The old board and mouse were downright disgusting. Enough crumbs had gathered in between the keys to feed rats, while keys themselves were sticky with Coke and old spaghetti sauce. The mouse was eating AA’s faster than a Game Gear, and being a little bitch about what surfaces it would work on.
Time to sack up and put down the cash for replacements. One trip to Office Max and $85 later, and the old was out for the new. Ahhh, the awesome smell of new computer hardware.
It’s called the MediaPlay, and it’s Logitech’s attempt to create a new niche of mice. See, in addition to playing the part of the usual cursor-moving rodent, the MediaPlay is also meant to double as a remote control for your PC, controlling music and video from up to 10 feet away.
It’s been styled and designed to work both ways. Unlike Logitech opticals of old, this one is symmetrical, and significantly shorter, with a rounded off ass end. This means it’s perfectly useable as a remote, while still being comfortable as a mouse. The media controls – play/pause, volume and track – are placed exactly where they should be: In logical places, easily accessible, while being unobtrusive during normal use. They’re there, but never in the way. Finally, there’s a Logitech classic: Forward/Back buttons on the left side, right where your thumb falls, making Internet navigation a breeze.
And look! Touch one of the media buttons, and they’re backlit. Sexy. There are other nice touches, too, like an on/off button on the underside, so you can turn it off and save juice while going to the next LAN party.
In comparison to the mouse, the new keyboard is downright pitiful. No wireless, no light up keys, no fingerprint reader or second scroll wheel. Styling is also a bit off, a kind of pseudo-ergonomic: Slightly curved keys, without the bump mapping of a traditional ergo ‘board.
You might call it a low rent imposter of a real ergo board, but I’m in love with it. The keys are fabulously quiet and have a great feel. It’s also sized perfectly for my desk, short in both length and height, a good thing for people with keyboard trays like mine. Most real ergo boards are hideously ugly, tall, clunky, and utterly useless for gaming. No, this $20 cheapo suits me just fine.
The old. You won’t be missed.
