Logitech diNovo Mini Keyboard
Manufacturer: Logitech Part number: 920-000594
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- If you're a home theater PC owner looking for the perfect input device, look no further. Logitech has melded the keyboard of a BlackBerry with a flexible cursor control pad into an attractive, coffee-table-ready package that will let you master your HTPC without cluttering up your living room with clunky hardware.
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CNET editors' review
Logitech diNovo Mini Keyboard price range: $119.99 - $143.97
- Reviewed by: Rich Brown
- Reviewed on: 01/05/2008
- Released on: 02/28/2008
The good: The Logitech diNovo Mini's elegant design won't besmirch your living room; it gives the HTPC owner full cursor control; keyboard is well-suited to situational typing; easy setup; it works with your PS3.
The bad: Pricey; touch pad occasionally inaccurate; no Xbox 360 or Apple support.
The bottom line: If you're a home theater PC owner looking for the perfect input device, look no further. Logitech has melded the keyboard of a BlackBerry with a flexible cursor control pad into an attractive, coffee-table-ready package that will let you master your HTPC without cluttering up your living room with clunky hardware.
Logitech's diNovo Mini does for home theater PC keyboards what Apple's iPod did to the MP3 player. Granted, there are many more digital music listeners than HTPC owners out there, but if you are a member of the latter category, you'll love the diNovo Mini because it solves one of the main dilemmas of HTPC ownership: how to take full control of your PC and its media functions without relying on multiple or clunky input devices. The price of the diNovo Mini is $150, which admittedly is steep for what's essentially a BlackBerry keyboard with a control pad and a Bluetooth connection. We'd pay it, though, when the diNovo Mini comes out at the end of February, because the tiny keyboard so effectively addresses what's been a nagging issue for an entire product category.
Like the iPod, the Logitech diNovo Mini boasts a pleasing visual aesthetic that seems inseparable from its functionality. The clamshell design feels right in your hand, and it would look as at home on your coffee table as any remote control. It weighs only 0.4 pound and is roughly three-quarters of an inch high and six inches long. Open it up and you're treated to a small-scale, 61-key keyboard, backlit in either orange or green, depending on the mode of the control pad.
The control pad itself lets you change from analog, touch-pad-style control, to directional up-down-left-right controls by sliding a small switch. The idea is that you'd want it in touch pad mode for navigating a Web page or the Windows desktop, but that the directional controls are better for working your way through a set of linear menus, such as those in Windows Media Center. The middle of the pad acts like your main mouse button, and you hold down one of the function buttons and a menu button on the keyboard for right-clicking. It's more intuitive than it sounds, and our only complaint is that the d-pad mode was sometimes not as responsive as we'd like. The analog mode is fine though, and consistent with the quality of Logitech's MX Air mouse, itself a major improvement over the touch pad on the old diNovo Edge keyboard.
Typing on the diNovo Mini is fully in the BlackBerry school. Especially since the width is about that of your average game controller, you're encouraged to use your thumbs for typing. The keys are large enough so that thumb-typing isn't a problem, and you might be surprised at how well basic touch typing familiarity translates from your 10 fingers to only your thumbs. We wouldn't use the diNovo Mini to type a dissertation, but for password entry, instant messaging, keyword searches, and typing in the occasional Web address, it's perfect. In other words, it's designed to serve the most common needs of a home theater PC owner.
That brings us to the comparisons. We've seen several products over the years purporting to be ideal for controlling your Media Center PC. Your typical wireless keyboard often claims some kind of multimedia functionality, but most of them, such as the diNovo Edge and Microsoft's Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000 and 8000, are full size and geared toward a traditional desktop. We can't ever see putting one of them in your living room with a true home theater PC such as the Alienware Hangar18. The alternative has been the small-scale keyboard, such as the Gyration model or the Vidabox trackball keyboard. And as much as we liked the trackball on the Vidabox keyboard, neither of those scaled-down keyboards can compete with the versatility or the visual elegance of the diNovo Mini.
