We get pretty tired of keyboards that don't completely rule. The Eclipse III from Saitek probably isn't one of them -- it's backlit, after all, and that backlighting is totally multi-color, which is pretty important. At least to us. If that wasn't enough, this USB plug and play beast boasts a "two stage height" adjustor system, keys which are "laser-etched," headphone and microphone audio ports -- oh! and "time-saving Windows and internet shortcut keys." We have yet to see any indication of price, nor do we know when it will drop. Can we make a suggestion? ASAP would be for the best.
Update: It appears to be available for pre-order on Amazon for $79.99, and claims to be shipping within 2-5 weeks.
[Thanks, Calvin]
posted Nov 4th 2008 11:23PM
It looks pretty slick... and expensive too.
It looks over-sized and there's no mention of Full n-key rollover functionality.
I'm telling you, the first company to release a USB keyboard that looks exactly like the Dell Slimline keyboard but has backlit keys and most importantly Full n-key rollover functionality will become a very fast growing company indeed.
P.S. Congrats to Obama. \m/
CHANGE JUST CAME TO WASHINGTON.
Forget this keyboard bitches!!! bc OBAMA is here......yea BABY!
Yeah - As much as I love the back lit keyboard, and the great functionality, $20 or so has remained my limit for quite a while. Money just seems better spent on say, increasing my ram than buying a keyboard with non-esential functiosn.
and E71, I voted you up just for the mention of obama.
I love my saitek, it is simple and only has the keys that are utterly necessary - why they are putting out the same bulky junk everyone else has out i do not know...
I own the eclipse and eclipse II versions. They are great keyboards for gaming. My only gripe is that the feet on the eclipse II break very easily. Thank god for newegg rma.
I feel like this is a major step back as far as design is concerned. It's pretty ugly.
Anyone have any comment on how the macro/key assigning software works with the Saitek keyboards? I'm at the end of my rope with my Ideazon Z-Board. Great keyboard, ridiculously horrible software. The keyboard is just one part of the equation when it comes to a good gaming keyboard.
Just saw the update with the price. 80 dollars for a keyboard? Hell no. HELL no.
I prefer watching USS Enterprise on DVD
Ive had the Logitech G15 for 3 years, back lit (blue is all that matters) and through grueling gaming including 2 years of WoW play as well as 100s of hours HL:S. and it still blows this out of the water. Let me know where there's a real keyboard innovation
I Have a logitec G15 also, but its the newer/orange one.
I'm actually a little jealous of my friend's eclipse II, and it's purple setting.
The post is worded a little awkwardly, it makes me think they're going to announce a price drop right after announcing it's pricing.
I also have a G15, the blue back lit. This baby went thru a lot, and still kicking, and i have to say that i am addicted to the macro keys.
I had a G15 until I spilled water over it and half the keys short-circuited. Now I can't find one for the life of me, let me know when Logitech comes to their senses and starts making rev. 1 again which was better IMHO.
wooh! G15 club!
I have had the Rev 1 for 2 years now, best keyboard ever!
The Eclipse series are very nice keyboards, but you wont get me to surrender my G15 :p
Another G15 (rev 1) user here. The Rev 2 sucks. I so would love to see a Rev 1, with a newer, better LCD screen! My GF is using my old Saitek gaming keyboard (MK 1) and it is ok, but she would also love to get a G15 rev 1. I think logitech really screwed the pooch with their innovation, there.
Anything decker owns is the best. lol. (Have you even tried this keyboard?)
I like.
Congrats to obama and good luck for the future.
What an odd post..
Explain
Because an extremely important milestone in Americas - and the worlds - history just happened, and Engadget is blogging about a backlit keyboard...
@Greg
Uh, this is a tech blog. Are you saying they shouldn't be blogging about technology?
and who cares about us president, anyway ?
@o29
Nah, I just thought they'd be more preocupied with current events at that time, especially because most of the Engadget writers are located in the U.S., and the rest of the posts were election-centric anyways (albeit about election technology aka Wolf Blitzers hologram interviews)
keyboards are ghey
Then what do you use to type?
I just realised that now Obama has won Oprah Winfrey is going to be all over the British TV. I can stand her , she drives up the frigging wall. It's a good time to have engadget and gizmodo to deter me from seeing her fat arse on tv. Thank god for the internet.
I prefer typing by torchlight
like on the thinkpad
Obama 2008-Fo-EVA.
Wow, that is one ugly keyboard.
