Logitech NuLOOQ Navigator

Reviews: Peripherals

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Anthony Fiti
Kurtis

Jan. 31, 2007

Specifications

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Testing

On my desktop PC, I tested the NuLOOQ Navigator in six applications: Firefox, Photoshop, Google Earth, iTunes, Word and Excel.

In MS Word, the navring would zoom in and out when twisted and scroll up, down left and right with the sliding movement of the navring. Scrolling along the tooltuner would increase and decrease the font size. Here's a bit of Word trivia: did you know the largest font size supported is 1638?

In Excel, the only part of the profile that was setup to perform an action was the navring, and that was just to scroll up, down, left and right, along with the twisting to zoom in and out. I really couldn't figure out any interesting input combinations beyond that in Excel.

The Firefox control scheme was nice, since I was able to scroll up and down with the navring and then when I twisted it, I would move between tabs. Being a big fan of tabbed browsing, I really appreciate this functionality since I can use the NuLOOQ Navigator to move within and between tabs, and the only thing I have to do with the mouse is click on links.

One of the annoyances I found on my PC within any application that didn't have buttons for audio playback control (or just at the windows desktop) is that, with the default profile, previous and next track buttons didn't work with iTunes. The playback control buttons worked just fine (Play and Pause) but for some reason the previous track and next track buttons didn't function . However, when I went into the profile tool, I was able to configure triggerpoints 1 and 3 as special "iTunes Commands" (previous and next track) to fix the problem.

Moving around through Google Earth was much easier with the NuLOOQ Navigator. The controls are intuitive and you can move around much quicker in 3D space than with a traditional mouse. The only gripe I had here was that Google Earth doesn't use discrete inputs for all of its movements - to pan up, it's the up arrow, but to rotate right is shift+right arrow. Suffice to say you can't pan up and rotate right at the same time because you're holding the shift key as the modifier. At first I thought it was the input from the NuLOOQ, however when I went and researched what keys were being pressed, I discovered that the modifiers were messing with the ability to perform multiple movements simultaneously.

Finally, in Photoshop I had some difficultly with the NuLOOQ, though I believe that it is due to my older version of Photoshop (not Photoshop CS2) and I definitely don't have the cash to go out and buy the upgrade. I was able to get limited functionality, but not as in depth as I would have liked to test out. I was able to zoom in and out, along with the undo/redo stack being available on the triggerpoints, but that was about it.

On my Macbook, I tested the NuLOOQ Navigator in five applications: Safari, iTunes, Word, Excel, Firefox.

Firefox I had to manually add the controls for, unlike the windows platform where the profile was already provided with the installation software. However, I was able to get it to mimic the Windows profile without problems, and I was quickly scanning my morning websites to see what is going on out there in the real world. Safari acted much in the same way, though with a different set of inputs to achieve the same results.

iTunes was interesting. One might naturally assume that the Mac software would have an iTunes profile right? Nope. I had to build an iTunes profile for the software myself; not that it was too difficult. I also had to put the music control buttons in the global profile. But once I got past configuration, it worked just as in Windows.

Microsoft Word and Excel worked somewhat similar to their Windows counterparts, with the zoom being the biggest difference. In Windows, the zoom factor will increase when the navring is twisted. However on the Mac, the entire screen would zoom in on the center of the screen, something similar to what Windows calls Virtual Desktop. Not that it's bad, it's just a lot different compared to what I experienced on Windows.

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Page 1: Introduction & First Looks
Page 2: Setup & Configuration
Page 3: Testing
Page 4: Conclusion

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6 User Comments

1 - Posted by dragonbiker on February 1, 2007 - 10:17 am

All I needed to read was the combination of words: Logitech/Mouse/Keyboard, and the hairs on the back of my neck begin to raise just that of a cat arching its back.
I have a Wireless Keyboard/Mouse combo made from Logitech, and while I used to be a strong supporter of them, my experience with their abhorrently useless customerr servic has left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Over a month has gone by, and I have YET to be enabled to return a simple control module with a stuck "Connect" button.
If this product is any product made by Logitech, I shake my head, and pity the next user who has to try and expalin what the "Connect Button" and "Control Module" is, and wait three days for a "????" response.
If it says "Logitech", I advise just walk away, unless of course you like to throw away your money on something that will never have a chance of being repaired.

2 - Posted by Brian on February 1, 2007 - 11:21 am

Logitech makes some of the best peripherals on the market. I know it's hard to keep an open mind when a certain company's product breaks on you, but try to keep in mind that the majority of people that use their products don't have a problem with them at all. I've had several Logitech products and I've been very happy with them and I will continue to buy their products in the future (assuming they are just as good). As far as customer service, I've never had a problem with one of their products so I've never had to deal with that.

3 - Posted by Kurtis on February 1, 2007 - 12:29 pm

I agree with Brian, I've had nothing but positive experiences with Logitech products. I've used many peripherals from other companies and for me the Logitech products are always hands-down the best. With that said, if you'd like you can email me and I can try to help you resolve your issue with my Logitech contacts.

4 - Posted by Max Slowik on February 1, 2007 - 2:52 pm

Bah, screw those two guys, you should totally get into Microsoft and Kensington peripherals. Razer rocks my pants, by the way. (But the Diamondback is better than the Copperhead, don't let 'em fool you.)

I bought a Razer mouse two years ago, it started acting funny, so I emailed 'em. I answered about three questions:

Do you have x driver installed?
Does this problem happen with other computers?
What is the serial number on your mouse?

They gave me an RMA, they didn't care who sold it to me, if I had a receipt, nothing. Just a new, working Diamondback.

5 - Posted by worthless on September 10, 2008 - 7:34 am

what a waste of time this review is - this device is clearly made for the photoshop market and this reviewer doesn't even have the latest copy of photoshop

who buys this to use in Word and Excel?

6 - Posted by Kurtis on September 10, 2008 - 4:50 pm

'worthless' : Good point. We'll dust the cobwebs off and re-test the NuLOOQ Navigator with Photoshop CS3 and add our testing results to the review. Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback.

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