Logitech MX5000 Review

Computers Portable — 22 September 2005

Logitech has unveiled a whirlwind of products this past month, and that includes the keyboard and mouse combo MX5000. Both devices use Bluetooth 2.0 and have a pretty extensive feature set which include an LCD for the keyboard to notify you of incoming email, and what Logitech claims is a mouse with 20 times the accuracy of any regular optical mouse.

Another notable feature is that while the keyboards LCD is not in use it will display Window XP user name, time, date and room temperature – cool or what? “I don’t know what does you keyboard say?”….oohhhh!. Sorry that was in poor taste but I just ran with it. Lastly, the keyboard acts as a Bluetooth hub for your entire computer. So if you would like to pair it with a wireless headset or sync your phone then you’re in business.

The combo runs for $149.99 and is currently available.

For a full review on the mouse (MX1000) included in the package Click Here.

About Author

Christen Costa

Grew up back East, got sick of the cold and headed West. Since I was small I have been pushing buttons - both electronic and human. With an insatiable need for tech I thought "why not start a blog focusing on technology, and use my dislikes and likes to post on gadgets."

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Rob

The MX5000 is utter rubbish. It feels cheap, looks cheap and disconnects with annoying frequency finally diconnecting today and refusing to be found,. or connect for an hour. It is now sitting dangerously close to a bin. Rubbish a real dissapointment from Logitech product.
Mike

I to have had persistant problems with the MX5000 Keyboard disconnecting at random. Mine is now in the rubbish bin!
Gav

I was also dissapointed with this. I started with disconnection problems, but when I got mine, it came with a yellow insert to get the latest drivers. Doing this solved those problems (more or less). It still takes quite a while for it to come back from standby.

I do, however, love the keyboard layout. I used to have the mx3100 bundle, and although I wish I had it back, I do like the touch media controls on the side and the overall layout of it. I also like the positioning of the “home”, end, delete, etc. keys. Quite functional.

I also really like the mx1000 mouse. I only ever say good things about it. It works smoothly and presicely where my old optical could even track anymore. Scads of programmable buttons, and wireless to boot, thumbs up all the way.

But I digress.

Unfortunately, there are a couple things about this keyboard that make me think Logitech was just stalling until they came out with a better product:
1. the crappy, limited functionality (non-OLED) screen
2. the scetchy connectivity
3. the atrocious colour

Thanks for reading
Gav
Casey

Worth the money? Read Below..

I recently bought the Logitech MX5000 Keyboard combo, and while I love the feautres of the keyboard there are some drawbacks. The keyboard fuctions great but as for the mouse that comes with this product. I have to say that it is extremly buggy. Also, for you gamers out there, I wouldn’t recommend this product for you as it is aimed more toward the office/productivity market.

This is understandingly for good reason. The mouse is very slow to respond when playing games and very often, it doesn’t fuction at all. While trying to play Doom 3 I ended up not even using the mouse and just going back to using the keyboard and for anyone with experience in first-person shooter games you know how nice the mouse is when it comes to aiming and turning corners. Along with the fact that you firing functions are often resigned to the mouse buttions, this defeats the purpose of this keyboard.

Overall I would have to give the product a 3 out of 5 stars. If it were possible to judge the mouse and keyboard and two seprate products I would give the keyboard a 5 out of 5 stars depsite it sluggish restart after coming out of sleep mode, but once it is connected and running it seems to work flawlessly. The mouse on the other hand I would only give it a 1 out 5. I could give it a 0 but the button features and scroll features brought it up a point. The mouse in itself isn’t worth it. Overall I am happy with the product from my web programmers point of view, it’s nice to be able to write my code from the comfort of my recliner. (Not always but sometimes)

Hope this helps those out there looking for bluethooth gaming solution.
http://na Tynan

I too just picked up this combo and it SUCKSSS. it repeats so many letters typed. garbage, its slow too.
Lily

agreeing to mike and rob, my mx5000 is now IN the rubbish bin !! for ppl who are looking/wanting to buy this product, DON”T !

