Saitek Eclipse II Keyboard – Eclipse II review

Purchased on the 2nd, received on the 5th. Now that’s what i call speed delivery. Although it’s not next day delivery, it only costed an extra £2 for 1st class which i received 1 week quicker than super save delivery. Okay, to the keyboard itself, it came in a massive box which gave me a scare that i would have no room on my desk for it. When i opened it, it had half of the box filled with cardboard lol. But i presume it’s to protect the keyboard so it arrives in execellent condition. The keyboard is really nice and comfy. The led light control is awesome which allows you to turn on and off the light whenever you want, you can also change colour which makes this product exciting. The keyboard was detected and installed within 2 secs on the main desktop [i suppose that’s system speed wise ;). ]

The keyboard arrived this morning after 3 weeks of waiting. No biggie, amazon had sent me an email saying that it would be late etc. And i already had a keyboard that was working (not glowing though hehe). Anyhow the keyboard is plug and play which is always good as it saves messing around and getting frustrated with vista. So lets start with the bad things about the keyboard, which being honest are scarce. However there are some small things which if you are wanting to buy one may change your mind and save you being dissapointed when you plug it in. Firstly the glow is not really bright, as a previous review said, purple is brightest, then red and finally blue. The glow on the numeric keys (if you check) is less, but ignorance was bliss for me until i read a review saying it haha. Finally the num, caps & scroll lock lights are blue, there is no changing them, so if you wanted a full red set up and you think that might upset you, don’t buy it. There are a few reasons why i like the keyboard, most noteabley of course is that it glows blue which is what i wanted it to do, although its not as bright as it could be, i’m perfectly content with the intensity.

Why does amazon’s system think this keyboard is a game?. It asksanyway, the backlight looks nice in the dark, and does have genuine practical value if you are the type to compute in a darkened room. Build quality is good, but nothing to get wildly excited about given the cost. I can’t for the life of me get the media keys to do anything. Personally think its a bit cheapskate to make the function and escape keys half size on a keyboard of this cost, but that seems to be very common these days. Apart from the backlight the only other particular plus point is that the keyboard doesn’t take up excessive amounts of desk space, given that its a full size keyboard. The likes of the g11 and the saitek cyborg seem excessively huge in comparison. Edit – for benefit of anyone having similar problems, have now managed to get the media keys to work.

Very good led k/bnice to use looks cool in the darkgood quality toorecomended.

Saitek eclipse ii keyboard (pc)ideal for home & office, not just gaming. Nice quality piece of kit, with underlit keyboard, ideal for late night working. Purchased this as keys on my old keyboard had worn away. Very difficult finding etched (engraved) keys, they are all printed on these days, but these are excellent, and should last for years. Underlighting is a bit of fun, but useful in low lit area. Space bar is narrower than normal, but most people activate this with their thumb, so makes no difference when using. Nice to use and well recommended.

Keyboard is very robust, feels comfortable to type. Has a dimmer switch and a button to toggle from blue/red/purple. You can read the letters in the dark. Feet are solid, does not move when typing. Lights go out when pc is powered off.

Having had the saitek eclipse2 for a few months. It is still as good as it came out of the box. Soft touch keys,no problems there. Lighting on the key board no problems. Everything about the keyboard still oozes quality. If your looking for a new keyboard buy it now.

My keyboard arrived within 2 days of ordering and i even chose the free delivery optionall of the keys light up red, purple or blue. I do not have any problems with the keys being too dim as there is a dimmer switch to adjust the brightness. The keyboard is a standard sized qwerty keyboard. The only differences i can see are the control keys are slightly wider, and the spacebar is slightly shorter and wider. This is because it is a gaming keyboard, hence standard game controlling buttons are slightly larger for ease of use. There are also media keys so you can control music being played on your pc. My last keyboard was very noisy. I even managed to wear away the letters printed on the keys. However, this keyboard is extremely quiet in comparison, the letters cannot be worn away and i would highly recommended it.

