Introduction

Okay, so a keyboard isn't the most exciting piece of hardware by any standard, but it's often underestimated in terms of its importance. Think about it. A keyboard is the device that you'll probably spend the most amount of time interacting with, next to your mouse, so it'd be well worth your while to spend time choosing one, and investing money in one. Chances are, you won't have to upgrade your keyboard every year if you buy a quality unit. The main things that are looked for in a keyboard are sturdiness, reliability & quality, tactile feedback and layout. Today, I'll be taking a look at one of Logitech's most recent offerings, the Internet Navigator Keyboard, one unit that has many additional features on it. Do these features add to the usefulness of the keyboard, or are they overshadowed by a potentially poor keyboard? We shall see...

Specifications

This keyboard is like some of the newest ones out there that have moved away from the "rectangular" look and instead moved to a more stylish design. The bottom keys, such as CTRL, Winkey, ALT and the space bar are curved downward, similar to what some Microsoft keyboards feature.

• Innovative design featuring Zero Degree Tilt™
• Extra Multimedia and Internet Access keys.
• iTouch™ software for one-touch Internet access and multimedia control.
• iNav™ scroll-wheel.
• USB connection. (Also comes with a PS/2 adapter)
• Carries a 5-year warranty.

Here you can see the keyboard's overall shape, with its rounded corners in order to be more pleasing to the eye. The bottom keys slope downward so that when you hit the space bar, you are hitting a surface, and not the edge of the space bar. The wrist rest attaches very easily, and is recommended for use if you have the desktop space. Removing it is also quite easy, compared to other Logitech keyboards I've used. In addition, common keyboard shortcuts have been printed on the side of the keys that have them. For most of us, this won't make a huge difference, but it's still nice.

Overall view with optional wrist rest.

Bottom keys curve downward.

Keys have common shortcuts written on the bottom side.

This keyboard works with either a USB or PS/2 port. That's good for people like me who still like to use their PS/2 ports. In the middle pic., you can see the result of Logitech's Zero Degree Tilt feature. The typing surface is virtually level, sloping upward only ever so slightly. Most keyboards I've used slope upward quite a bit more, and even more so if you should open up the feet on the bottom. Regardless of the difference in tilt, I've found the design to be quite comfortable, though not more comfortable than other keyboards I've had. Keep in mind that I haven't really used an uncomfortable keyboard before. The Internet Navigator does have small feet that you can extend, if you prefer more slope in your keyboard.

USB with PS/2 adapter.

Zero-Degree Tilt.

Feet extended.

The first group of iTouch keys resides over the numpad and there are five of them here. Three of them, E-mail, My Home and Search will perform without the use of iTouch software (at least in WinME, Win2K and WinXP), opening up your default e-mail client, your default web browser, or performing a search function in the application of focus, respectively. The next group of five keys is above the Escape key and first four Function keys. They provide access to features that some of you may find useless. The only different key here is the suspend/sleep key, which is recessed to prevent accidental depression. In this picture, you'll also note that the Function keys and Escape key are smaller than normal size, and the Escape key is moved slightly over to the right compared to most other keyboards. I would have preferred it had Logitech kept the Function keys' and the Escape key's placement and size normal. The last picture shows the iNav section of the keyboard, new to Logitech's keyboard lineup, at the left of the keyboard. It features a wheel that is most like a mouse wheel in that it can be rolled and clicked. Rolling the wheel can open a menu, say of your favorite links, and then you can select the option with a roll of the wheel, and clicking the wheel activates that option. The button right below it, with an arrow, backs out of a menu, in case you accidentally rolled the wheel. The "Go" button is a quick shortcut that, when pressed, pops up a prompt that offers you a place to type in a URL to go to. A little feature, but a nice one.

Three of the keys here can be used without loading the iTouch software.

More iTouch keys.

iNav scrollwheel.

The last set of keys is the multimedia keys. Most of them are quite larger than the other additional keys, and allow you to control volume and playback options in certain media players. The Num/Caps/Scroll lock LEDs have also been moved from their traditional rightside keyboard location to the centre, below these multimedia keys. The back of the keyboard has three gripping feet, and while I didn't notice any slippage, I'd have liked Logitech to put at least four feet on this keyboard. The last pic shows one of the attachment areas where the wrist rest snaps into. It's a trivial task to add or remove the wristrest.

Multimedia keys.

Back of the keyboard has three grip feet.

Palm/Wrist Rest attachment area.

Overall this keyboard has a very nice look and feel to it, but is maybe just a bit too lightweight for me. The extra keys are arranged very well into logical groups and have a different feel to them. The only real complaint I have is about the downsized function and escape keys.

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