Product Details
Features
Customer Reviews
What's the probelm?
I bought this keyboard despite some of the less than enthusiastic reviews I had read, and I couldn't be happier with it. I have no idea what those other reviewers are complaining about. The keyboard is nice and heavy with a detachable wrist rest, and of course the ever popular blue, backlit keys. The board is very stylish, but more importantly, it works flawlessly. Despite what you may have read in another review, the board DOES allow you to use the delete key to access the bios menu at boot up. It is no different than any other keyboard in that respect. It is also completely compatible with Windows XP SP2. Someone else mentioned that you couldn't use the separate command pad and the main keyboard at the same time. I don't know what their problem is, I use both the keyboard and command pad at the same time wihtout the slightest problem. The combination makes this the ideal keyboard for playing games such as first person shooters, as you can programme the keypad with up to 27 commands (9 buttons with three shift modes). Programming using the Saitek software is practically a no brainer (despite what others might have you believe) you simply open the profiler, click on the key you want to assign a function to, and then click on the key on the keyboard which corresponds to that function. It's no different that any other key mapping system. The one drawback is that, as mentioned elsewhere, there is no LED or any other indicator to show what shift mode you are in. It would have been useful had Saitek put the same blue LEDs around the shift mode keys and made it so that they would light up when that shift mode is selected. To me that is not a big enough of a problem to deduct a star for. I used a Logitech Elite keyboard prior to this, and the Saitek is far superior; if for no other reason than that with the Logitech you have to take an extra step to push a button to turn the I touch function on or off, and you have to push yet another button to lock or unlock the function keys. It was a real pain to be using a propgramme that made use of the function keys, and go to use the function buttons only to find that you forgot to unlock them first. No such problem with the Saitek. If you need special functions, you simply assign them to the command pad; so you have your special functions and your regular function keys work as they always have as well. All in all, the Saitek Gamer's Keyboard is a good, solid, fully functional keyboard that looks every bit as good as it works.
"I like the pretty lights..."
Great keyboard(so far) nice moody lights that make the keys stand out even during the day.(great for rainy afternoons in a dimly lit house). Not so great for night if you don't have an overhead light(or dim lamp). The ambient blue light isn't enough to see the letters. The letters should have been machine cut into the buttons for a blueness that could be seen. Works perfect in DOS, however because of the dark screen. Windows has a bright screen anyway. Am "((hoping))" to get a corner office Hutch with florescent lighting but this keyboard lighting will still help as it isolates each and every key and gaming pad button in blue light easing eye fatigue as others have said. Gamepad says it works without software, it does not. You need to install the software and set up a profile to get it to work at all. But it is a great addition. Works in XP SP2 for me, but not for everyone. Be prepaired for a driver hunt across your hard drive and the system32 directory for the .inf files. That is the Saitek way.(didn't have that problem myself).
The keyboard "is" or SEEMS pretty robust(knock-on-wood) and the keys are firm and don't give a flaky click or a loose feel, they are pretty sturdy. The game pad is a bit less firm and the keys do give a click and are not quite as stable as the keyboard but the GP seems some-what durable anyway. Other than the pretty lights and the GP this is just a keyboard, not a specialty gaming device as posted on many review sites like Tom's Hardware or Gamer's Depot or Computer Gaming World Magazine.
Keyboard extravaganza
Saitek's PZ08A keyboard with additional Command Pad is for the PC enthusiast who has just about everything. The keyboard is more fun to look at than to use. That's not to say it isn't useful because it makes a viable replacement with a few reservations.
The prominent reservation in mind stands out because the PZ08A is a USB device and at least on my PC, the PZ08A is not immediately activated like my $11 PS2 keyboard. For instance; if you must access your System Bios, you may need to use your old keyboard to do it. *UPDATE ON THIS ISSUE*. In my BIOS is an option to detect USB on start-up. This was turned off by default. Turning it on allows access to this keyboard immediately.
I have a multi boot system managed by Partition Magic. Key presses are not accepted from the PZ08A whilst the PC is displaying boot options. I have kept my PS2 keyboard connected and must use it to access my system BIOS and the Partition Magic menu items before Windows takes over the operating system.
