Hello everyone again, this time I will be reviewing my latest purchase. The Logitech MX5000, a wireless mouse/keyboard combo that uses Bluetooth.
The MX5000 is an attempt from Logitech to provide a high end Bluetooth mouse and keyboard to the public. What Logitech created falls very short from what one would expect a high-end keyboard to be. My experience with this keyboard is very short, and yet I have been plagued with problems from day one of using this keyboard.
My first problem was installing the keyboard/mouse. When you first plug it in and hit the connect button on the back of the keyboard, it connects just fine, but I had problems getting the mouse to work. Usually a wireless mouse and keyboard should work regardless of whether you have the software installed or not, since my old LX Logitech keyboard and mouse combo worked just fine without having to install Logitech's drivers. Once I installed Logitech's Setpoint program, everything stopped working. The program would say that it had to restart the mouse and keyboard so it could let you use all of the functions. Pretty hard when the keyboard can't seem to connect and work and hangs in the connecting screen.
I decided to try uninstalling the drivers and reinstalling them. As soon as I uninstalled Setpoint, the keyboard came back to life and the mouse finally decides to work. Logitech, you must be fucking kidding me. I give installing Setpoint another go, because I want to use the nifty LCD on the keyboard to display things when I have certain programs open like WinAmp and games. Again, keyboard and mouse are not functional when Setpoint is installed. I am not the only one with this problem, it seems a lot of people on the Logitech forums have the same problem, so I decided to go with what works, Setpoint is uninstalled and mouse and keyboard works again.
The next problem I had with the MX5000 was the issue with the mouse and keyboard going into standby every time you go idle for a VERY SHORT amount of time. I guess it is a feature to save batteries, but it is a huge annoyance when you have to wait about 5 seconds for the keyboard/mouse to get out of standy. It's even worse when you're playing a game and you leave the mouse alone to type on the keyboard for a couple of seconds and you try and move the mouse, only to get killed because your mouse was getting out of standby.
The biggest problem with the MX5000 in my opinion, is the lag that you experience when the computer is doing heavy processing or when you are holding down a button on the keyboard, the mouse decides to lag. This makes nearly every FPS unplayable, because its essential to use the mouse and keyboard at the same time. Even in a RTS its incredibly difficult to play with the lag. Some have reported that it may have something to do with the particular USB port, as some people have gotten rid of it when they plug it into a front, side, or monitor USB port, but I doubt this will help at all.
The MX5000 is plagued with problems, but if you are just going to use this as a normal mouse and keyboard it's fairly decent. The Bluetooth connection allows for a HUGE distance in which the mouse/keyboard can be used. It also allows for the keyboard/mouse to be used through walls, which is pretty cool if you want to switch songs from your computer if you are in another room.
The MX5000 comes with this keyboard:
And this mouse:
My overall impression of the Logitech MX5000 is pretty bad. Though it may have some cool features, you probably will be too frustrated with the problems to ever use them. The MX1000 is an excellent mouse, but bluetooth completely ruins it. For gaming this is a very lousy keyboard and mouse combo, and for just regular use you can buy something else from Logitech for way cheaper that uses a regular wireless connection. I bought this keyboard for $40 on eBay and paid for it using a voucher received from the Microsoft Lawsuit, so it really isn't a loss to me, but anyone who is thinking about buying this please look to see if you can find an MX3100 instead. You won't lose that many features, and it fully utilizes the MX1000 rather than cripple it.