The Cordless Comfort Duo.
Well-packaged.
Nice wristrest.
Bottom - two grip feet on the keyboard, two more on the rest.
Logitech Cordless Comfort Duo Review
Date : Friday, 29 August 2003
By : Stygian
Provided By : Logitech
Introduction
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.
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.
 Sleep button. |
 Quick-launch keys and function keys. |
 Multimedia keys. |
 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.
Installation
As mentioned before, there is a little more to installation than just plugging the receiver into the appropriate ports on your system; you'll have to "connect" each device (keyboard and mouse) to the receiver using the process previously mentioned. It's not really hard, but just a little tedious, as you'll first have to push the "Connect" button on the receiver, then turn the keyboard over and press the Connect button on it; for the mouse, the process is a little more hard, as the Connect button on it has to be pressed by something pin-like, such as a pencil or pen tip. As also mentioned before, these steps are needed so that the keyboard & mouse can properly communicate with the receiver; anytime you change batteries in one of the devices, you'll need to "Re-Connect" it to the receiver in this way. With that done, you can install iTouch and MouseWare, Logitech's software for their keyboards and mice, respectively. You do not need this software to use the keyboard and mouse, but it adds functionality such as the assignment of different functions to the additional keyboard buttons, so you may want to install it. The versions I used were downloaded from Logitech's site, and were the latest as of the time of this review. (v2.15 for iTouch and v9.78 for MouseWare)
The iTouch software allows you to configure five of the additional buttons/keys included on it, the four that reside in the center and the one "Logitech" key off to the side above the numpad with the printscreen key grouping. The default functions are pretty much what an OS like Win2K or WinXP would assign to these buttons; but with iTouch you have the option of setting each key to three other functions: Launch Web site, Open Program, or Open a Menu. Launching a website is probably the most self-explanatory, and probably the least useful, in my opinion. Opening a program can be more useful, as you can keep handy and much-used programs only a press away - this would be useful for quickly launching WinAMP or the calculator. The Menu functions requires the most work on your part to get it setup, but can be the most useful, as you can make a list of programs or websites that will show up as a menu when the specified key is pressed; you can then easily click/select one of the options and the action will be performed. With these features, performing repeated tasks in your OS should be made easier, but the Cordless Comfort Duo does not have as many additional keys as either the Navigator Duo or Elite Duo did.
 Key configuration. |
 Options available. |
 Menu creation. |
 Adding an item to the menu. |
The Cordless Comfort Duo lacks a Media Key - such a key would launch a list of available media players on your system for you to select for opening. This worked perfectly with the media controls such as play/pause and stop, and while the Cordless Comfort's keyboard does have media controls, if you want to be able to launch your media player using the keyboard, you'll need to set up one of the buttons to open a Menu that you've manually configured with your list of players. This isn't too hard, of course, but could have been avoided. The multimedia controls, meanwhile, work well with many media players, including my favourite, Winamp. (A full list of supported players is located here.) Without the iTouch software, I believe the multimedia keys will only work with Windows Media Player.
Some additional options with iTouch allow you to enable/disable the on-screen display; this display shows up whenever you use one of the programmable keys, change the volume or change the caps lock/num lock/scroll lock states. It's often handy to have this display when adjusting volume, but you don't really need it to tell you what function you've used on one of the keys you've configured. It's very helpful for displaying, for example, Caps Lock states though, as since the keyboard doesn't have these "Lock" LED indicators to cut down on battery usage, it's helpful to be able to see whether or not the Lock is on without having to look at the receiver's LEDs.
 Initial window you'll see after first usage of each configurable key. |
 Additional iTouch options. |
 On-screen effects. |
 Connection status. |
The last tab in iTouch's options shows battery life and secure mode settings; it's useful to be able to gauge battery life from within the software, and not have to check the batteries yourself with a multimeter! Though, I wonder sometimes how good the software can gauge battery life, and whether or not it will be able to give you an adequate warning before the batteries died. If you're worried about security issues that come with a wireless keyboard, you can establish a "secure" connection to the receiver, which, I'm guessing, will encrypt any keystrokes you make. The procedure to do so requires a little work, but is worth it if you're worried about people snooping in on your computing. The software also allows you to establish a connection between the keyboard and receiver in much the same way as your initial setup did, with the pressing of the "Connect" button. This process will be necessary once you change the batteries in the keyboard; in such a case, you can use your mouse to press the click the Connect button in the software. Just remember, don't change the batteries in both the keyboard and mouse at the same time, or else you'll have to press Connect on the receiver instead of in the software, as you won't have any means of getting input into the system!
