If there’s one keyboard that’s on the tip of every Mac user’s tongue, it’s the Logitech diNovo Edge. This slim, sexy, wireless keyboard has caught the attention of many a Mac users. Sure the Apple keyboards are slim and sexy, but considering almost every Mac user out there has one of them, you don’t feel so special. Of course there’s more to the diNovo than just feeling special, so let’s see what it’s all about.
The Look
The keyboard is a flat out stunner. It looks even better on your desk than any of the product shots I’ve seen. The entire keyboard is laser cut out of a single slab of plexiglass. The keyboard area gets a glossy piano black finish, which naturally attracts fingerprings and smudges. The wrist rest is made out of Anodized aluminium, a perfect complement to your iMac. In my case it only made the white plastic on my iMac look old and lame.
The keyboard is riddled with orange LEDs, but not the kind you will find on your average HP notebook. They are all hidden under the skin, and light up only when an action is triggered. The only time they all light up (and it looks drop dead gorgeous) is when you turn on the keyboard.
The Feel
The keyboard is heavy. In a good way. It feels like a solid block that will not break if you hold it on one side. Next I want to talk about the keys themselves. I think the main feature of this keyboard should be the PerfectStroke™ key system that they advertise.
It’s a dream to type on. Everything from the key travel, to the way they sound, feel, and respond is perfect. I usually max out at 85wpm on a normal keyboard, drops down to 80wpm on the flat chicklet keyboards (perhaps I’m not used to them), but can easily cross 100wpm using the diNovo. Hands down, the best keys I’ve typed on.
The Mac
The diNovo Edge was initially a PC keyboard (as most peripherals were). Thankfully Logitech (and others) are noticing the Mac community, and have made a real Mac version of this keyboard. The Mac Edition comes with the Command, Option, and Control key trio. They’ve even made the Command key larger than the other two.
The F1-F12 keys are hotkeys for various Mac functions: Brightness, Exposé, Dashboard, Mail, iTunes, and even have Finder functions for Quick look and Spotlight. Personally I’m more used to using keyboard shortcuts than to waste time learning those hotkeys, but they’re there for when you need them. One little keyboard feature I’d like to mention, is that the Caps Lock key beeps when you enable it.
To the left are three media keys for Play/Pause, FF and RR. The LEDs next to them light up whenever you press one of them. Unfortunately for some reason these keys were a little unreliable, so I had to use CoverSutra to control my music. It’s seems to be a software issue which will hopefully be fixed.
Apologies for the blurry shots. That’s the best I could do given the circumstances (you wouldn’t understand)
Over to the top right lies the Front Row button. Nothing needs to be explained here (except that the LED that lights up also says Front Row).
The Touch
To the right is the TouchDisc and touch sensitive volume slider. The TouchDisc is your average PC trackpad, only circular. If you start at the dot on the side, you initiate a vertical scroll, while the dot at the top initiates a horizontal scroll. Takes a bit of time getting used to, but the scrolling works perfectly. Logitech uses the same scrolling acceleration “Hyper Scrolling” as its Revolution series mice, which allows you to quickly skim through a whole lot of pages.
The disc lights up the moment you tap inside
The TouchDisc is only truly useful for when you’re sitting away from your Mac. The responsiveness of the trackpad is average at best, so you wouldn’t forgo your mouse in the bargain. The circle is also a little too small for any real work. That is, apart from the fact that a circular trackpad was never meant to control a rectangular display in the first place!
Logitech has put two buttons below the trackpad (you can also do a tap to click). But the real genius is the left click button which is placed on the left side of the keyboard, right under the media keys. This allows you to control the mouse using your thumb, while clicking with your left hand.
The volume slider on the other hand is super cool. You just slide up or down to increase/decrease the volume. The LEDs on the side light up just as you move your finger, giving you visual feedback as to what is happening. Very useful and works just as you would expect it to.
The Freedom
The Bluetooth keyboard connected effortlessly with the Mac. The Mac of course was designed with Bluetooth inputs in mind, so it even functions well while operating boot functions. I could use the keyboard for around 8 metres away, with steady mouse sensitivity. Now wireless also means that it’s based on a battery. I’m pleased to report that the keyboard lasted a whole month on a single charge (which takes just a couple of hours to do so). The charging station looks good, but is unnecessary clutter on your desk.
Notice those smudges? I actually cleaned the keyboard before the photo shoot
The Verdict
I’ve totally fallen for the diNovo. Going back to my white iMac keyboard, I know that I won’t survive with it for long. The keys have a whole lot of travel, which means it takes a lot of effort to type on. The slim new Apple keyboard on the other hand is too flat, so I don’t know what I’m typing (end up making a bunch of typos). The diNovo is the first keyboard where I thought the keys were made just for my fingers.
I practically used almost all of the functions of the keyboard. I’d sit back on the easy chair, managing some podcasts while surfing the web (Safari 4’s full page zoom came in real handy). The scroller was also useful considering my Mighty Mouse’ scroll ball has eaten a lot of gunk.
At $160, the diNovo is expensive, and I would think twice before spending that much. For $105 at Amazon, the keyboard is a steal and I would buy it in a heartbeat. If only it were even available in India…
Have you used the Edge before? Any plans on buying one soon?
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