Customer Reviews

Logitech Cordless MX Duo 967300-0403

5 star:		(58)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I just received my cordless mx duo and have to say that this is by far the best keyboard and mouse I have ever owned. The keyboard is whisper quiet, the mouse is so responsive I sometimes think it's telepathic, and the enclosed software (this refers to the Mac OS X software) is top-notch, easy to use and programmable to your liking, plus incredibly stable. The price alone for both products (and only having to deal with one cordless transmitter and losing only one USB port) is reason enough to buy them together instead of separately. Even if you're thinking of just getting a new mouse, or a new keyboard, get them both and watch your amazement at how wonderful these two products work seemlessly together. Even the keyboard has a little scroll wheel and internet buttons if you don't feel like reaching over to your mouse (which also has a scroll wheel) or taking your hands off the keyboard because you're busily typing. This is one mouse and keyboard that even Microsloth can't copy (their late-in-the-game accessories are made by hewlett-packard and redistributed under the MS logo) just yet. But give them time. ;)

Every button on each Logitech product is fully configurable, but you may not want to fiddle around in the Logitech control panel. The default settings are already intuitive, and the mouse feels so good under your palm, you'll probably be saying goodbye to sore wrists in no time! Speaking of which, the mouse is incredibly smooth and responsive (for a cordless optical), and you have to wonder how they did it. Which I did, and I learned that it uses the very latest in cutting-edge RF technology. If you're a graphic designer, or even a regular computer user, you will not regret this purchase. People who have tried my mouse and keyboard were simply stunned by its incredible looks, feel, and handling. And so will you. Though your boss may think you're not working because the keyboard is so quiet!

I've only been using the keyboard and mouse for a couple of days, but am pretty happy so far. My MX 700 isn't having any trouble on a semi-glossy table top and the range is nice. So far, the only problems have been these:

1. After installing software from included CD-ROM, mouse stopped working (I assume an issue with microsoft mouse driver or old mouseware compatibility, not sure). I restored my setting and downloaded the newest mouseware from logitech indivually and it worked fine.

2. F11 and F12 keys are supposed to go to "My Pictures," and "My Music" respectively, but they are instead linked to "Owner's Pictures," and "Owner's Music." Running XP with different users, I want the F11 and F12 keys to be user specific. I have contacted Logitech and will update if the problem is solved (I have downloaded the most recent i-Touch software).

Overall, a very nice product so far. Even if the F11/F12 doesn't straighten out, I would probably only drop to 4 1/2 stars. Nice design and functionality. The mouse is ultra usable in that all 8 buttons are useful.

*****UPDATE--Problem worked out. Under configure for F key, had to choose "open folder" and another pull-down appears to let you browse what you would like to link to an F key. Also, logitech customer service was surprisingly friendly and useful.

My faithful keyboard of about seven years died suddenly. I decided to spring for a wireless keyboard and mouse. I've never used wireless keyboards or mice before, so I can't compare the responsiveness of these devices to anything but wired devices.

I can't complain about the mouse. It's really responsive, the buttons are nicely customizable. I've found one app that ignores the "cruise scroll" buttons. "Universal Scroll" works in relatively few programs, and when it does work, it goes WAY too fast to be useful. These are both very minor issues, and this is a huge improvement over both the mouse and trackball I was using before (I still use the trackball sometimes).

I'm less impressed with the keyboard. I often find myself typing ahead of what's appearing on screen, which has never happened to me with a wired keyboard (except over a slow modem connection). Additionally, many of the buttons assume I'm a MicroSoftie. iTouch buttons configured to launch URL's don't work in Mozilla 1.4 (they do nothing). Same with the iNav "Go" button. Function keys set up for email functions don't work in Eudora 4 (they do nothing, and cannot be reconfigured to the point of assigning a key combination to force them to work with your email client). "Favorites" opens Internet Explorer and its Favorites sidebar, despite Mozilla being my default browser. The iNav "back" button is pretty unresponsive when using it in "forward" mode (shift-back. You have to let up on both "shift" and "back", making multiple rapid "forwards" hard to do).

There are also two incredibly poor design choices made that will require you to change your habits around the limitations of the hardware. First, there are no LEDs on the keyboard, which means that if you want to quickly check to see if Caps Lock or Num Lock is on, you need to look at the base station (or an on-screen display). Second, the base station needs to be placed at least 8" away from other electronic devices, yet it comes with a very short 4-5' cord. With a full tower case on the floor on one side of the desk, this severely limits placement (Logitech suggests AGAINST using a hub, like in some monitors, a switchbox, or an extension cord). When I move in a few months, I'm going to need to design my new computer layout based on the limitations of the Cordless MX Duo base station's short cord!

Overall, the convenience of going wireless has won me over, and none of the "problem keys" on the keyboard are essential. The time lag issue is not significant. The only issues that I think are significant are the hardware design issues I mentioned. Those will be an annoyance for years to come. I'd rate it a 3.5/5, but since I can't, I'm choosing 3 instead of 4. Some of these issues may be resolved with future software updates, but the worst of the issues cannot be resolved without replacing hardware.

