BlankKeys
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Das Keyboard Ultimate S unleashed for the tactile experience-loving typist
Das Keyboards are pretty well known for the tactile and auditory assault they delight fingers and ears with. Well, the mechanical Ultimate S -- an updated model which has just surfaced -- is just as tactile and noisy as all the other models, but it's also got a few added features, including two USB ports, an external PS / 2 adapter, plus full 'n' key rollover with PS / 2. The board is also KVM switch compatible, and of course, the keys are still blank. The keyboard is now shipping, and runs $129.[Thanks, Rocky]
Das Keyboard II with blank keys reviewed
Those of us who type for a living are perhaps more attuned to keyboard minutiae than the average computer user, so any 'board that promises to improve our WPM without resorting to a frustrating realignment of the keys naturally piques our interest. The Das Keyboard II includes several "enhancements" that may or may not improve your typing speed by up to 100%, most noticeably the keys themselves, which, while arranged in the traditional QWERTY-configuration, are completely blank. Supposedly the lack of even a single symbol keeps the user from "cheating" and looking down at his/her hands, but Extreme Tech instead found themselves habitually mistyping and wasting time referring to character maps. Ultimately, since the letter-less keyboard only improved the seasoned typists' speed by about 10%, it's the other features of the Das II that may entice consumers, including high-end,"clicky" keys rated to 50 million keystrokes which are differently-weighted to compensate for variable finger strength. Overall, ET gives the blank 'board a seven out of ten, harshing on the rather steep learning curve, but suggesting that first-time typists might benefit from practicing without the traditional "crutch" of illustrated keys.