I had an old oem compaq keyboard before this thing, the keys were awful and the letters was slowly but surely rubbing off. The keys on this are lovely and quiet plus the laser etching means they will never fade. The weight of it is quite odd at first, but then you realise that it’s quite hard to move once flat on a desk. Now, onto the backlighting, it’s just as good as you’d want it to be, the blue’s slightly dim but it doesn’t matter much as it’s still adaquate. Matched with my blue razer copperhead mouse and it looks awesome. The option to turn the backlight off makes it look like a stylish keyboard. The media buttons on the top right work perfectly out of the box on vista with itunes. I also like the cable for some odd reason, it’s kind of a grey metallic type colour which looks pretty cool. Overall, great for gaming and typing with no stupid macro keys.

The eclipse 2 is an amazing bit of kit. The backlighting is awesome. Personally i went for the purple light. The majors reason for getting the eclipse. Was 1 it looked cool and i like my setup to look pretty nice for lan compatitions. And also i needed it to be quiet. I live with ym family, and late night gaming etc can cause alot of key noise. I assure you this will do if what you need is quiet. There are times i can hardly hear my own keystrokes.

First off, hats off too the amazon delivery service, came perfectly on time for christmas. And after using it extensivly for about. 3 weeks now, it hasnt dissapointed once. Media keys come in handy when changing songs, espesialy when in playing games (saves having too minimize your game, and risking crashing the program). The wrist reast is lovely, my old dell £5 key board made my wrists acke. Lights are pritty, most keys are lit up. The lights on the side alos add a loverly affect. In conclusion, this keyboard is worth every penny, very relaxing to use, dost put strain on your wrists and i would recommend it anyone (not just for gamers).

We needed a new keyboard to replace the one which came with the advent pc we bought in 2002. The keys on it were pale grey letters/numbers on grey blue keys and the characters had worn away so much we felt like we had cataracts. I can touch type but still found it difficult and my hubby is hunt and peck so he had no hope on dark winter mornings. We wanted an illuminated keyboard and a web search found the saitek eclipse ii. Indifferent????reviews varied (as usual) but hey you gotta go for it. I am sitting in pitch darkness (apart from the monitor) typing this review and the letters on the keyboard shine bright enough. They are not in your face bright but god, are they an improvement on our old keyboard. I would say purple is brightest, followed by red, followed by blue. A lot of it has to do with the dazzle from the monitor. Even if some keys are a bit dim (the numeric keypad mentioned in another review), you have some idea where they are as the background is lit up and you can recognise their location. I feel its like a tv remote control – you get used to where buttons are and you do things innately. The feel of the keyboard is different to our last one (quieter?. The keys do feel nice when typing. The space bar looked smaller than other keyboards but have no probs with it. Have not attached the wrist rest – nor should i. Wrists should be up when typing and not resting on anything (but that a whole different ball game). Delete button is in an entirely different place (our old one is where the volume button is now) but again you get used to it.

I have been using this keyboard for about a week now, first of all the appeal was mainly the light up keys. I’m a stickler for functionality though so i took a risk and didnt expect it to be this goodlet me start with, the keys are very quiet compared to any other keyboards i have used in my time, the keys are close together which makes typing much easier. The multimedia keys work great (although could be spaced a slight bit more. As for looks, this keyboard will look great on any desk (matches great with my speakers blue l. D’s) it’s very stylish and mdoern looking the lighting just finishes it off. The wrist rest that comes with the keyboard is a bit bulk for the space i have, i did try it though and it was amazingly comfortable to use, can imagine this being great for office use or home office use. If your already contimplateing getting it, you wont be dissapointed for buying it’s well worth the current thirty pound price mark. Here are the specifications for the Saitek Eclipse II Keyboard:

