Ah, the good ol' keyboard and mouse. The steadfast companion of the modern PC for many years since its inception, this combination will probably remain the defacto standard for user input for some time to come; sure, some of you out there use trackballs, but I'd guess that mice are much more prevalent than them - not that trackballs are inherently bad, it's just that for reasons beyond the scope of this review, mice are more popular, and hence, the keyboard and mouse combination lives on. Just think about it - how many hours have each of us spent using a keyboard and mouse? Personally, I'd not like to thing of such things, as it reminds me that I could have been using that time solving the great mysteries of this world... like just how do they get the caramel in the Caramilk bars? But great mysteries aside, beyond maybe a monitor, chair and (physical) desktop, your keyboard and mouse will best factor into how comfortable you are when you are using your system - whether it's typing a 2000 word essay at 2:00AM (which is naturally due that morning, first period), or gaming away into the early morning hours. And, since you won't have to upgrade a keyboard and mouse as frequently as you change system components, it's usually best to invest in the best setup you can afford; the same goes for monitors.

   Going back to the mid to early 1990's, we can all remember the craze that developed with ergonomics as computer becoming increasingly popular in not only the office but the home as well. Suddenly, we were being bombarded with warnings of risks of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) or other similar repetitive-task disorders that we were told, could result from extended usage of the seemingly harmless keyboard and mouse. (For the most part, keyboards are harmless, unless you're talking about those big ol' IBM hunkers that could be used to bludgeon someone to death... not that you'd want to.) Personally, I never really believed too much of this, because I had never experienced it firsthand - though I do know a few people who have suffered from these injuries. Soon, manufacturers began to release ergonomic or "natural" keyboards to the public, keyboards with layouts that seemed to promote better hand placement and thus reduce the risk of injury after long periods of usage. The first manufacturer I remember having such a product was Microsoft, with their Natural keyboard. I never really used one, which is probably one of the reasons why I never was interested in it.

   Logitech has also been making "natural" keyboards - they call it their "Split-key keyboard", and it's basically the same idea as most other ergonomic keyboards you've seen. And, obviously there is a market for such keyboards even if I've never really fancied them, otherwise why else would the makers continue to produce them? Not only that, but, not wanting to leave ergonomic-conscious people behind, Logitech has decided to couple their "Split-key keyboard" with not only a mouse, but cordless technology as well. With cordless/wireless products becoming increasingly widespread because of drops in price and availability from retailers, it was only 'natural' that this kind of keyboard would reap the benefits of the consumer-driven market. And so was born the Cordless Comfort Duo. Can this combination satisfy strained users' wrists while at the same time providing a nice keyboard feel, a decent mouse and a lag/delay-free experience?

Specifications:

   The Cordless Comfort Duo is the only keyboard and mouse combination on Logitech's site (that I could find) that features the split-key layout. As such, if you want a keyboard & mouse combo, and can't live without the MS Natural layout, you don't have much of a choice if you want to go with Logitech's route. However, you're not short-changed on features, as the keyboard includes both multimedia controls and shortcut keys for launching your web browser, e-mail client and so-forth. The mouse is nothing to sneeze at, either; it shares the same shape and button layout as the MouseMan Dual Optical, but doesn't have the second optical sensor. It has four buttons, the extra of which is located on the left side for use by your thumb; thus the shape of the mouse and the extra button make it fit for proper use only by right hands, so if you use your left hand for mousing, you're SOL.

• Comfortable split-key keyboard
• Cordless freedom through digital radio technology
• Customizable, keyboard-based access to any application, including email and multimedia
• Comfortable, contoured mouse shape that fits snugly in right hand
• Powerful optical sensor for twice the speed and twice the accuracy of standard optical mice
• Control audio and video directly from the keyboard
• Use the maintenance-free cordless optical mouse on almost any surface
• Windows and Macintosh
• 5-year warranty
• More information available here.

