I'm Looking for good Illuminated Keyboard

[Steve Mavronis]

I'm Looking for good illuminated keyboard because my fingers seem to rub off the painted on letters on certain keys from gaming a lot, plus I could then play in the dark too.

My problem is my keyboard tray isn't that wide. I have a 19" wide keyboard with my Rocketfish gaming mousepad (that I just got for Christmas) turned sideways next to it to make it all fit. That's a great mousepad by the way and it's perfect with my Logitech MX518 gaming mouse.

I think the Logitech G11 and G15 keyboards may be a bit to big? Note - I just found there are two G15 versions. The newer "revision 2" model is about 19.5 inches wide so that isn't too bad for me.

I also like the new basic Logitech Illuminated Keyboard at 19 inches. It's just the right size for my tray but I'm reading reports of some keys going bad on this new product?

There is a Razor product that looks nice with rubberized keys but saw a review showing pictures of the rubber key coverings wearing off so that's a no-no.

I kind of like the Microsoft Reclusa Keyboard (I know some think it's ugly) but its too wide not giving me enough room for mouse movement on my tray.

Please give me some suggestions. Maybe I should just remove my desk's keyboard tray and put everything on top in front of my LCD monitor!

Steve

 

[DarkTears]

A good alternative would be to get a regular keyboard and just getting a small lamp to put on your desk or something. Wouldnt playing in the complete dark strain your eyes a bit?

 

[Steve Mavronis]

^^^^ Yeah but I still have the keyboard letters rubbing off problem with my alien acid fingers! I even tried label maker tape and made my own letters but they faded too and the glue underneath got all guey and the letters started twisting out of position. I figure it would be best to get an illuminated keyboard that has the letters etched through and I could turn off the living room light when everyone else goes to bed.

 

[DarkTears]

Ok well i was bored and i said, well ill just try to help this guy out real quick.

So i came across this. http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Multi-Media...4|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50

Now im not saying that this is absolutely the best illuminated keyboard you will ever find. nor am i saying you should even get this one. just go to ebay and type in illuminated keyboard like i did and pick one you like best.

I have been purchasing things from ebay for a long time. never had one problem.

edit: oh i see that you are running vista, i just read the bottom and it doesnt say that its fully compatible with vista. Just pay attention and read the entire page before you purchase something.

 

[GSAV55]

I have the g15 and I love it. I had it for almost two years, and havent had any plroblems with the keys, and thats with heavy gaming, and typing tons of papers for school

 

[DarkTears]

tons

fixed that for you GSAV.

The G15 is like what $100?

 

[bomberboysk]

Ive heard that the saitek keyboards are nice, im looking to get a cyborg myself(Just gettin tired of the blue leds on my G15, either gonna get the cyborg or a new G15 when i upgrade from this) but i would also recommend the G15(great keyboard, but i didnt realize that every led in my room is blue pretty much(Side fans and top fan of case are blue led, G15 backlight is blue, wii light is blue, directv box has blue led's, tv has a blue light, phone has blue illuminated keypad lol).

 

[gamerman4]

I've had my Saitek Eclipse for about 2-3 years now and the keys are still in great condition. The keyboard is extremely durable and doesn't have all the extra stuff that is attached to the G15 so if you don't have a lot of space, it is great. The backlight is nice and bright without being distracting. I haven't used the newer Eclipse 2 models but I'm sure they are just as good. Saitek has always been known for top-notch gaming gear.

 

[FairDoos]

A good alternative would be to get a regular keyboard and just getting a small lamp to put on your desk or something. Wouldnt playing in the complete dark strain your eyes a bit?

+1 Good point

 

[Steve Mavronis]

+1 Good point

Since I have a half dozen key letters completely rubbed off that doesn't help me. I had almost considered braille dots! Gateway won't replace the keyboard under warranty because it still functions, even though many key cap letters are worn off! That is why having illuminated keyboard letters would solve the problem for me of wearing the painted letters off of key caps.

This has happened on every regular keyboard I've owned with my past 3 computers (Gateway 2000 P5, Dell Dimension 4400, Gateway FX530) over 12 years of playing FPS games since the original Quake.

Funny though this never happened with by first 2 DOS based computers (IBM XT Clone, Compaq Prolinea 486SX) during the decade before that. But that was before I used any keys to straife, etc. playing purely DOS stuff like Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Doom II, and Descent. Plus they had more durable heavy IBM style keyboards in those days.

