LOGITECH - TECH = 'LOGI' ... that's non-Logitech tech, is it? Venerable desk-rodent maker Logitech says it will move into new categories of products. To mark the occasion it's introducing a new brand based on chopping the end off its old one. Get ready for "Logi." The company's name isn't changing, a Logitech spokesperson told El Reg via email. But it will use the Logi label for …
I've probably owned/provisioned 300-400 Logitech products and have been very pleased by the lack of tech support needed. Their installations are usually flawless, their website is quick and easy.
Can you give some examples where their products didn't work properly?
"Can you give some examples where their products didn't work properly?"
Don't ever try to get any of their trackballs working on OSX. The drivers _literally_ didn't work when I tried (repeatedly), and the outsourced tech support person was so incredibly clueless they couldn't understand the problem. I don't think the people really understood what a driver is. :( Then marked the issue fixed/resolved - which it absolutely wasn't. Went through this with them a couple of times, and same behaviour every single time. (including their bogus stacking of their "resolved" stats) :(
Bought a Kensington Expert Mouse instead (despite the name, it's a trackball), which works well (including the driver :>).
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So, their hardware is generally ok (eg keyboards, webcams)... but their software support... I've not come across anything that bizarrely bad before. And No, I'm not into MS XBox, so never went through that pain.
Sounds like netgear support. If obvious hardware problem, not too difficult to jump through the hoops to get a RMA. If it is a software problem. say the error log on a layer 2 switch filling up with a consistent message (every second) that I do not know the mean off the and hiding all other messages. The only solution from netgear (after finally getting them to understand the fault) was we don't understand the error message either, turn off logging.
OSX? Too bad, must not have any generic USB trackball profile like Windows does.
FTR, I have NEVER had any issues in my history (been using them since they began and I'm 60) with Logitech products. Their SetPoint software sometimes is a little twitchy and more bloated than it could be but their products have always operated well on Windows even if their was an occasional driver conflict.
Right now I have 3 (Anywhere MX) mice and 3 (K750 and K400) wireless keyboards in active use and a pile of older stuff in the spare drawer. My old Logitech trackball still works but the Anywhere mouse is more compact, works well without a dedicated mousepad on dark and uneven surfaces and has many similar features. The keyboards are great and from what I hear work well with Macs.
I can't speak of their webcams as I don't use any. Not sure what generation of USB your trackball was but all computers had issues with the earliest versions of USB and UUART chips. Since trackballs are kind of out of fashion, yours might have such an issue.
I have found they have been the BEST product supporters in tech. Aftersales have been fantastic, providing replacement mouse feet free of charge and shipped at their cost. I also had a G5 mouse replaced with a newer model when they couldn't provide said feet any more. Their quality control is generally excellent as well.
I'd have a Logitech mouse over anyone else's. The MX Revolution is the best I've used, I have a VX470, M705 and MX Anywhere I use regularly too.
The software is the best part. SetPoint knows about all the mice, so one install lets you set up whichever device you happen to be using.
I will admit I've never had to contact them for support, all the kit I've had "just works", to borrow from Apple.
"I'd have a Logitech mouse over anyone else's. "
I wouldn't. For years I bought Logitech. When they worked they were great, but always short lived, and with optical and wireless devices it's often hard to reliably replicate the fault. Given that they aren't cheap, the short life isn't acceptable in this house, so I now no longer buy anything made by Logitech (and won't be buying anything by Logi, either).
The mice aren't too bad, but then any of several of the better mouse brands are just fine and go on doing exactly what you expect them to do for years. (Hint: stay away from the expensive ones, you really don't get anything from an expensive "luxury" mouse that you don't get from a plain basic model so long as it is of decent quality - anything made by Logitech (or for that matter Microsoft) in a basic OEM mouse is usually cheap, practical, and reliable).
It's the trackballs which drive me spare. Logitech make a line of trackballs which are head and shoulders superior to pretty much anything else from an ergonomic point of view. Once you get used to one you'll never want to use anything else. But they are absurdly expensive (which I can live with) and the damn things wear out very quickly (which is unforgivable in a product costing this much).
Compare with the Kensington Expert Mouse in the same broad price category which is built like a tank and lasts pretty much forever. Sadly, although the Kensington mechanical design and construction is first class, the ergonomics are not even in the same street as the cheaply-built, expensive Logitech product. So you grit your teeth and pay through the nose and buy yet another new one every couple of years.
In revenge, I make a point of buying non-Logitech OEM product for our mainstream products. Not that it achieves anything, but what can you do?
EDIT: I see that Kensington have redesigned the Expert Mouse and it's now a more sensible and practical shape. Time to try one out again, I think. If it's even half as well-made as the old model used to be it will be a winner.
> (Hint: stay away from the expensive ones, you really don't get anything from an expensive "luxury" mouse that you don't get from a plain basic model so long as it is of decent quality
I thought that too until I bought a G9x and doubt I will have to buy another mouse again before mice become obsolete (build quality is excellent, and being able to put weights in a mouse sounds like a gimmick until you get it exactly right for your hand). Some high end mice are worth it.
Trouble with all third party peripherals, they are at the mercy of whatever operating system they support. Along comes an OS update and suddenly they no longer function as when first released. My Logitech keyboard allows me to use my iPad almost like a laptop when sitting at my desk, really a godsend considering how buggy Apple's iOS has got at editing text. But under 8.3 - 8.4 I can no longer invert the screen using the home button, and the function keys for brightness still have no effect at all. Considering Logitech is an authorized Apple licensee, one would expect better synchronization between the two companies and their devices.
Had even worse problem with Macally; loved their trackball but each time Apple updated Mac OS the software would fall behind until the thing became useless. Ended up paying more for a third party driver than I did for the original trackball, grrr...
My first impression was that I wasn't fond of the new logo, but then your article reminded me that I didn't actually like the old logo all that much. The typeface was fine, but the "weird blobby thing" was always so weird and blobby. (In actuality, it's an abstraction of their even older logo, which was an eye that looked like it had been drawn in MSPaint.) I think we had only become desensitized to it from seeing it so much. The new logo isn't bad, and the old one probably should have been updated a decade ago.
And be sure to watch their new brand video if you like having seizures...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CO6PJ6IWFI
Logitech also make some really good value speakers too.. I replaced a big setup with the z540 4.1 years ago, because it was good enough. Not as good as my huge old loudspeakers and big sealed sub but very close and don't take up half a room. The only problem they had was with the volume pot getting crackly but as we all know it just needs a little contact cleaner to fix that.
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