...

I just got back from Circuit City (about 3 hours ago). I purchased this keyboard and decided to install it before going to bed.

In short, I'm stunned by what this keyboard can do. All I can say is that I've just begun using it and was so excited at the increase in my productivity I jumped online immediately to write this review. I know, how in the world can I possibly know that a silly keyboard could improve my productivity... and especially after just a few hours using it? In short, it's THAT good...

One thing you should know is that most of the sales copy you'll see about this little guy comes nowhere near describing the EXPERIENCE of using this keyboard. So let me try to fill in the gaps... I'll start with the features and save the EXPERIENCE for last.

First off, this thing has 17 programmable buttons. Yes, 17! The F1 - F10 keys have a complete 2nd set of programmable functions. You can program them to do whatever you want. But by default they have icons screen-printed on them to "pre-assign" them to common functions: F1) Launch MS Word (or your word processor) F2) Launch Excel (or your spreadsheet program) F3) Launch your calendar view (typically in Outlook) F4) Launch a program of your choosing (1) F5)) Launch a program of your choosing (2) F6) Launch a program of your choosing (3) F7)Launch Internet Explorer F8) Launch your Instant Messenger program F9) Launch your email view F10) Perform a web search on any term or phrase you've highlighted in any program (a super-powerful feature ).

That's just the beginning. There are also large programmable buttons around the main keys. They do things like Zoom in and out, Launch Yahoo Widgets, Launch your photo viewer / organizer, launch your media player, and launch your calculator. Plus there's a complete set of media controller buttons (volume up/down, stop, play/pause, next track, last track, mute).

I mentioned the buttons are all programmable, but here's one of the really sweet aspects of this keyboard. Once you've installed the included software, Logitech successfully configures the buttons for the default operations. The button for Word successfully launches Word. The one for Excel launches Excel. The one for Calendar brings up the calendar view of Outlook. The one for email brings up the email view in Outlook. Plus, all the media controls actually work! Talk about a thing of beauty.

Now, for those of you who love total control and customizeability (I know that's not a word) you're going to love this: Remember I said the buttons are programmable? What that means is that you get this super easy-to-use software utility from Logitech that lets you customize the buttons to no end. You can customize them to: 1) Open a Web page; 2) Launch a program; 3) Open a file; 4) Open a folder; 5) Execute a keystroke combination; 6) Do nothing; 7) Perform one of the default tasks that had been assigned to other keys; 8) Show a custom menu.

I want to highlight one of these options in particular:

8) Show a custom menu:
Here you can group common programs and Web pages you use and have them pop-up in a single menu to choose from (similar to the menu that pops up when right-clicking an icon). How would you use this? Well, let's say you do all your finances on your computer and you use three banking Web sites, and run Quicken and Quickbooks. You could group all these items into one pop-up menu, then, when it's time to do finances, you hit that button and select the program or Web page to launch as needed.

Or if you're a Web Designer, you could group all your common Web development tools and resources into one of these custom menus to pop-up and select the program or reference site you need. The possibilities are darn near endless.

The Logitech software utility has one other really nice feature: You can turn off buttons that you never use -- like that pesky Insert key! Does ANYONE ever use that thing?

OK, now for the really cool part: The EXPERIENCE: Imagine this:

You wake up or get to work and start up your computer. With a single keypress the first thing you do is launch your media player and put on your favorite album -- maybe something to help you stay focused. You quickly use the - (there's a picture of an envelope on the key) to launch your email program. As you begin deleting all the SPAM messages, you hear co-workers arriving so you quickly tap the volume button to lower the volume. Virtually no break in concentration. A few minutes later the phone rings -- you click the mute button on your keyboard to silence the music. Once the call's over, you hit it again to unmute it (again without having to switch to your media player program). You open an email from your boss and notice she's written it in that microscopic 7pt Times New Roman font again. Why does she do that? No problem, two taps of the "Zoom in" key and the text is easily readable. Hmmm... she's asking you if you've heard anything about the new "iPod Micro"? Heck if you know! You quickly highlight the "iPod Micro" text in her email then hit the One-Touch Search combo. Google (or whatever search engine you want) launches with the search results already displayed. No need to copy the text THEN launch Google THEN paste your text THEN hit enter. One function key combo and it's done. You find out the product's going to be unveiled in three weeks and the thought goes through your mind that you should set a reminder on your calendar to check the Web again in 3 weeks.... but.... the very thought of navigating to the calendar view in Outlook seems like such a nuissance for such a small task... ahhhhh... no problem again. You hit your Calendar shortcut combo and you're taken directly to Calendar view in Outlook and quickly key in the reminder (and remember, you can program it to launch a different program if you don't use Outlook for tasks).... on and on it goes with you living happily ever after (well, you get the point).

Oh, I should also mention the comfort of this little beast. It's exquisite. The key presses are supple, soft yet firm (not a contradiction if you're picky about your keyboard!), quiet, and beautifully dampened in their action and return. The wrist rest is one of the best I've seen by far. And the ergonomic fit of this thing is perfect. In case you haven't figured it out by now, I'm also an engineer, and I've been waiting and waiting and waiting for an ergonomic keyboard that doesn't take an extreme approach to revamping the keyboard. This is a beautiful blend of ergonomic design and classic keyboard layout.

This keyboard comes oh so close to being 100% perfect -- but, alas, I have one gripe. Logitech must've had trouble squeezing in all the keys because they had to change the layout of the Insert | Home | Page Up | Delete | End |Page Down key cluster -- this is the cluster of keys just above the arrow keys. Instead of two rows of three keys it is two colums of three keys (actually the Insert key has been moved out of this cluster -- a good thing -- and the Delete key now spans the size of two keys). Seems like a major thing initially, but you'll get the hang of the new layout. Definitely worth enduring the small re-training of your brain to reap all the other benefits of this gem.

FYI: I use XP Pro. Best to check the other reviews for its performance on Vista. Oh, and even though I bought the mouse and keyboard set, I didn't intend to use the mouse, so I can't comment on that -- the keyboard alone is worth $90.

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Great Keyboard

Layout is very comfortable to use. Works great. Had no problems setting up. Would recommend this Keyboard to anyone looking for a keyboard for their laptop computer. Mouse also is comfortable and works with no problems.

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GREAT keyboard!

I love this keyboard & mouse! The best design I have EVER used & I have only had it less than a week. Quiet, nice touch. WONDERFUL!!!

I have tried several keyboards for Carpal Tunnel, ergonomic designs, all have made the pain in my hands worse, but not this one.

I am so glad I found this keyboard, I highly recommend it.

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