Logitech certainly seems to be on a roll with releasing new products as of late. Last year, they released the wildly popular MX700 Cordless Mouse, one of the few cordless mice that was not only rechargeable, but also just as accurate as its corded counterparts.

   They followed this up with the release of the Cordless MX Duo, which paired this mouse with an exceptional keyboard. Recently, they released the Cordless Desktop Express that aimed to bring an easy-to-use, no hassles cordless setup to the masses, and which I reviewed earlier. It featured a new keyboard layout but had a few minor errors that prevented me from completely liking it. However, a good keyboard and mouse setup has to have much more than just cordless accessibility. Indeed, comfort and ease-of-use should be paramount, and these involve creating an effective layout of keys and a design that is ergonomically sound.

   The Cordless Desktop Express had some of these elements, but for those wanting more from their keyboard in the way of easy-to-configure hotkeys and additionally functionality, this product was somewhat lacking. For these people, Logitech has released the Cordless Desktop LX 500 and 501. (The 500 is a blackish version of the whitish 501.) With these two new cordless keyboards comes a host of changes. Not only have the function keys been re-designed, but a suite of other small keyboard layout changes have been implemented, all in an attempt to increase typing productivity. The additionally hot keys have also been changed in look, somewhat, in order to emphasize certain features over others; and, the keyboard seems to have taken a direct step towards improving its use with

   HTPC setups. Not forgetting that little thing called a "Mouse", Logitech has also added a key feature to it - the tilt wheel - in a direct nod towards Microsoft's implementation of the same feature as seen on some of their mice several months ago. Do these changes improve usability and comfort? Or, are they just an attempt to generate hype? Specifications There is no real new technology in use on the LX 501, but it does take the best of what Logitech has to offer and puts it in a decidedly good-looking package.

   The keyboard uses the same radio technology as previous Logitech keyboards, and includes an encryption mode that secures keystrokes transmitted from the keyboard to the receiver. The mouse, however, uses Logitech's FastRF transmission technology, first seen on their MX700 mouse, which gained accolades due to its accuracy. Thus, one should expect the same kind of performance from this mouse. However, the mouse (and the keyboard as well), do not use rechargeable batteries - something that the MX700 mouse did. It remains to be seen whether or not this will affect battery life, but Logitech's new power management system should improve battery life nonetheless.

• For full specifications, see this page at Logitech's site.