Okay Geek Farm
t3ch Review - Logitech Illuminated Keyboard
Jason Tsay
I’m sure theres at least one incident where you just wished the keys on your keyboard could light up (that is, if they don’t already). The Logitech Illuminated Keyboard does just that, and packs it into a sleek and attractive form factor. Today we shall investigate whether or not this input device is worth its admission price and more importantly: is backlighting a gimmick?
Product: Logitech Illuminated Keyboard
What they say it does: Type easily—even in the dark.
My Experience:
Let’s get one fact straight - this keyboard doesn’t try to win you over with fancy features such as USB ports, audio jacks, and whatnot. The Illuminated Keyboard is all about simplicity and comfort. This is even expressed in the fairly clean packaging: A couple views of the keyboard on the front and some features on the back. Inside of the usual green Logitech box, you get a matte black box which opens up to reveal the actual keyboard wrapped in clear plastic. Lifting the keyboard will reveal an instructional manual and CD-ROM loaded with Logitech’s Setpoint software, but we’ll get to that later. When you first pick up the Logitech Illuminated Keyboard, you will notice it has nice heft to it - it just feels extremely sturdy and expensive. On the contrary, a border of clear plastic clashes with that quality. Perhaps aluminum would have been a better choice of material?
Large, square-shaped letters are laser-etched directly in the center of each key. These are generally pretty easy to read and will most likely never fade like printed on letters. A nice matte black finish on the keys prevents fingerprints. As far as typing goes, it will be pretty dang comfortable if you’re used to “laptop styled” keys. The Illuminated Keyboard utilizes what Logitech calls its PerfectStroke technology. They claim it “combines the best of laptop and stand-alone keyboards to help make every key stroke smooth, comfortable, and whisper-quiet.” Basically, no matter what region of each key you press, you get the same great tactile feel from a 3.2 mm key travel. Like I mentioned before, this keyboard should be fairly comfortable to kaptop users but an advantage here is that it is less cramped than most laptop keyboards. One pain that most laptop users have had should be fixed by this keyboard: the arrow keys are in a roomy T shape, not some weird compact layout. I’ve been a laptop user all my life so getting used to the keyboard was consisted of recognizing a slight layout change.
On the other hand, you’ll notice that the bottom row of keys is raised and rounded. It feels pretty natural when the legs are out but when it is flat on the table, it just feels unnatural to have to reach like that to get to a key. The backspace, tab and caps lock keys may be rather small for some users. When I login to something online or have to fill out a form, I usually use the tab key to skip to the next text field so that’s a pretty big deal for me. The top row of f keys aren’t illuminated at all: only the orange shortcut keys on the surface are (the actual numbered f letters are printed on the side of the keys). An “FN” key taken from laptop keyboards allows these keys to perform media shortcuts or anything you please once you assign jobs to each.
A nice soft touch wrist rest feels great as you type and reduces pain in your hands as you type. Being non-removable, the wrist rest makes the keyboard fairly large. A thin glossy black strip between the wrist rest and keys conceals bright indicator lights for caps lock, num lock, and scroll lock (found in the lower right corner). To add to typing comfort, two switch out legs under the keyboard provide the option to elevate the typing surface.
Usually, Logitech’s Setpoint program lets you customize everything about your peripherals but sadly, the software doesn’t let you half as much as you can with mice. The only options you get are for the shortcut keys and disabling certain annoying keys. I’m surprised that it doesn’t let you adjust backlighting intensity but then again there are only 3 preset levels which you can adjust using the light bulb key in the top right corner of the keyboard. The most important feature of the keyboard is obviously the backlighted keys. Microlens reflectors under the keys allow the keys to light up and one interesting thing to take note of is that when the illumination is turned off, the letters look silver. Overall, the illumination is pretty decent and gives off a pretty decent white/blue illumination. However, I did face one minor setback: some of the keys are only partially lit! Only half of the right shift key is properly lit, which goes against the wonderful build quality of the keyboard. It’s not a big deal but I wouldn’t expect to find a flaw like this on a keyboard of this price.
But it’s not all about this keyboard. The more realistic question is: is backlighting just some sort of stupid gimmick? Is it a feature worth looking for and paying extra for? Well, it really depends on your needs. If you are a gamer, you’re keyboard most likely has illumination already. The real gimmick there is if you’re keyboard comes with 50 different lighting options and colors. As for normal users, you’ll have take note of the environments you most often work in. If you are often in low light situations, you will want this feature. Of course, if you know how to type extremely well, you probably won’t even need to look at your keyboard so in that case you won’t need it. On a separate note, power consumption may also be a deciding factor. Backlighting may decrease battery life on a notebook but shouldn’t be a problem for most desktop users. All in all, I like the backlighting feature on this keyboard. I like to keep it on even during the day because it really helps me see better and looks quite nice too.
Now time for some areas that Logitech could have improved on. Honestly, I think Logitech could have made the illumination brighter or at least provided more tuning options as far as brightness goes. The adjustment method in itself is rather badly implemented. There’s only one button so in order to get to the one you want, you have to cycle through all of the levels, but then again there are only three intensities. Maybe in a future revision when there are more lighting levels, there will be two keys to tune up and down. An ambient light sensor would have been nice to have. I mean, it’s not necessarily the most useful of features but would seem like something found on a keyboard of this price (especially one where the main feature is it’s backlighting). Despite the weight, I’m sure some people would have liked to have a wireless/wired hybrid used in the way the Razer Mamba can be used.
For a non-gaming keyboard, you certainly pay a premium over standard keyboards. The stunning 9.3 mm thin profile itself is something many minimalists will be excited about and overall, the build quality and feel are great. There is no flex in the keys as you type and the sturdy space bar doesn’t lean to one direction when pressed on one side. No doubt, this is one of Logitech’s best looking and well made keyboards to date.
Pros: super slim design, comfortable, great typing experience
Cons: cost is a bit hard to swallow, size
Price: $79.99
