- Sleek, low-profile keys: Easy and comfortable typing on quiet keys with bold, easy-to-read characters
- Built-in multi-touch touchpad: Large (3.5-inch) touchpad with multi-touch navigation for easier web browsing
- Long-range wireless: Control your TV-connected laptop from the couch with 33 feet/10 meter wireless range
- Plug-and-play setup: Plug the tiny Logitech Unifying wireless receiver into your laptop and start surfing the web
- For Windows-based laptops: Works with Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP
The Logitech K400 is clearly designed with this setup in mind, giving you full control of a computer in a couch-friendly form factor. Surprisingly, it seems to be one of the few such input devices with a (near) full-size keyboard instead of a tiny thumb-sized one. Obviously, that means it's much larger than a conventional remote control, but it's also much more usable. It looked like exactly what I wanted, and at a reasonable price, too.
The K400 features a fairly attractive, clean design (aside from the odd "random lines" artwork on the trackpad). It's much lighter than I expected, which is nice, but it's also not incredibly sturdy. The build quality is fair for the price, I'd say, but doesn't seem likely to withstand a lot of abuse.
As long as you don't plan on writing a novel on your TV, the slightly-smaller-than-full-size keys are pretty usable. They aren't backlit, though, which would be especially useful in a dark living room. On a semi-related note, the Caps Lock key doesn't light up, either ... but you don't use that key anyway, right?
One very handy feature is the additional left-click button in the upper left corner, which lets you operate the trackpad with both hands or thumbs. It's a lot easier to click or drag with your left hand as you move the cursor with your right hand this way. The trackpad also conveniently offers Mac-style two-finger scrolling.
Other nice touches include an on/off switch, and a slot behind the battery door to stow the teeny tiny USB receiver dongle. It also ships with factory-installed AA batteries, which is always appreciated.
If you're looking for a decent keyboard for a home theater PC, this one seems hard to beat -especially for the price!
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About Mac compatibility
The keyboard claims to support Windows only, but I suspected this wasn't the full story. Sure enough, when I plugged it into a Mac, the keyboard and trackpad worked automatically -complete with two-finger scrolling -on both Snow Leopard and Lion. Even the volume buttons are functional (but not the semi-pointless "home" button, it seems).
OS X identifies the trackpad as a mouse, so that's the preference pane where you can configure the sensitivity of the tracking and scrolling gestures. The latter really needs to be dialed down to work well, in my experience. Also, you may want to remap the Windows (Command) and Alt (Option) modifier keys for a more Mac-like layout.
The only catch? I can't figure out how to disable tap-to-click on the trackpad. (I'm hoping a software hack will make this possible, and that it's not hard-wired into the device itself.) Unfortunately, Logitech's Control Center software doesn't recognize the device, either.
If you can live with that, the keyboard otherwise works just fine with a Mac, despite the official word from Logitech.
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this keyboard is perfect for htpc, big touchpad surface, left click button on the upper left of the keyboard for hand held operation. came with batteries, so everything was ready right from the box. this thing gets great range, i tried muting and adjusting the volume in the next room of my home and it worked.three things i would like to see added to this keyboard would be a right click button on the upper left next to the left click button, a vertical scroll wheel, and backlit with a toggle switch or button.
one thing that bothered me at first is that i couldnt turn off the tap-to-click but once i updated the setpoint software a whole new menu opened up for the k400.
options include:
-turn off tap-to-click
-adjust pointer acceleration
-pointer speed
-enable smart move, and pointer trails
-scrolling size
-set F key commands
-disable caps lock, windows start key, scroll lock and insert keys.
-view battery level
-on screen status indicator for low battery, vol changes, lock keys on/off.
i upgraded to the k400 from an rii mini wireless keyboard because the touchpad started to jitter and i got tired of its crappy range.
Read Best Reviews of Logitech Wireless Touch Keyboard K400 Here
I wanted to add my own review to the Linux camp, and confirm or add to what others have said. I'm coming at this review from an out-of-the-box functionality point of view--I'm not going to dive in and compile drivers to change anything. Here's what to expect with the unaltered product:Overall, I'm giving this 4 stars because it worked with Ubuntu 10.4, right out of the box. I simply plugged in the dongle and was good to go. It's light, small, the keys are responsive, and the singleand two-finger touchpad functionality (scrolling, etc.) works perfectly.
Because it's light, the body of the keyboard feels just a little flimsy, but not in a "this is going to fall to pieces in two days" kind of way. I prefer the lighter design, to be honest.
Some of the keys are smaller, so you might find yourself making some errors until you get used to the layout. It's nothing to scream about, though. For a "couch keyboard", I think the key sensitivity is perfect, and I didn't find myself constantly having to watch my typing.
This might seem like a weird point, but I love the fact that this keyboard can stand on its top edge. I can slide this on a shelf with other items, and it won't slam down if those items are removed or jostled.
Here's the Linux issue:
Though this functions "out of the box", advanced functions aren't available. Unlike my trackball wireless keyboard, there's no way to change the speed/sensitivity of the touchpad. I like a speedy pointer, and it took me a while to get used to having a slower pointer. Advanced drivers--allowing sensitivity adjustments--are available for Windows users, but I found nothing for Linux on Logitech's website, and Logitech did not respond when I tried contacting them about Linux drivers. There's an open source applet available which allows users to change the sensitivity of their mouse from 400cpi to 800cpi, but nothing official. It would be nice to allow users to search "Logitech" or "k400" in the Ubuntu Software Center and install a supported package allowing for advanced functions. One could probably use NDISwrapper, too, but I'm only looking at supported options in this review.
Regardless of the driver issue, I would definitely recommend this keyboard for HTPC use, whether you're running Windows or Linux.
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I bought this to use for my laptop for couch use when connected to my tv and it works perfectly for that. I recently found another use for it. I've upgraded my phone to the Motorola Droid Bionic and have the home media dock. I popped the included usb connector onto the phone dock and WOW is works perfectly for the phone. It has full compatibility with my phone including using the multi-touch mouse pad. I love having the option to use it with my phone when docked to the tv, I have full access to all apps on my phone (I can make calls, reply to texts, play games, do email, watch netflix, pretty much EVERYTHING!)Save 13% off
I bought the Logitech keyboard to use with my new Samsung UN46ES6150F LCD TV. The television is internet connected with a web browser, but trying to type anything using the arrow keys on the included remote was terrible! So, I did a little research (very little) and quickly ordered the keyboard.The keyboard is almost full size with nice keys. Very tactile with great feedback. The touchpad is quiet large and responsive. The keyboard is bluetooth and comes with its own USB dongle (and batteries!). I plugged the dongle in the back of the TV and it immediately recognized the keyboard. What a difference....typing and navigating on the TV now is a breeze! I walked into an adjacent room to test the range and even at around 25 feet or so...no problems.
I'm happy with it.
UPDATE (7/19/2012): The keyboard is not bluetooth. It does come with it's own dongle, and you must use it. You will not be able to pair the keyboard with another bluetooth device. It will only communicate with the USB dongle included.
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