Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave Set
by Logitech
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave Set
Customer Review: Wave goodbye to your boring old keyboard and mouse forever
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I've been riding this Wave for about three weeks now, and I could not be happier. I was never all that interested in going cordless, but I wouldn't go back to a traditional keyboard or mouse now if you made me. All those days of fighting my mouse as cords got tangled or I inadvertently placed something on the cord are gone forever. As for the keyboard, I love its shape and feel, not to mention how much quieter the keys are than those on my old standard keyboard. It even comes with its own dust cover - sure it's just see-through hard plastic, but it certainly does the job. I'm constantly fighting a war against dust over the well-being of my computer equipment, and I really appreciate having this new defensive capability on my side.
Have you taken a look at keyboards lately? A lot of the standard ones are barely large enough to hold all of the keys. Those cheap, awful things make life particularly irritating to me because I need something to support my wrists but absolutely despise the bulky wrist pads that some people put in front of their keyboards. This Desktop Wave keyboard gives me the comfortable palm support that I need and want. Speaking of comfort, I would note that you have three distinct height choices with this keyboard- you can let it lie flat (and I do mean flat), or you can select between two different sets of legs to find the amount of tilt that works best for you.
My favorite thing about this keyboard is a little thing. I can't tell you how many times I've accidentally hit the Insert key instead of the Backspace key while editing a document, then found myself overwriting the next set o f characters on the screen. That is no longer a problem; not only has Logitech moved that insufferable Insert key well above the Delete key, they've also made the Delete key twice as tall. This makes a huge difference for me. Another little change I love is the addition of a Calculator button near the top right of the keyboard. I find myself needing to use a calculator quite often, and it's always such a pain to navigate through my Start Menu or find the Calculator icon on my desktop - now I can just push a button and voila, there it is. One-touch keyboard access to common utilities is a wonderful thing, and you'll find much more than a Calculator button on this keyboard. You can open and control media with a set of media control keys at the top of the keyboard, while Vista users can instantly launch exclusive Vista features such as Flip, 3D, Zoom, Photo Gallery, and Gadgets from buttons located on the left side of the keyboard. If that isn't enough customization for you, you also have the ability to program all twelve of the function keys to do your bidding.
The mouse packs quite a punch itself. The soft rubber grip and distinctive shape of the mouse make it feel as if it were made exclusively for your own hand. The mouse wheel (which I could not live without) is a wonder in and of itself - not only is it incredibly quiet (unlike every other mouse wheel I've ever used), it also has a Tilt functionality built in to it, and Vista users can activate Flip 3D with a simple click of the wheel. You might not even notice them at first, but there are also two unobtrusive buttons on the sides of the mouse which let you page forward and backward in browsers or Windows folders. You can't get much more convenient than that.
Naturally some time to adjust will be required of anyone stepping up to the Wave Desktop experience, but I only had to deal with two minor issues. I use F5 a lot to refresh my browser, and it is now the middle key in a set of three rather than the first key in a set of four (all the function keys are grouped in threes rather than fours on this keyboard), but it didn't take long to break the old habit that had me hitting F4 rather than F5 for. I also Ctrl+click a lot, and so I'm used to sending my pinky finger to the bottom left key on the keyboard, which means I was hitting one of the Vista-specific keys by accident for several days.
So how does this cordless stuff work, anyway? Well, you have a small receiver that plugs into a vacant USB port, and that receiver communicates with the keyboard and mouse with some kind of laser technology. You can put that mini-receiver almost anywhere you want to in the vicinity of your computer, although you probably don't want to place it in close proximity to your speakers. I actually have mind in the floor off to my left, and I haven't had any communication problems. You will need two sets of AA batteries for the keyboard and mouse, but Logitech actually includes four AA batteries in the Desktop Wave box - and quality batteries, at that. If you're like me, though, you're thinking these batteries can't last very long; however, the estimated battery life for the keyboard batteries is an amazing 15 months, while the mouse batteries can last up to six months. That's pretty amazing to me. Both mouse and keyboard also have a warning light that lets you know when the batteries need replacing.
