image: Dinovo Mini
The Dinovo Mini is aimed at the media PC and Playstation 3 market

Review: Logitech Dinovo Mini keyboard

A stylish way to control your music and video

Written by Paul Lester

Larger Image

Logitech made quite a fuss over its release last year of the Dinovo Edge keyboard, saying it was the most advanced keyboard in the world. It was admittedly an impressive keyboard, so how does the new Dinovo Mini fare in comparison?

The Mini is a small keyboard that's compatible with Bluetooth 2 devices, so it would be suitable for use with modern phones and handheld computers, although Logitech appears to be aiming it more at users of media PCs and the Playstation 3.

Also included with the keyboard is a replaceable battery and the USB adapter (handily, this can be stored inside the battery compartment when it's not in use). If you use the dongle provided, setup is simply a case of pressing the connect buttons on the keyboard and the adapter and waiting for the green all-systems-go light to appear.

The supplied Setpoint software can adjust the sensitivity of the trackpad and configure the operation of the various shortcut keys, so it’s worth spending a bit of time here to get it behaving as you would like.

As well as the usual typing, you can switch the Dinovo Mini to a media-remote mode for music and video, lighting up the dedicated media keys to make them easier to find at a glance. There shouldn’t be much of a problem here anyway, since an ambient light sensor, which measures light levels in the room, will fire up the backlight automatically when it gets dark.

Of course keyboards, particularly mini-keyboards, are all about usability, and this is where the Dinovo Mini falls down. The keys are quite firm and require a fair amount of pressure, but the fact that they're so close together reduces potential typing speeds considerably, at least if you don't want to spend half your time correcting mistakes. The touch-sensitive pad is also rather small and doesn’t really offer enough space to comfortably move the pointer around.

The Dinovo Mini is easy to set up, and certainly looks stylish, but taking into account the price and its flaws as a keyboard it is more like a luxury purchase for music and video fans.

Vista compatibility: Yes

See also:

Product overview

Ratings

  • Our rating: 3
  • Average user rating:

Verdict

Good points

  • Stylish design
  • Straightforward connection
  • Dedicated media keys and shortcuts

Bad points

  • Awkward to operate at speed
  • Quite expensive

Overall The Dinovo Mini is a nice idea, but considering the asking price it's not as easy to use as it should be

Best prices

reader comments

related articles

Freedom Keyboard

Freedom Keyboard

A folding keyboard for mobile devices 17 Feb 2005

Think Outside Stowaway Bluetooth Keyboard

Portable, wireless and allows for Qwerty typing on a PDA 11 Nov 2005

Review: Gyration GC215 Go 2.4 peripheral

A mouse and keyboard set that doesn't require a flat surface 02 May 2006

Review: Logitech Dinovo Mini keyboard

A compact keyboard with a stylish design 24 Apr 2008

Review: Logitech Dinovo

A compact keyboard with a stylish design 02 May 2008

Review: MSI Wind notebook computer

Mini notebook will go down a storm with ultra-mobile fans 07 Jul 2008

poll

A new Linksys era?

A new Linksys era?

Will the Linksys brand fizzle out when Cisco folds it into its SME operation?

Previous poll results

In The Studio With CRN: Josh Claman, Dell

In an editorial coup for CRN, Josh Claman, vice president of EMEA channels at Dell, talks to CRN TV about the vendor's channel plans

CRN Fight Night bouts are LIVE!

ALL the bouts from CRN's first ever white collar boxing event at The Brewery in Chiswell Street, are now online in their full glory for CRN readers to watch.

Newsletter signup

Sign up for our range of FREE newsletters:

Existing User

Newsletter user login:

Advertisement

White papers

Search white papers

Top categories