Aesthetically speaking the keyboard is rather plain. It's black and the key lettering is difficult to see in low light without the back lights being active. Since I don't spend a lot of time staring at my keyboard I don't really care how it looks, it is fine for me. Black is sleek.
Size-wise, it is comparable to my HHKB Pro 2. A typical 60% keyboard. It leaves me plenty of room for my mouse even in my tight work space.
I took it out of the box and noticed there were absolutely no instructions with the keyboard, but Google was my friend and I quickly figured out how to activate the lighting using Fn+B... once back lit, you can immediately recognize most of the other available functions (light adjustment, special keys, etc.) The keyboard worked immediately with Windows 8, no drivers, nothing required... just plugged it into a USB port and away I typed.
As far as back lighting goes, I have mine at the second dimmest setting... the brightest setting is REALLY bright. I cannot see myself ever using it. There are other lighting options as well, for example if you are gaming and want to focus on your WASD keys, there is a setting to only illuminate those keys. The CAPS LOCK key has an additional LED that lights when you lock your caps.
Noise was a concern as I had heard that Cherry keys were noisy. I bought the extra o-ring silencers but have not put them on yet because the keyboard is not as noisy as I expected it to be and pulling off key caps scares me. It's quieter than my old Matias mechanical keyboard. Perhaps a tad louder than my HHKB Pro, but that is to be expected since they already have a rubber stopper in the domes that cover the mechanics. There IS an additional click noise in these keys where the key passes the mid/activation point. It's a soft sound, not annoying.
Unlike my HHKB, the keys are generally exactly where you would expect them to be, and I will have to relearn my CAPS LOCK and CTRL keys. That is not a big deal and I should figure that out quickly enough. I am not as comfortable with the FN key. It's placement could have been better, in a place where your fingers could easily reach and hold. As it is, it will require me to figure out how to train my hand to use it. My best bet is to use the thumb on my right hand, since it is next to the space bar. But doing that limits the rotation of my right hand... but such is life.
I've been typing with a minimal amount of mistakes and my fingers are finding the keys quite nicely! I am please with that. Key depression is not too heavy, not too light. Possibly a little heavier than the Topre keys with a little more travel. I am a hard typist, so I bottom out a lot... I don't have a gentle touch and perhaps it MIGHT benefit me to apply the o-rings simply to dampen my impacts. To do that I think I will have to purchase a key remover, I am afraid to remove the keys and break the keyboard... the base of the mechanical keys are connected to the controller board itself. I need to think about it.
Haven't tried gaming with the board yet. Having the click mid-depression seems a little weird in that regard but I don't think it will be an issue. Topre keys do not have any indicator for key activation so I am used to a sort of silent activation. Again, I don't really think it will be an issue.
So that is it for now. The keyboard seems solid enough and the arrangement is good and of course the back lighting is great. Really like the back lighting.
2 comments:
Turns out I am not as hard a typist as I thought I was. The rubber o-rings don't make much of a difference unless you clobber the keys.
Update: The keyboard feels solid but I have had issues when removing the keys to add the o-rings. For example my backspace key is not sensitive to strike pressure and will jam if I hit it too hard.
Similar issues with other keys... I am thinking this is a good intermediate keyboard but I have begun my search for my next keyboard.
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