Customer Reviews: Read 185 more reviews...
 splendid keyboard September 11, 2006
Wiggly (California, USA)
58 out of 62 found this review helpful
Highly recommended, and the price on Amazon is more reasonable than many brick & mortar stores too. This keyboard has wonderful keys that are neither too springy nor too soft, great for typing, and great for games too. It's a pretty sturdy piece of kit too, and requires no extra drivers. So, of course it's main 'selling factor' is that it offers three different illumination colors - blue, red, and purple - and these can be dimmed or brightened. Worth noting is that the areas around the keys and the keys themselves are lit, so perfect for a darker environment. I like the blue color best, but that's probably the darkest, but I still find it's illuminated adequately. The purple color really shines though, and there's side strips that light up your desktop too. Very blingin'? Yes, for sure. Overkill? Perhaps, but I don't think this keyboard looks too tacky, in fact I've found it super useful to have a comfortable and durable keyboard for those late night gaming sessions.
The best keyboard I've ever owned. November 18, 2006
FlamingoNut (NJ)
38 out of 40 found this review helpful
I've been typing on various keyboards for 20 years now, and nothing is comparible to the old IBM mainframe keyboards, which had a great feel to them. I've hated every lightweight generic keyboard I've encountered, and this one stays put. On a whim, I purchased this keyboard from another site, at a great price. Well, my only regret is not purchasing another to use at work. The lighting is adequate if you're simply typing to the light of your monitor, like I frequently do at home. I wish it were a little brighter, but overall, I love this keyboard, and when the price is right, I'll get another. I prefer the purple, dislike the red, and can deal with the blue. When the computer is rebooted, it automatically reverts back to blue, which I don't consider an inconvenience whatsoever...
 Keys Wear Out Quickly and Often November 16, 2007
Ethan A. Winning (Walnut Creek, CA)
28 out of 42 found this review helpful
This is my third backlit Saitek keyboard, and I'll give Saitek a "B" for sending one full set of keys, and three sets of specific keys when the letters blurred and then "disappeared." It's hard to articulate, but the letters just plain wear off. After the W, E, N, U, I, and H wore out for the third time, Saitek sent me a whole set and told me to install the new "board." That was too much trouble, so I've been picking them off one at a time and replacing them. Today, I replaced the B, C, U, and H. I have to admit that the E, W, and N have lasted longer.
Second, the blue back lighting is difficult to read. I would think white or yellow would have been better. During the day, I turn off the backlight. At night, I really have to squint to see what keys are what. I'm not a touch typist, but with an old IBM typewriter, I can still do 65-70 wpm. And I've been typing for 50 years, so this should have been the dream keyboard. It isn't quite a nightmare, but it's no dream either.
Am looking for a replacement. Suggestions welcome.
 Great Keyboard with One Minor Flaw February 5, 2007
R. Frank (Phoenix, AZ)
17 out of 17 found this review helpful
I bought this keyboard over the weekend and think it's great. I had been struggling for awhile to try to type in the dark while my wife is sleeping, so I finally needed to invest in a lighted keyboard.
This one feels great, and fits perfectly on my slide-out keyboard tray. The lighting is really effective and certainly makes it easy to type in the dark or under the light from the monitor.
The only minor flaw I could find (which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5) is the fact that while having 3 colors to choose from is really nice, the keyboard always reverts back to blue when the computer is rebooted. Unfortunately for me, I prefer the red color, which causes me to have to switch the color every time I boot up. I think it should have been easy for them to design the keyboard to "remember" which color setting you used last.
Regardless of that, this is an excellent keyboard and I would highly recommend it.
 Saitek Eclipse II is a major disappointment September 13, 2006
Jakeleg (chicago, il United States)
12 out of 16 found this review helpful
Saitek's Eclipse II is an updated version of the Eclipse illuminated keyboard. The original design was a decent keyboard with blue lighting, a 3 step brightener/dimmer and a better than average key touch. The Eclipse II improves on the basic design by having a much better wrist rest, and three colors of light: red, lavender and blue. It fails miserably, however, in actually having the keyboard being legible while lit. The original Eclipse's lighting, while not outstanding, was adequate enough to read the keys in low light. The Eclipse II, however, is virtually unreadable with the blue light, and the red and lavender lighting is not much better. The keys appear not to have been properly etched for the light to penetrate. Stick with the original if you want one, or step up, spend a little more, and get a Deck illuminated keyboard, which is what I did.
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