I don't really care that much about macros and other features of gaming keyboards for now but they may come in handy in the future.

 

[ScOuT]

Merc Stealth...I have used it for about 6 months and still love it. The keys have not even started to wear off mine yet. It illuminates 3 different colors (red, blue and purple) and 3 different brightness levels. It has audio, microphone and USB ports also. It's really not that big either...perfect size.

You should take the others advice also...I never play in the complete dark. I have a small lamp mounted behind my screen, it's back lit, actually looks really cool.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823161028&Tpk=merc stealth

 

[Steve Mavronis]

Not saying I would play in complete darkness. There is ambient light coming in from the dining room lamp and living room TV. Darkness or not right now I can't even see these blank keys in the daytime to know what letters they are! I'm just looking for a total solution to worn off key caps. Your behind the monitor backlit lighting sounds like it looks cool.

Interesting keyboard Scout, but its a bit too long for my tray and mousepad at the same time. So far, the new smaller Logitech G15 Revision2 and Logitech Illuminated Keyboard are at the top of my selection picks. Both are under 19.5" wide.

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/keyboards/keyboards/&cl=us,en&page=&view=comparison&compProducts=4740,3498

 

[GSAV55]

you can pick up a G15 much cheaper than 100. The macros are actually pretty handy, and I dont use them for gaming. Its kinda funny, I dont use any of the gaming features for gaming. I have websites that I frequently visit on my macros, with my user name and password as another macro. I dont even have to have firefox open. I just hit G1 and facebook comes up then G2 and Im signed in and rady to go. I also have a macro for wordcount in MS Word. The LCD screen is really handy. It shows you how much CPU and RAM you are using and if you have like dual core (and prolly works for quad core too) it shows you how much work each core is doing and gives you a percentage, same with the RAM. Also when I'm listening to music, I dont have to go into the music program at all if I'm typing or gaming because it shows you the artist, the song, and a little bar graph of how much song is left. Its really convenient, and I'm really happy with it.

 

[Steve Mavronis]

^^^ Yeah I like the LCD so I can monitor my 8800GTX temps with a utility I use and the other stuff you've mentioned. Best Buy has the G15 on sale for $89. The Illuminated is $79 but I think Logitech has that one retail priced too high at the moment.

 

[GSAV55]

You could try looking around on E-bay, just make sure that you ask them if everything still works and find out why they are selling it (unless its like an online vendor, ministore thing)

 

[ScOuT]

That's what I meant by back lit. It actually looks like crap in the picture...looks sharp when you see it, all my friends love it. It was actually my wife who stuck the lamp there when she was cleaning

Sorry I recommended a keyboard that was too long...I should have read your post better.

 

[GSAV55]

ooo, thats pretty sick

 

[Steve Mavronis]

That's what I meant by back lit. Sorry I recommended a keyboard that was too long...I should have read your post better.

That setup looks sweet! No problem about your keyboard recommendation. Sometimes I feel like removing my tray and just using the bigger desk surface like you. Here is my setup from a picture I took around a year ago:

The keyboard is different now. I'm using the one that came with my Gateway Fx530. The one on the picture is from the Microsoft Wireless Laser Desktop 6000 V2. I'm going to sell it cheap to one of my co-workers. I liked it but my A-S-D movement control responsiveness lagged bad in Unreal Tournament 3 using it. With a corded keyboard and mouse the response is immediate with a need for any fast FPS type game like UT3.

 

[Steve Mavronis]

I'm still debating over the 2007 Logitech G15 or the 2008 Logitech Illuminated Keyboard.

Are there any owners out there who can tell me about their key wear on these 2 keyboards? Will the lettering rub off?

Here are my overall thoughts:

2007 Logitech G15 Keyboard:
- Pros: Width 19.5", Backlighting, LCD, Marcos, 2 USB Ports, Gaming WinKey Toogle.
- Cons: Only 1 Year Warranty, Expensive, No PS/2 Adapter.
- Unknown: Key Wear?

2008 Logitech Illuminated Keyboard:
- Pros: Width 18", Backlighting, Laser Etched Keys (what does this actually mean?), Low Profile Keys, 3 Year Warranty.
- Cons: No USB Ports, No PS/2 Adapter, Relatively Expensive when compared to missing G15 Features for $20 more.
- Unknown: Key Wear?