bad things about this:
1. it loses connection very very frequently
2. there’s always a lag when you type/move the mouse
3. LCD on keyboard make no sense, you can never see it!
4. touch sensitive pad on the side is annoying plus there’s always a lag.
5. the MEDIA touch pad is garbage

go get mx3100 instead. mx5000 deserved to go into garbage can. grrrrrr

such a disappointing product from logitech. below average!
Nathan Cunningham

I purchase the MX 5000 about a month ago. I read alot of reviews from people saying this desktop unit was junk and how they cant get either there mouse or there keyboard to work. But as far as im concerned I feel its a great set up. I love the mouse (how it fits to my hand and the extra buttons on it. They work great and make surfing the web easier. As far as the keyboard I feel the same i love the touch sensitive area. It works great for me so simple. The lcd screen i also like. It took a little while to figure it out but after a little messing around i got it set up to the way i wanted it. I only problem i do have with this key board is its typing. 50% of the time it has lag with the typing. Example ill be typing out a paper and the letters come up half a second to a second later after ive already pressed the key. Some times theres no time in between the key being pressed and the letter showing up on the screen and some times there is, but i guess thats the risk you take when purchasing a wireless keyboard i dont think theyve got all the bugs worked out with it yet. But overall I give this keyboard and mouse combo a 8.5 of 10 and the only reason i didnt give it a 10 out of 10 was because of the letter lag that it does have 50% of the time but ive seemed to get used to it and it doesnt bother me that much any more I hope this review is helpful to anyone thinking about purchasing this product. Id say if you can try it before you buy it go ahead and see if you like using wireless products.
sw

I have to agree with several of the above comments re: the MX5000. Connectivity is terrible and uses batteries like that are going out of style. Not very impressed with this product. It is also sluggish when coming out of standby, repeats letters from time to time and is a pain in the rearend when batteries require changing which is about every 2 days. I expect much more from logitech. Have used their products for years and always been very satisfied but not this time. This one too, is very near the garbage bin. Anyone considering purchasing this product……don’t!!
http://support.logitech.com Dewayne

Anyone who gave this keyboard a favorable review is probably hired by logitech or selling something. This keyboard is simply not functional and anyone that says otherwise if a LIAR.
chris

those reviews r a bit harsh realy, i had the keyboard for 6months and it worked like a dream, realy loved it! ocasionaly a key would stick but not all that bad.
as tim eprogresed, everything got worse and worse, keys stuck more often, and it climaxed with the keyboard refusing to connect to my computer at all, even after reinstalling windows. i sent it back for a replacement……so mayb il get a new free one every 6months and never need to buy a new keyboard ever again? we’l see….
Peter

I would have to agree with all the negative comments previously. I am sooooo dissappointed with the MX5000. If I reboot my PC I have to tap the keybaord and move the mouse around while booting otherwise neither will connect. I have purchased a USB Ext cable to move it away from the wireless router. I even bought a seperate PCI USB Card just incase the motherboard USB’s were not firing up in time. Nothing works except many reboots and tapping and moving during boot up. I have to plug in another keyboard to get into my BIOS and/or safe mode. I have bought the MX3000 and going to try this in a hope it all works better. My advice is there are more negative than postive feedback on the MX5000 so best stay away save your money. PS Anyone want to buy one cheap???
John

I got this keyboard/mouse combo as a birthday present.
Its a crap. Problems:

1: always loosing connection
2: Mouse moves anywhere without beeing touched often
3: Lag between typing and appearing on the screen
4: Display only works fine when you install sucking media software u dont want to install, no fully winamp support
5: After contacting Logitech support they send me a new bluetooth-usb-dongle.

6:Problems still there
7: Hands off this peace of shitty hardware
Andrew Lam

IT SUCKS !!!, even my old corded keyboard that I put aside 5 years ago works better. Avoid.
I wish I did a research before I bought this shitty product. Shame on you Logitech.
TWIise

Great wireless combo. Keyboard feedback is nicely dampened, and the LCD is quiant; especially useful with the calculator function. A relative lack of “clutter” for such an up-market combo, thankfully. The touch pads and application hotkeys don’t get in the way.

