illuminated keyboard suggestions?

Would anyone recommend me a good back-lit keyboard? I usually play at night so it's kind of difficult to see the keys when I'm playing.

 

Logitech makes one that may appeal to you:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/not...new-condition-41-99-shipped-logitech-com.html

 

Logitech should have sturdy enough keyboards if you don't care whether it is a mechanical or membrane keyboard.

There are very few backlit mech keyboards out there and they are expensive if you are looking for a mechanical, the ones that i know of are:

Mionix Zibal 60
Xarmor U9BL
Decks Legend
Razer Black Widow Ultimate

Or you could get a Das keyboard Ultimate and go the extra length to learn your key placement if you're feeling motivated . It is the other approach to your problem, no labels on the key so you're forced to learn the layout of the kb.

EDIT: In regards to the post below, a mech keyboard will be in that price range, but will last much longer than a membrane keyboard.

 

What is your price range?

You can get cheap crappy keyboards with backlighting for $40. Or you can get decent keyboards with backlighting for between $100 - $140.

 

around 50-100. don't wanna go overboard with keyboard. just casual playing like SC2 n BF3

 

For that price range, and something simple, go with a Saitek Eclipse for about $40 - $50. It should do the trick.

If you want to upgrade, then start considering a high-end keyboard that uses mechanical switches (instead of membrane keystroke motion). Those keyboards will have superior keystroke motion, feedback, and durability. But expect to spend around $130-$140 for a mechanical keyboard with backlighting. It may be something as a wish-list item for you to consider a few years down the road, when you are looking at this topic again.

In any case, good luck.

 

I have a Razer Lycosa which is backlit. My Dell Vostro 3550 is backlit too. I just can't do without illuminated keys

 

There's also the Alienware TactX keyboard that with the help of the included software (AlienFX), changes colors.
Another good keyboard is the Cyborg V7, a friend bought it pretty good , it's worth looking into imo.

Cheers

 

Is it the standard one or the mirror? How is it?

 

Standard, with the rubber coated keys and glossy bits in the frame. Beautiful looking and not quite the fingerprint magnet that the mirror edition is. Well, in general it's fine, but be aware that people have had various issues with the Lycosa. Many wouldn't recommend it whereas others would. Mine is a free replacement as the first one had a flickering touchpad backlight at the top right. Very occassionally I'll unplug and replug it in if the keys don't respond.This is without a doubt the nicest looking keyboard out there. You may have absolutely no problems and they've done revisions of it so you'll probably be fine. At worst, I wouldn't imagine any issue you could get would be much to worry about. Some say the rubber wears away on the keys. On my first one, I had it for a year and there were no signs of wearing off at all, but your mileage may vary I suppose depending how much you type.

I'll add that I really like the Lycosa low profile laptop type scissor keys, it's awesome for gaming such as if you use WASD as your movement keys. They respond very fast as there isn't as much travel as normal dome keys. People say that non mechanical rubber dome keyboards feel spongy/squidgy. In the case of the Lycosa, I wouldn't say so, they feel pretty good to me.

 

Actually the Lycosa isn't a scissor-action keyboard. However the Razer-and-related (i.e. Microsoft's Sidewinder) low-profile / short-throw rubber dome designs hold up really well with extended use in terms of the keys not 'binding'. Unlike e.g. the Logitech POS's in the G-series. I'd certainly recommend them over a Cherry switch for gaming (especially the Sidewinder X4).

I think a lot of mechanical keyboard owners develop this blind spot in terms of the actual effectiveness of what they've bought, all the more if they consider $100-$250 a bragworthy amount. I don't, and I'd rather have an X4 over Blues, Browns and Blacks certainly.

Logitech do make an excellent backlit keyboard for everyday typing, and that's the Illuminated that CPJ pointed to. Super-low-profile, excellent scissor-action. It's not a fantastic gaming keyboard though IMO, mainly due to the poor NKRO.

 

Actually, if full NKRO is needed along with backlit keys, then this Qpad MK-80 is a good bet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQHF-BoelJk

It's basically a rebadged Xarmor U9BL. I've not owned a mech keyboard and nearly bought the Qpad. But then I ended up buying the laptop instead, so I'll buy a mech keyboard some other time.

 

Actually, full NRKO (and even then, slightly squirrely behaviour at times) is with motherboard PS/2 connection only. Same goes for other NKRO-advertised mechanical keyboards. And what I said about Blues applies to the QPAD.

The X4 does full (practically speaking) NKRO on USB.

 

I have had the Logitech Ultrathin Illuminated Keyeboard for several years now. I cannot imagine ever wanting another. At one point I did have a problem with the Keyboard. The spacebar stopped working properly. I contacted Logitech technical support and they sent me a new one with no bickering and without delay.

