Thoughts about the Cordless Elite Duo:
Mouse:
The mouse in the Elite Duo is great for everyday use, but for gaming isn't close to the MX series. It first seemed a bit slow (perhaps because I wasn't used to the weight) and didn't seem to track well, but as I got used to it and tweaked the mouse driver settings I hardly notice it is cordless. Changing out my old cloth mousepad for a Ratpad GS also helped immensely. The one extra mouse button doesn't help much with most games, but the third button is well placed - mostly out of the way but in a comfortable position for heavy use in Maya which requires a third button for full camera movement. Basically it is not a gaming mouse, but it is accurate and comfy enough for me to use most of the time (switching to a MX 500 for UT and Serious Sam). The shape of the mouse, when you get used to it, is really rather nice and fits my hand well.
Keyboard:
.The keyboard scoll wheel works great, especially when scrolling long vertical sites like Fark (lots of scrolling with the mouse wheel makes my carpal tunnels a bit sore after a while). The zero degree tilt feels comfy as well, although it takes a bit of getting used to. The dial volume control works very well, one of the few that I actually have bothered to make use of (I hate hitting the "volume up" button twenty times to crank it, spinning the dial to eleven is much more intuitive). The dial can get a bit confused now and then and wil sometimes cycle between master volume and CD volume. Having visual notification of Caps lock status changes in big green letters is nice, although the KB doesn't have staus lights in order to save juice. The encryption feature is nicely implemented as well. It is easy to turn on and you never notice any lag because of it.
Battery Life:
I still haven't switched the keyboard batteries since buying it in November, and the mouse batteries last about a month
Range:
Wireless rage is pretty good and I never lose contact with the reciever sitting in the floor behind my box, about three feet away from the keyboard and mouse.
Anyway, I got my mine a while back for around $50, and at that price it is worth every penny for this pair. Full retail is a bit steep IMHO, but who in the forum pays full retail anyway?