Computer Keyboards and My Search
Sep 1st, 2007 by Vinny
I have been searching for the perfect computer keyboard for as long as I have been using a PC. I love laptop style keyboards with the scissor type key system. I wanted a full size keyboard with all 104 keys and then multimedia keys if its available. The last requirement is that it be illuminated, which is actually very hard to find with the shorter keys.
In the past year, I have tried the ZIPPY Silver Wired Electron luminescent which is a nice and slim keyboard with illumination. I used this keyboard for about two months, and the light quit working. The arrow keys were also too small and high up, so it was difficult to not hit the up arrow when I wanted to use the shift key.
The next keyboard I went to is the Sunbeam Solar Illuminated Back Lit Black/White which had a great layout, large shift and enter keys, and plenty of room. The bad part is the LEDs for the lock keys were blinding. You could cover them up, but that kinda sucks. This one didn’t last very long..
I gave up on the quest for illuminated keyboards, since at the time there were no other slim’s around. So I got the Rosewill Silver/Black which is crazy cheap, like $10, and works like a champ. This had all the layouts correct, and was very easy to type with. I recommend this keyboard for anyone that likes the laptop style keys, with the full size keyboard. I would have kept this one, except I spilled and a few of the keys stopped working.
I wanted to continue my quest for a backlit keyboard, so I stumbled upon the new Creative Fatal1ty Keyboard. This has everything I was looking for, except the price seemed a little high ($50) for a keyboard. Since I haven’t had much luck I figured, why not, give it a shot. I ordered the board, and have been using it for about two weeks. It works very well, and has the arrow keys off-set so you are not hitting up instead of shift. The keys are slightly higher than a laptop keyboard (not completely flat), but its kind of a nice middle ground from the normal keyboards. The back-light is nice, not too bright so it doesn’t light up the room when I’m not in it. I think i’ll be sticking with it for awhile (unless there is a spill, then I might switch back to the cheap ones).
-Vince
