Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave

In the little over two years that Techgage has existed, we’ve taken a look at over thirty Logitech products. This says two things. Logitech releases a lot of products, and overall, we review pretty much every one of them! Luckily for us though, over the course of those 30+ reviews, we’ve been impressed far more often than not. For a company to continue releasing products that people come to love, that says a lot.

One area that Logitech excels at is R&D. They are constantly conducting surveys and doing analysis to figure out what people are looking for… even if they themselves don’t realize it yet. A good example of this was their release of the MX Revolution mouse last August. Looking at it, I didn’t believe it was a product I would use that often, but I quickly became addicted to it. It was comfortable, enjoyable to use, and proof that Logitech knows what they are doing.

Just a few weeks ago, Logitech announced a new comfort keyboard, appropriately called Wave. I believe they had two types of people in mind when designing this board. Those who hate ergo but want to like it, and also those who are generally looking for a more comfortable keyboard. Personally, I can’t stand ergonomic keyboards. No matter how much of a chance I give them, I cannot fully get used to the different style, which makes the entire computing experience tedious.

As you can see in the images below, the keys are laid out in a ‘wave’ pattern, which conform to your fingers and should prove more comfortable to use. Looking at the design, it does seem to make sense. The center keys are raised, since that’s where your index fingers will lay. The opposite sides are lower, where the rest of your fingers are sitting. The spacebar is also raised, because in a proper position, your thumb will likely be touching it at all times.

So the design looks solid… but how good is it? I can say, after a few days of use, I am actually impressed, but not in all regards. Before we jump into my thoughts though, let’s take a look at the keyboard itself, and what extras are included.

First and foremost, I should mention that the Wave comes in two formats… wired and wireless. The wired version sells by it’s lonesome, without a mouse. The Cordless Desktop Wave includes a wireless version of the keyboard and also the MX8 mouse, also wireless. SRP for the wired version is $49.99USD, while the wireless is $89.99USD. Prices may appear lower once available at retail, however, as they always do.

As you can see, the Wave is no small keyboard. To use, it feels quite natural, but it’s bulkier than most on the market, thanks to it’s built-in palm-rest.

Being a full media keyboard, we will find a variety of buttons around the board that reflect that. Such as the Zoom buttons found on the left side, in addition to the application switcher.

At the top right-hand corner we will find the calculator hotkey (one I appreciate quite a bit) and also the sleep button. That one is pushed in a little further to avoid accidental pressing.

At the top, you will find the usual slew of media-related buttons, but a few new ones can be found also. The first is the Widgets button, which I assume will open up your sidebar in Windows Vista. In Windows XP, it brings you straight to Yahoo!’s Widgets web site. The second button opens up your My Pictures folder, the third blue button opens your My Music and the last one activates Media Center (or Media Player, depending on what’s installed).

The picture below shows-off what it is that makes this board unique.

With our full look at the board out of the way, let’s jump right into testing and installation.