The diNovo Edge is a nice keyboard for HTPC

I just bought a Logitech diNovo Edge Mac Edition keyboard for my Mac Mini HTPC.

I bought the diNovo instead of the Apple Bluetooth keyboard because:
  1. Built-in trackpad.
  2. Built in volume control slider.
  3. Dedicated media transport controls.
  4. Nifty dock / recharger stand.
It's my first Bluetooth device. So far I think Bluetooth works a lot better than IR, because you don't have to point it at an IR receiver.

The diNovo does have some flaws:
  • No key backlighting, which makes it hard to use in the dark.
  • The mouse buttons below the trackpad are mushy and hinged at the outer edges, making them hard to press. (Happily tapping works and there is a separete left-mouse-button on the left edge of the keyboard. So for typical Mac usage you don't need to use the mushy buttons.)
  • A skim of the Logitech support forums indicates that the function keys are not as programmable as some people wish. I don't use function keys that much so this hasn't been an issue for me yet.
My TV is a 40" LCD, and I sit about 15 feet away from it. At this distance the 1920 x 1280 desktop is just too high resolution for my eyes, so I reduced my screen resolution to 1366 x 720. That seems to work well for now. Apparently I need to get a bigger TV :-)

Using a keyboard/trackpad instead of a button-based remote control is nice. I like being able to use all the ordinary apps that I already know how to use, rather than have to learn a new set of apps and UI commands. I also like not having to switch input devices depending upon what I'm trying to do. (For example if I want to use a web browser to look up some fact about a video that I just watched, it just works.)

The diNovo is very smartly designed, so that it's easy to use the mouse while holding the keyboard in two hands. Of course I'm a right hander. A left hander might have a different opinion, as the trackpad is located where it can be used easily with the right hand, but not the left hand.

What about Linux?

I have been able to use the same keyboard with both Mac and Kubuntu 9.04. With Kubuntu there were some issues around the initial pairing: You need a working keyboard and mouse in order to pair a new Bluetooth device. You even need to reboot once, and answer one final dialog box using a working keyboard / mouse, before the new device pairing is complete.

A second issue for HTPC use is that the Mac Mini video driver on Kubuntu does not have the flexability to slightly lower the resolution of the screen. I blame Intel for this, as they are in the middle of converting to a new driver model and their current drivers are pretty bare bones.

One final issue for dual booting Mac systems is that it seems to take a while for the keyboard to reconnect after a restart. This is an issue if you have reFit installed and you're trying to send keystrokes to reFit during the reboot. I found I had to press multiple keys multiple times until reFit started recognizing keys, after which the keyboard acted normally.

Comments

J. Peterson said…
One final issue for dual booting Mac systems is that it seems to take a while for the keyboard to reconnect after a restart.This seems to be a Mac hiccup in general. I always have to unplug/plug my Prodikeys keyboard and fiddle with the control panel every time I boot my MacBook Pro from Windows to Mac OS.
May 2, 2009 at 4:28 PM
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