For any users experiencing difficulties with the connection on the newest drivers, a computer familization course at the local community college might be beneficial.
Duntuk

TWIise… you must either be using a different product or your only previous keyboard/mouse experience was that which came bundled with your eMachine…

with that said… mx5000 is poorly made in functionality and quality, as you can see by the hundreds of negative reviews about this product….

If you ever used the MX1000 mouse (non-bluetooth), you’d know what a mouse is suppose to perform like….

with the disconnect/lag problems asside… there’s a technical difference between the mousetracking of the RF and bluetooth versions of the mouse…. the bluetooth only does 80inputs while the RF does 120inputs (way more accurate)

http://forums.logitech.com/logitech/board/message?board.id=bluetooth_mice&message.id=23

and the mouse wheel on the bluetooth version is lower quality material too… the RF version is very smooth and silent, while the bluetooth is “grindy”/cheap feeling…

I have both so i know… going to return the mx5000 and just get another mx1000 version…
Sean Jones

I have the MX500. After having bought wireless keyboards for many years this is easily the worst I have every used. I have to keep a spare wired keyboard by my desk for the regular occasions on which the keyboard loses its connection and cannot be found.

Just this evening it developed a lag from input to screen measured in 10s of seconds. It also repeated its regular trick of deciding that since you have pressed a particular key you must want to have that character inserted an infinte number of times and fills page after page with the same character. Unfortunately, at one point the key that got stuck was the “backspace” key and I watched half an hour of work get deleted before my eyes.
Jeff Szlauko

The mx5000 keyboard and mouse are pure garbage!!! I gave up on the mouse months ago when it would just decide to not work at randem times. Today I finally gave up on the keyboard as it once again refused to connect with my PC after rebooting. It has joined the mouse in PC heaven. The setpoint software is also pure crap as it would NEVER make the connection after booting up. I would avoid buying this Logitech keyboard/mouse at all costs… unless you enjoy the feeling of utter frustration.
Lance

WOW! Saw thr mx5000 on sale for $119. Glad I came here before picking one up. The mx3000 is on sale for $60 after rebates. Think I’ll go that way – if only some of these reviews are accurate, maybe I’ll save some cash and maybe some sanity.
Thanks!
CDS

Do not buy this keyboard. I have troubleshot it for 6 months. The setpoint softwre crahses. The connectivity is mediocre and I have had to reinstall the software for the keyboard 5 times to get it working. Logitech refuses to acknowledge and problems with the keyboard and refuses to upgrade or fix the software problems.
Kevin Graham

PLEASE!!! IF anyone can get this POS to work please post the solution. It worked for about a month then nothing. Re-installed and owrked for a day. Then it started with connection issues again and now the keyboard is not connecting. I’m thinking about putting it on e-bay but afraid of the bad comments. DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT!!! RUN RUN RUN RUN RRRRRRRRRRUUUUUUNNNNN. Had to type this on a working wired keyboard. I have a 50″ plasma so I’ll probably go blind sitting 2 feet from it.
Asterix

Wow so many negative reviews! Sure it sometimes can be a pain in the butt to install (especially on windows x64 in regard to getting the widcomm stack to install) but once you have it going its fantastic. Well the mouse is brilliant and personally I love the keyboard as well. Granted it does repeat keys as it wakes up but there is a partial fix for that on logitechs site. All the other features work well. The latest setpoint software is much improved. A bit of patience and this is a damn good product…..once its connected.

P.S The keyboard used to lose connection in WoW once in a while resulting in me running in circles for a minute or two(was a nice break lol). But hasn’t done that with latest setpoint
Asterix

Oh and guys the biggest peice of advice I can offer is to use a USB extension cable to get that mini receiver away from the pc case!!!! Do that and you will have an 100% new view on this desktop! I almost forgot that being so long ago I did it. You get all sorts on interferance with it being so close to case and components. That is a bad design. Move it and be happy :)
Warren

Awesome keyboard, although the LCD does have limited functionality out of the box. (Google for custom drivers or if you’re really ambitions, write your own)

And the battery life? I use the computer about 8 hours a day and I have no problems with battery power. I sometimes forget to put the mouse on the charger but even then it will get a full 3 days worth of work before it has to be charged. And I don’t know what some of you are doing with your keyboards, but I’ve had this for 6 months now and I’m only on my second set of batteries (regular alkaline Duracells) and they’re still full. I had to replace the batteries that came with it after 4 months, which is incredibly good considering how often I use it.

