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What's different from normal keyboard to gaming keyboard?

this one is painted silver.

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that looks like the eclipse I. i've got the II.
 
other people have complained about the fade on the Eclipse II also. if they truly are laser etched they are not supposed to fade at all yet alone after 2 years it looks like they are indeed painted.

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Keyboard - Paint wears off the keys!, April 18, 2008
By Bob L.
What? Wears well in a little over a month of use? HAHAHAH!

That isn't a sign of wear at all! Try TWO YEARS! I've been using my Eclipse 2 for over two years with games such as BattleField2, Battlefield 2142, Unreal Tournament 2004 and Unreal Tournament3, Quake Wars, etc.

Please don't post that it wears well when you've had the keyboard for less than three months because you've barely used it long enough to even talk about how it wears.

I have seven keys that you can no longer read because the black paint has worn off of them! You can barely read the key letters with the blue light on at the highest setting. Red and "purple" allow for better readability with the "Purple" color being a bit more readable.

Other than the keys wearing out and the poor light transmission through the keys, this has been a great keyboard for me for gaming and other use. It's been over two years and I haven't had a single key malfunction and I use this keyboard a lot. Hours and hours of pretty heavy gaming.

I'll be looking for replacement keys.

I'd recommend this keyboard but I'm a bit disappointed in how the keys paint has worn off.

UPDATE!

I just got off the phone with Saitek customer support. The warranty on this keyboard is 2 years! I called and told them about my seven keys with the paint worn off and they told me as long as I had a receipt they'd completely replace it with a new one! It's an exchange. My receipt says I purchased this keyboard on 1/04/2007 so it's under warranty.

Not only that but they said that when I receive my replacement keyboard the replacement receipt gives me another two years! You can't beat that!

So, just keep your receipt and when something fails or the paint wears off, fill out the form and get a replacement for free! That's what I call good customer service!
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Source

this is what a Laser Etched Key Cap looks like, see the difference in quality versus paint? there is only a dozen or so on the market that are actually Laser Etched.

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^^ that gigabyte board is so tempting! :laugh:
 
Mussels said:
Here ya go


It came out a little weird cause my camera hates working without the flash on, but having the flash on hid the light from the mouse.

Same mouse, one plugged in one not.

http://img.techpowerup.org/090602/microsoft mice.jpg
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I actually used those as well for the longest time, then I got excited when they came out with the five button version which I used up until I moved into wireless mice about 3 years ago. I went through 2 of the five button ones, the first one started double clicking, then triple clicking, eventually started clicking non stop. So I retired it. Great mice though.


Can anyone comment on the Gigabyte mouse? The reviews all seem pretty good but anyone here actually mess with one?
 
Kenshai said:
I actually used those as well for the longest time, then I got excited when they came out with the five button version which I used up until I moved into wireless mice about 3 years ago. I went through 2 of the five button ones, the first one started double clicking, then triple clicking, eventually started clicking non stop. So I retired it. Great mice though.


Can anyone comment on the Gigabyte mouse? The reviews all seem pretty good but anyone here actually mess with one?
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my dad had the silver, 5 button version. same problem with excess cicking.
it also skipped a lot worse than the previous versions... which is when i stopped using microsoft, and went logitech.
 
Mussels said:
my dad had the silver, 5 button version. same problem with excess cicking.
it also skipped a lot worse than the previous versions... which is when i stopped using microsoft, and went logitech.
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By the time I purchased the second one they were only $25 :laugh:

Crazy considering I think I paid 70+ for the first 5 button.


Edit:
BumbleBee said:
nice. look forward to it. you know what you should do test it at typing too try it with what your using now then the Scorpius M10.
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With running through each of those tests, I averaged 78 WPM with a 96% accuracy, with my current keyboard will do it again when I get my new desk arrangement in and the keyboard in.
 
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I've had my eclipse keyboard since my athlon 3000+ system, not one key is fading or has faded, in fact i even clean it once a month with baby wipes to get sweat off of it from my fingers (game a lot). I do know that the Regular eclipse the first few shipments the keys wore off but i was under the impression that it was fixed by the time the eclipse II came on the market. ( i know i got mine before the eclipse II came out.) The only thing that i think is fading are the Led's.
 
think i'll buy the eclipse =) i prefer it than eclipse II it looks better in my opinion so is the build quality good for gaming?
 
kurosagi01 said:
think i'll buy the eclipse =) i prefer it than eclipse II it looks better in my opinion so is the build quality good for gaming?
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I don't personally like my room mates but he has had no complaints. I don't like how it feels.
 
i ordered a Saitek Eclipse off amazon and it should be coming today... itll finish my "gaming computer" as i have the G5 mouse but some ghetto keyboard.. it just didnt look good :P now i just need some uber nerd mousepad
 
pretty LEDs?
 
To hell with worrying about all these different switch types. I am perfectly happy with both my Eclipse I and my Lycosa. All the matters is the tactile feel, and your preference, and they both suit me just fine.
 