I think many would agree that Logitech is by far the premier manufacturer of computer peripherals of this type, and they've done nothing to hurt that well-earned reputation with this Cordless Desktop Wave keyboard and mouse.
Customer Review: Best ergonomic keyboard I've ever used!
Summary: 5 Stars
When my Microsoft Natural MultiMedia Keyboard, K50-00001 broke, I tried upgrading to the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Desktop 7000, only to find that they'd redesigned my all-time favorite ergonomic keyboard, changing the layout and moving keys slightly apart. The location on the space bar where my thumb came down was now so stiff it left my thumb sore when I typed for any length of time. Since I'm a writer, that wasn't going to work, so I looked around at other keyboards. The Logitech had a really strange shape, but I'd gotten used to strangely-shaped keyboards before, and test-typing on it in a store seemed very comfortable.
I was also really pleased by the fact that the mouse was symmetrical (I've tried many different "ergonomic" mice, but find symmetrical mice far more comfortable), and the mouse wheel had detents (clicks that you can feel as you move the mouse wheel); perhaps some people like a "smooth" mouse wheel experience, but I prefer the finer control of individual clicks, both for general navigation and for gaming.
In addition, this keyboard uses function keys AS FUNCTION KEYS by default, rather than replacing them with custom "macros" that perform unexpected actions when pressed. I never got used to the fact that F2 was "undo" instead of "delete" if the F Lock key wasn't pressed, or that F5 in a browser was "open" instead of "refresh". Some people actually still use their function keys, and I'm one of them! However, you can use Logitech's software to program your function keys to do other things if you want (with the additional press of the Fn button), and you can even reverse it so that they do those things by default and only perform their original functions when Fn is pressed. You do have to give up the "context menu" key in order to get this (on Windows, the key between Ctrl and Alt, which pops up the same menu you would get if your mouse were hovering over the spot where your cursor is and you pressed the right mouse button), but to be honest, I've never used the context menu key in my life, and I don't miss it at all. (In fact, on some keyboards I've found the location so annoying that I disable that key.) It feels like a great change to me!
As for performance, this keyboard quickly turned into the most comfortable keyboard I've ever used. The typing angle is adjustable to three different heights (I use the middle), the wrist-rest is soft enough to be very comfortable without having too much give to be useful, the keys are all easily reachable (and the learning curve was very quick). I've used several different keyboards with different configurations for the home/end/pgup/pgdn keys over the years, and I very much like the vertical orientation with the larger delete key. The mouse is comfortable, and the buttons are easy to reach; the fact that the mouse wheel allows you to press it from side to side to scroll left and right is an unexpected bonus (usually horizontal scrolling is the selling point for those "smooth" wheels, but it turns out you can have it on a mouse wheel with detents, too!).
Last but not least, the "universal plug" that comes with newer Logitech wireless desktops is so small it can easily be moved from the receiver USB cord to my laptop if I want to switch which machine I'm using the keyboard and mouse on -- and it's small enough it doesn't protrude meaningfully from the laptop (though it can still be removed very easily). For reviewers who didn't like the fact that there's "a cable" involved with this system, that's for convenience purposes only, so you can move the receiver if you think you'll ever want to. The 2.4GHz minireceiver can be plugged directly into your computer if you want to eliminate that cord. Personally, I'm pretty thrilled that Logitech included that cord; it saves me the trouble of crawling under my desk every time I want to switch the keyboard from desktop to laptop.
Not only would I buy this keyboard set again, I actually did buy it twice -- once for my work computer and once for my home computer. It's so comfortable I wouldn't want to do without it, and can only hope that Logitech keeps this design for years to come. I'm tempted to stockpile these keyboard and mouse sets so that if they change the design, I don't have to worry about being able to find it again!