   In keeping with the synchronicity of design between this set, the Cordless Comfort Duo and the Elite Duo, the box design also is very similar. The familiar, almost blue-green and white design is present along with the requisite product show - also present on the box was a sticker loudly proclaiming that Logitech was the "Consumers' cordless #1 choice". That may be very well the truth, but should it be your #1 choice? Inside the box, in addition to the keyboard, mouse and receiver, were a nice wristrest, 4 AA batteries (2 for each of the mouse and keyboard), a small manual/quick install guide and the installation CD with drivers. The package was very well-wrapped, with a nice foam bag protecting the mouse from scratches, while the whole collection of parts was packed into a nice cardboard box - it's safe to say your purchases here won't be damaged unless they're stepped on, rolled over or burnt.
 

The Cordless Comfort Duo.

Well-packaged.

Nice wristrest.

Bottom - two grip feet on the keyboard, two more on the rest.

   The overall look of the Cordless Comfort Duo's keyboard is pretty slick, with its black colour fitting in nicely with almost any work area. The shape of the keyboard is vastly different than Logitech's previous, thanks to the "natural" layout - with previous Logitech keyboards, the overall shape was somewhat ovally, with the end result being a lack of definite corners or edges on the unit. With this keyboard, despite the curved layout of the keys, there are definite corners and edges, giving the keyboard a somewhat less subdued look than its colleagues. Obviously, this keyboard doesn't feature Logitech's Zero-Degree Tilt design, and instead is quite bulbous as compared with other keyboards. The keys all slope up towards the center, and the keyboard reaches its height at a line drawn between the 'G' and 'H' keys - if you've ever seen a "natural" keyboard, you'll know what I mean. The space bar bridges this gap and thus is curved both horizontally and vertically. The space bar also slopes downward a little, so you'll always be hitting its flat surface and not its edge when pressing it.

   The bottom of the keyboard has two grip feet, nicely integrated with the fold-out feet that increase the keyboard's height and slope - thus, the grip feet function whether the fold-out feet are extended or not. The wristrest has two more grip feet, and because of the design of the keyboard, you almost have to use the rest to have usage feel nice on your hands. This is because the bottom edge of the keyboard is quite high off the surface the keyboard's placed on, thus, if you want your wrists to rest at a decent level, you'll need the attachment. Thankfully, the rest is sturdier than other Logitech included wristrests I've seen, as there is a flat base all along the bottom of it, giving it more rigidity. It also snaps on and off the keyboard very easily, but stays in position one connected. Also on the bottom of the keyboard is the battery compartment; you can see the cover for it in the last picture above as it's at the bottom of the curvy triangle shape. It nicely comes off to allow you to install the provided and needed 2 AA batteries.
 

Keyboard slopes up towards the center.

Curved space bar.

Keyboard is quite thick compared to other Logitech units.

With feet elevated it is quite tall.

   The keys of the keyboard are decently sized, and while fairly quiet, still offer a nice degree of tactile feedback. While they don't have as much feedback as some of the older keyboards did, I still found the feel of the keyboard to be nice - and indeed, some "tactile feedback" are just too noisy, especially if in use in a multi-person environment. Because of the split-key layout, some of the keys near the center are larger than regular ones, to keep the look of the keyboard homogenous. On the left side, the 'T' and 'G' keys are larger, and on the left side, the 'H' and 'N' keys are larger as well. Keeping the split-key layout in mind, you'll be aware that if you tend to type with one hand, say, when you're playing a game and using your other hand for mousing, the split-key layout will require some adjustment of typing skill. One thing you'll want to note is that this keyboard didn't have the common shortcuts for each key printed on its side, as was the case with the Elite and Navigator Duos; these shortcuts were for commands like copy (ctrl-c), paste (ctrl-v), among others; while the absence of these print reminders isn't a big deal at all, it still would have been nice to have seen them there. They might have been left out, though, because the keyboard isn't sloped like the other two mentioned, and therefore the printing of the commands on the sides of the keys wouldn't have been as easy to see.
 

Quick-launch keys and function keys.			Multimedia keys.
Sleep button.	Arrow keys and smaller right-side modifier keys.		Other layout differences.

  For Mac users, the keyboard has the proper icons printed on the "Alt" key, which then functions as the "Command" key; the Windows key will also function as "Alt Option"; Cross-platform (at least as far as Windows and Mac OS's are concerned) has been something Logitech has supported for a while, and it's nice to see them take this little step to help these non-Windows users feel a little more at home. The function keys are a little smaller than the regular keys, something I'm never happy to see, but they aren't too small, and I'd say they're a little bigger than their counterparts on the Navigator Duo's keyboard. However, they're quite close to the top row of keys (where the numbers and backspace keys are), quite a bit closer in fact, than on most "regular" keyboards. You'll want to keep this in mind, though I didn't have any troubles with the somewhat different layout in this area. The Escape key is in a fairly normal position, and the "sleep" key is not so close as to warrant an accidental depression of it when trying to reach for the Escape key.

