8 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
Finally a back-lit keyboard that gets the job done right.
Date of Review: Jan 8, 2006
The Bottom Line: I suggest anyone looking for an illuminated keyboard that utilizes your usual Desktop keyboard layout, is comfortable and has good features, should not pass this up.
For the last few weeks I had started to become very frustrated with my OEM keyboard for my DELL computer. The keyboard itself worked more than fine and types very well. No complaints...until the night time came about. I tend to work on my computer at night and I do not like keeping my lights on. I like the mood and atmosphere of a quiet and dark area. Having said this, it is not easy having to stop and look for certain keys after staring at your monitor for a few minutes. Your eyes are so use to the brightness of the monitor that your pupils adjust themselves to the brightness of your monitor and it takes a while for your pupils to re-adjust once you immediately switch to a low-lit area such as your non-illuminated keyboard. So I found myself constantly struggling whenever I had to type something in I wasn't familiar with, (numbers, symbols, dashes, etc.) I knew I had to get an illuminated keyboard. Easier said than done. Many or all of the illuminated keyboards are smaller than a standard desktop keyboard and mimic laptop keyboards by placing the arrows and other and other keys in odd or cramped locations or switching keys around that should not be moved in the first place. Secondly many have cheap illumination methods that seem to wear out within weeks of purchase. Third, some have very bright LED's to indicate what LOCKS you have on at the time (Scroll Lock, Caps Lock and Num Lock.) (Someone jokingly mentioned in another review that they could be used to call Batman). So after researching many illuminated keyboards for quality, price and features, I was happy to have found the SAITEK Eclipse Keyboard.
The Good: A FULL desktop style keyboard. All the keys are where they should rightfully be. The Illumination is done very well in my opinion. Everything is lit almost evenly and bright enough so that the keys do not distract you with bright light yet stay visible in a very low-lit to NO light area. The quality of the keyboard seems to be very nice. Not flimsy, no cheap plastic, no creaks or moans. Installation is literally plug and play through USB. The keys have a feel to them that are between laptop and desktop. They are pretty soft but not too bad. People with laptops will definitely be at home with this keyboard BUT at the same time someone like me who is use to keys that are loose and noisy will also come to love it. You have 3 brightness settings on the keyboard (High- Low-Off.) You have a mute button for your volume that works flawlessly. And you have 2 buttons that control your volume that also work flawlessly. Also the SPACE bar is enlarged for ease of use.
Cons: Not much to dislike here honestly. The only keys that cannot be seen crystal clearly are the NUMBER row of keys and the F Row of keys. This is because the keys for some reason are angled away from you but you can correct some of this by adjusting the two tabs at the front of the keyboard that raise the keyboard about an inch or less. This should not be much of an issue because if you've ever used a keyboard at any time, than you know the vicinity of all of your keys and they are back-lit enough for you to figure out where they are located on your keyboard AND if you really have much more trouble, just LEAN forward a few inches and your visibility is improved.