Customer Review: Best Keyboard I've Ever Used
Summary: 5 Stars
With its ergonomic design, great functionality and very reasonable price, the Logitech Wave desktop set is an outstanding purchase.
INSTALLATION
The keyboard and mouse each take a couple of AA's, so you need to pop those in first and then plug the USB wireless receiver into your computer. Vista and XP will somewhat recognize that you're plugging a wireless keyboard and mouse in, but for full functionality, you'll want to install the included Set Point software. The Set Point software will install in a couple of minutes, and it is rather intuitive to set up and customize your keyboard and mouse controls.
KEYBOARD
The keyboard has a unique wave design that makes typing easier on your wrists and fingers. After about a month of use, you notice the difference. I have used those split, ergonomic keyboards in the past and liked them, however, the Logitech Wave is a much more natural choice because the keyboard still has a more familiar spacing and layout. The keys are durable, and the wireless speed is spot on; there is no key lag. There is a comfortable wrist rest built into the bottom of the keyboard that functions well. The extra media buttons are all useful: a button for Vista Gadgets, Media Center buttons (play, fast forward, etc), volume control, 3-D flip, zoom, as well as dedicated buttons for Sleep and Calculator. The keyboard has three positions that you can choose from, 0 degrees, 4 degrees, and 8 degrees of tilt (I prefer the 4 degrees). All in all, everything you'd want in a comfortable keyboard without fancy bells and whistles like mini-LCD screens.
MOUSE
This desktop set comes with a wireless laser mouse that holds its own. I will say that my MX1000 laser mouse has more feature buttons and feels a little more comfortable in my hand, but this desktop mouse has a lower profile. This means that I can leave my mouse on my keyboard drawer when I slide it in, while with the MX1000, it was too tall to keep on the drawer tray whenever I slid it to the storage position. The mouse has exceptional tracking and no wireless lag. There are back and forward buttons, and clicking the scroll wheel down can be used to either zoom in and out or open the Vista 3-D flip. All the buttons are customizable with the Set Point software. The mouse is ambidextrous, and sports rubber thumb resting pads to insure a good grip. The mouse is well designed and one of the better ones out there for lefties.
SOFTWARE
The Set Point software is easy enough to install, and will not interfere with your existing mouse and keyboard (important for laptops when you always want to be able to use your native keyboard and touch pad). Opening the Set Point software lets you customize most of the buttons/keys on the mouse/keyboard combo.
OVERALL
I've used this combo unit for almost two months now and I can say that it's the best keyboard I've ever used. The mouse isn't as good as some others, say the MX1000, but it's highly functional and has the surprise benefit of being slightly thinner and fitting on my desktop drawer pull-out. The battery life seems solid, as I'd expect to get at least another 4 months out of them. Considering the sometimes amazingly low price that this keyboard/mouse combo goes for, the Logitech Wave Desktop Set is an incredible value. Highly recommended.
Customer Review: Comparing the Wave to Microsoft's Comfort Curve--on a Mac
Summary: 5 Stars
There are over 100 reviews of this keyboard, so I'll try to keep this strictly relevant to two topics--one people that are using this on a Mac, and two, people who are trying to decide between this and Microsoft's version of this keyboard.
Previous to using the "Wave" I used the Microsoft version of this style. (I believe the name is "Comfort Curve," but I could be mistaken, I bought it a couple years ago, so I may not have the exact product name.)
I don't know who copied who, but basically BOTH keyboards have a unique keyboard layout that to say it succinctly, makes typing much easier and more natural and comfortable, without the awkwardness of some of those "natural" ergonomic keyboards that preceded these.
Though both companies offer a comparable, amazingly comfortable typing experience, the tactile qualities and keystroke noise differ slightly. The Logitech has a firm, yet soft tactile keystroke experience--and it is noticably quieter. The Microsoft one is a bit "harder," more with the tactile qualities of a standard keyboard, and is noisier.
