Saitek Eclipse II Backlit Keyboard (PK02AU)
by Saitek
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List Price: Our Price: $43.08 You Save: $26.87 (38%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Saitek Eclipse II Backlit Keyboard (PK02AU)
Customer Review: Decent but room for improvement
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought the Saitek Eclipse II after quite a bit of research into illuminated keyboards and have discovered personally that most of the reviews here and elsewhere are accurate.
The good: Yes, it's a glowing keyboard. All keys are visible in low or no light. There are three color choices available. There are a variety of quick keys such as A/V volume, play, mute, etc. It's a reasonably ergonmic keyboard and fairly comfortable for typing or gaming.
The bad: The brilliance of the lighting leaves much to be desired. Blue is probably the most brilliant of the three color choices and even at the max setting it's far from "bright." In fact, the other colors (purple and red) are barely visible. Many common quick keys are nonexistent such as browser navigation, power control, and calculator.
Te ugly: No, that's not a typo. The "h" key routinely sticks. Further, the space bar uses a single central spring support rather than the traditional (and much more reliable) double spring, making "spacing" an exercise of precision, requiring re-learning your basic keyboarding to press the space key precisely in the middle. This is a surmountable obsticle, though on a $70 plus keyboard, it should be a complete non-issue. I have not had the keyboard long enough to experience the fading keys that others have experienced, though I don't doubt the veracity of that claim given the other issues I've run into.
Bottom line: Yes, this is an illuminated keyboard. However, it is far from a GOOD keyboard, or even a good illuminated keyboard. For the money, buyers rightfully should expect much more than is delivered. Wait until the Eclipse III comes out, or look for one of the very few other illuminated keyboards out there.
Customer Review: I love this keyboard.
Summary: 5 Stars
I searched for a new keyboard when my old one started getting too cruddy. My original keyboard was very basic, and after taking it apart multiple times to clean it out, I felt like I deserved something new, and decided to go with some bells and whistles.
The Eclipse II is nearly perfect. First I tried an Eclipse III, and it was great except for one minor detail - the multi-function buttons along the right and left sides. I was constantly hitting them accidentally when playing games, which was REALLY inconvenient. They were not able to be disabled or re-programmed either, so I boxed that sucker up and sent it back. Then I tried a small wireless keyboard, by Logitech I think, but it was too small, especially the function keys.
Finally Amazon had the Saitek Eclipse II back in stock, and I got one. I love it! The light-up feature works really well and can be set bright enough that I can turn off my desk light when I'm playing games at night. I also do a fair amount of writing, editing, and other work on that PC, and the keyboard works great for that too. It's very comfortable with the built-in, adjustable wrist rest and adjustable keyboard angle. It's a bit larger than a standard keyboard, but this contributes to the comfort and feeling of roominess. There's nothing that really makes this a "gaming" keyboard per se, other than the cool looks of the light-up keys. :)
The only drawback I can see is more of a feature request: I wish the keyboard had some USB ports or audio ports on it, but most keyboards don't have those features anyway, so that would really be an enhancement and not a requirement.
I'm very happy with this keyboard after using it for several months now and don't regret the purchase at all.
Customer Review: Use some nail polish
Summary: 4 Stars
Prior to buying this, we had three Saitek Eclipse keyboards (NOT the Saitek II). After less than a year, the letters on the keys smudged on the each of the ones that I use. After a year, however, the letters on the keys of the one my wife uses are just beginning to smudge. If you buy either, I strongly recommend that you coat the keys with transparent nail polish. I did this and have seen no further smudging on my wife's keyboard and no sign of it at all on the Eclipse II that I coated with nail polish as soon as it arrived.
It's probable that this defect is dependent on the oils in the skin of various users, as is evident from its not showing up as soon on the keyboard my wife uses as it has on the two that I've used.
Other than this, these keyboards have a lot going for them. Both my wife (a touch typist) and I (a one-finger typist) agree that the touch is better than that on any other keyboard we've had. This is why I kept getting Saitek, despite the smudging problem. The Saitek II is worth the difference in price. It appears to be more solidly made (a bit heavier), offers three backlit colors and a dial for adjusting the intesity of the backlighting (though on both keyboards the lighting is never very bright), and has a few more media control buttons. It may even resist wear on the keys (which are black with white lettering rather than grey with black lettering), but I wouldn't take a chance on that. Use the nail polish.
Both keyboards are simple to hook up as long as you have an available USB port. No software is required. Just run the wire to the port and the keyboard immediately works.
Customer Review: Solid feel, but several small issues
Summary: 3 Stars
Pros:
Nice rubber feet keep the keyboard in place.
Very solid thunk when you hit the keys, unlike most keyboards which make a much higher-pitched click.
Very nice feel when pressing keys -- a somewhat cushioned feel.
Nice control of system volume.
Cons:
The letters on the keys are not fun to look at, for a number of reasons. The font just looks too thick and boxy; symbols are small and ill-defined -- esp. the asterisk. Most importantly, the letters are not aligned. Yes, you read that right. Each letter is in a slightly different location on the key. No rhyme or reason -- just apparent manufacturing defectiveness. My "R", e.g., is a couple mm above my "Y" -- not the actual key, but the letter on the key. Same issue for horizontal placement. Some people probably wouldn't care. I am not a touch typist and so look at my keyboard frequently. I took the font quality and the reliable positioning of letters of my OEM Dell keyboard for granted....until I started using this one.
The keys are slightly smaller and less curved than most full-size keyboards.
The space bar is not as wide as normal.
There is a slight delay on occasion from pressing key to seeing character on screen. I am using a wired USB connection, and have never seen this in three years of using the OEM Dell keyboard with PS/2 connection.
A lot of the cons are nits, but they are enough to make me not recommend this keyboard. Overall, I would rate it as slightly above-average, but the cost is also a bit above average - hence, the 3-star rating.
Customer Review: If you need a basic keyboard, this is the one for you.
Summary: 4 Stars
This review is for the Saitek Eclipse II back-lit keyboard, not to be confused with the earlier version, the Eclipse I. The most notable difference is that v.1 had a problem with key letters wearing off, this does not.
Moving onto the keyboard, it's a very basic keyboard with all the standard keys.
LED's for NumLock, Scroll, and CapsLock.
Media keys: Forward, Back, Play/Pause, Stop, Vol Up, Vol Down.
Backlight color toggle-key: Blue, Red, and Violet are your options.
A scroll-wheel changes the brightness of the backlight. It can go from off to full-on, but the amount it can be dimmed is slightly limited. I find it's more effective to just switch it to red if you want it dimmer since that's a softer color.
The keys are very comfortable and hold up well. I've not had mine for over two years and it's still going strong. Action is very well balanced in my opinion, not clunky at all while still having a good tactile feel to them.
It comes with two fold out angle-adjustments for the back height, giving you the option of having it flush, slightly raised, or noticably raised. It also comes with snap on wrist-rest that has several different lengths it can be set to. I would prefer a padded wrist-rest, but it does it's job.
This keyboard is a workhorse. It doesn't have fancy buttons and extras, just the basic necessities. And at that it excels. There are keyboards out there with more buttons and options, but you'll pay considerably more for that. This is a great keyboard for someone who just wants a good, reliable keyboard without distracting buttons etc...