Hi all,
i have recently purchased this Logitech DiNovo Edge keyboard and i must say that i am highly impressed.
it is much like a high quality laptop keyboard with the build in touch pad mouse and touch pad volume controller.
it is very easy on the fingers, whisper quite, light as a feather and only about 10mm thick.
once you install the acompanied software you can view your its battery life from your tool bar, customize some buttons, adjust sensitivity and if you go into the program it will tell you how many days you have left before you need to charge it, at present mine has 61 days of battery left and it has decreased accurately for the seven days i have had it.
in my opinion it has been built to a very high standard in quality.
it comes with a very sleek and space aged looking charging station to match the keyboard itself, doubles as a stand and the battery thus far has lasted a lot longer that any other wireless instrument i have had yet.
it is blue tooth and it comes with a one year warranty.
I would give this keyboard a 9.5/10 and well worth the hefty price tag. it makes writing just that much easier and in fact i wrote this article just so i could have a go at it.
I also purchased seperatly the MX Revolution mouse.
this is also a very impressive piece or equipment and i love how it has the option for either accurate click by click or free spinning scrolling.
both the keyboard from dick smith electronics in chatswood sydney with a price match to ITEstate.com.au for $242 and i got the mouse online from shopbot for $120.

if you have some money to spare and are looking for a top end keyboard then i would highly suggest you look into the dinovo edge.

Regards,
Simon.

Simon - your post is far more of a plug than a comment or review. But I can't complain too much as I has a Dinovo edge as well. Yes it is an exceptional keyboard and it comes with a bluetooth 2.0 adapter.

I have two issued with mine. One is that it doesn't work particularly well with my logitech MX270 bluetooth mouse. The software will recognise both and allow you to monitor the battery charge, customise buttons etc, but the bluetooth 2.0 dongle seems not to be backward compatible with the mouse - I have the stupid situation of two bluetooth dongles from the one manufacturer plugged into my PC.

Secondly, the customisable function keys on the keyboard light up when pressed - it is a pity logitech didn't think to have them remain lit at all times (or just identify with an icon on the plastic) - it is very difficult to remember which key has been customised to what function when they all look the same. This might be due to the need to preserve battery life, but is probably also related to a desire to have form over function.

Even if your pc/laptop has built-in Bluetooth do you still need a dongle?

Also a couple of reviews said the touchpad on the keyboard is slow and not very accurate. Is this why you both seem to be using a mouse as well? I was thinking of this unit but would like to just use the keyboard.

Not sure that it will work with a built in bluetooth chip. Mine did not work with the existing bluetooth dongle I had. If that is important to you I suggest checking with logitech before buying a dinovo. It comes with the dongle in any case, so you'd be spending the same amount regardless of whether it worked with your existing bluetooth chip.

I find the touchpad is fine. It even has a scroll function which works ok. I just prefer a wheel mouse (and already had it).

true i guess it was just more of a plug lol.
i dont mind the mouse pad thing i find it pretty good i only use it when im on the pc lounging on the couch.
you can get the keyboard without the mouse bit and get a numbers pad instead but the keyboard itself is not as fancy.

Thanks for the info. They seem to be on ebay for about $250 delivered.

Do either of you have a wireless network going as well? I tried a BT mouse and phone with my Toshiba wireless laptop and it seemed to interfere with the network. Toshiba actually warns about that.

Yep - have never had problems with wi-fi and bluetooth. Have used both alongside each other for about 4 or 5 years - I've lost count of the number of bt headsets I've had. Had the keyboard for a few months now and it does not interfere with my wi-fi (router is about 3m from the keyboard) or with any of the other 5 wi-fi LANs I can see inside my house....

The main hassle I have with the dinovo is that when I want to boot into XP instead of vista I have to plug in a USB keyboard. The dinovo works with both vista and xp of course but the bios and the boot loader on my pc will only support a keyboard with a physical connection - so when the PC boots up and asks me to select which OS I want to use I can't use the dinovo to make a selection. Normally, this is not a problem as my default OS is vista. During startup windows loads the dinovo driver and everything works fine. I guess this would be a problem with just about any wireless keyboard.

Are all the keys backlit like Microsoft's upcoming 8000 Wireless Entertainment Keyboard?-

http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseand...ls.aspx?pid=080

The actual keys on the dinovo are not backlit - just the icons for the programmable function on the top row of function keys. Also, the volume control touch sensitive pad has a line of lights that track your finger as it moves up and down the pad. Same for the mouse pad.

The dinovo is a nice looking unit though, similar deep black shiny cover to the ps3. In fact, I'm minded to try it with the ps3 (although I bet it won't work with the bluetooth in the ps3).

I have one and I love it! The TouchPad is a bit insensitive but it works OK.

I have purchased both the Dinovo and edge and the MX revolution mouse and am also very impressed with both. I would say that although the mousepad on the keyboard is extremely useful, it would not be wise to only use it and get rid of a mouse altogether in day to day use.

The only other thing i have found is that i often accidentally touch the Capsolck when using the A key which has been mildly annoying - could it be a little closer to the A key than a traditional keyboard?