Here it is at Amazon brand new (no scratch and dent) for $45 (with free shipping):

Amazon.com: Logitech Illuminated Ultrathin Keyboard with Backlighting: Electronics

 

In all fairness, when has N-Key Rollover actually been practical over 6-Key Rollover?

Yes, N-Key Rollover is a nice to see on a spec sheet. But it isn't a practical necessiry. Most decent USB keyboards can do 6-key Rollover. When was the last time that someone was jamming on their keyboard, thinking "Oh man, my keyboard just got jammed up... I was just fine when I was only hitting 6 keys simultaneously, but that 7th key was really my undoing."

 

I absolutely agree to most extents. This is a game for total nerds IMO.

What I do find is that while mechanicals I have and have tried - when they are working properly on USB - can consistently do 6KRO over USB (i.e. *any* 6 keys) a lot of rubber domes have problems with specific key combos. e.g. in the case of the Sidewinder X6, Ctrl-R (and nothing else, oddly in my experience) is enough to turn it 2KRO specifically for that sequence.

The flipside however is what I put in italics. Working over hubs, etc I find the Filcos, Noppoo's etc (but not Topre) give me a lot more trouble than the leading rubber domes in terms of wildly varying actual KRO being achieved at times. Working off the back of a screen hub for example, I found in one instance I was getting 3KRO max with a Filco while substituting it for a Topre gave me 6, just like the X6. Problem went away when I switched off the host PC and rebooted. I've never had issues like that with any of the leading rubber domes, and I know I've had it a few times.

Basically as owner of multiple Filco's, Topres, Noppoo's and more - my advice would be to go for something like the Lycosa or the X6/X4 (my preference is for the latter two depending on what you want) - i.e. a short-throw, low profile rubber dome with handy gaming features. It may get you less nerd-brag points than the Chocs, WASD, MK-80 etc, but first of all as I've said a couple of times before I see zero benefit in blue switches for gaming (or for typing TBH beyond a nerd-pleasing tactile experience), browns are debatable (and are definitely not silent even with bottom-out pads), blacks are not general-purpose enough and red, feedback-wise, is probably worse than a rubber dome. If you're gaming I personally find that the feedback of the aforementioned rubber domes are better - and as you say, 6KRO doesn't inconvenience me.

That said though, the tactile feel of blues is definitely nice, and definitely different to any rubber dome / scissor experience. But I don't feel the need to convince myself it actually works quantifiably better for the most part. I just know I effectively threw three g's down the toilet in terms of keyboards satisfying my curiosity, it wasn't a big deal for me in that I gained some extra experience (and old memories - I used to use buckling-springs, ALPS and Cherry Browns all the time in the 80's/early 90's) out of it, and I'm pretty sure that >99% of mechanical keyboard enthusiasts can't afford to do that.

 

But not all NKRO advertised mech keyboards have PS/2 for full NKRO. Razer black widow doesn't do PS/2 full NKRO. In fact there's only about 7 mechanicals that do full NKRO, only 3 of which are backlit. QPad, XArmor and Deck.

 

I have a blackwidow ultimate, and absolutely love it.

Now that I've gone the mechanical route, I won't go back to membrane keyboards. Mechanical lasts a whole heck of a lot longer, too.

 

I won't dispute that. The Razer is certainly a bit of a redundant purchase IMO. I've used it for probably the shortest period out of all the mechanicals I have.

 

I received my Zibal 60 yesterday, and i can already tell that it is miles better than your average logitech keyboard. Personally i like the stiffness of the mx black switches, but not everyone might. I do agree that a low profile rubber dome feels good as well, i've tried the lycosa at a friend's place and i also liked it quite a bit. I went for a mech because of the added durability, my WASD was getting rather flaky on the logitech and i wanted backlit. The Xarmor and Deks weren't easy to find in Canada while the Zibal was rather easy to acquire. The audio pass through and extra USB are an added bonus, though they don't seem to give enough juice to power my 2.5" external drive, all my other devices work.

In your price range, i'd recommend the lycosa if you like the feel of the surface coating razer uses for their mice. I'm usually rather gentle with my equipment with the exception of the WASD keys as well as the Enter key. For some reason when i need to run something by pressing enter, the key gets hit rather forcefully so my razer gear tends to last quite long. It's either that or i've been lucky so far with razer products.

 

I have to agree, the BWU is one of the best boards I have used. I have had many mechanicals over the years but have never had a DAS or Filco (I want a DAS). On my current system I went from Logitech G15 > Logitech Illuminated > Sidewinder X6 > Black Widow Ultimate and this is, along with my Logitech M700, the best money I have spent on peripherals.