Setting up the diNovo Mini is a breeze. It uses a Bluetooth connection and a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, and it went from the box to up and running on a Vista-equipped PC in less than two minutes. You can install the Logitech SetPoint software if you want to customize the hot key assignments and tweak the mouse cursor speed. It can also work with a PlayStation 3. We can certainly think of tweaks we'd like to see to the design, such as Apple and Xbox 360 support. The diNovo Mini also has dedicated play, volume, and channel hot keys, which work fine for driving Windows-based media, but we'd also like to see some options for controlling your other home theater hardware. We realize that Logitech has its Harmony universal remote controls to sell as well, but we don't think it's too much to ask to let you use the diNovo Mini to at least let you turn off your television.
User reviews
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Another of my inventions stolen!!
by Infiniteblue on January 6, 2008
Pros: Surf computer and recline your chair wayyyy back
Cons: I don't get credit for it
Summary: Oh well, yet another invention I've been talking about for the past year! I submited this idea to Logitech through their online suggestion forum. They don't guarantee you ...
Summary: Oh well, yet another invention I've been talking about for the past year! I submited this idea to Logitech through their online suggestion forum. They don't guarantee you any compensation, and I didn't think I'd get any, but still. This is what I've been wanting for quite a while now.
I keep my PC and TV seperate so the family can watch SpongeBob while I work on my...um well computer stuff. What I can't stand though is having to constantly sit up and turn to face the keyboard to type in a search query. It was literally killing me to have to do this over and over and over and over....
Thanks Logitech for what looks like a nice package and a product that I will definitely buy. Now send me my check!2 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Faluty out of the box
by C0VERT on May 7, 2008
Pros: Nice small size
Cons: Down arrow faulty out of the box
Summary: Unfortunately the down arrow seems to be faulty with these unit's. Different batches from all over the world are having the same problem. Unrelated to OS or drivers. I ...
Summary: Unfortunately the down arrow seems to be faulty with these unit's. Different batches from all over the world are having the same problem. Unrelated to OS or drivers. I just got of the phone to Logitech and they did not know of the problem. If you only use the down arrow every now and again you might not notice it. Sometimes you think you just did not push it right. Sometimes it gets so bad it takes about 20 pushes for it to work. Avoid this product until the down arrow problem has been sorted out.
1 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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It makes me sad, In therory it was everything i wanted
by dpcassil on December 3, 2009
Pros: Bluetooth, couch usable mouse (sort of), clamshell design (almost) really other than bluetooth all of the pros are almost pros. ( like they would be pros is they were implemented with more care and thought)
Cons: Size (i know i know its suposed to be small but if you get one it will be about 50% smaller than you were thinking)
Faulty down button (seems to be more than just mine per other reviews)
glitch-tastic (sometimes it hangs, some times it doesnt work)Summary: I really really wanted this to work, I had very small and very realistic expectations. I have a media pc connected to my TV, all this remote had to do ...
Summary: I really really wanted this to work, I had very small and very realistic expectations. I have a media pc connected to my TV, all this remote had to do was work with hulu desktop, XBMC, and on ocasion surf the web. In short it didnt do this.
The directional pad was so spastic that i spent more time trying to navigate huludesktop than watching the shows. (hit the down button and it may do nothing, may hit enter, hit any direction and its just as likely to hit enter as the direction) and i have small hands so its not like i am just incapable of hitting the precise part of the pad. Sometimes the whole thing would slow down like if you ever tried to run vista on a 286 or something :) the currsor would slowly make its way and jump around the screen like i was getting 2-3 fps (by the way I have an AMD Quadcore with 4gbs or ddr2 and 2.3ghz per core) so its not my pc) to the size its small like smaller that a PSP or even the harmony 1000 remote (maybe the same size) and the clam shell is made of super thin plastic it does not feel refined or anything like a $150 prodcut should feel. (i paid $89. with free shipping and stillreturned it) I have Very high hopes for a second gen of this prodcut as they are probably fyling off the shelves mine was on back order for 1 month (probably becasue of the price) so hopefully there was enough responce to get logitech to try again. I have loved nearly every logitech prodcut i have owned so its not the company just a few cut corners to hit a price point which is still to high for the end prodcut would have prefered to pay and extra $20 or so for a more substntial clamshell cover and a little more refinement to controls and finish. IMHO -
Keyboard sometimes not recognized after reboot.