** Note - since writing this review, I took someone's advice and placed the base station where ever I wanted to (right near the monitor, in my case). Despite Logitech's warnings to the contrary, I've noticed _no_ difference in performance or reliability since doing this. This also makes NumLock and CapsLock more easily viewable than if I were to follow Logitech's advice.

I've been using the Logitech Cordless MX Duo for a few months now of constant use. I am a big time typer and gamer and have easily but this keyboard and mouse combination through over 1000 hours of use.

The keyboard works great and does not have any latency at all, even when typing at extremely high speeds in excess of 120 WPM. The spacebar and return key on my keyboard are constantly struck, but they continue to work fine. After typing more than ten pages of text a day, all the keys are still responsive and feel the same when struck as when the keyboard was originally purchased. My keyboard has been running on its original set of batteries for months and hasn't slowed down whatsoever. The spacebar hasn't even shown any wear on the plastic which is the first time I've seen such a trait on a heavily used keyboard's spacebar.

The mouse also works very well with great response both in the OS and games alike. The mouse needs to be charged often, but as long as it's in the cradle for a few hours at a time every other day or so, it works fine.

The only problem I've been having with this combination wireless set is purely with aesthetics. The mouse paint is slowly starting to wear off due to heavy usage, exposing the white and silver plastic beneath. The areas showing the most wear are on the left mouse button, the base where my palm rests, and the left hand side where my thumbs rests. In these areas small patches no more than a few millimeters across have developed, completely revealing the plastic underneath.

All in all, this is a great keyboard and mouse combination for both the typical and hardcore computer user. If you don't plan on using your keyboards for hundreds of hours on end then it is highly unlikely that you will see the wear issues I described. If you will be using it constantly, and aesthetics aren't a concern, than I highly recommend this combination set from Logitech. For the average user of course, this keyboard rocks - plain and simple.

I've been using my new mx duo for only a few days now and have very little if any gripes. Both the keyboard and mouse are as reliable as a corded mouse and keyboard, the mouse battery seems to me more than enough to last users. I consider myself a hardcore gamer and when i get on the comp I spend at least 4 hours straigt playing games or powerbrowsing and this duo works breat for both. The mouse is more responsive than my old wired mouse without the hassle of a cord, the mouse also has lots of little features to make browsing the internet and gaming more efficient. The keyboard is great and well made but this is the only area I have grips in, lack of a cap, num or scroll lock light on the keyboard and lackof ingame cap lock change support (or at least in counterstrike) but these are all minor for a very comfortable featureful keyboard. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.

After I drowned my last mouse (they don't swim), I finally had an excuse to get the cordless optical mouse I had been eyeing for a while. This cordless mouse/keyboard duo doesn't disappoint.

This is a great set all around, but I thought I'd address some concerns or trouble points I've read in other reviews:

Mouse Accuracy: Some people have complained about the mouse jumping around the screen, moving in the wrong direction or being unresponsive. The key here is to make sure to use the risht surface for your mouse and its optical eye. I had some similar problems until I found the right surface for the mouse. I'm using a pad with a dark, slightly coarse surface, and the mouse works flawlessly, much better in fact than my old corded trackball mouse.

Mouse Battery Life: Fully charged, the batteries last through 2 days of heavy gaming. With the rechargeable base, leave it to recharge at night and you'll never have a problem. Should the charge happen to run low, a quick 10 minute charge in the base will get you going again. If you can't get through a full day on a charge, try new batteries or exchange the charger base, because something's wrong.

Media key Compatibility: make sure you download the lastest software updates from the Logitech website. Yhe media keys work on all my programs, including itunes, windows media, and sonic cineplayer. Even a lesser known program, like Quintessential Player works fine.

No Caps lock or Scroll lock lights on keyboard: I would assume this is obvious, as having lights on the keyboard would drain the keyboard batteries unnecessarily. The Num lock and Cap lock lights are on the charger base.

Radio Interference: I have my charger about 10 inches away from my cpu, 1 foot away from my monitor and 2 feet away from my 2.4 Gigahertz cordless phone. No problems at all. I have also had no problems with channel interference between the mouse and keyboard.

On-screen display interferes with games: I haven't experienced this problem myself, but there is an option to turn the on-screen display off. I would think this would solve the problem.

All in all, this is a great, feature packed duo. More programmable buttons on the keyboard than you will probably use, with a great feel to the keys as well. The 8 button mouse may seem a little confusing or "busy" at first, but in no time you'll be wondering how you lived without them.

Two minor gripes: The volume dial has a short delay before it kicks in. This can be annoying if you're not paying attention as your music may be playing a lot louder than expected if you're not careful. Also, no manual at all. It's features are easy enough to discover on your own, but at quick reference guide at the very least, would have been nice.

Let's first start with a brief history on Logitech, they've been making top keyboard and mice for quite some time now, but since Windows XP they've put out a line of "MX" products, and so have many other people, the software developing studio Macromedia for example.

This line-up has mice from top performance to budget price experience, ranging from the MX300 to the cordless MX900.(Atleast at the time of writing this!)

The MX300 is pretty much a standerd mouse of about 30bucks, and the MX900 is a hefty 120$ mouse with bluetooth technoligy.