The only downside (apart from the limited functionality of the LCD screen which is entirely fixable) is the sensitivity of the volume control on the touch area, and the fact that I still haven’t figured out what the zoom is used for.
Marcus

I agree with the general consensus that that it takes an inordinate amount of time to “locate” the Blue Tooth dongle on start up and the double characters when typing. Don’t even get me started on how difficult the installation was!
I think I am close to either replacing this or reverting back to my wired OEM keyboard and mouse.
meng

I got this set of keyboard and mouse, and I didn’t like them at all. the keyboard allways disconnect from the base and the mouse don’t respose when I install adobe photoshop.
Don’t get this, logitech start getting lazy now these days, they don’t update their drivers at all.
0oMk0o5i3

I got this combo about a week ago and it is really impressove in style, but I have to agree that as $10 keyboard and mouse is more than just a mere challenge for this expensive combo in terms of performance. Hopefully the updated drivers will work (Setpoint 2.6)
Byteboy

I’ve been a computer user since the first IBM PC. I’ve had many Logitech products and have always been happy with them. But thiis MX5000 keyboard and Mouse are easily the worst computer product that I’ve every purchased.

The keyboard loses it’s connection at least once a day.
The keyboard eats batteries like mad.
The keyboard adds an extra character to all my passwords
The mouse moves the cursor across the screen at random
The LED window currently is displaying a 9.- and the number
“6″ for reasons unknown.
The slide switches for the zoom and volume either don’t work at all or are uncontrolable when I try to use them

Upgrading drivers, software doesn’t help. Logitech support seems totally unaware that they put a product on the market that is for all practical purposes, unusable.
MX 5000 User

I have purchased the combo from Amazon.com, one of myself and another for my friend. They really suck big time. The mouse loses its control often and even gets disconnected! The SetPoint software illegally attempts connecting to the Logitech website even if you click on ‘no’ not to recieve that service at its installation. The program also uses up too much of memory and it slows down the OS interfaces. I should have brought the MS keyboard package instead.
Angry man

The biggest piece of crap I ever bought–overpriced and half the time I will be swearing at it because it lost connectivity. I am using the USB extension cable–have been for a while now, because without it, I can’t get this thing to work reliable from 2 meters away.

When using this desktop PRAY that windows never crashes on you, coz if it does, you will lose both mouse and keyboard….then for some magical reason 2 weeks later, it will suddenly reconnect again–I cannot figure out the exact conditions you need to get it to reconnect–it just seems so random.

So buy this if you like pain.
Logitech Hater

I bought this combo in Canada and brought it to Hong Kong to use. I wish I had tried it out in Canada because I would have returned it. It is the most aggravating, crappiest, piece of technology I have used in my life. It disconnects for no reason. It repeats keys like nobody’s business, the LCD is a piece of crap thing that works for a few hours, the battery dies so often.
How does Logitech have the gall to sell something that is clearly broken?!?!?! It just plain doesn’t work! I will not buy another logitech again for their lack of quality and deceitfulness.. I should’ve just settled from some Asian brands. They work!
Martin

erhm,… i dunno if this a bad batch of MX-5000.. i had mine for about 8 months and had shares of the unfortunate moments with this keyboard. when i installed the bluetooth softwares which came with it, I got so frustrated, driving me nuts , it loses connection like crazy, no keyboad, no mouse, but it detected my other bluetooth gadget. I then just used my old MX duo keyboard to gain some control for the PC and uninstall – did a system restore to it. basically undoing all the installation. then i tried connectiong the keyboard and mouse again but this time wihout the Setpoint software, I lose the features like the media control etc, but at least it stopped giving me troubles, so i guess most likely the culprit was the setpoint driver/ software. The mouse i could say, is also a ‘cheaper version’ of the RF brother. it loses control now and then with only the buttons work but cannot move the cursor anywhere, and i have to keep turning it on and off whenever it happen, it sucks… I regretted buying this combos..The only cool thing from this combo is just the looks and nothing else. Stay away from this product if you value your work productivity..
waddy

Just bought this, and it is the worst Keyboard mouse combination.