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• Key characters and keypad illuminate through laser-etched keys
• Media keys for volume control, play/pause and skip tracks
• Variable backlighting adjusts through dimmer mechanism
• Angle adjustment and extendable wrist rest for maximum comfort to suit the way you type
• Weighted base with large area rubber feet to keep keyboard securely planted to the desk
• Quiet, cushioned keys for hours of stress-free use
• Familiar 104 key layout

My saitek gamers keyboard died on me after a few years (not bad really, i have had others die a lot quicker)and i liked it so much i wanted another saitek keyboard. This is even better, really nice key action, it looks better in real life than it does in teh pics too. The lights are kinda cool but it is the build quality that really impresses me. Very nice keyboard at a reasonable price.

What can be said of this keyboard,great piece of kit,well made ,soft touch keys,a pleasure to use as all keys are lazer etched and light up in 3 colours,perfect for low light conditions,adjustable brightness,compliments any modern computer,highly recommend.

Absolutely overjoyed with this product. The key’s are really nice to use with very little pressure required to input. Whilst the colour background may seem gimiky i find it rather good, it makes a change from an ordinary keyboard, okso the colour defaults to blue when the pc is switched on but it only requires a push of a button to change from blue to red to mauve. The light can also be dimmed by use of the wheel in the top right corner. The media keys are responsive and easy to use. The keyboard is heavier than my previous keyboards but this works in ita favour and combined with the large rubber pads prevents the keyboardfrom moving about all over the place during use. In essence a really nice kayboard and one to seriously think about if you are either thinking in terms of upgrading or buying your first.

I do online typing work (as well as a part time job in london) and chose this keyboard for home as sometimes i work late and even with the light on low (as i hate bright lights when working on a computer) the keyboard is not always visible if i have to move my hand from the typing keys. This keyboard is perfect with its back illumination which is why i ordered it but more than that, i found it is absolutely fantastic for a typing touch – light, fast and perfectly proportioned. Just plugged it into the back usb port and off we went. Best lighting is the red or purple for visiblity, however, the blue does look very special.

I’ve had one of these for a couple of years now and i wouldn’t dream of replacing it. The keys are very responsive making it ideal for gaming, it’s also very comfortable thanks to the rest that pulls out from the bottom. There are cheaper keyboards out there but i’ve not come across one quite as good as the yet.

I have had this keyboard for roughly 2 – 3 years now and amazingly their isn’t anything wrong with it. Every key still works and none of the key letters have worn at all which i frankly find astonishing since i am using it every day (programming usually). The keyboard is a good size and something which i find particularly handy is the wrist rest you get with it (if you don’t want it you can easily remove it as well). The key lighting is a nice touch especially if you use it in the dark you can choose 3 different colors :blue red and purple , or you can turn it off. The multimedia controls are good but most of the time i find myself simply using my mouse to click on a play button or fast forward etc. The volume controls can come in handy if you need to to turn down the pc volume fast. The numeric pad,caps lock and scroll lock leds are positioned at the top near the saitek logo so it is easy to quickly look if one of those setting is on or off. There is a minor problem with this keyboard (but it happens with all), it does pick up alot of dust and its hard to clean since the buttons are like standard keyboards (hard to get to the space in between the keys) but a hoover and a can of compressed air should clean it all out.

Reviews from purchasers :

• Excellent Quality
• Decent keyboard.
• Still holds well after 2 years of heavy usage

I am 100% happy with my saitek eclipse ii keyboard, it looks and feels amazing,has a dimmer switch 3 colours to choose from to lite up the keys, looks very impressive in the dark, goes very well with my samsung 22′ hd monitor. I would never use any other kb. For fast gaming and just a good looking kb this is the one.

I purchased this keyboard for my younger brother who liked the backlit keyboard built into my laptop decided he wanted an external one for his laptop, so as always the first place i looked was amazon and i saw this keyboard which had a good price/feature ratio especially with the ability to change lighting colours so i ended up buying this keyboard. It arrived one day earlier than expected and was packaged well. Overall i think my brother will love this keyboard and i am considering buying one for myself.