Pros: It's small and looks nice in the room.
It won't look like a keyboard in the living room.
Recharging capability is a good feature and a charge lasts for a two weeks or more.Cons: Pricey.
Inconsistent performance - keyboard fails to be recognized from time to time.Summary: Every few days the Keyboard is not recognized by the PC. I figured out that I have to go to the PC, unplug the USB dongle, wait one minute and ...
Summary: Every few days the Keyboard is not recognized by the PC. I figured out that I have to go to the PC, unplug the USB dongle, wait one minute and plug it back in. Then I reboot and the keyboard is usually recognized. For me it is very inconvenient to do this because my media center pc is in the crawl space beneath my living room. I spent a lot of money on this keyboard in order to not have to do just that. I was hoping to set it and forget it and this keyboard does not deliver.
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Almost There Logitech!!
by neptune178 on November 10, 2009
Pros: Near-Remote size wireless keyboard/mouse combo for your HTPC, duh.
Cons: Sadly, still not a complete HTPC media center input device. No IR so no controlling your TV/Stereo/Cable Box ect...
Summary: Logitech, why must you make me pick up an entirely different piece of plastic in order to change my TV input to PC so I can use this thing? Why?!
Summary: Logitech, why must you make me pick up an entirely different piece of plastic in order to change my TV input to PC so I can use this thing? Why?!
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Bad idea. Too small. Poor mouse control, odd design
by erikph7 on November 2, 2009
Pros: It looks like a cool idea, but falls short. It works great for someone that uses it for five minutes to review the product, but try using it for hours on end. My Blackberry is far more enjoyable.
Cons: I have a 40" screen. And guess what... I have that large screen for comfort. That's right, ease of use. Now why in the world would I want to bottleneck that "comfort" with a tiny keyboard and poor mouse control? Go back to the drawing board Logitech.
Summary: If you're desparate to own this, buy it. I am still perplexed as to why no one on the market has enough brain power to come up with something ...
Summary: If you're desparate to own this, buy it. I am still perplexed as to why no one on the market has enough brain power to come up with something amazing.
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Over-Priced & Over-rated & Missing key features
by famu97 on August 10, 2009
Pros: Ultra compact, extremely long battery life, easy setup out of the box, QWERTY keyboard
Cons: NO CAPS LOCK, NO Function keys so u can't access BIOS during PC reboot, mouse nav sometimes jumps randomly, typing w/thumbs on compact KB kind of slow; Hard cover doesn't fold under KB when open but just sticks up. No battery-life indicator on KB.
Summary: I bought this KB and used it for a month before I returned it. Bottom line is that this ultra compact keyboard has very limited and targeted use. If you ...
Summary: I bought this KB and used it for a month before I returned it. Bottom line is that this ultra compact keyboard has very limited and targeted use. If you have a Home Theater PC and you don't use it to surf the web & other general PC stuff, and only use it for video playback (media center) and playing music than this KB should work for you. It does have a great battery life. I think my battery lasted a full month or at least three weeks once fully charged. It doesn't have any Function keys nor does it have a CAPS lock. After installing this thing out of the box it turned on my caps lock and i couldn't figure out how to turn it off. After posting to Forums & submitting an email to tech support they admitted there's no CAPS lock. I couldn't disable the CAPS lock either. I had to finally turn on the accessibility feature in Vista then display the on-screen software keyboard to finally disable CAPS lock. Who makes a keyboard with no caps lock or a way to turn it off. Also, I upgraded the BIOS on my motherboard and I couldn't hit F1 to get back into the BIOS setup to configure some settings. Turns out there are not Function keys or any key combination to press to get Function key functionality. Again who makes a keyboard with no Function keys or a way to do key combination to get the Function key equivalent. That's just lazy design engineering if you ask me. Also the d-pad mouse navigation is not as precise as i would like. From time to time I would notice that the mouse would jump around the screen. I don't know what caused that but i read that it was also experienced by other users in their forums. Bottom line is that this is a half-descent 1st gen ultra compact BT keyboard but I think you should wait for the 2nd gen dinovo mini to allow Logitech to work out the kinks and incorporate the things they left out of the 1st gen device. I couldn't live with no caps lock no Function keys. Plus this KB is not worth $130. It's worth $50-$75 tops.