   Some other layout differences to be aware of are that the right-side modifier keys, that is, shift, ctrl, alt and the Windows keys, are smaller than their left-side counterparts. This was made so to allow the arrow keys and other keys to be moved in closer to the main group of keys on the keyboard. This arrangement wasn't so bad, as with your hands placed in the positions needed to use this keyboard, you won't really find yourself missing the smaller keys - though your experience may be different. It would have been safer had Logitech made these keys a little larger. What I didn't like was the altered layout of the Home-End/PgUp-PgDn/Ins-Del group; instead of these keys being the traditional 3x2 layout, they are in a 2x3 format! This had me hitting "End" when I wanted to hit "Page Up" instead; indeed, this isn't limited to the Comfort Duo's keyboard, as some of Microsoft's newer keyboards have also altered this group's layout, though the altered layout may not be the same as the one found on the Comfort Duo. I still would have preferred a regular layout, even if it had meant a larger keyboard. The last difference is that the Print Screen/SysRq, Scroll Lock and Pause/Break keys have been re-located to an area right above the numpad - quite a big jump! These keys aren't used very often, though. An additional key labelled "Logitech" is also seen here, and can be set to perform a variety of tasks, as we'll see, using the included iTouch software.

   Moving on to the "special" keys, we see that there are fewer of them then on either the Navigator Duo or Elite Duo. There are four keys (five counting the aforementioned "Logitech" key) that can be set to perform shortcuts or other tasks; going by their default setting, they are Launch Web Browser (Homepage), Open E-mail client, Search, and open Favourites. These keys are roughly in the middle of the keyboard, above the function keys. To the right, we find the multimedia controls, such as mute, volume up/down, play-pause, stop, and previous/next. There is no multimedia key that can be used to open a list of available media players on your PC; however you could easily configure one of the shortcut keys to do this for you. All of the special keys are made of a rubber-like material, similar to most TV remote control buttons; while they do provide feedback, they are inherently mushy and the labels on top of them will eventually wear off. I would have preferred if these keys were of the same make as the regular keyboard keys, or at least plastic.

   This keyboard doesn't have any F-lock functions; what F-lock was simply a way for Logitech to assign different and perhaps more common functions to the function keys, available upon pressing the F-lock key, which sort of acted like a shift key in that when F-lock was on, the additional functions were available, but when it was off, the function keys acted as normal. I didn't really mourn the absence of this feature, as with F-lock on, you couldn't use common function key shortcuts like Alt-F4. And, like all of Logitech's cordless keyboards, the LED indicators such as the ones for Caps Lock, Scroll Lock and NumLock have been moved off the keyboard and relocated to the receiver to preserve battery life. However, if you can't see your receiver, once the iTouch software is installed, it'll give you an on-screen notice when these Locks are enabled/disabled. Overall, the build quality of the keyboard was about where I thought it should have been, as I found the unit to be quite sturdy, in fact, it felt a little more strong than other Logitech keyboards, probably due to its bulky shape. The keyboard's feel was also up to par.
 

Cordless Comfort mouse.

Distinctive shape and grey/black colour scheme.

Ovally shape.

Looks very sleek.

   The Cordless Comfort Duo's mouse is the same as that of the Elite Duo. It is a right-handed only model, as the shape and button layout is not conducive to lefties. The design is the same as the MouseMan Dual Optical, except of course, that this mouse is cordless and lacks the second optical sensor. The trademark thumb button is present, and is useful for additional functions - in WinXP, by default, it's a back button, in both explorer and IE. That's a nice feature as well, as it makes it so that you don't have to use a keyboard shortcut or click the "Back" button - the thumb buttons is literally right at your fingertips. Around the thumb button is a nice rubber grip to allow for a better feeling on your hand, and there is also a similar grip on the other side.