I got my eclipse ii yesterday, but havn’t been able to use it, as my computer is on the other side of the room to where the screen is, and it has a rather short lead (only 1. However, this was easily resolved by a quick click on the [. website and the order of some usb extension leads [. I plugged it in, and my first thoughts were as follows: “wow. Pretty lights”this is worth it purly for the iluminated keys. Usually when im sitting in the room with the lights off i cant see the keyboard at all (hence why i learned to touch type) but now its lit up like a christmas tree. All the buttons are exactly where you expect them and want them, the rubber padding means that the keyboard stays firmly rooted to the desk, and their is only the tiniest amount of noise coming from the keys. This is a fantastic keyboard for everyone. ]

I recieved my saitek eclipse ii keyboard this morning, and having unwrapped it, the first impression i got of it was its weight. But thats the first great impression, coz to me, the weight meant that i was gonna be dealing with some first rate components and not some cheap plastic fantastic. Plugging it into my pc, my os (win2k) found it right off the mark and installed it (no software required) and off i went. I thought the brightness of the led’s on the board were dull at first, but then i simply turned it ‘up’ on the dial located at the top right of the keyboard. 11pm right now, and i have the lights off in the room and usually, you can’t see my keyboard at all, but this is a whole new dynamic to have either a blue, red or purple light glowing from every single key. Putting the keyboard to the test in battlefield 2142, the need to press multiple keys at once and quickly had always kept me back on my previous keyboard from microsoft, this one had no bother keeping up with every command. And it has been well worth the £[. price tagyou’ll love it too.]

I liked the way the keyboard could be lit with differt colours, it made the item more interesting than the ordinary run of the mill keyboard. I had to change to a different one though when i changed to windows 7, this saitek keyboard, doesnt seem to work with it. It did do the job well and the added feature of a wrist rest is a bonus.

This keyboard is amazing indeed. You can easily control multimedia and the keyboards lighting from the buttons in the top right corner. It has a big enter key whih i have always prefered. The keys have a nive feel to them, you’re hands won’t slip off them during a intense gaming session. Also no drivers required, simply plug it in via usb and you’re away. All in all a briliant keyboard and not amazingly expensive either.

The build quality of this keyboard is top class. Nice silver plastic with a layer of shiny, smooth black plastic around the keys. The keys themselves feel great and are nice to type with, very soft to press. The wrist rest is great and can be extended at two settings. The keyboard can be propped up at 2 heights also. The lights are awesome and really set it apart from other keyboards. It is colourful and very quick and easy to change. You will probaly get bored of one colour and want to swap sometimes. Also the dimmer is a nice addition although i dont use it as i have it set to either off or full brightness. Overall a very stylish, solid product with little flaws.

Nice keyboard with three different colors (blue or red or purple) and it can be combined to a gaming mouse with leds such as razer mouses. I use this keyboard for counter strike 1. Easy to use and easy to install, you do not need any driver for it, just insert the usb cable. You can adjust the strenght of the light just like a volume controle. Furthermore, it is also a multimedia keyboard with play, pause or stop buttons, there is a volume controle. A bit expensive for this keyboard, this is why i gave 4 stars. Fortunately, thanks to amazon, it was 10 pounds cheaper. Keyboard recommended for gamers and razer mouses users.

It’s hard to get excited about a computer keyboard, but it’s easier when it’s backlit in red. So far this saitek keyboard has worked perfectly, and you can even turn down (or off) the backlighting if you’re so inclined. It looks good, the keys have a smooth, progressive action and it’s got all the usual media buttons for muting sound, skipping audio tracks, etc.