I would give them both 9 out of 10

Logitech have just announced a PS3 specific keyboard:

GIZMODO: Logitech PS3 Keyboard

I have one of these and I am very satisfied with it as well. I have been searching for a nice keyboard ever since my original IBM Model M keyboard died >10 years ago. The keys on the DiNovo Edge are NOT the normal rubber dome construction - these keys are double hinged which is why they feel so nice when you press them ... and which is why the keyboard is so expensive! This is also the best constructed keyboard since the original IBM Model M.

A few gripes though:

- No numeric keypad
- Mouse touchpad ... pretty redundant feature.
- I wish it had more programmable custom keys, or a way to reprogram those zoom keys to the left.

Just thought I'd add something I've discovered about this keyboard. The keyboard and the USB Bluetooth adapter it ships with are designed to work together in "embedded" mode. They can also work together as normal bluetooth devices do. In embedded mode the adapter and the keyboard seem to be permanently paired at the hardware level to the exclusion of other bluetooth devices. The adapter will not support other bluetooth devices and the keyboard will not look for any other bluetooth adapter.

I only found this out when I reinstalled windows on my PC and naturally the keyboard was one of the first pieces of hardware I reinstalled. During the installation it gave me the option of installing in embedded mode. Previously, I hadn't seen this option and I think the reason for this was I had already installed a bluetooth adapter for my mouse.

Since reinstalling in embedded mode the bluetooth connection has been faultless (previously I would have to reconnect the keyboard about one in every 30 times I used the PC). So if you have the dinovo Edge, look to install it in embedded mode (although you'll then need a second bluetooth adapter for any other bluetooth devices you use).

My main gripe, along with every other Logitech keyboard I seem to keep getting suckered into buying, is that the keys wear off!!

Are you talking about the dinovo Edge or a cheap Logitech keyboard - no sign of wear on mine and just can't see how the keys could be moved. This thing is rock solid!

Yes the Dinovo Edge. The white letters/numbers are just an overlay and wear off with usage, leaving you with blank black keys. The letters/numbers are wearing off my dinove Edge just like the did with the diNovo Media Desktop Laser combo I had before it... obviously Logitech dont want to make the letters/numbers part of the plastic key so your forced to replace a perfectly good keyboard. Total ripoff but what are their competition? At least I'm not wasting my money on replacing combo's now. Something to be aware of anyway ie. these keyboards arent meant to last, even if theyre $300+

I have been using the diNovo edge for almost a year now with a mac mini HTPC set up. Although the many of the additional function keys don't work it was fairly compatible despite not having any Mac Os support.

Important things like the trackpad, volume slider and most keys worked straight away and I have heard of people using special software to configure the additional keys although I never found this necessary for my needs.

The one problem I had with the Edge was the size, for a HTPC you need something a lot smaller and finally my dreams have come true . Yesterday as part of a major HTPC makeover I picked up a diNovo mini and for it's application I think it's best media centre control I've seen. Again the dinovo mini has no mac support but I didn't worry about this too much went ahead anyway.

I was quite surprised that almost all of the dinovo Mini's controls worked with the mac. Except for the record and email the media controls work perfectly with itunes, the volume control works there is also a mc mode that works with Front Row. In fact the dinovo mini could completely replace my apple remote if I can figure a way to launch Front Row with a special function key.

In comparison to the bigger Edge the diNovo mini definitely lacks the some of the quality of the Edge. The track pad is not as smooth and doesn't have the scroll function which I really liked but it does have up and down buttons that work for files and web pages.

The unit is tiny and it is far more suited to a media centre where you only occasionally require a keyboard for passwords or a bit or web browsing.

I paid $129 from a computer supplier in Brisbane and I think I will be putting my edge up for sale on Ebay as is no longer required.

Patrick

My battery is starting to die. Charge - discharge times are getting shorter and shorter. Only last a few days now.
Could be a major flaw with this keyboard, given the battery is not replaceable, not easily anyway + no external power jack.

Out of interest Pixels, how old is the keyboard? Mine has been going OK for about a year.

Sorry for my slow here, forgot which forum I posted this on!
I bought mine 19/05/07. If the battery is only good for 18 - 24 months, then it's a complete waste of space and money!!
I'll be peeling the bottom off first before I trash it though, to see if I can fit another battery.

Hold on a sec, may not be battery after all.
Got cranky with it cause it would loose comms with the dongle, picked up the front edge and let it drop back to the table and all the orange lights came on momentarily then faded away- still no comms so dropped it again and all the lights lit again - this time it started working and has been working much better ever since.

I had noticed this effect some time ago on a few occasions now, when I went to use the mouse pad and got no response except for the pad illuminating. Would start tapping the pad really hard in frustration and suddenly all the keyboard lights would come on momentarily and the keyboard would start working again.
Seems maybe a sus connection somewhere.

Glad to hear it's probably not the battery pixels - although I guess that's not much consolation for you as the thing still doesn't work properly. Probably not much chance of getting a repair at any sort of reasonable cost either I imagine.

Fortunately I'm an electronics tech, so if push comes to shove then I'll have no hesitation in peeling the bottom off and threatening it with a hot soldering iron