Technology

New Keyboard

I mentioned the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 I received as a parting gift from my co-workers in Toronto, but another thing that they gave me was a Razer Marauder Starcraft 2 keyboard. Functionally, it’s a keyboard; visually, it takes the Starcraft theme to the max, going with a design that looks like it was lifted straight out of the game. It also has some cool features integrated with the game itself, like color that reflects your current APM (how fast you are inputting commands), and the ability to turn red when your army is being killed. I had lots of opportunities to see that – I lost 6 games in a row after trying the keyboard out!

Unfortunately, my particular unit had an issue during regular typing, in which keys would sometimes get input twice for a single keystroke. I’m also not sure what it was, but E-mails I was writing would sometimes get sent spontaneously while I was still in the process of writing them. Getting this fixed wasn’t straightforward, and I hadn’t gotten around to it. However, in searching for information about the issue, I did come across information on the complex world of mechanical keyboards – and long having been a fan of some of the old style keyboards – I even still have a keyboard with a 5-pin DIN connector (the predecessor of the PS/2 keyboard connector), which I used with an adapter for quite some time thanks to its nice clicky feel.

Well, it turns out that they do in fact make them like they used to – if you’re willing to spend $100 or so on a keyboard, which most people aren’t. I was, though (heck, many in the Toronto office spent that much on mechanical joysticks for playing Street Fighter 4) – and the keyboard I chose arrived this week:

It’s a Das Keyboard Standard Model S Ultimate.  The “Ultimate” denotes a feature (or lack thereof) you may have noticed above – the keyboard is unlabeled! And while many people do type without looking at the keyboard, you may discover that the location of some of the more obscure symbols isn’t quite as ingrained in your memory as you think. Typing with one hand, which essentially means you’re not typing reflexively anymore, is also pretty challenging.  I actually chose to go with the “Professional” model (same keyboard, with letters), but the promo price ended in the few hours since I decided – so I got the above instead. It feels great so far, and if you spend a lot of time typing, I do suggest putting a little effort into finding a keyboard that you really like!

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