With a selection of wireless keyboards mysteriously dying on me, i decided it was time to return to wires. And this keyboard is an excellent choice. The backlight is a real bonus; three colours to choose from to illuminate your desk. The media keys work fine with winamp so that suits me as well. My only complaint with the backlight is it looks a bit weaker in some areas; its strong enough through the letters, but the arrows and number pad could be brighter. The best thing about this keyboard though is how solid it feels. This is without doubt the most robust keyboard ive ever used; its heavy but in a good way; yet the keys are soft enough to use for longer periods, and the wrist-board is adjustable to your own taste. All in all this is a good investment, with a superb extra in the backlight.

This is a very good keyboard especially if you a gamer. I must warn you, if you buying it only for the illumination then don’t buy it, you buying it for the wrong reason. The illumination is not that bright, not that it bothers me, i bought it for gaming purposes.

Actual picked this keyboard up for £30 at a certain pc ‘shed’ t’other day – had it mis-priced i think so i leapt at the oportunity. Having gone through (as others have) many wireless jobbies over the years, it’s a joy to have a robust keyboard that suffers no cut-out or lag issues again. Love the lighting – perfect for a dimly lit environment, especially when your writing reviews etc. Another (unsuspected) advantage is that this could possibly be the perfect smokers keyboard. Gone are the days when fag ash goes unnoticed down into the crevices of the peripheral only to later foul the keys and make ’em stick. All such detritus is highlighted by the lighting and can be swiftly removed.

I have an eclipse iii keyboard already, so i was expecting great quality and easy installation when i bought the eclipse ii for my wife. I was not dissappointed either, great piece of equipment, looks and feels quality, and instantly recognised by her computer. The led backlight function works really well, allowing you to look back and forward from monitor to keyboard without having to wait for your eyes to adjust. The price is surprisingly low too. All in all, highly recommended. Saitek eclipse ii keyboard (red blue purple backlighting).

I tried the rest but now i have the best. Just wish i had bought this first off and it would have saved me loads of money and heartache. . Well made, sexy and extremely functional. No more need for strong bright desklaps with lashings of lovely headaches. Buy it and you will never regret it.

Do not know how i could leave without it now. For working at night it is amazing. People complain about the light not being bright everywhere, for me it is being over fussy. Most useful gadget that i use every day.

Pros: back light is great, buttons don’t become loose and the button markings (t, y, u etc. In the keyboard) don’t fade with time. Cons: made of cheap plastic, back light color resets in boots, no anti-ghosting, collects dust. The last one is the main concern, it really seems to suck in a great deal of dust. He quik brown fo jups oer he la dog. That’s probably all you need to know if you’re looking for a keyboard especially made for typing.

Bought this keyboard as i found it very difficult to see my old one in low light conditions and given the way my lights are set up is quite a lot of the time. The keyboard lights up around and through the keys making it very easy to see even in zero light conditions. The number keys do recieve less light than the main letters but i have not had an issue you with this so far. As mentioned in previous reviews the blue colour is the worst (least bright), then red with pink/purple being the brightest however blue is still very easy to use. The lock keys are always blue which may annoy some users. Media keys work well and need no setting up for itunes at least. The rubber feet keep the keyboard in place extremely well, as the way my desk is set up the front of it has to hang off the edge. But the back two feet have kept it from moving at all during use. Another point is this keyboard is quiet. I thought my old cheap board was quiet but my girlfriend pointed out that she notices the noise a lot less when i am typing now and is not something i was aware of before.

This is a very good and sturdy keyboard. Yes, indeed i played world of warcraft a lot on this one, and the paint on the keys didn’t start to fade yet, after two years of heavy usage. However, the silver paint of the enclosing case started to wear off, revealing the white plastic underneath, so this may be unappealing for some people. Overall, 4 stars, mainly because of the paint issue. Nothing wrong with the keys visibility, light or functionality. This keyboard is build to last. 2012 – this keyboard is still alive and kicking, i just went to pc world to see what else it’s out there, and nothing comes close in simplicity and practicability yet. I’ve never had a pc peripheral that lasted this long, but there is a first for everything.

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