ShiBDiB said:
i ordered a Saitek Eclipse off amazon and it should be coming today... itll finish my "gaming computer" as i have the G5 mouse but some ghetto keyboard.. it just didnt look good :P now i just need some uber nerd mousepad
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SteelSeries Mouse Pads are probably the most popular with the Logitech G5 I had a SteelSeries S&S was a great mouse pad but I use my custom func pad it's yellow, double sided (one side rough, one side smooth), cord clip, has a aluminum border and says "BumbleBee" with a Bee Logo in the middle in black by the time you customize it comes out to a little more than the Razer Destructor however you can buy the non-custom ones for even a lower price than the SteelSeries and Razer Mouse Pads. I also use a paintball arm sleeve which I cut the top off a lot of professional gamers use these you can even buy one just for your wrist it's so there is less friction between the arm of the chair and forearm.

Wile E said:
To hell with worrying about all these different switch types. I am perfectly happy with both my Eclipse I and my Lycosa. All the matters is the tactile feel, and your preference, and they both suit me just fine.
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Rubber Domes have no tactile feel and if what your feeling "feels" tactile just wait until you try a Cherry Switch.
 
BumbleBee said:
SteelSeries Mouse Pads are probably the most popular with the Logitech G5 I had a SteelSeries S&S was a great mouse pad but I use my custom func pad it's yellow, double sided (one side rough, one side smooth), cord clip, has a aluminum border and says "BumbleBee" with a Bee Logo in the middle in black by the time you customize it comes out to a little more than the Razer Destructor however you can buy the non-custom ones for even a lower price than the SteelSeries and Razer Mouse Pads. I also use a paintball arm sleeve which I cut the upper arm off a lot of professional gamers use these you can even buy one just for your wrist it's so there is less friction between the arm of the chair and forearm.



Rubber Domes have no tactile feel and if what your feeling "feels" tactile just wait until you try a Cherry Switch.
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No, but the domes aren't the only thing that control tactile feedback. I say if you like the way it feels, and it responds the way you expect, the switch types don't make a damn bit of difference
 
Feel? Since when does it matter how a keyboard feels? I dunno, maybe I'm just an insensitive jackass, but I play the same here at home with my generic $15 dell keyboad as I do when I go over to my uncle's and play on his spare machine that has one of those gaming keyboards.
 
Wile E said:
No, but the domes aren't the only thing that control tactile feedback. I say if you like the way it feels, and it responds the way you expect, the switch types don't make a damn bit of difference
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i'll credit Razer for the non-slip rubber coating. but I don't credit them on their shady circuitry. the switches make all the difference, rubber domes should be used for quiet office environments they should have nothing to do with gaming at all.
 
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well i know i type faster on my dinovo than on my eclipse, since the keys spring up faster. But that doesnt make me type any more accurately, spell better, or game better.
 
BumbleBee said:
i'll credit Razer for the non-slip rubber coating. the switches make all the difference, rubber domes should be used for quiet office environments they should have nothing to do with gaming at all.
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It works for me. It works for countless others as well. I prefer the rubberized tops. I see no benefit to moving to anything else, when this suits me perfectly. And a different type of switch is not going to make me a better gamer, either.

My whole point is, no one design is better than another for gaming. It all lies in personal preference. This Lycosa matches me perfectly, just as Logitech boards match others perfectly, or still others that prefer a high-end board. It's all purely personal preference.
 
i agree with wile E. my favourite is the scissor swtiches in my dinovo, i've had a few old mechanical keyboards and i cant stand them. they were all far too noisy for me, and took more effort to push a keypress.

everyone has a favourite, just like some people prefer CRTs, some TN film LCD's and others wont go anything less than an IPS LCD.

You're trying to win a fanboi argument of "this is the best, everyone agree with me" and its just not going to happen. You lost by even thinking you could win.
 
your dinovo uses scissor switches, I never liked them I could never learn to type on a laptop. the key cap is connected to the 2 pieces of plastic which forms a scissor you might not know it but the response times are faster but it's not due to the switch because it still uses a rubber dome it's due to the scissor making less travel time and your scissor switches have more durability than plain rubber domes I think they are rated for 10,000,000 cycles.

mechanical switches make me type faster, make less mistakes, use less muscle and move around more fluidly in games. does that mean it will for everybody? probably not but majority.

i'm not sure which mechanicals switches you used but cherry mx switches all you have to do is lightly push down a quarter to half way for the switch to actuate, you use less muscle but you are right the trade off is noise some switches are quiet and some are loud however after a period of time it shouldn't "phase you" but that doesn't mean it won't phase your significant other.

PS, I use CRT. Dell Ultrascan P992 19" :p
 
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BumbleBee said:
your dinovo uses scissor switches, I never liked them I could never learn to type on a laptop. they still use a rubber dome but the key cap is connected to the 2 pieces of plastic which forms a scissor you might not know it but the response times are faster and your scissor switches have more durability than plain rubber domes. mechanical switches make me type faster, make less mistakes, use less muscle and move around more fluidly in games.

PS, I use CRT. Dell Ultrascan P992 19" :p
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Many people, myself included, don't benefit from mechanical switches. I'm willing to bet that the "faster response time" of many of these keyboards doesn't actually make a damn bit of gameplay difference for 99.9% of everyone out there. A little adjustment time, and you can game equally well on just about anything.

As far as durability, I have yet to have problems with my Eclipse that's 2 years old. For $30, I couldn't give a shit less if it up and died on me at this point., as it already paid for itself.

Now, I haven't had the Lycosa long enough to comment, but I honestly don't expect any issues. And I got it for $45 new, so if it lasts at least 3 years, I'm happy.
 
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