Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500 Revolution Bluetooth Mouse and Keyboard

I have a laptop that I can connect to my 32" TV. I was looking to take advantage of this larger screen and get away from my desk chair. I was a bit hesitant about paying this much for a keyboard and mouse, but I wanted something that used Bluetooth. I'm very glad I went with this set. It really is top notch kit made for Vista.First, the build quality of both the keyboard and mouse is excellent. The keyboard is light, and the mouse has a nice weight to it. The keyboard is very comfortable, and the keys are incredibly responsive and extremely quiet.The keyboard is loaded with great features. The F1-F12 keys all have secondary functions, activated by a Fn key located between the right Alt and Ctrl. Touching two keys, you can open Word, Excel, PowerPoint, a browser, mail, and many other useful programs. There are three buttons on the bottom right of the keyboard, Media Center, Photo Gallery, and Gadgets, that I find very handy. I programmed the Media Center to open iTunes, and, in conjunction with the sound an volume controls on the left of the keyboard, I can easily control my music. When music plays, track information appears in the keyboard LCD. The Gadgets button brings all of Vista's gadgets to the front of your screen, which actually makes them useful. The left of the board also contains the 3D flip and zoom button, making switching programs easy. Zoom is very useful for viewing webpages from far away on the TV. The LCD displays the time and date, music, temperature, options to access the control panel or documents, a key counter, and an inbox. The temperature appears to be from a sensor somewhere on the keyboard, which really isn't useful. The delete key is moved down slightly from where I am accustomed to it being. I also wish the Inbox could be configured to work with Gmail, but these are minor issues. My favorite feature of the keyboard is the built-in calculator. Press one button and the keypad becomes a calculator, with results showing up in the LCD. There is also an option to save the result on the computer's clipboard.The mouse is solid and performs well. I wouldn't recommend it for online FPS use, but no wireless mouse is great for that. All of the buttons on the mouse are incredibly programmable, and the software works great. The scroll wheel defaults to click, but, if spun fast, goes into free-wheel mode, which is actually very useful for scrolling through very long documents. The second wheel on the side of the mouse feels slightly awkward, but all in all, it's a great mouse. I configure the side buttons to go forward/back, which makes web surfing and music navigation a snap.The battery life of both products is great. There is no way to turn the keyboard off, but it's not really needed, as 4 AA's last for 180 days. The mouse includes a recharging dock, but it easily goes for two weeks if you don't turn it off overnight.I really like the fact that both devices connected to my computer's internal bluetooth. The dongle that is included connects very quickly, but moving the mouse and pressing a few keys on the keyboard is all it takes to reactivate the devices.I haven't had an issue with range. I haven't been able to go far enough away from my computer that either of the devices stop working. I could get about 20 feet before I couldn't see my screen anymore. There should be few situations in which the range won't be long enough.The software is nice, and allows customization of almost all of the buttons. I wish you could customize the LCD, but it's not a major concern. The software works perfectly on 64-bit Vista. It should be noted that you can't use the keyboard while booting the computer, but that's not an issue for me.I think this set was worth everything I paid for it. I recommend it highly.UPDATE:After almost two years of use, the left mouse button began having issues, and finally needed repair. Fortunately, the product has a three-year warranty. Over that period of time, the keyboard became significantly less quiet and the keys much less tight and springy, but I still think it is a solid choice. The keyboard survived one nasty liquid spill without the slightest of issues, which is a testament to its construction. I noticed that the palm rest can become shiny in spots after resting your palms there for years, so it's worthwhile to keep it clean. In Windows 7, most of the function keys still work well and can be configured by the improved SetPoint program. There appear to be issues with the keyboard losing connection that are related to the SetPoint software. These can be annoying, and are only resolved by reinstalling the software, but have been rare. The mouse has had issues, too, especially when not on a mousepad. Forums seem to indicate that the contacts on the left mouse button are prone to wear out over time, but Logitech Support is okay in replacing the set. After two years, battery life is around three months for the keyboard and a week for the mouse given average use, which is still good, but is a large drop from the initial levels. These things said, I would still recommend this combo. The freewheeling mouse scroll wheel is an excellent feature, and it still worked fine for me after two years. I love the level of control I get from the mouse, and think the button layout is wonderful. The keyboard's built-in calculator, while simple, is great for quick calculations, and has the option to copy the answers to the clipboard. This set does many simple things very well, which is why I think it's still worthwhile.

So I actually bought this bundle on the hope that what was described as including the 'mx revolution' mouse really was the same as Logitech MX Revolution Cordless Laser Mouse (Black). It's not only the same, it's better because it's bluetooth instead of proprietary wireless. Now I don't have to worry about losing the irreplaceable dongle from my old 2006 MX Revolution that they no longer sell the part for.If you're not familiar with this mouse, it has a heavy scroll wheel that you can spin and let go of and it will keep spinning, making it easy to get to the top or bottom of long web pages, documents, etc. Handy for programmers too. The wheel supports side to side motion and clicks as well. Logitech's later mice that have this type of scroll wheel have done away with the best part of what this mouse does; letting you decide how to use it by simply how fast you spin it. The later mice require you to push a button to let it free wheel versus a traditional scroll mouse; this one you just flick it and let go if you want to scroll a ways, or roll it like normal if you don't; no annoying extra button to press to change modes. Other than that, I just really like the geometry of this mouse and Logitech's later offerings never replicated how great this one is.As for the keyboard, unfortunately it is only usable via battery, you can't easily connect a cord to eliminate the need for batteries. However, it takes four AA's 2x2 in parallel, so if you have a DC adapter from Radio Shack or wherever with alligator clips, you could easily supply the necessary 3 volts by just clipping onto the battery prongs and close the cover over the cable. The LCD display on it is mostly useless information, like clock or key press count. Other than that drawback, it works as well as any other keyboard, nothing to write home about. It's convenient if you have a media center type TV that can talk bluetooth since you can get easily 30 feet out of it.Edit: After owning this for a month, I do have one complaint about the mouse. The power lights on it that are supposed to indicate how much it has left are not particularly accurate. It will go from three to one very quickly, and one to no longer powering on just as quick. Since the transmitter stays active to keep it paired with the computer, most likely you'll have instances of waking up and the mouse no longer working. So, probably best to throw it on the charger at the end of the day it drops to one bar if you leave it on all the time and want to use it the next morning.