Adesso ILLUMINATED MULTIMEDIA KEYBOARD BLUE ELECTRO-LUMINESCENT PS/2 ( EL-9805PB )
Popular in these categories: Cheap Computer
The Adesso Illuminated keyboard puts the light only where it is needed, on the keyboard. This eliminates the glare from task lighting, helps prevent eyestrain and makes the keys easy to see. In this day and age, with eyestrain from computing is so prevalent, many people have tried to remove the cause of the strain: THE GLARE. This product has the potential to reduce symptoms of computer vision syndrome (CVS), such as eyestrain and headaches. In addition to improving night vision, it enhances your computing environment by creating a relaxed, ambient atmosphere, conducive to working on those late night projects!It includes 18 multimedia functions found across the top of the keyboard and these are split into 2 groups. On the left (more…)
Oct 7th, 2009 at 12:01 am
So many things are wrong with this product. But before I continue, there are two things I really did like: the illumination feature (works just like it should) and the very sturdy foot that slopes the keyboard.
1) Because it was Adesso and rather costly, I thought I was getting a scissor-switch (laptop style) keyboard. Adesso does make quite of few, but this isn’t one of them. They are normal keys with recessed springs, so while the travel distance is similar to a laptop, the response is not.
2) The keys are far too narrow. For a perspective, I measured this keyboard against my laptop. It’s actually 1/4″ narrower than my laptop for the main bank of keys (minus the num pad); AND the Adesso has an extra column of keys within that space. There’s no reason to go that compact on a desktop keyboard. Everything besides the letter keys are cramped. The ENTER key is about the size of most people’s CAPS LOCK.
3) The BACKSPACE and DELETE keys should be in the upper right of the keyboard for handy access. Instead, we get a BACKSPACE key the size of a letter key and the HOME key. I keep hitting the wrong one which can be very annoying while typing. Also, the INS and DEL keys are cramed in the lower right with the tiny right CTRL key and context menu key; all four of those are even narrower than normal keys. I would have prefered the DEL key in the upper right instead of the WAKE UP key, which is useless in it’s own right. This is as much my fault as anything; I should have paid closer attention to the photos. However, the company should be ashamed of all the “space saving” they did on this product.
4) Bad quality control. The 8 and 9 num pad keys were reversed, and the space bar doesn’t have a support spring under the left side, causing it to sink down at that point. I assume the space bar will be the first to break because of this flaw.
5) The software that comes with it (for the multimedia keys) is very cryptic; all the documentation (of which there isn’t much) contradicts itself on the functions of the buttons. None of the buttons are programmable, BTW. The play / pause button does BOTH commands at once, which in Windows Media Player on my XP machine means that it keeps pausing rather than playing.
I wouldn’t recommend this keyboard to anyone. There are so many others out there that are a better value.
Oct 7th, 2009 at 3:23 am
I got this for Christmas, and yes, it lights up. So if you want it as a decoration, fine, but don’t expect to actually USE it. The keys stick terribly, it is difficult and frustrating to operate, and after several months I dug out an old keyboard and switched back to it instead. I don’t usually diss products, but I have rarely been so dissatisfied with a product.
Oct 7th, 2009 at 8:59 am
This is a neat little keyboard, but it isn’t anywhere near worth 33 bucks! It is completely flat and the keys are jammed next to each other.. reminds me of a laptop keyboard.
Got this for my son cus he is always sitting in the dark on his computer.
Warning.. the software is on FLOPPY disk, and he has no floppy disc drive.. A lot of newer computers don’t. Tried to copy it to CD from my computer but for whatever reason my computer isn’t showing my floppy drive..LOL..Figures.. Keyboard still works without software though.
I think it is worth getting, but you could get a better price I think from ebay, just watch the shipping. I noticed when I looked on ebay the keyboard was cheap but shipping was inflated terribly!!