If you have made the transition to Windows Vista, you may want to pick up some peripherals that take advantage of the operating system's features. One example is Logitech's new combination, the Cordless Desktop MX 3200. With a cordless mouse and keyboard, this slim set of input devices offers a lot of advanced features, and some of them are Vista-only.

Like the equally comfortable mouse (albeit for right-hand users only), the MX 3200 keyboard is coated with AgION antimicrobial compound to make it germ-, mold- and mildew-resistant. Perhaps because of this coating or because of the glossy black color scheme, these input devices really pick up dust and skin oils, although they wipe clean easily.

The zero-degree tilt of the keyboard makes it lie exceptionally flat on your desktop, ostensibly for ergonomics. If you'd rather have a greater-than-zero-degree angle, the legs on the MX 3200 keyboard adjust to three different positions, so you can find one that feels most comfortable.

The keyboard offers plenty of programmable hot keys and some truly unique features, such as a zoom slider for easily enlarging images and Vista's Dynamic Search results (displayed as thumbnails). There is also a button for Vista's Flip 3-D feature, an enhanced Alt-Tab option that displays open windows as thumbnails for a more visual way to switch between applications.

Even though these input devices are tailored for Vista, they also work quite well with Windows XP. Handy features include a communication console to quickly access your VoIP applications (like Skype), dedicated search buttons and multimedia controls. There's even an LCD on the top of the keyboard that displays the date, time and battery status.

You can either plug the tiny receiver for the MX 3200 components directly into your computer's USB port or use the included extension dock to bring it up to your desktop. We didn't have problems with the 27MHz wireless radio signal either way. The two AA mouse and four AA keyboard batteries will eventually need replacing, but Logitech includes an initial batch.

With a lengthy 5-year warranty and lots of extras, the Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 3200 is a fun way to try out some of Vista's new features, as well as a solid input device combination for Windows XP.


Pros: Cordless, Vista features, antimicrobial
Cons: Right-handed mouse, picks up dust and fingerprints quickly and easily

Warranty
5 years