When Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel is dominating the competition and racking up First Place wins, do you think he's using an ordinary PC keyboard? No way. He's got his fingers on the Creative Fatal1ty Gaming Keyboard, illuminated by EluminX.The Fatal1ty Gaming Keyboard illuminates for better vision in low light or dark environments. Faster is better. That's why the Fatal1ty Gaming Keyboard was designed with low profile, fast-action keys. It's compact enough to drop in a backpack to take to LAN parties.
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: Creative Fatality Gaming Keyboard Black Comment: Recently purchased this keyboard. This is a great keyboard, it lights up and the movement is quick and sharp and crisp. Customer Rating: Summary: Great feel, good size, backlight is dim, better keyboards avail. Comment: Just received and installed my Creative Fatal1ty keyboard. I'm not a gamer, by the way.
It's a major improvement over the previous standard keyboard I had in two ways: 1) this keyboard is much more compact (though it's still a full-size keyboard) and it gives me much more room on my keyboard shelf and 2) it's a joy to type with.
The keys are similar to laptop computers in that they don't have to be pushed down as deep and they are far more responsive than standard desktop keyboards. The only disappointment is that the illumination is not as bright as I expected it to be. I use it in a room that isn't very bright to begin with, and the keyboard is also on a keyboard shelf that is partially covered by the desktop above it. Even in this state the backlit keyboard is difficult to see, and the keys themselves are not lit in the center of each key.
Since the whole reason for buying a new keyboard was to see the keys better, this may be a dealbreaker. On the other hand, the compact form factor and ease of typing may make up for this shortfall.
Since my initial review I've been able to test two other keyboards, both ordered through Amazon. The first, FireFly - Borealis - Illuminated KeyBoard USB, is about 1/2 inch wider, an 1 inch deeper, and about the same height as the Fatal1ty board. The extra inch in depth gives you more option keys (like "sleep", "play", "mute", etc), as well as a nifty dial for increasing or decreasing volume.
ADDED NOTE 04/12/2008: UNFORTUNATELY, THE FIREFLY BOREALIS IS NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE ON AMAZON OR TIGERDIRECT. YOU CAN'T BUY IT ANYWHERE ELSE THAT I KNOW OF. HOPEFULLY THIS HASN'T BEEN DISCONTINUED!
Like the Fatal1ty, the keys are incredibly responsive and well designed. Unlike the Fatal1ty, the illumination is unbelieveably perfect! In fact, there's no comparison: the Borealis lighting is superior in every way to the Creative Fatil1ty board.
Why: well first, the backlighting is much brighter, and it's more of a blue-green color as opposed to the blue-white of the Fatal1ty. The blue-green, while brighter, is less harsh on my eyes. Second, the keys are opaque black, but the letters and symbols are translucent, so the backlighting illuminates only the letters, making the keyboard much easier to read.
At this writing, the Firefly Borealis keyboard was only $20 bucks, less than half the cost of the Fatal1y! But because it comes through Tiger Direct, it isn't eligible for Amazon's free shipping, so the total came to $28. Still, it's a bargain in every way compared to the Fatal1ty board.
The third board I tried was the Everglide Dkt Keyboard Silver Board, a beautiful aluminum baby that's just as compact as the Fatal1ty (but with a few more functional buttons). It set me back $41 with free shipping. It's backlighting is set up similar to the Borealis, in that the keys are opaque so only the symbols light up (as well as the space in between the keys). But the lighting isn't as clear, and because the keyboard is silver in color, there's less contrast between the keys and the symbols. In fact, the keyboard is actually easier to read with the illumination off! While it's the sleekest looking of all three boards, the key response was sloppier. The keys had a lot of play in them, actually wiggling from left to right or up and down. And it seems you had to push them down further than the other two boards. The illumination, while brighter than the Fatal1ty, was still no match for the Borealis.
So, I'm keeping the Borealis and returning the other two boards. It's going to cost me a little in return shipping fees, but it's worth it to finally have the perfect keyboard. Besides, I saved so much on the Borealis that I still came out ahead financially! Customer Rating: Summary: Great Keyboard! Comment: Although I do indeed play online FPSs time-to-time on my PC, I would never consider buying a keyboard solely because it games well. What attracted me to this keyboard was its small footprint, backlit keys, USB connectivity and finally its low price. I connect an optical mouse and this keyboard to my laptop and having a number-pad as well as having a nice durable keyboard that takes the stress and wear off my laptop keys (I'm a bit of a masher) is a real plus. In short, I would definately buy again as I've been using this one now for several months. Customer Rating: Summary: If by gaming keyboard, they mean harder to use, then yes it works. Comment: Cons:
- Probably the worst part is the layout, for some reason logitech decided to make it incredibly small, in by doing so, none of the keys are in the right places, and if they are, they are 1/2 their normal size.
- The illumination light is hidden amongst the regular keys.. why?
- In gameplay, I cannot use more than 2 keys simultaneously. In other words, if I'm strafing and jumping, and I try to switch weapons using a key bind, the keyboard doesn't respond. I've been thrashed dozens of times now due to this problem. My silly MS wireless keyboard didn't even have this problem.
PROS:
- The key action is good.
- The footprint is small, but this comes at too high a cost in my opinion.
This keyboard might be good for some games, and for gaming only. If you plan to use it in conjunction with your day to day activities, I wouldn't recommend it. This keyboard seems more like an ultra-compact application for traveling users, not for gaming.
I'm going back to my MS wireless elite keyboard... and I'm out $50 for this one. Customer Rating: Summary: Solid gaming keyboard Comment: Quality compact feel to it. The scissor-type keys are firm when pressed, and are quiet compared to the "clack board" I previously used: I prefer quiet typing over hearing every keystroke loud and clear from two rooms away. The keyboard is heavier than my last one-- it feels substantial. The backlighting at night is a great feature for gaming. I prefer gaming with as little ambient room light as possible--the darker the better-- as you see better detail on the monitor. The light level on the keyboard is excellent at night-- it's not too bright so you won't need to squint looking at it- its perfect. Apparently, the technology which lights the Fatal1ty keyboard was originally developed for the US military's keyboards. This keyboard has a USB cord-- you won't need to re-charge batteries (like with cordless) in the middle of a game. My only complaint is there were no instructions on how to turn the lighting on. When I plugged it in, no lights came on automatically and I was left wondering (just press a key to the right of the space bar). However despite that, Two thumbs up! If anything changes, I'll update this post.
