I’ve reviewed a couple flexible style keyboards and they have their place as something that is very easily portable allowing you to take a full sized keyboard with you wherever you go. Today I’ve got a flexible keyboard that’s a bit different in that it features EL back-lighting allowing you to use it easily in low light situations, so let’s just get into this review…
Flexible Illuminated Full Sized Keyboard
Author: Kristofer Brozio
Sponsor: Brando WorkShop
Tech Specs,Features or the Basic Info:
Flexible Illuminated Full Sized Keyboard from Brando WorkShop
Product Code: UKEYB000900
Flexible Illuminated Full Sized Keyboard is strong, silent and indestructible. It is made of a high quality silicone material. Flexible keyboard is storable and portable so that users can bring it everywhere. The illuminated design makes it more cyber and useful, you can use it in a low-light environment. Its ultra-slim and lightweight design can be used for travel, school, or any other working environment. And, it is water resistant and dustproof that users can clean it easily. Its flat design also offers an easy typing that prevent your wrists getting stress.
Price: US$27.00
Features:
-Virtually indestructible
-Strong and silent
-Washable and hygienic
-Portable and storable
-Dust-proof and water-resistant
-EL illumination on/off
-Simply wipe up any spilled liquid with a damp cloth
-Lightweight, ultra-slim and compact
-Fits in your briefcase, backpack or notebook carrying bag and you do not have to worry any sharp edges
-Size: 49×13 mm
-Weight: 335g
System Requirements:
-Windows 98/2000/Me/XP
-Available USB or PS2 Port
Package Contents:
-Flexible Illuminated Full Size Keyboard
-PS2 Adapter
-User Manual
A Better Look at Things
:
The box that the Flexible Keyboard comes in isn’t that sturdy and it got a bit mashed during transport, but it’s not a big deal as the keyboard is flexible anyway… on the front of the box you can see part of the keyboard and there is even a cutout so you can feel it before you buy it as well, on the back of course we find specs and information about caring for your keyboard.
A brief user manual is included and a PS/2 to USB adapter as well. The cable for the Flexible Illuminated Keyboard is nice and thick so you won’t have to worry about any damage to it during transportation.
The keys have a squishy feel to them that will take some time getting accustomed to, but it’s the basic standard QWERTY layout style keyboard with full numeric keypad.
On the far right side is where you’ll find the indicators for CAPS Lock, Num Lock and Scroll Lock along with the button to activate the EL back-lighting.
The rubber covering of the keyboard is semi-transparent so you can see the actual circuits inside when you look at the bottom, I think it’s kinda cool, I have a fondness for things of this style…
Installation, Testing and Comparison
The major feature of this keyboard besides the EL lighting is the fact that it is very portable, you can just roll it up and take it with you. If you saw the most recent Die Hard movie then you saw a similar version of the Flexible Keyboard being used in it, and actually I’ve saw it in a couple other movies as well. The idea that you can easily take a full sized keyboard with you is very nice and an attractive feature especially if you travel a lot or don’t really care for laptop keyboards…
Besides the EL back-backlighting there are three other bright red LEDs on the right side of the keyboard to indicate, CAPS Lock, Scroll Lock and Num Lock. Here’s a picture of the keyboard in the dark with the EL backlighting turned off:
And here’s several pictures of the EL lighting turned on:
You can see that the keys themselves are not backlit, why they didn’t add the backlight to them I’m not sure as I thought the whole point of backlighting was to make the keys visible in the dark?! The backlighting is bright and it does offer assistance in typing in the dark, but to note the backlighting isn’t very noticeable in bright light situations.
Typing on the Flexible Illuminated Keyboard is a bit hard to get accustomed to at first, the keys are spaced very far apart, but the keys can be pressed from any angle, meaning you don’t have to push them squarely down to register the keypress. After using it for a couple weeks though you can get accustomed to it, but I wouldn’t want it to be my full time keyboard as you really can’t type as fast on it as a standard keyboard.
-As a side note this keyboard actually came in very handy, I gave it to a friend of mine who has his computers setup in a dirty/dusty environment, his keyboards looked horrible with all the dust, dirt and coffee on them. We’ve replaced them a couple times because they just weren’t worth the time to clean or try and fix, so hopefully this will solve that small problem for him. He’s a hunt-n-peck typer so it’s not a big deal to him about the type of keyboard really or the spacing between the keys, but he seems happy with it and he thought it was really cool and possibly the perfect keyboard for his place! Now if we could just figure out how to dust-proof his computers then we’d be set!
Summary:
While the Flexible Illuminated Keyboard is pretty much the same as the other flexible type keyboards out there, the EL back-lighting does add a bit more usefulness to it, the back-light not only makes it look pretty cool, but it serves to help out in low light situations.
On a personal note I really don’t care for the color too much, maybe white or gray with the back-lighting would be better…
-Be sure to check back in a couple days as I’ll have my review of the wireless version of the Flexible Keyboard for you to check out…
DragonSteelMods gives the Flexible Illuminated Full Sized Keyboard from Brando WorkShop a 4.5 out of 5 score.
Pros:
-Very portable
-Dust, liquid resistant/proof
-El back lighting
-USB and PS/2 compatible
-Full sized with keypad
Cons:
-Difficult to get accustomed to typing on it, keys spaced far apart
-Letters themselves are not backlit
I would like to thank Brando WorkShop for the chance to review the Flexible Illuminated Full Sized Keyboard and for their continued support of DSM.
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