   The overall shape of the mouse is quite bulky, but isn't very bad overall; larger hands may fare better. The addition of the 2 AA batteries needed by this mouse add quite a bit of weight that accents the bulky design, but this mass didn't bother me - I tend to prefer heavier mice anyways. Apart from that, the only other comfort issue was the addition of the bulging dome Logitech logo on top of the mouse, as it tends to come in contact with your index finger and because it's not level with the rest of the mouse, it feels a little weird in its position - though this is by no means a major issue, just a little nitpicky thing.
 

Thumb button and grip.

Mouse slopes toward your pinky finger.

Other side's grip.

Bottom; five feet are present.

   The shape of the mouse also contributes heavily to its right-handedness, as you can see from the pictures above. The slight slope away from the thumb-side of the mouse accommodates right hands very well, but at the same time is bad news for lefties. However, for right hands, the nice side grips do feel great, and the thumb button is in just the right spot for easy access, but not unwanted activations. Additionally, the buttons on the mouse are up to Logitech's par, as they have a firm feeling and respond with a definite click - two attributes of Logitech mice I've always liked.

   The wheel is also not too loose, and you won't accidentally activate it while pressing it down as a middle button. I do always suggest you try out a mouse before you buy, though, and with big retail stores this should not be a problem. The Cordless Comfort's mouse should not disappoint the majority of users, though. Its sleek look and dark colours should also impress people, as it fits in well with the keyboard or any other black components you may have.
 

Compartment for 2 AA batteries.

Keyboard is USB or PS/2, while the mouse is PS/2 only.

Receiver to which the cables are connected.

   The receiver is what has to be plugged into your computer, as it receives signals from both the mouse and keyboard using RF technology. Curiously, the keyboard connector can be plugged into either a USB or PS/2 port (via an adapter), but the mouse can only be plugged into a PS/2 port - I would have thought it a better idea to make both the mouse and keyboard PS/2 and USB compatible, or just make the mouse work with both PS/2 and USB. This shouldn't affect the mouse's performance though, as with Logitech's drivers or Win2K/XP, you can adjust the mouse PS/2 port's polling rate up to 200Hz usually, a value that's higher than the USB port's polling rate of 125Hz.

   I should note that I can't tell the difference between 100Hz and 200Hz polling rates on the PS/2 port, and I have a hard time telling the difference between 80 and 100Hz as well - so anything 100Hz or higher ought to be enough to satisfy the most accurate of optical mouse sensors.
 

Quite a bit of cable length.

The whole deal, with cards for size comparison.

Manual/CD and 4 AA batteries.

   The receiver fits in nicely with the rest of the package, as it's covered in a translucent black plastic that is very smooth and somewhat shiny. Thus, you won't be ashamed to have this receiver on your desk, in plain sight, but with the RF transmissions that this cordless keyboard and mouse use, you could also put it on the floor underneath your desk, away from prying eyes. As with the other Logitech receivers, it's advised that you keep it at least 20cm or 8" away from other electrical devices that may generate interference with the signal transmission.

   The receiver itself has only one button on it, a "Connect" button that you must use in order to establish a connection between the receiver and the mouse or keyboard; you first push this button on the receiver, and then push the appropriate "Connect" button on either the keyboard or mouse - after this, the mouse and keyboard should be able to communicate with the receiver properly. I'm guessing that the connect buttons activate some sort of handshake process that synchronizes signal transmission.

   There are also four LEDs on the receiver, F-Lock, Caps Lock, Num Lock and Scroll Lock; as mentioned before, these LEDs have been relocated off of the keyboard to the receiver to cut down on battery usage; the F-lock function is not available on the Cordless Comfort's keyboard even though the LED for it is present.

   Lastly, you'll find Logitech has included the required batteries, in that 4 Duracell AA cells have been provided, to power both the keyboard and mouse. You'll eventually want to invest in some quality NiMH rechargeables, as I always recommend, if you'll be using this keyboard and mouse for a while. It was nice, however, to see that batteries were included, as this saves you having to make a trip to somewhere to acquire these necessary items. You'll also find a small manual/installation guide and a CD with the drivers/software for both the keyboard and mouse; the guide is helpful, but brief, and you'll probably want to check out Logitech's site for the latest versions of both iTouch and MouseWare for this setup, instead of using the versions on the included CD.

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