Backlit PC Gaming Keyboard Score: 90% Developer: Saitek Device Type: Miscellaneous

Function: The Saitek Backlit PC Gaming Keyboard is exactly what it sounds like. It is a standard-layout 104 key keyboard, except it has a few features that make it advantageous to gamers. The main feature that makes this product special for gamers is the Command Pad. This is a pad with nine large buttons on them. Using the Saitek Smart Technology (SST) software, you can assign any number of keyboard commands or macros to these buttons. The Command Pad also has two shift keys (Mode A and Mode B). With these two buttons, one profile can have as many as 27 commands programmed into it. The SST profile editor is used to load a series of shortcuts into the Command Pad. These shortcuts are created when you tell the software to record your keyboard or mouse input. Once you are satisfied with the macro, just tell it to save and move on to the next button. With the ability to create different profiles, you can create a series of shortcuts that are specific to any game. This is much preferred over having to come up with some generic commands that would apply to all games you plan to use the Command Pad with. Both the keyboard and Command Pad are backlit. The intensity of the blue light is controlled by a button. This button sets the light to bright, dim and off.

Performance: The ability to take the top 27 single button presses or lengthy keystroke command that you will execute in a game, and put them just under your fingers, helped my efficiency and proficiency in many games. Though it is obvious that the Saitek Backlit PC Gaming Keyboard was designed primarily with the shooter genre in mind, you can apply the Pad to just about any game out there. At first, I found it difficult to get used to using the Pad while I was fragging bad guys. But once I got into the feel of it, the set up proved to be very comfortable and convenient. A problem I have had with PC FPS?s over the past six years or so is the need to use both the mouse and arrow keys. I had always felt physically uncomfortable having my hands around both the mouse and extreme right side of the keyboard. But because the Command Pad is all but disconnected from the Gaming Keyboard proper, I can assign the arrow buttons to four of the Command Pad buttons, then move the Pad into a more comfortable position. During my time testing the PC Gaming Keyboard I decided to try its programmability out on more than just games. Since Windows is designed to let you create keyboard shortcuts to link files (shortcuts to programs and documents), I assigned a few commands to these programs, then made those same key press sequences available at the push of a button. Now when I load up my ?Windows? profile, I can call up my most used programs at the push of a button. Since all the SST cares about are the keyboard commands, if you know the shortcut command to do something, you can create some really complicated one-touch functions. One of the more complicated macros I made allowed me to take a screen shot, open up Photoshop, create a new document, paste the screen shot into the new doc, and bring up the ?Save For Web? dialog box. This greatly reduced the amount of time/effort and tediousness involved in taking screens.

Features: Keyboard Features Comfortable, adjustable wrist rest with exclusive patented design and angle adjustment feet for maximum comfort and enhanced gameplay 104 key keyboard Blue LED backlit with Bright/Dim/Off selector through licensed patent Command Pad Features Programmable pad for left- or right-handers adds extended functionality to keyboard gameplay in all game types Nine easy-access buttons Shift buttons provide up to 27 programmable commands Backlighting enhances keyboard for play in low light environments Advanced programming provided by Saitek Smart Technology (SST) software

Drawbacks & Problems:: There was only one problem I had with the Saitek Backlit PC Gaming Keyboard, and that occurred while I was testing it outside of its designed environment. While making my ?Windows? profile, I noticed that though the SST software records your keystrokes, it does not interrupt them. If you assign a shortcut command to a program (for example, Ctrl+Alt+U to call up Unreal), then when you have the programming software record you pressing Ctrl+Alt+U, instead of the SST capturing the entire command, the program executes. This means, in order to actually assign a windows-based shortcut to the Command Pad, you have to disable the shortcut, record the keystrokes, then re-enable the command. During the set up of my ?Windows? profile, this got to be rather tedious. This also means that it is impossible to assign built-in windows shortcuts to the Command Pad. For example, if you press the Windows button at the same time as the D button, all the open windows will minimize. But since there is no way to temporarily turn off this shortcut, it is impossible to have the software record you performing the commands. Like I said, this was a problem for me, but since it is actually outside of the ?gaming? portion of Gaming Keyboard, it didn?t hurt the overall score too much. Maybe there will be a future version of this software that will either interrupt the actual keyboard input or if nothing else, continue to record even if another program gets focus. The only other problem I had with the PC Gaming Keyboard is the fact that it does not load a default profile when I start my system up. It would have been nice to have the ?Windows? profile be active automatically, instead of having to go to the control icon and telling it that was the profile I needed. But again, this was a ?problem? I found only when using the Command Pad outside of the gaming area. In any case, any serious PC gamer should definitely think about investing in this system. Not only does it allow you to put the most used commands at your fingertips, but its ability to save and load multiple profiles make this system extremely flexible.

-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer

Minimum System Requirements: Any Windows 2000 or XP system that works with a USB keyboard.   Test System: Windows XP Professional Ed., AMD Athlon XP 2400+ 2GHz, 2 GB RAM, DVD-RW, Radeon 9800 Pro, DirectX 9.0b.