 Establishing secure mode... |
 ... is a little process. |
 Systray menu. |
 v2.15 of iTouch used. |
MouseWare has a long tradition with Logitech, which explains the high version numbers. Similar to iTouch, it allows you to assign different functions to your mouse's buttons, to make your mouse that much easier and handy to use. After installing it, you'll be able to configure the functionality of all four of the Cordless Comfort's mouse buttons. As with iTouch, the software isn't needed, but considering the latest version of MouseWare works great and doesn't have the wheel problems that previous versions did, it's worth a look at.
 Recommended receiver placement. |
 Summary. |
 Each button is clearly labelled. |
 Many common Windows commands are available. |
As you can see, each button can be set up to perform a variety of functions, many of them common Windows commands such as Close Window or Maximize Window. You can even assign a keystroke to a button, something like Alt/Ctrl/Shift + another key - assigning a keystroke could be helpful in some games like those from the RTS genre, as it makes doing things that much faster. Another useful feature was the Quick Switch, which is like Alt-Tab in that it displays a list of running programs that you can switch the focus to; Logitech has touted this feature much for their MX series of mice, as they have a button that by default performs this function, but as long as you're running MouseWare and willing to commit a button, this feature will be available to you. Overall, I found the best feature to be "Back", as it allows easy navigation through webpages - though because there's no corresponding "Forward" button such as is found on the MX500 and MX700 mice, the utility of it is diminished somewhat.
 Motion tab. |
 Connectivity page. |
 v9.78 of MouseWare was used. |
You'll also notice that there wasn't a setting for adjusting the PS/2 polling rate in MouseWare - we'll see why this was the case in testing. You can also see one of the newer features of MouseWare, a setting to disable acceleration in games, which can be useful especially for FPS games. As with iTouch, there is a page for the cordless features of the mouse, allowing you to both monitor battery levels of the mouse and re-connect it if you've replaced the batteries. There's no "secure" option, but it's not needed; after all, if someone were monitoring your mouse, what would they learn? ("Ohhh... he's moving toward the upper-left... OMG, he just double-clicked!") Overall, both iTouch and MouseWare were nice to use, however, you'll want to make sure you uncheck, at install time, the "option" of installing desktop shortcuts to websites that you know how to get to, if you want to. With the wheel-problems gone from MouseWare, there isn't a reason not to install MouseWare, but with WinXP's default assignment of "Back" to the fourth (thumb) button, you may not have a reason to install it.
Testing
As usual, I tested this keyboard for close to three weeks, during which I used the combo for my daily tasks such as web-browsing, some image editing, word-processing, e-mail, and of course, lots of gaming.
Firstly, I think you all should know that I hadn't, up until this point, used a Natural or "Split-Key" keyboard for any real length of time. As such, things felt "weird" for a while, but after about 2-3 days of usage, I could say that I was adequately adjusted. You should also note that I've never had comfort issues on my regular layout keyboard - so I didn't feel much better, comfort-wise, with the Cordless Comfort's keyboard. The large wristrest, however, felt very nice, and should be a godsend to those of you who, at the office, have to deal with a table that has sharp edges. For pure functionality, I didn't notice any lag or responsiveness issues with the keyboard - though I've heard this can vary depending on what other electrical devices are in the environment you're in - if this becomes a problem, moving the receiver should help.
The keys themselves were fairly quiet when in use, though this isn't the quietest keyboard I've heard by far. I shouldn't think that most people would be annoyed by this keyboard though, so this isn't a problem. I found that, compared to the Navigator and Elite Duo's keyboards, the Cordless Comfort's keys felt like they had a little more play in them - I didn't take out a measuring stick and actually gauge this, but this was my impression. Overall, I liked the feeling of the keys, in that they weren't loud by did provide the necessary feedback, albeit a little less than I've been used to.