That said, now that I've tried both, along with preferring the keystroke "feel" of the Logitech, this keyboard is much more Mac friendly than the Microsoft one. I've heard some complaining about the driver support and key function/etc. of this keyboard for Macs, but I find that just about everything works and is easily customizable as advertised. (One note: the driver and "Logitech Control Center" interface must be downloaded from Logitech, the disc included with this set is for Windows only.) On the Microsoft version of this style keyboard, many keys DID work for Macs, but many were useful to Windows users more specifically, and the design and layout and labeling just wasn't very Mac friendly.
Given my preference for the "feel" of the keyboard, and the reduced noise, which is particularly noteworthy being a user that "pounds" the keys--often late at night with roommates trying to sleep), and the more Mac friendly labels/design, I'd have to say for a Mac user, the Logitech Wave is the way to go. If you prefer Microsoft, or are a Windows user, there are some advantages/slight differences to the Microsoft keyboard that you may want to consider.
One thing of note to tech design buffs, or just people who care about such trivial things, the USB receiver used for the Logitech Wave set is much more stylish and a far smaller footprint than the eyesore large oval receiver used by Microsoft. This may not matter to most people, but I felt it should be noted for those who care about the "look"/design.
***Edit Note: I give this five stars for being Mac friendly (despite an Apple "Genius Bar" person telling me Logitech was bad) and the keyboard edging out the Microsoft one in my personal preference, but I technically might dock it slightly for the mouse. It's a good mouse, or rather--good enough, but I wish since this is a premium cordless keyboard/mouse kit they had included a more premium mouse. I personally have chosen to use the Logitech VX Nano, which is the smaller "note book" friendly/sized mouse i prefer, and has more useful functions (like limited web browsing control, fast scroller, etc.)***
Customer Review: A new owner's perspective
Summary: 5 Stars
Note: I'm a woman with very small hands. I can only speak from my own perspective and let you interpret how to use my experiences.
I just got this set yesterday and have really been enjoying it. It's much more comfortable than my last Logitech set (LX700), but that comes with it being 5 years newer.
The keyboard seems to be nice and quiet, even for a very fast typist like me. Quieter than any other keyboard I've used before. It's difficult getting used to the new placement of the home, end, delete, page up, and page down buttons, but this is not the only keyboard nowadays that has this. It's not really an issue, just a bit of a learning curve. I like the amount of customization that I'm able to do. I can set my frequently visited web pages to certain keys, have my music pop up with the click of one button, as well as switching between programs without having to go with alt+tab. This is especially nice for people like me with very small hands. One thing that is a bit inconvenient is the fact that the media buttons do not work in Foobar (which is my media player of choice). This isn't really a big deal considering I normally just set my music and minimize the player for several hours.
The mouse is fantastic. I love that it's much smaller than my previous mouse, so it fits really well in my hand. I don't understand those who have complained about the placement of the forward and back buttons. For me, it's actually easier. I have a very small shift (instead of having to completely move my thumb, which was uncomfortable) and bam, the button's been clicked. Have not done it accidentally, but it's very comfortable to use them. Also, I've found that it tracks really really well. I read one reviewer who said that "the problem was obvious when you noticed that the laser is high up and covered partly by plastic". Actually, if you'll notice, the laser is angled in such a way as to be effectively centered even though it doesn't appear to be at first glance.
So, to summarize:
-Keyboard Pros-
Comfortable
Quiet
Extremely customizable
Easy on smaller hands
-Keyboard Cons-
Media buttons do not work in Foobar (my media player of choice)
Home, end, delete, page up, and page down buttons are placed differently than standard (a feature not exclusive to this keyboard)
-Mouse Pros-
Great for small hands
Comfortable
Tracks excellently
Scrolls smoothly in all directions
Back and forward buttons are comfortable to use
-Mouse Cons-
None that I've found.
Also, I found the software to be very easy to install and use. Within about 5 minutes I was ready to go!
If necessary, I will come and amend this review once I've had more time to use it. This is simply my first bit of impression of it. Over all, EXCELLENT!