When I first saw these keyboards over at our friends at ThinkGeek :: Stuff for Smart Masses
I was immediately excited, and intrigued. . . a keyboard with blank keys. So when I read the review over at ArsTechnica.com that there was a new version out of the device, and there was a pre-order, I just HAD to get one. This one had printed keys!
When I received the keyboard ground from UPS it was in the smallest brown box possible, no fluff was taken in shipping it. Once opening the shipping container I was greeted with a laminate box that was very informative from the outside.
One getting it out of the box I realized just how heavy it was. Thick, square and black. If I did not know already that this thing was conceived and designed in Austin Texas I would of guessed BMW, or VW had a hand in this devices design. The glossy black finish was like that of a high end luxury car, or sleek and sexy. I was worried about finger prints on the device, as my iPhone gets them rather easily. . .oh, what’s this? They included a micro-cloth for cleaning! Attention to detail is always appreciated (hint hint Apple at not including a cleaning cloth this time around)
Now when I say that this thing is slick and shiny, I am not joking around! I could see reflections in the buffed plastic shell as if it were a mirror made out of obsidian. Another great thing I noticed was that this device was no bigger than it needed to be, no extra plastic just for bling, no annoying stripes or stickers, just what you would expect out of a fine tuned sports cars from Germany. I know, looking at this thing does NOT make me imagine it was from Austin Texas, I have to keep reminding myself that. The Num Lock, Caps Lock and Scroll Lock buttons also light up above the numeric keypad, but don’t worry, this keyboards subtle lines and shape are not marred by an overly bright set of blue LEDs, oh no the lighting is perfect. Hard to catch on my cheap little camera, they are easily read and glow perfectly.
Did I mention how heavy and solid this keyboard feels? I think I did, and to top it off, it has some very thick and handy rubber feet on it to keep it from sliding. Those rubber feet combined with the weight of the device should keep it from sliding around for even the most frantic of typers, like having a sweet pair of racing slicks for your R32. I know I keep coming back to slick car analogies, but this keyboard is JUST THAT SEXY.
The other thing that just ticked me, and brought back memories when my Apple Pro keyboard was my baby, is the inclusion of 2, USB 2.0 ports on the side of her. Yes, these are full speed, USB 2.0 ports, so handy and so tactfully placed I bet this keyboard makes Apple jealous.
So enough talk about form, lets get down to function! I hooked this bad boy up and proceeded to get into my favorite online game WOW, so I could test this baby out. Chatting in trade channel you have to be fast, or else someone else is going to beat you to your burn of “Thats what she said” or “Heals don’t crit!” So a responsive keyboard is a must. And I dare say, this keyboard is fast, no amount of abuse could slow the precise gold platted German scissor keys down. They make a delightful clicky sound that I used to just love about old style keyboards. These are WAY faster than any of those old IBM clicky styles or Apple Extended II, and many did it help my typing out! While chatting I felt like I was a master, each keystroke resounding in a delicate yet defined click, (yes, I love this keyboard THIS much) Did I mention that this sucker has N-Key rollover, so it can recognize up to 12 keys being pressed at the same time? Perfect if you want to keep running around in WOW while shouting “You just got pwned n00b!!!!2121!@!@12!@@!” without having to worry about your keyboard freaking out. After a few hours of playing WOW with this beast I decided to go and do some normal typing, and write some emails. Oh, how nice it was.
In short this device gets 5 gold stars from me. Thanks to the folks at Das Keyboards for making what is in my opinion, the best keyboard ever made.
And thanks to the folks over at http://splitkeyboard.blogspot.com/ for featuring this review on August 10th! WOOT!
I HATE ARS!