Das Keyboard Model S Professional Silent review

Jason Tsay Apr 19, 2011 Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Us Accessories, Exclusive, Gadgets, Geek Culture, Hardware, Okay Geek Review, Reviews

Clickety clack clack. Mechanical keyboards are generally hard to come by these days. For good reason too – they’re loud and unwieldy for most people. However, every true keyboard enthusiast knows the difference between the crappy scissor switch keyboards of today and a quality mechanical keyboard. Rather than having to hunt on eBay for a dusty old IBM keyboard, there are more modern options out there such as the Das Keyboard, which we’ll be taking a look at today.

Features

• Cherry MX brown mechanical key switches with gold contacts (soft tactile)
• Laser-etched key cap inscriptions to prevent fading
• Full n-key rollover with a PS2 adapter, and 6 keys with USB
• Enhanced 104-key layout
• Two Windows keys

Our Impressions

The Das Keyboard comes in a simple cardboard box with a picture of the keyboard on the front and some features listed on the back. Inside is the keyboard wrapped in foam, alongside an instruction sheet and cleaning cloth. The keyboard itself comes with a USB 2.0 to PS/2 adapter attached to end of the 2 meter long Y-shaped USB cable. That’s right, there are two USB plugs on the keyboard, one of them marked “hub.” As you might expect, these enable the two high speed USB ports on the right side of the keyboard to function.

The Das Keyboard is a striking and highly impressive keyboard – it means serious business! The thickness (1 inch) and weight (3 pounds) of the thing give it an incredibly solid feel while the cable is equally heavy duty. Around the keys is a glossy black plastic casing, which was quickly layered with our fingerprints (Although we take good care of our gadgets, this finish quickly became a disgusting site). The top right corner takes the form of a stylistic “tab” with “daskeyboard” inscribed on it. Below that, a seemingly blank area serves the purpose of concealing three tiny blue indicator lights, for num lock, caps lock, and scroll lock. Underneath the keyboard, you will find two large flip out legs for more comfort while typing.

 Each key is a gigantic angular block. Atop a matte, slightly textured black finish are precisely marked white letters. They are considerably easy to read despite being a bit small and positioned in the upper left corner of each key. We have neither complaints about the layout nor the key size. It is, after a standard keyboard layout with no media keys or other frills, which makes the Ultimate version of the Das Keyboard possible to use. Key travel is extremely long and quite frankly, this is one of the best typing experiences we‘ve ever had. We are reviewing the silent model of the Das Keyboard so while the sound is not as loud as the normal version, it is still somewhat noisier than the typical keyboard.

Now let’s go into a bit more detail regarding the Das Keyboard’s mechanical switches. The Professional Silent version of the keyboard uses German-engineered Cherry MX Brown mechanical gold plated switches as opposed to the MX Blue’s in the regular versions. With full n-key rollover, the keyboard can recognize up to 6 key presses simultaneously.

Update:  Looks like we made a mistake regarding the simultaneous key presses. Our friend over at Das Keyboard informs us, “Actually, with full n-key rollover — which comes via the PS/2 connection in the Model S — a user can enter, and the keyboard will recognize, all keys pressed simultaneously. With the USB connection, the Model S has 6-key rollover.”

Overall

 After spending a good amount of time with the Das Keyboard, we can’t really think of any complaints other than those usually associated with mechanical keyboards. We’re sure professional typists will be just as dazzled by the Das Keyboard as hardcore gamers will. The Das Keyboard is pretty much the best modern adaptation of the mechanical keyboard out there. After all, das means “the” in German, thus “The Keyboard.”

Pro’s 

• Great tactile feedback
• Anti ghosting
• Standard keyboard layout

Con’s

• Large and clunky
• Still quite loud
• Glossy plastic finish

Price: $135.00
Where to buy: Das Keyboard

This review was done by Jason Tsay, who was provided the Model S Professional by Das Keyboard for a month. 

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