Yep, very nice. I hope this one will be as good as the eclipse II. I love that thing! I'll picking one up for myself if it's not too expensive and the reviews are good.
+1 Saitek.
OBAMA OBAMA!!!!!
First of all... I HATE THE COLOR BLUE
Second ... I already have a G15 Second Gen
Third... I hate Only having one Color Option
Four... I hate paying
"that backlighting is totally multi-color"
Read, my friend. I hear it helps sometimes.
let me know when there is an ergonomic version :(
my wrists will thank you
and fail came to flashpoint.
My only complaint about the first-version of the Logitech G15 was that the blue backlit keys are HARDER to see than a non-backlit keyboard...even in the dark!
Politics and Technology don't mix.
Obviously. Thats why those voting machines don't work.
ive got a saitek keyboard and i just love it. I pound the hell out of my keys and they really stand up to a beating, and the different backlighting options are pretty cool. Mine was only like 50 bucks too, it was bought with giftcards so it was kind of like free for me.
ENGADGET IS NOT THE PLACE FOR POLITICS.
Do not say Obama, McCain, election or White House. Here is not the place. Go somewhere else if you want to mention politics.
That said, looks to be a nice keyboard, though I hardly see how it qualifies for a dream, given the lack of macro keys. Once you get used to using them, they do save a lot of time. I can't imagine my G11 without my macros.
The 6 keys you seen on either side are macro keys.
ENGADGET IS NOT THE PLACE FOR POLITICS.
Do not say Obama, McCain, election or White House. Here is not the place. Go somewhere else if you want to mention politics.
Funny because you just mentioned all those things.
Low rank me if you want (low ranks have never bothered me) but its true.
LET'S ARGUE ABOUT THIS
Yes! Finally something worthy of replacing my aging Eclipse I; I hope it won't turn out to be too expensive.
Disclaimer: I am by no means saying the Eclipse II is bad, I've seen it and it is quite awesome, but I didn't feel like paying that much for a keyboard again. This old Eclipse I is pretty battered though, so I'll probably get this Eclipse III when it comes out if it's not too expensive and has good reviews.
I heartily agree. I've been using my Eclipse 1 for over two years now, and it has served me well, however, the only new thing in the Eclipse II is the different colors, the keys and everything else is almost the exact same. This is a real "revolution" in a series of products. Apple should learn something from them.
Last time I checked, Obama was not a gadget, unless there is something that I missed.
Au contraire! There's always this: http://obama.livegadgets.net/
He's a Vista Sidebar Gadget, in point of fact!
(yes, har har... and yeah, that Eclipse III looks pretty nifty in a decidedly ST:TNG kinda way)
Obama is not really a gadget so much as he is a tool.
I have the Eclipse II and like it for some reasons, and not for others... It's kind of bulky, and I'm on my 2nd (first one randomly stopped working random keys on random days). Also it gets clogged up easily, VERY easily - I can't even tell you how much dried monster & crumbs I have under those keys... Yet again, it's kinda fun to take it all apart. I'll surely invest in the III, as long as it's still quiet.
Don't be too fast to jump for this Saitek Cheeze ball keyboard just for the backlight.
I just bought the new Logitech Illuminated Keyboard and it is hands down the best keyboard I have ever used. Laptop style key action. Wired for serious gaming, and good looking too.
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/keyboards/keyboard/devices/4740&cl=us,en
I think it blows the Saitek away in every regard. Unless you have a thing for cheap and cheezy looking star trek computer hardware.
How much did Logitech pay you for that post?
Don't bash a product you haven't used and isn't even out yet. I have a Saitek Eclipse and I love the thing. Not only does it look nice, but it's actually nice to type on in terms of noise and key responsiveness, something many other manufacturers seem to be forgetting about. One of the best $30 electronics I've ever purchased.
Looks like neither the saitek nor the logitech are available with Mac keys? the iRock is getting harder to find...
I have a Saitek Eclipse and it's the best keyboard I ever had, and I've owned countless keyboards from Logitech, Microsoft, and others. The build quality is extremely nice, the backlighting is well done, and typing feel is better than average. One of the things I like about it though is that they kept it simple--there are very few extraneous keys and features. I find I rarely use all the fluff so I actually prefer that approach, but this still looks pretty good.
Mic/headphone connectors.
That's what we need in ALL the keyboards, not just gaming ones (except the cheapo $7 ones meant for business).
