The Logitech diNovo keyboard is one of the very high end keyboards in Logitech’s line of product. It is feature packed but not a keyboard that is designed for everyone.

Design

The design of this keyboard is unusual although it is very comfortable to work with. It features a small touchpad on the right side and touch sensitive volume control above it. It also has a brushed aluminum palm rest which keeps your hands somewhat cool even after a few hours of work. The keyboard is slim, measuring less than half an inch at the thickest point. Unfortunately, Logitech thought that having a glossy contour was a great idea but I can say that after just a few hours of work, it’s already full of finger marks, especially below the spacebar.

Keys

The keys on this keyboard make me think of those great IBM/Lenovo laptop keyboard. They are very sturdy and they feel well balanced. The only thing I can find to complain about is having the bottom row of keys rounded. This can get a bit annoying and takes a few days to get used to but won’t really affect your typing.

Features

Like I mentioned earlier, the keyboard feature a nice touchpad, in the form of a small disk, on the right side which is a great feature if you are going to use this keyboard for a home theatre system. On the other hand, having a touchpad means that you are losing the numpad For some, like myself, it’s not a big deal and we can live without it but if you are doing a lot of Excel and similar work, you may want to reconsider. The “touchdisk” has a scroll up/down and side scroll that work by moving your finger around the disk.

The keyboard also has quite a few multi-media keys. There’s the volume control above the touchpad which is touch sensitive and lights up when you slide your fingers over it to give you an idea of the current volume settings. Above it, you have a Media Center key that would be used to launch Media Center if you are on Windows Vista or Windows XP Media Center Edition; otherwise, it launches Windows Media Player, by default. Above the function keys, you have shortcut keys glowing when you hold the “Fn” key down. Most of these will use either your Windows settings or the software settings to start your email software, messaging, browser, etc. You will also find the “Play”, “Stop”, “Previous” and “Next” buttons. The last 5 “F” keys feature 5 programmable functions keys when you hold the “Fn” key.

Finally, on the right side, you will see the zoom-in/zoom-out, zoom reset and sleep button. These can come handy if you want to quickly zoom-in on a document while typing.

Software and connectivity

In my opinion, the software is great. It is very functional and you can easily find all the information and settings in a matter of seconds. The software gives you the opportunity to change a lot of setting including the behaviour of the “Fn” keys. In terms of connectivity, the device uses Bluetooth and comes bundled with an adapted in the event that you don’t have it already in your computer. The reception is great, you can be far enough and the computer still picks-up the signal very clearly.

Battery and other

The battery life for the keyboard is awesome. With only 90% of the battery, you will easily last a month if not two. In the rare events that you need to charge the keyboard, you simply drop it on the charging base for an hour or two and your back to 90%. Again, with the charging base, Logitech thought that it was a great idea to make everything glossy. This means that you will have a few finger marks on it too. To fight those marks, Logitech was nice enough to bundle a cleaning cloth that works well enough.

Conclusion

This keyboard is a joy to work with. It’s only disadvantages are that it does not have a numpad which for some can be very annoying. Another problem with the diNovo is the glossy casing which is a finger mark magnet. On the positive side, the keys are sturdy and the aluminum palm rest keeps your hands cool.

Pros

• Long battery life
• Sturdy and well balanced keys
• Brushed aluminum palm rest
• Feature packed keyboard and software
• Integrated touchpad

Cons

• Glossy finish
• Touchpad leaves no room for a numpad

Rating

8/10