For the most part, illuminated keyboard manufacturers always try to get you to believe that you need one because it would help with productivity. If you are a gamer, they try to make you believe that you need one to help you quickly locate the right key no matter how hectic things are in a game. If you are a working professional or student, they will try to get you to buy one just so that could work late at night without disturbing your sleeping sweetie.
But let’s be honest here – while those are really good reasons to get an illuminated keyboard, you don’t really care about any of that stuff. You want one because it’s undeniably cool. We like lights because they feel high-tech. Thirty years ago, when they tried to show you some kind of high-tech super secret government technology den in the movies, they would deck everything out like a Christmas tree, and right away everyone would believe they were in the presence of high technology. A bit of that mentality still sticks on. And bully for you if it does.
You really should get an illuminated keyboard, just for the way it can boost morale for very little money. You can get a great wireless illuiminated keyboard model today for just about $70. Anyone who comes by is going to think that your high-tech keyboard costs at least three times that. In fact, this is what a real bargain is – you pay a reasonable price, and everyone else thinks that you made a luxury purchase.
Now you can go one of two ways buying an illuminated keyboard – you can either get a wired model, or you could go wireless.
Yes, illuminated keyboards are now wireless too. If you buy one of these, make sure that the battery life isn’t a problem. Those suck up a lot of battery power. With some models like the Logitech K800, this isn’t as big a problem as you might imagine, because the keyboard comes with removable, rechargeable batteries.
Logitech has a great way to go about it. They give you standard rechargeable batteries that you can charge right in the keyboard. You just need to connect your keyboard to the USB port on the computer, and the batteries charge up in about six hours. Try to look for something like this. Especially, never buy a model that requires you to take the batteries out to charge on a plug-in device outside. That could quickly get old.
Some people, in the middle of all the excitement to do with buying an illuminated keyboard, completely forget about all the regular things they need to look for – what the feel of the keys is like, how quiet the action is, what kind of added features there are, and so on.
And of course, if you feel that the whole wireless thing is too difficult to use for your tastes because of the battery in question, you could always choose a regular wired model. Just make sure that the cord is plug as long as you would like it.
