Logitech Cordless Desktop Optical

An all-in-one wireless keyboard/mouse, the Cordless Desktop Optical from Logitech, marries the existing Cordless MouseMan Optical with a new wireless keyboard.

Stable and solid, the keyboard is pleasant to use. Besides the 105 traditional keys, it provides a scroll wheel and 19 shortcut keys for surfing the Internet, picking up email or listening to music. Most are useful, but others seem superfluous -- do you really need more than one 'shopping' button (which, by default, points to the Logitech sales site), for example? We would have preferred an 'eject CD' button, or a button for returning to an previously visited Web page. Happily, most of the shortcut buttons are user-configurable.

You can choose between two radio frequencies in order to avoid jamming -- possible up to two metres -- between multiple users. As for the radio receiver, you can connect it via the USB port or the two PS/2 ports, which are reserved traditionally for keyboards and mice. The keyboard and mouse are powered by the six AA batteries, which deliver a battery life of at least three months.

If you like the idea of a wireless desktop and don't mind the cost, Logitech's solution has a lot of appeal. Better value for money can be had from Microsoft's Wireless Desktop, however.