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Compared to efo keyboard, it has many weaknesses
by ronejone on August 9, 2009
Pros: It is developed by well-known brand and has the blue tooth connection
Cons: it is expensive, larger size, not user-friendly mouse pad
Summary: If I haven't seen the new wireless handheld keyboard from efo.buy-lowest site, I think this keyboard is quite appropriate for HTPC. However, I vote efo's wireless handheld ...
Summary: If I haven't seen the new wireless handheld keyboard from efo.buy-lowest site, I think this keyboard is quite appropriate for HTPC. However, I vote efo's wireless handheld keyboard is better
video for your consideration : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M1p1hUSTMw -
must have hi-tech gadget, useless as a mouse
by andrewolf79 on July 17, 2009
Pros: like the size, weight , retro illumination, looks, compatibility with mac, range, battery life ,
Cons: the mouse pad is useless
Summary: It takes a bit to get use to it.. i'm using it on a mac mini & is a good gadget!! not tool. Biggest issue is the pad it'...
Summary: It takes a bit to get use to it.. i'm using it on a mac mini & is a good gadget!! not tool. Biggest issue is the pad it's a nightmare to use nothing like a mouse or a touch pad of a laptop. i payed 80 GBP for it's stylish and gets a lot of good attention but when people start to use it they all go nuts with the mouse pad i would have expected something far better from logitech!!!!!! mot to be funny but 4 arrows and a nipple like in the old laptops would have done a better job!!!!!
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Love it!!!
by gabrieljosh on July 8, 2009
Pros: it's easy to use
Cons: really i dont have one problem about this item
Summary: I always love a <a href="http://www.ergonomicsmadeeasy.com">mini keyboard</a> because it can help you escape the pain and other effects of carpal ...
Summary: I always love a <a href="http://www.ergonomicsmadeeasy.com">mini keyboard</a> because it can help you escape the pain and other effects of carpal tunnel syndrome.
http://www.ergonomicsmadeeasy.com
Updated on Jul 8, 2009
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Logitech
- Part number: 920-000594
- Description: Enjoy total control of your PC entertainment from your sofa. Palm-sized, cordless mini-keyboard fits in your hand and gives you optimal control and access of the PC entertainment you love, including browsing the Internet, watching TV, listening to music and playing PC games. Dedicated Windows Media Center controls optimize launch and navigation of Microsoft's popular entertainment platform. Integrated, dual-purpose ClickPad enhances control and access with innovative technology that can be used as a touch pad and a directional pad. Rechargeable Li-ion batteries give you up to one month of battery life. Bluetooth wireless technology provides long-range wireless control from up to 10 m (30 ft). Backlighting makes text entry effortless, even in low light.
General
- Device Type Keyboard
- Wireless Receiver USB wireless receiver
- Color Silver, Midnight black
- Form Factor External
- Localization English - US
- Depth 3.5 in
- Width 6 in
- Height 1.1 in
- Weight 6 oz
- Localization English:United States
Input Device
- Interface Bluetooth
- Max Operating Distance 33 ft
- Connectivity Technology Wireless
- Buttons Qty 63
- Features Backlit
- Pointing Device / Manipulator Dual-purpose ClickPad
Expansion / Connectivity
- Connections 1 x USB - 4 pin USB Type A
Miscellaneous
- Included Accessories Cleaning cloth, AC power adapter
- Microsoft Certifications Compatible with Windows 7
Battery
- Installed Qty 1
- Technology Lithium ion
Software / System Requirements
- OS Required Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows Vista
Manufacturer Warranty
- Service & Support 3 years warranty
- Service & Support Details Limited warranty - 3 years
Interface(s) Required
- Port(s) / Connector(s) Required 1 USB 4 pin USB Type A
Warranty
- Service / Support Details Limited warranty 3 years
Manufacturer info
- Logitech
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Logitech products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.logitech.com/
- Address:
6505 Kaiser Dr., Fremont, CA 94555
