Not long ago I reviewed the Logisys Clear Acrylic Illuminated Keyboard, today for review I have another Logisys Illuminated keyboard, but this one has a whole lot more features and buttons. It could be considered the ultimate all-in-one keyboard. It is designed with keys and functions for use in the office, and home. It is very stylish looking and even is back lit for better visibility. Read on to check it out..

Logisys Office, Internet, Multimedia Pro Illuminated Keyboard

Reviewed by: Kristofer Brozio AkA Dracos

Sponsor: Logisys

Tech Specs,Features or the Basic Info:

Model #: KB609

Name: Office, Internet and Multimedia Pro Character-Illuminated Keyboard

Description: 

This is the full-sized Letter-Illuminated Keyboard that the light can go through the letters and numbers, which can be controlled by a dedicated EL on/off key. The office, internet and multimedia hot keys are professionally annotated with a software driver comes with the package. This keyboard features a special dynamic design that has Bottom Spill Resistance which will reduce the damage to this keyboard if you ever spill any liquids on it. Extra Slim design with a glossy painting on the top frame and a matte painting on the lower supporting frame combined with the letter illuminated keys, which create a contemporary and stylish look. Not only do the keys light up with a bright blue color, this keyboard also has four soft bright blue LEDs above the number pad for function indication purpose

Specification:

PS/2 + USB Interface with Long Cord (over 6)

Full-Size Keyboard with Double Size Back Space Key and Large Size ENTER key.

Glossy Painting with Blue Letter Illuminated Keys

MS Office Hot Keys

Multimedia Hot Keys

Internet Hot Keys

On/Off switch to control light

133 Keys + Light Up Scrolling Wheel

Compatible with all Windows operating systems

Dimension: 20.25"x8.5"x1"(LxWxH) 

A Better Look at Things

:

First up, as usual, we have the packaging; The front of the box shows pictures of two keyboard, the same but different colors, I received the black one for review so that is what we will be checking out today.

The back of the box lists and the features and specs, and also has a nice picture diagram of all the important keys on the Logisys keyboard.

Open the box up we find the keyboard nicely wrapped in plastic for protection.

Finally unpacking everything we find that packed with the keyboard was a driver disc, instruction manual and a USB/PS2 adapter. The Logisys keyboard has a nice gloss finish on it around the keys and a flat finish for the palm rest. There are lots of keys on this keyboard as you can see from the picture.

On the right side of the keyboard, along the top edge we find buttons for Power, Log Off and Sleep. Next to that is your standard multimedia keys for controlling audio and video files/players. Under the curso keys are two more buttons, these are labeled Toggle and Close, toggle is the same as ALT-Tab, to switch between windows and Close is to close out an open window. Also the function keys have another function besides the normal one, there is another key on the left side of the keyboard that activates this functions. F9 through F12 are email shortcuts; F9 is Reply, F10 is Reply All, F11 is Forward, F12 is Send. You’ll also notice that there are 4 indicator lights instead of the normal three, the last is to indicate the usage of the secondary function keys. The Scroll Lock key is also the power on and off key for the EL back lighting.

Moving to the left side of the keyboard we find a whole lot more buttons. Across the top from left to right we have Office keys first, Word, Excel, Power Point, Calendar. Next to those is a button to open My Computer and the Calculator. The next set of buttons is for controlling the internet, there is Home, Email, Search, Refresh, Back, Forward, Favorite and Stop. Under those buttons, in the function key row, we find a small round button to the left of the Escape key, that is for switching between regualr and enhanced function keys. The F1 key is Help, F2 is New Document, F3 is Open File, F4 is Save, F5 is Replace, F6 is Spell Check, F7 is Undo and F8 is Redo. Now under that little function key is yet another set of keys, you’ll notice a scroll wheel next to the Caps Lock key, above the scroll wheel we find buttons for Cut and Copy, under the scroll wheel we find buttons for Mark and Paste.

There isn’t much special about the back of the keyboard, except to note the angle of the Logisys keyboard cannot be changed, for me it was a bit of a steep angle to get used too, most of my keyboard are the Zero Degree type that lie flat.

The Logisys Office, Internet, Multimedia Pro Illuminated Keyboard is truly a fully functional keyboard, it can do almost anything you need it to do in your daily life. It is one of those keyboards that can be used for work and play and just looks cool doing it, the EL back light is a nice added touch as well. The Keyboard seems sturdy and well made, it is fairly heavy also.

Installation, Testing and Comparison

Installation is fairly easy, if you are running Windows XP you don’t even need the driver disc as it will install and be ready to go automatically.

In the dark the Logisys keyboard does look really cool, but I found that having the letters printed in white makes it harder to see when the EL light is on. Maybe if they were printed in black it might be easier… Notice that the top row of keys isn’t lit up, why not?

Using the Logisys keyboard actually took a bit to get used to as the springs in the keys are a bit stronger than what I am used to, it could also be the angle which I am not used to either. After a couple days of using the keyboard I found it a lot easier to use. I really liked the shortcut buttons, especially the My Computer and Calculator and of course the multimedia buttons. The other buttons could be of use once I start using them more often, but I found it takes longer to find the button I want than using the mouse to do what I wanted to. It is a nice idea and if I were to train myself to use those buttons they would become very handy indeed.

The scroll wheel on the side and the buttons that go with it are also another one of those things that you just have to get used to having there for you to use. Once I realized they were there I used them, but still I found it a lot easier to just use the mouse for those basic commands.

The Toggle and Close buttons under the cursor keys I found to be very useful for task switching and closing out programs, I did use those quite a bit as they seemed easy to find without having to look for them.

The Enhanced function keys, well this is the same story, I found it quicker to use my mouse for what I wanted than to search for the button, again I am sure that after a while of use they could become very useful, but in the beginning they seem to slow things down.

Now if you already own a keyboard with lots of buttons for different things then the transition to the Logisys keyboard will be fairly easy, but if you don’t expect to find yourself spending a lot of time hunting for the buttons you want to use…

Summary:

In closing the Logisys Office, Internet, Multimedia Pro Illuminated Keyboard needs a bit more tweaking to be the perfect keyboard but it is very close to it. The major complaint is the visibility of the letters/writing on the keys or lack thereof when the EL back lighting is turned on. the other problem is the lack of the ability to adjust the height of the keyboard, for me this is very important, typing for long periods of time does cause me pain, and using a flat keyboard actually minimizes this pain to an extent.

DragonSteelMods gives the Logisys Office, Internet, Multimedia Pro Illuminated Keyboard a 4 out of 5 score.

Pros:

-Lots of useful keys

-Looks really cool

-EL back light

-Very well made

Cons:

-Lack of visibility of the keys when the El is powered on

-Lack of ability to adjust the angle or height of the keyboard

I Woulld like to thank Logisys for the chance to review their prodcuts and their continued support of DSM.