Fortunately, the Cordless Comfort's Escape key is in a proper position, and isn't too near the Sleep button - and thus there's no danger of accidentally pressing one key when you're trying to hit the other. However, there are some other layout problems that were troublesome for me. Firstly, the rearranged key grouping that contains Insert/Delete, Home/End, PageUp/PageDown, bothered me the most. I'd often hit one key when I was trying to hit another - of all things, this will take the longest to get used to. I would have preferred if Logitech had kept this layout in the traditional format, as I've seen some older model MS Natural keyboard that have kept this grouping in the traditional way. I believe Logitech re-arranged this grouping to cut down on the keyboard's size, but I'd rather they didn't take this liberty. Secondly, the movement of the PrintScreen/Scroll Lock/Pause-Break keys to a location above the numpad can be confusing; while these keys aren't used often, I've used them enough that when I do have to, I have to do a double-take at the keyboard to find the right key. It's made even worse by the fact that these keys are right next to the numpad grouping, and aren't placed above them with some space in between. The last thing was the smaller Ctrl, Alt, Shift and WinKey on the right side of the keyboard, again, in order to save on space. While this didn't bother me too much, as I didn't find myself making mistakes here, I just would have preferred a "normal" layout. These are some things to consider - if you can, always try out the keyboard at some local retail store that has them on display.
Lastly, the additional keys on the keyboard such as the volume controls and quick-launch keys are all made out of rubber - this gives them the feel of buttons on a remote control, and I don't really like this feeling. I'd much rather they were made out of plastic and given the same tactile response as normal buttons, even if they had to be smaller in size.
The mouse, while looking pretty damn cool, was perhaps a tad too big for my hands, as it felt a little too bulky. I didn't have any comfort problems with this mouse, but I just felt I couldn't get adjusted to it as fast as I'd have liked. The buttons on the mouse were firm and responsive, and since I've always liked how Logitech's buttons feel, I had no problem with the mouse in that respect. The extra thumb button was useful in games, where it could be set to perform some other function that otherwise would have required a keystroke or keypress. The mouse also glided across surfaces nicely with its five (Teflon?) feet. The major problem I had with the mouse had to do with its motion, and this was *not* due to a bad optical sensor but rather the RF technology used for this cordless mouse.
As I said before, there was no option to set the PS/2 polling rate in MouseWare; this was strange, because you could still adjust the PS/2 rate, all the way up to 200Hz, using Device Manager. However, such a change offered no improvement, as the mouse's motion still felt like the refresh rate was fairly slow. To me, the PS/2 polling rate is one of the most important things when it comes to accurate mouse movement; it's basically a measure of how many times, per second, that the cursor position on screen is updated. With a slow refresh rate, fast mouse movements will appear jerky, and as such, your game play may suffer, or image editing may be tedious. I used Mouse Rate Checker to check the actual refresh rate of the mouse, after I had set the PS/2 polling rate in WinXP to 200Hz; as I expected, the actual rate topped out at about 50Hz, the same as was found for both the Navigator Duo and Elite Duo's mice. It was sad to see this, as the optical sensor in the Cordless Comfort's mouse was being limited by this aspect of the hardware; I'm guessing that the 50Hz update rate was designed to save on battery life, as the newest MX700 mouse is cordless as well, but updates at 125Hz - however, it is rechargeable, so battery life is not so much of a concern.
Conclusion
Despite some layout quirks, I liked the Cordless Comfort Duo's keyboard. It was comfortable to use, and I didn't have trouble getting used to the split-key layout; while I didn't find it more comfortable mainly due to the layout, I did like the large and sturdy wristrest, and the feel of the keys was decent as well. The main layout problems I had were with the repositioning/regrouping of the keys above the arrow keys; this will take some time to get used to, and if there's one thing I could change with this keyboard, this would be it. Nonetheless, I believe this keyboard ought to satisfy those who have to have a split-key layout, as you get a quality keyboard plus some nice extra keys and multimedia control. However, the biggest downside to the whole package is found in the mouse; its effect maximum refresh rate of 50Hz makes the cursor's movement on screen feel choppy. The fact that the mouse's connector is PS/2 only has nothing to do with this, as it's a limitation of the cordless hardware being used, a limitation that perhaps saves battery life. This will be noticed by people who play games a lot, and those who require precise mouse movement, say in image editing applications. It is sad to see an otherwise great package/combination somewhat set back by this detail.
Pros
Cons
Lastly, a big thanks goes out to Logitech for providing the unit for review!