Now, the review:
The keyboard is one I've had my eye on, but it wasn't available cordless without a "crappy" mouse, but with the MX700 (more about that bad boy latter in the review) this was getting very interesting, and it was 120euro so it wasn't cheap but it was well worth the money, the keyboard is funtional because it has an "F-Lock" which lets U assign completely new funtions to the F-Keys with the touch of this F-Lock button, pretty nifty if you ask me, and especially helpful for grandma or even your kity :D but ofcourse also helps me with my workflow from time to time, and the INav wheel can prove useful when configured to something other than scrolling :)

And now that's just performance, it types extremely well with it's semi-milky buttons and doesn't hurt your fingers very much at all, and the design is ace...sleek black with a silver finish, almost makes me wanna take him to bed, well maybe not that extreme but it looks very very nice!

Now for the mouse:

It has 8 buttons, which means added workflow when browsing and more buttons at your fingertips in games.(NOTE: Most games only support the thumb buttons, some support everything, others don't support any other than the scrollwheel and 2 primary buttons) and as with the keyboard this is a graphical beauty this is a beauty AND a beast, a big mean weightlifting chick...hah, sounds good 2 me ;)

That also means it's quite heavy and the batteries will need to be reloaded (through the cradle or if you use re-charable "fat" battries at home) about every 10-15hours.

I also advise getting a mousepad from Ratpadz, Icepad, or Everglide...it will give you more life battery, and increase the accuracy on this baby, and do NOT get me wrong, this is 1 optical cordless mouse that does NOT lag!

Now the bad points summed up:

-The keyboard could use Num-Lock, Scroll-Lock and Caps Lock lights, but those ARE on the cradle...and it saves the battries of the keyboard so, it's understandable but it is a con.
-The "Media" button supports alot of media players like Winamp for music and PowerDVD for movies, but not everything!
-I can't get fast forward/rewind to work, it always automaticly switches to the next track.
-Now for the mouse it is a little getting used 2 at first, but it's doable and not at all to the point where it's annoying.
-Not all games support every button on the MX700 and some games will flip when you turn on the Num-Lock in when in a game.
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Overall:

A kick-ass pick for your next keyboard+mouse combo, wether it be if you wanna go wireless that's perfectly possible now without any lag and dead on accuracy, or you just want the sexiest hunk 'o combo on the market, Microsoft is losing with the release of this product, and that's good news...bring on competition -> prices lower, so the consummer is ALL for it, don't get me wrong though..this is a hefty 100$ so it ain't cheap, not by a LONG shot!

I found the Logitech MX Duo keyboard mouse combo after originally buying Microsoft's Wireless Desktop combo product. I was extremely dissappointed with the Microsoft Wireless desktop as it never worked properly (Specifically, the wireless mouse). The microsoft keyboard was nice, but the mouse was highly erratic, slow, and choppy. I went through all of the troubleshooters, to no avail.

Alas, after reading numerous positive reviews I purchased Logitech's new MX duo. Right out of the box, I could tell the fit and finish were superior to the MS Wireless Desktop. The major difference between the two products is the performance of the wireless mouse. The MX 700 is more ergonomic, heavier, and comes with more features than the MS Wireless Optical Mouse. Most importantly, it works! It works beautifully! Just like a corded optical mouse, which is important if you need exact control in design programs and gaming.

I highly recommend this product.

I bought this product roughly 6 months ago and have nothing but praise for its performance to date.

General thoughts:

1) No-wires - Fewer tangles under my computer which is tangled regardless. I personally have found I really do not need a wireless keyboard as far as using it remotely from my computer. However, I have had ideas of using this for gatherings and presentations, especially when used in conjunction with a projector.

2) Batteries - I have not had to replace the batteries at all yet. The mouse batteries run for an extremely long time and I find it is a long while before it tells me it needs to be recharged. Speaking the charger. I have the remote unit located fairly close to my monitor and without a longer cord (as provided by logitech) I do not see how I could follow their instructions of keeping it relateivly far away. That said, I've had zero problems with using this unit.

3)Ease of install (btw, I have just backed away from my computer about 7 feet from my computer while writing this review and am experiencing zero lag while typing this.) I would go onto say that I had little difficulty in installing ths product, but do consider myself to be an above average computer user and it may be easier for me than other people. Logitech does provide a quick-start guide, so you should be able to follow along and get the unit working.

Overall, this is a high quality product and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Update May 2007: Wrote the review in 2004. First removed the batteries from the keyboard just two months ago! Great keyboard and mouse still.

The MX duo comes with the MX700 optical mouse, which is a good idea if you're into gaming, because it has a higher response rate compared to other cordless mice. Also, what's nice is that although the keyboard and mouse need batteries, the keyboard supposedly lasts months, and the mouse comes with a base station / receiver to charge the mouse (using an included rechargeable battery.) As long as you keep it in the receiver/base station when you're not using for stretches of time, it'll always be charged. Also, the mouse has a little light that blinks its battery status.

Both mouse and keyboard are very comfortable, and I'm getting used to all the buttons. I'm happy with my purchase!