Matt’s Desk: Editor’s Blog

Logitech has long been my mouse and keyboard maker of choice, and I’ve used their input peripherals for as long as I can remember.  So, when I recently had an opportunity to try out the Logitech M600 Touch Mouse I seized it, and wanted to briefly share my thoughts.

Apple was the first big-name company to release a touch-based mouse, the Magic Mouse, in 2009. In typical fashion,  Microsoft released a similar product shortly thereafter, the Microsoft Touch Mouse.  Logitech’s M600, therefore,  is the latest arrival to the party, released in early 2012.  So, does it bring anything new to the table, desk or sofa arm?

Not really.

Product Brief

The Logitech M600 is similar to both Apple’s and Microsoft’s offerings in that its surface is touch-sensitive (conductive).  But’s it’s also more limited; the mouse offers touch-based up and down scrolling, and swiping back and forth between web pages.  That’s about it.  There are no gestures – configurable or otherwise – though you can swap the left and right “button” functions in the SetPoint software should you wish to. Left and right clicks are achieved by physically pressing either side of the M600 where traditional mice buttons would be located, which produces an soft, well-oiled pop-pop.

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Although I had dismissed the feature years earlier when it was introduced on the 17-inch G4 PowerBook, actually using a backlit keyboard on my first 2009 Unibody MacBook made me a believer. 

To my complete surprise I found the illuminated keys incredibly useful, even for someone who can type 100 words a minute blindfolded and upside down. Turns out there are times (far more than I had realized) when I only need to make a few keystrokes when it’s relatively dark, and those backlit keys freed me from stumbling for a light switch or positioning my index fingers on the F and J.  So when it came time to buy a new desktop keyboard, I vowed, it would be an illuminated model, even if I had to sacrifice cordless connectivity.

That time came earlier this month when, out of the blue, my DiNovo Edge went to that great writers guild in the sky.  I was already planning to replace it with the Logitech Illuminated Keyboard when I noticed that my favorite peripheral company had introduced a wireless version, the K800 Wireless Illuminated Keyboard.

It’s been nearly a month since my K800 arrived and it’s been a painless transition.  The keyboard is slim, rechargeable, backlit, and – best of all – a joy to use. 

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Last April I wrote about my experience with Corsair and their ridiculous warranty policy. It was fairly harsh, but I’m glad I wrote it. It’s easy to find information about a product before you make a purchase, but far more difficult to know how that product’s manufacturer will react if it fails. And although we don’t think much about that latter bit, we should; how a company stands behind its products is an important piece of the consumer puzzle. 

So I wanted to post a companion piece to my 2010 Corsair rant concerning an experience I had today with Logitech. 

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You don’t have to be a geek to appreciate my first Tech Gift selection for 2010.  If someone on your holiday gift list has more than a TV – a satellite or cable receiver, a home theatre, a DVD player, a Blu-ray player, or living room audio system (or any combination), they’ll thank you for the Logitech Harmony 650 Universal Remote for years to come.

The Harmony replaces your IR remotes – but here’s what makes Logitech’s Harmony remotes special: rather than having to punch in codes like you would with a conventional universal remote and hoping for the best, Harmony remotes are computer programmed. After installing a small piece of software on your PC or Mac, you’re taken through a series of menus which allow you to select the devices you want to control.  The software then programs the remote over USB, taking away all of the headaches users of standard universal remotes suffer.

There are also other unique benefits. Since the Harmony remote knows what devices you have, you can program specific buttons to carry out multiple-device commands.  For example, pressing Watch a Movie turns on your TV, your DVD player and your home theater system, tunes the TV to the correct input channel and puts your home theater in the right mode for DVD audio playback.  The playback buttons control the DVD player, the volume controls either your TV or your theater system (you decide), and so on.  Press Watch TV and the DVD player powers off, the television sets to the cable or satellite input channel, and the theater system goes to TV mode, too.

There’s also one-button power-down to turn off all of your equipment when you’re done.

I don’t have the 650; I’m the proud owner of an older 670 and have loved it since the moment it came out of the box nearly three years ago.  It replaces four remotes for me and, since it’s fully programmable button-by-button, there’s no going in search of an original remote to carry out some rarely used command. 

I’m planning on giving the 650 as a Christmas gift, too… to myself.  

The Harmony 650 retails for $99, but Amazon has it for less than $75.

-M