When you hear the name Saitek, you immediately think of some of the best joysticks on the market, or possibly their impressive line of gamepads. But seldom do you think of No Limit Texas Hold'Em Poker. And for the purposes of this review anyway, we won't be thinking of hand-held poker devices either. We are here to check out the Saitek Eclipse II gaming keyboard now available through our friends at Xoxide. The previous Saitek Eclipse keyboards have garnered awards out the wazoo, so expectations are high for the Eclipse II.
When first contacted about the Eclipse II, I had to stop and think. Was I really ready to give up my blood-spattered and war-tested Zboard? After all, my Zboard has character! How many keyboards have two commas and no periods? Damn few, I would wager. (Sadly, I'm being absolutely serious there.) And how many keyboards can make such a plasticky racket when you type on them? It's like eight tiny reindeer dancing on a styrene xylophone.
(Imagine if you used your thumbs, too!) -Ed.
Eat your heart out, Fisher-Price! And thanks to small pieces falling off here and there, it has become much lighter over its lifetime. Well...maybe it is time to look at something new. But I'm going to miss that chalk-board screech the Zboard makes when you move it around.
Specs
Package
It took Xoxide very little time to get this puppy shipped off. Cracking open the package, I got a whiff of that new keyboard smell. I love the smell of keyboard in the morning. (And keyboards don't stick to kids! -Ed.) It smells like victory; and oddly enough, a little like Mavis Beacon.
The retail packaging is not going to jump up and wave at you from the store shelf shouting, "Buy me, buy me!" It's more like, "Pssst...hey buddy, Saitek...three color back-light...frickin' laser-etched by sharks with frickin' lasers attached to their heads. What are you waiting for?" I was a little taken aback by the surprisingly verbose packaging. Nevertheless, I couldn't wait to get it hooked up and commence frickin' keyboarding...um...typing.
