I gave this product a solid 4 stars, would have gone 4.5 if I could have, because of how well built it is and that it does as says. I wanted to write this review to give some future buyers this food for thought.
Besides being mechanical, I loved, in principal, that there are no keys markings; it seemed more elegant and unique, in principal. but in practice, I struggled.
I think this keyboard is very well made and works exactly as advertised. I used this on a macbook pro (yosemite) and windows 7 pro, and had no issues technically of any kind--truly plug and play. no drivers needed. And the hub worked great. The top case is very glossy (not sure if that was noted, but it was noteworthy to me), the keys are a 'normal' / muted finish.
If you are a Mac user and reading this, you probably read about the recommendations to switch your option key, which was very helpful for me, but of course, not necessary. (just a preference thing). and coincidentally, one of the keys worked to pull up the mac dashboard, cannot remember which one.
Unfortunately, I decided I needed to return this. it improved my typing skills (since I could no longer cheat for the parentheses, asterisks, slash keys, etc.), but I had a hard time with passwords, to the point where I felt it would only get worse.
Here is the "food for thought" part:
The tricky part for me with this keyboard was trusting when I create new passwords: am I typing what I think I am typing? When I create a new password, especially a complicated one, I like to look at the keyboard. As a workaround with the Das keyboard Model S, I found I needed the clipboard to create new passwords (typing the password to something like notepad then copying-pasting). But this became cumbersome and offputting for me, and could theoretically become a security issue as well.
Also, I ordered the Cherry MX Blue. I love the feel and clicks of the blue, but it is very loud. Most of you probably know what you are getting with a Blue, Brown, etc. But my advice would be to go find a store that has one before you buy it if you never have. For me, it is not that the MX Blue is loud, it is that it is very high-pitched, and annoyed me at times. I wonder if my neighbors can hear me typing. At night, when I typed on this, it did seem extra loud.
Finally, the reason I don't give this keyboard a full 5 stars is the price. I think there should be some hotkeys of some kind - a volume mute or control of some kind for the $125+ price. A well made, simple mechanical keyboard feels more like a $75-90 purchase. Are we paying extra for no labels (something that surely saves the company money)? Again, there was nothing unexpected for me - Das Keyboard represents this keyboard very well. And supposedly made it well too - whatever gold keys are (?) It is a texas-based company I think, but my keyboard was made overseas somewhere in Asia.
I have already ordered the Das Keyboard 4 as a replacement. It seems to have more of what I want in a keyboard, and I ordered brown. If I had not been impressed with this keyboard, I would not have ordered another Das product.
Bottom line: if you are aware of the cherry mx blue high-pitched clicking and truly ok with no labels, and want something unique, then ignore my comments, and I am sure you will be happy.
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 2 |
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