Glow-In-The-Dark Keyboard

Hey everyone,

Sitting in class, bored, and just pondering the great idea of illuminated keyboards. I know there are back-lit keyboards commercially available for some models of Dell, AW, etc. My primary idea, is that the use of some kind of letter paint to assist, even mildly, with typing in dim-lit situations. From what I know, it does not hold the glow for long, but is a 30 minute window better than nothing? Instead of having to bump your screen to super high to see all the keys, a bit of paint could add to the situation. I can touch type for the most part when I get going; but occasionally at 3 am or in a science class where I am hunting down special characters during a powerpoint, it might be useful. Is it possible or even remotely practical?

 

http://www.myglowkeys.com/

 

Just get a USB LED torch and shine it to your keyboard. LEDs have very good power consumption.

 

See these please:
1. http://www.myglowkeys.com/
2. http://uk.gizmodo.com/2007/09/25/bendy_glowinthedark_keyboard_g.html
3. http://www.geekiegadgets.com/2008/glow-in-the-dark-keyboard/
Hope this will help.

 

Those are some great suggestions. The sticker solution seems to be the best, but unfortunately they cannot be customized prior to printing and are a bit big for my EEE. Guess they are mainly for standard desktop keyboards.

 

Please keep me informed if you worked on my solutions.

 

Why not just cut'em with an X-acto knife? With new blade, of course.

I was thinking about one of those, but I am currently thinking about scraping my current notebook (a beaten Latitude C600) ang getting a new one, maybe Clevo M570 from one local reseller.

Also, sometines I think about getting a G11 or something similar for the desktop.

 

couldnt of said it better. its a elgant solution

 

Very true. That could definitely work. For notebooks, only the keys could be done, because of the FN button and such. I don't use the inline keyboard numeric pad, so that wouldn't be a loss. I was actually thinking about looking into spraying some/all of the keyboard with the paint then clear coating it. I will look into how milky the paint is and if it would give enough effect if done between the keys, around the edges, etc.

 

anyone have experience with the myglowkeys product? i want to know if its worth the money =D looks cool to me but i don't know if i really wanna spend 15 dollars on it.

 

here is something you could do its sorta complicated and may be over kill but just an idea u could order some key stickers pull all your keys off primer them then get some glow in the dark paint of the color u want spray the keys with that sand em let em dry then put ur stickers on and spary the keys back black pull the stickers off then clear over it just an idea rather complicated and over kill but it would be the most clean way to do it

 

I actually have a set, I just never put them on any of my notebooks.

 

DTWN: How do the keys stickers relate to the key size (for a full size keyboard)?

 

Those glow keys stickers look nice. I have a USB LED light, but those could be an alternative.

 

Just doing some searching, looks like glow powder can be mixed into a clear coat with minimal daytime tint. Now that may be the way to go.

 

Hmm, if I remember correctly, they fit the Gateway FX series keys pretty well. I'll need to dig them out to see how they fit against my 9262's and D630 keys. Give me a few hours and I'll get back to you. If I don't PM me in case I forget.

Glow powder sounds like an interesting idea.

 

Thanks, no rush on that, just if you have a free second. That powder does sound interesting. Get a small air brush setup, mix up some clear coat+powder...could even make a cool lid painting idea

 

My 9262's keys are 0.5" wide and 9/16" tall. The glowkey tabs are 7/8" wide and almost 0.5" tall.

Note, that laptops, particularly the enter and backspace keys may not ft as well.

Note, however, that they're not particularly bright. My 9262 uses white keys and is quite visible under the light of the screen, even at the lowest setting. The reason why I got the glowkeys was that my Gateway FX had orange numbers , making them extremely hard to see in dark conditions.

If you like, I'll measure my D630's keys as well.

 

I think the plutonium floating down the Columbia River (or in a pinch, extracted from the salmon) would be easier to obtain than glow powder.

 

can you show some pictures? i was going to buy two sets, and put them on my WAVE first and if it turns out great i'll put the other set on my 1651

 

Read this: http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=59286
It's pretty helpful info about the stickers

 

Great find, thanks for the post.

 

Cute avatar.

Totally forgot to check this thread, but it looks like the new link posted should have the pictures you need.

 

haha thanks, i saw already it KINDA helps me haha i want to see how it looks in a dark room ya know?

 

Here you go.


Without glowkeys


With glowkeys



Another shot with glowkeys with more of the original keyboard visible.

All shots taken from about the same angle.

I just realized that you are given 2 stickers. (Guess I should have opened it up. ) And, they look surprisingly good in the shots.

PS: The spacebar is hideous.