The keyboard is attractive with quality. It doesn't have a sleep or power button like my old keyboard but has a backlight intensity level button and three sound buttons. Of the sound buttons, only one of them applies to me (the mute) because I use headphones and not external speakers. I would imagine the other two are for speakers and perhaps another output sound device of sorts. The rest of the keyboard is standard QWERTY and Windows menu keys. The additional keypad is attached with a two foot cord that plugs into the back of the keyboard.
The PZ08A lies quite flat, even with the fold down lift brackets extended on the bottom surface. The rest of the keyboard is supported with good quality rubber feet. It may seem silly to comment on the quality of the rubber pads but cheap keyboards have tiny hard, round rubber buttons which quickly lose grip. The Saitek has substantial rectangular medium soft pads that resist sliding. This speaks of the overall quality design which the PZ08A exudes. It's all plastic but Saitek is apparently committed to selling something that not only works well but looks the part.
The backlighting is purely ascetics in my humble opinion. What you will see in a darkened room is a cool blue outline of your keys. In other words, don't expect to see any silk screening on the keys because the back lighting doesn't come through them. On the topic of looks, in order to make the PZ08A different from just any old keyboard, the Saitek design is a customary rectangle with four ears, one for each corner. They protrude out and down a little less than an inch. Granted, those great rectangular rubber feet are positioned diagonally along the bottom of these ears but the keyboard is slightly larger than it needs to be because of them. I have to say that the front and bottom aren't particularly affected by the protrusion because the Scroll, Caps and Num Lock LEDs are positioned on a small extension in line with the extended "ears". The width of the PZ08A is increased by more than an inch because of those stylish "ears". Saitek has also supplied a removable, contoured wrist support extension for the front of the keyboard. The wrist support adds another two inches or so to the overall front to back dimension. The keyboard isn't huge but it takes up more desktop real estate than many standard keyboards and a tight desktop will be over grown with the PZ08A ensemble.
Finally we come to the touted programmability of the PZ08A: You get the same modern motif of silver and black for the "Command Pad". Please understand that the Command Pad is the only programmable part of the PZ08A. It is physically separate from the main keyboard. Measuring approximately three inches by seven, with those same ears in the back and a contoured black wrist support up front, the Command Pad is a bit of a miniature of the keyboard. The difference is that this wrist support isn't readily removable. There are nine digit buttons which have the same back lighting as the keyboard. Which means; you can see the silhouette of those nine keys but you won't see the numbers on them in the dark. There are two more small silver buttons (like the light and sound buttons on the keyboard) that are designated "Mode A" and "Mode B". These buttons effectively triple the function of the standard pad's nine buttons when it comes time to program the pad.
Programming the Command Pad uses the same software and interface as programming the X52 / 45 Flight System. In other words, if you like Saitek's SST programming interface you will be right at home programming the Command Pad. I have more than one complaint regarding the Mode buttons. There is no way to know if the Mode is active. There are no LEDs to signify that Mode A or Mode B shift states have been achieved. The worst part of this all is that the buttons have scan time limits. You may press the Mode key but if you hold it too long or not long enough, the Mode will either toggle back to OFF or not have come on at all. There is no sure way to know if one of the modes has become active other than test the function in a game or application. Not good! You can watch this anomaly through the SST Command Key Control Panel applet. If you don't use the Mode "Shift" states, you won't have anything to worry about. Having nine programmable keys isn't all bad. Having 27 programmed keys that can be reliably called upon would be much better. One more important item that is a little disturbing: If you want a real manual for the keyboard and command pad, you may end up feeling slighted. The little paper leaflet is extensively under written and the CD manual, which puts you on the web, takes you to a strange place which provides no useful information that I could see. Granted I didn't spend a long time looking. The one tab that looked promising connected to nothing on my end. Never the less, the function and features of the PZ08A are nearly self explanatory and I have survived without a "real" manual.
Conclusion: The Saitek PZ08A and inclusive companion Command Pad are relatively inexpensive and you actually get quite a bit for your money. The whole outfit takes up significant space on your desk but it does it attractively. The PZ08A isn't exactly earth shaking, must have hardware for your PC and gaming experience and I have to say that the Command Pad has a way to go before it is remarkably useful. Adding two LEDs to the pad would change everything regarding the shift state awareness factor.
Would I buy the PZ08A again? Probably not, but I'm determined to have some fun with it for the time being.
Price:
Related Links : Product by Amazon or shopping-lifestyle-20 Store
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น