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Saitek Gamers Keyboard
You will see the light. Well at least the
light from the really cool blue back lighting from this eye pleasing
computer keyboard. Its sleek look comes from its futuristic metallic
design and feel of the keys as you tap away on them either in writing,
for instance as I'm writing this very review, Or blazing away at a first
person shooter. The Saitek Gamers Keyboard is for those hard core gamers
and those late night work attics alike.
The keyboard has a silver frame work with small extensions at the
corners. It's not as wide as other keyboards but it does seem to be a
bit longer due to the space age looking extensions at its corners. But
this does not cause any kind of hindrance in either productive work or
with an evening of gaming.
As noted the keyboard has a cool feature, an LED backlight that causes
the keys to glow a soft blue. It looks great and the concept is to allow
for gaming in the dark. I found this to actually cause problems in a
dark room since it drowned out the keys enough to not tell what keys are
what. I think this feature would have actually served a use if the keys
themselves had been made out of a material that could be seen through
then the letters and numbers on the keys would be seen in a dark room
with the back lighting. Right now the back lighting is just for looks
more than anything. So in a dark room, forget gaming in any practical
sense, it may look cool but you won't be able to see the keys.
Thankfully there is a control to the upper far right that controls the
light, from bright, to dim, to off. I found the dimmer setting best
worked for me in a dark room. Also found next to the backlighting
controls and above the number pad are also sound controls. Two buttons
one for increasing volume and one for decreasing volume and a mute
button. They work very well for controlling programs such as music match
or other music listening device.
One of the draws for gamers is the fact that the keyboard includes a
separate nine key number pad. This satellite keypad is hooked to the
main board by a cable and is programmable. This is achieved by using the
software that comes with the keyboard package. The keypad has two shift
buttons a Mode A and a Mode B that allows for each key to have up to
three different functions coming to a whopping 27 possible combos.
Pretty cool heh? I played with it a bit programming it to some of the
games I'm trying out and playing now such as FEAR, Starship Troopers,
Starwars Battle Front II and Call Of Duty 2 it works pretty well. Due to
the lay out of the desk I work on though I found myself using the Saitek
Command Pad less and less and just relying on the Keyboard itself ala
old school. But the Keypad does work and with time I'm sure I would
depend on it more and get used to it. Saitek also has several
downloadable pre-made game profiles for the keyboard such as Baldurs
Gate II, Quake 3 and Half Life II among many others, but I would say for
the true gamer will end up customizing and programming what best works
for them.
The look is great, but something that seems to stand out with anyone
that uses the keyboard is the way it feels. They keys just have a nice
even easy feel to them. The Saitek Gamers Keyboard is smooth and silent.
Over all the look and feel of the Saitek Gamers Keyboard puts it far
ahead of other keyboards out there. The modest price also makes it
accessible to most gamers out there. Oh one last thing, the back
lighting also makes it easy to see when you need to take a tech vac to
the keyboard to get any dust or other foreign particles cleaned out of
it. Teamed up with a kick but gaming computer a trusty well made mouse,
the Saitek Gamers Keyboard would complete an ultimate gaming system.
Have fun, play games. Edwin Millheim |