Seriously, I've never been with my headphones to a computer where I don't have to use the extension cable... It's annoying
Is it just me, or does this thing have the same exact layout as the razer tarantula?
I've got a Saitek Eclipse (1st version) and it is a great keyboard in some respects. Very durable construction, pretty heavy too, and I love the backlit keys since I work in a dimly lit room. Unfortunately, the paint has worn off the a, s, d, l, ., and o keys pretty substantially. I've also noticed that it sometimes takes a couple presses of the 'y' key to make it type the letter 'y'- which is more of an annoyance than anything else. Occasionally it happens with the 'r' key as well. I might look into getting a replacement if that starts happening more frequently, but I may do a bit more shopping around next time...
How long have you had your Eclipse? I read about the paint issues on NewEgg and it almost scared me away from buying one, but I'm yet to run into any problems in the almost a year that I've owned mine. And I type a lot.
I had an eclipse 1 and 2 so far for about 6 months for the Eclipse 1 until I gave it away and have had the Eclipse 2 for almost a year and I've only noticed slight paint fading on the Eclipse 2's 's' key.
I play a lot of counterstrike but I don't do a lot of extensive typing so I don't know how abused you would consider it, but I've been completely satisfied with both products... not to mention they're a hell of a deal (Eclipse 1 $35, Eclipse 2 $50 as opposed to other backlit's like G15 $90 and Lycosa $80) so I expect them to keep competitive pricing
And macro keys FTW, that's been my one turn off of Eclipse keyboards... apparently my 9 button Lachesis isn't enough
Why don't they show a __BIG__ image?
How cool would this be, coding away in my semi-lit desk, on a green and black Slackware terminal, while playing "I will Survive" through muffled speakers... Hope it's fully functional on Linux boxes.
PS: Here in Kenya, it's been declared a public holiday because Obama has won... madness!
Does it have any Bs?
Isn't Fo-EVA a monarchy?
What exactly is it that is "totally multicolor"? Is each key able to turn a different color? It seems like a Optimus Prime on a budget.
Seems very slick, but those keyboards are usually very expensive. Also, does anybody know if you have any software utility to program each key color according to shortcuts in a specific program (e.g., if I'm usuing photoshop, I want different setting of colors vs. if I am using FireFox).
my comments at http://www.commentino.com/orim
I do not understand why people are saying this keyboard isn't available when I was just using it lastnight at Best Buy. For people who want more info, it costs $79.99 and here is a link http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8987563&st=saitek&lp=2&type=product&cp=1&id=1218006356083 I really like the keyboard but could be better if it had an lcd like the logitech g5.
That's the Cyborg Keyboard, not the Eclipse III, you can notice slight changes in the display at the top.
The cyborg has been out for a while, I've had mine for about 6 months now. What I want to know is what is different between the two, because they do look similar in design and feature set.
I replaced my eclipse 1 with apple's latest offering. Got tired of horrible keystroke mechanics, and I don't particularly like tall keys anymore. I miss the backlighting (I had the red version) but thats about it. It was way too bulky, and the mechanical action of the keys was somewhat sticky. Meh @ Eclipse. Yay @ Backlight!
I am a proud owner of the Eclipse, Eclipse II, G15
I don't know what you guys are smoking, but the Eclipse II even blows the G15 out of the water, let alone predicting that the Eclipse III will. The G15 has been downgraded to my one legged step child board that I use on occasion for my PS3 and 360.
The only thing about the Eclipse III that I'm wondering is what the hell is different about it? The features and design seem to be exactly like the Eclipse II.
Excuse me, not the Eclipse II, but the Cyborg board I also own. Would like to know the main differences between that and the Eclipse III.
I want a wireless backlit keyboard!
...And make the keyboard wireless, please. I hate wires.
Yeah, after trying the Saitek Gamer's keyboard, the Eclipse and the Eclipse II, I'll pass. With all three they had problems with multiple key activations. For example with the Gamer's I couldn't sprint while running on a diagonal in any FPS. Also each version I've tried has had conflicts with certain games, making them unplayable without manually going into the hardware manager and disabling certain kb features. Saitek makes great joysticks but I have never had a worthwhile keyboard from them.
Call me an elitist if you want, but I continue to insist that keyboards reached their apex somewhere around 10-20 years ago.
My ol' Dell keyboard has been serving me well for several years now, and nothing today lets me type quite as fast or accurately as it does.
I really dislike this new emphasis on extra keys, flashing lights, and LCDs on keyboards...