Digital Trends

Logitech diNovo Edge February 13th, 2007 | by Brandon King

Features and Design

Its no secret that we’re fans of Logitech input devices here at Digital Trends, and the DiNovo Edge keyboard is an example of what we have come to expect from the Master of the Mice (or, in this case, the King of the Keyboards).The DiNovo Edge carries the name of Logitech’s premium designer input device line, and leaves previous DiNovo models in the dust when it comes to features, style, and the overall package.

Packaged with the Edge keyboard are a USB 2.0 Bluetooth receiver (pre-paired with the keyboard at the time it’s manufactured), charging dock, microfiber cloth (for cleaning up fingerprint smudges), power cord, and software CD. The keyboard itself measures only 11 mm thick (about the height of your thumb) and is constructed from a Plexiglass composite. This means the keyboard is not only thin, but incredibly durable. The surfaces surrounding the keys are a glossy black, with the wrist rest made of brushed aluminum. Surrounding the full-sized keyboard are shortcut buttons and controls galore.

Along the right side of the keyboard are the most interesting and innovative controls. A touch-sensitive volume slider that glows a soft, fading orange color as the user’s finger brushes the glossy surface. At the base of the volume slider is a mute hard button, and above the slider is a Windows Media Center Launch key. Below the volume control is a circular track pad, which is used for mouse control and scrolling. Below the track pad are left and right mouse buttons. When in use, a ring of orange light illuminates around the track pad. The track pad supports both horizontal and vertical scrolling. Also, in some cases the track pad can get in the way, but Logitech allows the user to quickly disable it with Function + Left Click. Along the left side, you’ll find the mouse left click, zoom in/out/100% buttons, and the sleep button. All the hard buttons have a fading, glowing indicator to confirm they have been pushed.

When the function button is toggled, switching the F-keys to shortcut keys, glowing icons identify the function of each key. These include quick access to your favorite VoIP application, a quick search application, e-mail, and a web homepage. The second set of four function key shortcuts is tied to media controls (forward, back, play/pause, and stop). The final four function keys are user-customizable and can be set (like all the previously mentioned function keys) to open web pages, applications, documents, and folders; they can also simulate keystrokes.

Image Courtesy of Logitech