Major lag and connectivity problems

DONT BUY IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bollox

Have to agree – loses connectivity all too often, only way to get any semblance of order is to re-install all the drivers time after time.

I wish i had read these reviews before i bought this fcking lemon !
Sean Riddle

I would strongly recommend against purchasing the MX5000. When I first got it, it would not work at all. I had previously installed the WIDCOMM bluetooth drivers, and nothing I could do would uninstall them to the point that I could install the MX5000. I eventually reinstalled XP, which worked, but quite a pain. Whether or not I use SetPoint, I get doubled letters several times a day, and “stuck” letters at least once a week. This is a severe problem- when I hit the delete key to get rid of junk email, it often deletes the next one as well. One time it sent 49 emails to the trash can. This could be disastrous for a business. I have tried moving the receiver many times, and I have turned off all other 2.4MHz devices I have, but the problem persists, leading me to believe it is not a communications problem but a bug in the keyboard firmware. I have emailed their tech support many times with no response. Their forums are full of others posting the same issues.
Clay

I bought this today without looking at any reviews, thinking that Logitech has a good name and their top product would be fine. Not feeling so good after reading all of these reports! Took me a few goes to get it all up and running, used the install CD and did the update to setpoint 2.6. So far its been running great, everything working, no lag, no connectivity problems. Will keep using it for a week and see how it goes…
LOL

Lmfao, You guys are complaining about having issues with its connectivity. :P

Its because you didnt install the software properly, you let logitech have all the bluetooth control cus windows is limited.

This keyboard in visita will only get better.

2 downsides,

LCD should be illuminated
and the batteries on the keyboard only last 3 months full use.
P

Had this keyboard for three months now. Not that it doesn’t have its drawbacks, but I bought this keyboard for its wireless capability and it works well. I use the keyboard/mouse with and without setpoint software (have two xp installs – one a testbed) with no real problems (other than the obvious diminished functionality of all the extra buttons w.o. setpoint). Also Both mouse and keyboard have very long battery life.
Having said that, I do find the zoom/volume controls and the LCD to be useless.
I needed a wireless combo and nothing more and this has served me perfectly.
Patrick from the Netherlands

I love the keyboard, however, the batteries run out very fast. The mouse is excellent. I have the same mouse from a erlier model, and I realy love it.
I had some connectionproblems after I tried to connect my mobile phone though the BT device. I had to decide to remove all logitech and BT soft AND hardware and start over. That was the trick.

It is also important to use the extension, to move the BT hardware away from the PC. This helps with connectivity problems.

It does not get a A level from me, but i would give it a B minus
Ray from Canada

I have had this combo for about 3 months now. Constantly lose connection, then when you try to reconect , half the time it can’t find them anymore. I called logitech, went through there fixes. Didn’t work worth a shit. Uninstalled and reinstalled setpoint about 10 times now to fix things for another week or two. Also the double letter typing drives me batty! Logitech keeps telling me my $4000 state of the art computer is to blame and that they produce a quality product. Kiss my ass and if you want this combo, just go digging at my local dump, as you will find it there now.
Cris

This Product is an absolute PIECE OF SHIT.
I have Win x64 pro installed,
I loose connection, I get key repeeetttttt,its no good for gaming
I paid 200 Fucking dollars for it.
Thats 200 dollars i could of spent at the whore house
I sent a email to logitech to see if they could help me and 10,000,000 peope that are having the same fucking problem, they sent me a abusive email back telling me its my fault,
instead of trying to fix the problem there just passing the buck on to me and everyone else.
well guess what i burnt the fucking thing last night now im yousing my $10 generic keyboard and mouse that ive had for about 10 years and it woks great. no key repeat, no lag, no problems at all.
i will never buy another logitech product ever again
LOGITECH YOUR A BUNCH OF FUCKING WANKERS.
KISS MY ASS!!
Cameron

