Logitech K600 TV Keyboard with Touchpad

Great bang for the buck wireless multi-device computer / media keyboard – My Requirements and Preferences As a very heavy macbook pro user. So much that some of the laptop keys have worn out completely and one button is starting to not work altogether. I was in the market for a workhorse keyboard. I do not want to spend a great deal on a keyboard, especially since I do not require a cordless keyboard. In fact, I am somewhat concerned about the responsiveness of wireless connectivity especially with bluetooth that most new wireless keyboard lean towards.

Very used to laptop keyboards, I do not require a mechanical gaming keyboard with is strong tactile feel. On the other hand, a quiet membrane keyboard is good for me and I actually prefer short key travel to minimise typing effort.

Other Products Looked At Was looking at the new MX keyboard which boasts sturdy metal construction, numeric keypad and rechargeable battery. Ironically, all these are negatives to me. It is an elevated keyboard which might strain my wrist over time. It is heavy due to metal construction. Yes, it has little to no flex but I find K600 being sufficiently sturdy. I do not need a number pad while full size arrow buttons are nice. I would rather have more real estate in case I put a touch pad or mouse on the side.

Lastly, I absolutely hate rechargeable devices where rechargeable battery can not be replaced or removed. To me this is one of the biggest scam. Manufacturers advertise them as green devices because they do not use single use batteries. OMG, I use rechargeable AA, AAA and 9v batteries! Technology exists to supply rechargeable replaceable batteries in device such as all Panasonic cordless phones and power input could be USB saving the need of a power brick. There is more wastage replacing the entire device because the battery won’t charge anymore, which can be expected after as little as 3 years.

I was looking at K380 and other models. Not many are mac compatible. In fact, no Logitech keyboard map exactly to the mac keyboard. Even the MX, K380 and this K600 do have some gaps such as Fn and Crtl keys are swapped around or Fn button missing.

Why K600? It is the multi-device connectivity, AAA battery, low profile, bang for the buck, reasonably small foot print and the touch pad & D pad that made me choose K600. Admittedly, I bought the K600 keyboard at discounted price which made the decision an easy one. Unifying USB while some might think is an old technology, is awesome in my book because it takes little power, fast, reliable, supports multiple devices and does not create cross talk with other bluetooth devices. The K600 batteries are said to last up to 12 months! This is great compared with MX which lasts up to 10 days. It's worth noting that MX can also pair with 3 devices with 1/2/3 device switch buttons just like the K600.

For mbp laptop, the K600 keyboard actually fit perfectly on it, if you want to place the K600 over the built-in keyboard, making the track pad very close hence easy to use. It is unreasonable to expect after market touch pads to have the same feel and quality as the Apple touch pad. After all, Apple touch pad supports many multi-touch gestures and it has force touch also. The technology underneath the Apple track pad is really a little bit of an engineering marvel.

Logitech K600's round touch pad while feels cheap by comparison is functional while noticeably less accurate, predictable or tactile by comparison. It does support multi touch scrolling. The provision of the D pad is great and works well for TV, Netflix, game console, etc. Likewise, the navigation buttons on the left is a great feature.

Why not K600? I have not experienced any lag or connectivity issues yet. I do have several problems include: 1. USB connectivity means it uses Windows mapping. Cmd-a does not select all like a mac user would expect. One has to use Opt-a for this purpose. 2. Documentation is lacking. With bluetooth setup, one needs to know the Fn key combination to optimise keyboard mapping for various device types and OS types. Fn-8 for Apple keyboard for example. Please find the full list at the bottom. When mapping is set up correctly, the keyboard is a joy to use and the navigation buttons on the left are wonderful! 3. Once device 1 is set up for bluetooth connectivity, unifying USB connectivity would not work. To fix, you must reset K600 to factory setting returning device 1 to USB.

Conclusion There is also an additional power switch at the top right corner for conserving power. In all, I am really happy with the Logitech K600 keyboard. Would be nice if it is priced a little cheaper making it an even more compelling choice over Apple's own magic keyboard which is $20 more expensive with slim and sturdy metal construction. Implementation of the touch pad could be better and proper mapping to Apple keyboard should be possible with unifying USB connection.

Reference Information To reset K600 keyboard. press Esc-o, Esc-o, Esc-b.

To optimize the keyboard for your device, press FN + the number for your device or operating system: FN + 4: Samsung Smart TV FN + 5: LG Smart TV FN + 6: Android TV and Android mobile devices FN + 7: Windows FN + 8: macOS FN + 9: iOS FN + 0: Chrome OS (source: https://support.logi.com/hc/en-au/articles/360025337913--FAQ-K600-TV-keyboard)

Almost Perfect – Bought this for my smart TV and when I want to use my desktop pc from bed and it truly is excellent I've been looking for a versatile keyboard like this for years. Pros: Nice keyboard, easy pairing, responsive touch pad, dpad for easy navigation and various function keys for surfing the web either on the lounge or in bed. Cons: no backlit on keys, so makes it hard to use at night with the lights off and uses 2x AAA batteries, should have a USB rechargeable battery instead and if both of these require a higher price I would pay it as so far I've had a fantastic experience with this keyboard. Have enjoyed using this keyboard and for the price it's a must for your entertainment centre.

Only option available with an all-in-one keyboard/touchpad – Please Note: This review will be based on several sub-heading categories to allow readers to skip using their smart mobile devices or computer systems to jump to sections where the information matters most. Headings - Introduction - Products - Pros Vs Cons - Final Thoughts INTRODUCTION After receiving my Sony X8500 85" TV from JB HIFI and installing the whole thing myself; I had previously pre-purchased an Asus ChromeBit CS10 interstate and plugged it into the left side of the TV's inputs via a HDMI port.

With several keyboards that I owned; I started to experience some strange problems with all of the Logitech products that I owned; for example: (1) Logitech DiNovo Edge; (2) Logitech K400 Plus; and the Logitech TK820. For (1), it used a USB 2.4 Ghz dongle and for (2) and (3) using Logitech's Unifying Receiver. After a series of tests, I just lost my patience in getting this going.

Eventually, I went into a random JB HIFI store and this was the only keyboard in stock that was an all-in-one replacement for the other above previously mentioned.

PRODUCTS Logitech products in my view and experience are more superior than say Microsoft; its just something that its been embedded into me for decades. I am sure that there are other choices; but seeing how at the time, this was the only option available.

And for my purpose, I did not want a keyboard and mouse to be separate. I wanted an all-in-one that at least tried to do the job; which is to connect to a ChromeBit CS10.

What I found this keyboard though in my view, rather expensive for what it is; it did not stand out as something special; but functional.

PROS vs CONS - Plug 'n Play into the ChromeBit CS10 and worked straight away without software

CONS - Price - Looks and feels like a toy compared to (1) and (3) Logitech products previously mentioned - Touch pad mouse takes a bit of time to get use to - Lots of buttons

FINAL THOUGHTS I wish this keyboard had illumination just like (1); may be its on a different price point. Though if this keyboard had this feature, I would have bought it and I would be giving this review a higher rating. The pricing of this toy-like keyboard should be sold around half of what it has been advertised as. Would I buy something else in the future; the answer is yes. Would I recommend this to anyone, my answer would probably be 50/50, but more so leaning towards the no mark.

I just now have an abundant supply of keyboards, needing to figure out how to get them working again or offload them somewhere.