 

I've never really felt the need for a glow in the dark keyboard even though I am usually on my computer - typing - at night with no light on. But if I needed to see the keys, I would probably go for a USB LED light.

 

awesome pictures, but how come the first one that says without glowkeys, it looks like its there? its green ? wait..how come the F1 and stuff buttons are on the button, are they even on your laptop? lol..

 

I'm an idiot. Here's the actual pic.

 

With these Glow in the Dark Key Stickers, do you remove the original characters off the key or do you just apply the glow stickers on top of them ??

 

On top is fine. It should cover the original characters.

 

when you pass ur fingers on the characters.. does it have like a little level?
like you can peel it with a little effort?

 

looks nice in the pics!

 

My next project for my multimedia laptop is to look at illuminating the keys.

It should be fairly straight forward with a shiney deflector under the keyboard and LED.s mounted in it / the case under the keybopard, but it's getting keys to fit that have transparant letters.

The likely hood of finding any that fit from other models such as the M1730 is slim I think. I guess a new keyboard would have to be fabricated unless you got lucky on the clips that fit to the keys.

 

There are a couple existing guides on how to do this via fiber optics. The only issue is a batter pack. Other than that, it seemed universal at the time.

 

Just seen a link to a guide on hack-a-day to do that. It looks ok, but linking it into the LCD could get anoying, would need to switch the power wires really.

I think the new M1730 has an illuminated keyboard, i wonder what fixing the keys are?

 

Wow, I never know this thing exists.
Thank you so much. Just ordered 2 sets.

 

ohh nicee, do a review when you're done, KonKet! Take pictures of how it looks in the DARK with nothing but the light of your LCD on, thanks!

 

Just so you know, there appears to be two sets in each pack.

 

You're right, DTWN. I've just received them today. Apparently, one "set" has 2 sheets of printed keys which are for 2 keyboards.

I am somewhat disappointed as the "keys" are printed on shiny black vinyl sticker. (I'll give the dimensions later). Thus, they won't look good on white or silver keyboards (I wanted to use on my Dell XPS M1330).

There's no such "glow in the dark" effect. It's just using the high contrast color on highly reflective vinyl.

I'll post some pictures later.

 

If the computer in your avatar is what you are using currently to ask about the Glow-In-The-Dark Keyboard.. I can understand why..

I used to have an IBM Thinkpad.. The keyboard is also black in color..
Really can't see anything in the dark..

Now changed to another laptop with a silver coloured keyboard..
The keyboard is quite visible(from the light from the screen) in the dark..

For dark/black keyboard, The best/cheapest way is to get an usb led lamp to shine at the keyboard..

 

I think the light from the screen is good, if you cant type without looking you really need to learn how. Not an insult just a suggestion.

I took typing class as an elective in school and it was probably one of the best things I ever did now that I look back on it later in life. As I have to do so much typing and being able to do it fast and without looking is a life saver.

If you go the glow in the dark method, I would find a way to mount a small uv light somewhere it will make them glow very bright and keep the substance charged with light energy.

 

Woah typing class.. My just introduced me to a little program he had on our old pc, where it simply gave you some tasks and slowly i learned it myself.. Or well fast.. Cant imagine taking classes for such a thing lol

 

Learning proper typing, I can see that if I had not while i may have been fast by this point in life there are somethings I would have never done.

Besides I had an open elective I needed to pick an easy class

 

Well i dont know your age but i do know that poeple like my dad (no offense if youre not 50 lol) wouldnt just be able to sit down and learn fast typing.. Classes would definitely help people like him

 

Im not really old but when I took my typing classes it was with electric type writters not computers. One mistake and you had to type it all over again or suffer points off your grade. Really made you keep accuracy. Now that I am spoiled by computers my accuracy is horrible sometimes.

 

Oh type writters.. It is all much clearer now

 

I have been offered many typing classes, ranging from elementary class to professional series. It is a huge business. For all those individuals that are not required to type at the 100WPM + and have that skill already, it is a great experience. High schools and colleges usually offer such a class...where you just type and get faster while increasing your accuracy.

 

I think what was more important than speed or accuracy was just proper form. I can type with the numbers at the top of the keyboard as fast as most can the dedicated numberpad because they taught us the form to use it,what finger goes where and how to hold your hands to prevent bad ergonomics.

I found something fun just a few weeks ago that I think could potentially boost your type speed. The Typing of the Dead.

Its house of the dead but instead of a light gun you have to type words/sentences to shoot the zombies.

It gets pretty darn hard on the final stages.

Much more fun than your general typing program

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNfQ_B6_xy8

 

EPIC.

Where can I get this???

Nothing like killing zombies to get your WPM up.

 

This is great !!!