I have to say that buying the top of the range is not always best. I spent 3 days trying to get this working and ended up taking it back to the shop who rfused to install the drivers that came with it and just used the windows native bluetooth supprt..so of course they had no problems with it and refused to give me my money back. They told me to uninstall the software that came with it and I did and now it works fine BUT I am unable to use any hotkeys and now its like a fat damn whale paddling in a kids pool..bloated and half dead. I rang logitech and spent 20 minutes waiting on a paid long distance call before they got to me, only to speak to some guy in India who didnt have a damn clue and just said take it back. I CANT. I updated everything via the auto updates and that didnt fix anything. Mine was bought in Australia so its a worldwide problem.
Bell

Ive just bought one of these before looking at all of the above reviews :-/
Little scary actually hehe…

I shall leave a further review and let you all know if i get any problems after a week.

I would also like to know if Cris has had any problems with Setpoint 3.15and if the Combo still needs burning???
Evan

Well i dunno why everyone cant understand how to operate a computer, because i have absolutely no problems with it whatsoever. I find it to be an incredible mouse and keyboard set, although i did have problems with it at first but when i moved the receiver away from my tower it works great no more random mouse lag. Anyways the point is, is that for some reason everyone here has no idea how to properly use a mouse and keyboard it is a great buy. The mouse is awesome aswell it is very precise. The only things i don’t like about it are its ugly color and screen, it needs a backlight.
D

I have not had any problems with this set, if you just download the latest drivers from their web page and are patient during the install and make sure to secure you connections then everything works out great. The keyboard is very nice and quiet, and the mouse is very responsive and by far the best wireless mouse I have ever owned.
Bob

I have also had no problems with the combo set, although it was kinda spendy it works great, just get the latest drivers and your fine. I play lots of games such as CS:S and have had no problems. If you can figure out how to use this set and install it properly you should probably not have purchased it.
Cris

?Why Medator.

Delete my post when it could help other people.

I don’t understand.

Logitech have new software and firmware for the bluetooth thingy that connects the keyboard and mouse.

Its only taken about two to three years to get there act together.

Setpoint 3.15 is what your looking for.

Hope this helps people that have connection problems
Cris

Hi Bell,

I’ve had this combo for about a bit over a year.

Finnaly the 3.15 setpoint works.

I have not lost connection scince the setpoint update .

I tell ya I was that close to incinerating it.

I do get a bit worked up hey.
Ray

Curiouse how you move the reciever away from the tower when it is a usb dongle? Also when I go to logitech website for latest updates for setpoint, they do not want you to use 3.15? WTF is up with that? For a wireless keyboard mouse combo with a 60 foot range, why is it that I had to move the dongle to the front of the tower because when it is on the back of the tower my mouse likes to float around a lot even though it’s a whole foot and a half farther away? For those that say it works great, good luck with that , I thought that for a short while myself, lol. Logitech can take this piece of shit and shove it up there ass.
Shawn

Very Poor Product!!!
I work for best buy in Winnipeg and I have always praised logitech for their product and quality control. This foray into a bluetooth desktop is terrible. I owned it for 9 months and initially once every couple of days while using it the KB and Mouse would not respond after a couple of hours of use. I attributed this to possibly lack of ram. Sp I upped it to 1 GB of Ram same problem. Possibly underpowered Power Supply 500w installed now. Maybe a bad USB port installed a PCI USB 2.0 Card same problem but now becoming more frequent. I then went out and purchsed a new Bluetooth dongle as it could have been a bad transmitter….. nope same thing. I made sure to be using the newerst software/ /firmware finally after 9 months of frustration I exchanged it to the RF MX3200. Now do I think it is the units or the wireless technology? Well most manufacturers make their Keyboards and Mice RF ya gotta wonder why……..