Logitech diNovo Mini

Lovely little keyboard that you can leave on the coffee table with the other remotes. It does the PC bit very well, but less useful on the PS3 than the original Sony remote (missing home key and std PS keys).

The keyboard backlight changes colour when you switch between "touchpad" and "direction" modes. I suppose this makes it easier to know which mode it is in.

For such a new bluetooth device I was very disappointed that it cannot handle multiple device switching. e.g.: you cannot easily switch between PC & PS3 mode on the fly. There is a little switch under the back cover where you can switch between PC (hardwired link to supplied USB adapter) and PS3 (normal bluetooth). I set mine up on the PC, flicked the switch and connected to PS3. That works fine, but switching back to PC mode did not re-establish the link to the USB adapter (I had to unplug the USB dongle first). On the plus side you could probably use this with many normal bluetooth devices without the USB adapter.

There is a groove under the battery cover where you can store the bluetooth adapter when you are using in PS3 mode.

Still it beats having a full-size keyboard hanging around the TV just for when you want to type a message or do a quick google search on PS3, and is really great for the media PC hooked up to TV. I think I will keep it.

Ok, this is not going to be a typical review - the current reviews describe the functionality of this keyboard perfectly well. After owning this keyboard for just under a year now, as I bought this right after UK release I just want to highlight some of the problems I have had with my unit. Some of these problems I have had since day one, some have developed with use.

I have just had to RMA my unit before the year warranty ended due to three main issues. The first was a trackpad that becomes unresponsive after a little use - generally between ten or twenty minutes. I am not sure if this was a hardware fault, software or a bluetooth connection problem (more about that in a minute). To resolve this I would have to flick the switch on the unit that changes it into media mode, switching the track pad from cursor to directional click mode then back again. If I hadn't found this quick little "fix" to the problem then I would be there waiting between ten and thirty seconds for the cursor to start responding again - very frustrating!

The next issue I had was again something I noticed very early in the unit's life. This problem was with the bluetooth connection to the dongle. The unit would intermittently not connect after restarting the PC - so I would either have to go through the pairing process again or sometimes I could get away with pulling the battery out and putting it back in and the connection would re-establish. This would also sometimes happen when the PC was on, but more often after a restart.

The last problem, and one that was the final straw and the cause for me to send the unit off for repair/replacement was that a few of the keys began to require a lot more pressure than the others to get the characters to appear on the screen. So you would often miss certain numbers and letters out while inputting data unless you made a conscious effort to press that key a lot harder.

I should be getting my RMA'd unit back very shortly, and I hope that all these issues are not present, but in regards to the first two I really wont hold my breath. I am currently using a Keysonic 340BT mini Bluetooth keyboard, which also has some issues with the connection (becomes unresponsive, or randomly puts in multiple characters when you have only pressed key once etc). Maybe Bluetooth isn't as stable a connection as I thought it would be. I chose Bluetooth keyboards over RF ones because I thought they wouldn't suffer from interference, which maybe they don't - but it does seem the connections aren't particularly stable. I have also noticed this with Bluetooth headphones that I pair to my phone for wireless stereo while exercising - the sound will sometimes stop momentarily.

However, even though I have had these problems with the Dinovo Mini, I do really like it as a HTPC remote. It fits beautifully into a living room environment rather than having a typical keyboard laying around. Yes it is a little awkward to use at first, but when you get used to using your thumbs to type with it and the trackpad you can get pretty proficient at sending short e-mails and browsing the web with it. I really hope my next unit doesn't fail like this one has, as I much prefer it over the Keysonic board that I just purchased.

I went from my regular keyboard to a Logitech cordless and have been happy that I did so. The next step is this couch-friendly, remote, mini keyboard/control pad, which I am using to run Media Center on my Vista PC. For quality, ease of installation and functionality, I give it full marks. For ease of use, I deduct a star. When you shrink all this functionality into such a small space, there is bound to be some penalty. Certain characters ( _ + - = \ " ' ) have been moved from their usual homes to other keys, where they require you to use the function key to type them. As at least a couple of them ( - ' ) are very common, this can be irritating. Also, I found the ClickPad, when used as a touch pad to point and click, very difficult at first, and I am still not comfortable with it. The trick is to use thumb tips for everything. This unit is not a replacement for your keyboard and mouse. But, for couch potatoes determined to take root and for those keen to eliminate clutter, this elegant, light little gadget might be just the thing for you.