Which keyboard...

[Xet]

Hi all!

I've stuffed my wrist a bit after a hefty WoW session one evening... (please... no jokes )

Further to that I've been needing a new keyboard for quite some time. my old slimline one that I hated (though it had nice laptop style keys...) packed in, and I've been on a £2.99 effort since.

Prior to that I was using a MS Natural keyboard which I really liked.

So anyway - I've been looking at new keyboards today, and I think it's a tie between these two:

The Raptor K1: http://www.raptor-gaming.com/raptor/raptorUK/index.htm

-or-

A new MS Natural: http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mo...s.aspx?pid=043


The only reason I'm swaying is because the Raptor is bloody expensive, and I've heard a few people who liked the original ms natural keyboards but hate the new ones.

So.. is the MS Natural any good, and is the Raptor K1 worth it's hefty price tag?

[Steve B]

that K1 looks sorta like a commodore 64

[kempez]

IMO the Raptor is a waste of money

The logitech G15 is very nice and I can personally recommend the Saitek Eclipse

[kalniel]

Lots of people recommended the Saitek Eclipse to me when I was looking for a new keyboard as well. Still not 100% convinced yet, but that was the closest to my requirements

[Xet]

yes... a friend has the G15... the LCD screen is nice, but I dunno, it's kinda ugly lol

and err same for the Saitek :$

[johnny02004976]

mate between the two u posted id def go for the microsoft one - i really dont like keyboards from Raptor

EDIT: plus its nice and cheap at Savastore http://www.savastore.com/productinfo...06&rstrat=3204

[leeglf]

go for the saitek eclipse or gaming keyboard i am very happy with mine!

[kempez]

Everyone loves the eclipse

I think the backlighting is awesome - as are the nice keys that have just the right amount of "touch" for pretty much any situation.

[kalniel]

What's key blocking like on the eclipse btw?

[Xet]

Humm the Saitek certainly seems to get good write ups... but it's uuugggllly!

The MS Natural one is looking like a winner... but it's not all that great for gaming on and since I have graduated uni and taken up a world of warcraft addiciton that's quite an important requirement...

Humm... who would of thought chosing a keyboard could be so tough!

Edit: http://www.maltron.com/maltron-kbd-dual.html <-- who want's to donate me money so I can look like an extra from Hackers?

[Steve B]

im always happy with my logitech keyboards. The keys are always really silent, and the button placement is always top-notch. You dont need to install the setpoint software but it lets u change the key functions and stuff. They're relatively cheap too. I'd go with one of them

[shaithis]

Have you had a look at www.zboard.com ?

[Xet]

I had a bit of a look at them when they came out... are they actually any good?

Anyway, I suppose my spec list for a keyboard is as follows

+ Light key presses (as close to a laptop as possible?)
+ Durable
+ a couple of media buttons (for changing track mostly)
+ something fairly good looking

I don't need things like light-up keys (although I wouldn't discard them either) because I can touch type and it's pretty rare that I lose sight on where the keys are!

[MantisCSS]

i got a saitek eclipse a couple of days ago and its sooo cnie, couldnt recomend it much mroe!

[shaithis]

The ZBoard is a great peice of kit.

I have the WoW and BF2 keysets as well as the 2 they bundle with the base unit (a normal typing layout and a generic gaming layout).....I couldn't live without it anymore

5 seconds to replace the keysets and you can clean the keyboard in another 5 seconds while your changing the keysets (if your a messy git like me )

[DavidM]

The macro's are very handy on the G15