September 2008

Editors' Choice Keyboard

Das Keyboard Professional

Reviewed by Terry Kibiloski

How often have you watched a movie, or a TV show, and heard the enhanced sound of the keyboard clicks as the star was busy on the computer, and you thought how cool it would be to really have a keyboard that sounded like that? Well, your thoughts can become reality with the new Das Keyboard Professional that features mechanical key switches and a USB hub. Not only are these mechanical switches sturdier than the standard keyboard, the ultra clicking just sounds good and gives you positive reinforcement that you actually pressed each key you intended to press.

The new Das Keyboard Professional (Retail $129), has been totally redesigned, inside and out, providing a Darth-Vader-approved modern glossy black look and many useful features. Das Keyboard is designed around the best-in-class German-engineered gold-plated mechanical key switches that provide tactile and audio feedback making typing a pure joy.

These mechanical key switches are located right under each key cap and are what makes the click when you press a key. There are 104 of these little things in every 104-key Das Keyboard. Once you start typing, the tactile and audio clicks create positive reinforcing feedback.

Das Keyboard allows up to 12 keys to be pressed simultaneously, which is great for both fast typists and gamers. The newly added blue LEDs provide a slick look to let you know when the NumLock, CapsLock, or ScrLk keys are active, and the new USB hub lets you easily charge and sync your iPod or iPhone, or quickly hook up any two USB devices. We really like this feature because we are always running out of places to plug in our USB devices.

Finally, the new Das Keyboard has an extra long 2-meter (6.6ft) USB cable that fits through your desk grommet and keeps your workspace neat and tidy.  Das Keyboard compares to the legendary IBM model M. The engineering is solid, a fact that you will actually feel each time you press a key. Its simplicity is a joy. Just plug it in, wait a few seconds for the OS to recognize the new hardware, and start typing away. We have found it to be a great keyboard to take on the road with our laptop to give us great flexibility in positioning our keyboard for the most comfort. Plus, it is just cool to hear yourself typing away as it gives you a sense that you are doing something very important, with the lights, camera, and action on in the movie of your life.

Now, for all you techies out there, here are all the system requirements, technical information, environmental and electrical data:

System requirements:

• PC or Mac, Windows, Linux, or Mac OSX.
• One USB 1.1 or USB 2.0 port, no driver required.
• Mac users can swap the command/control/options keys to match the Mac keyboard layout using the MacOS X keyboard control panel

Das Keyboard technical information

• Glossy black upper enclosure with matching black USB cable, Darth Vader approved.
• Mechanical key switches with gold contacts
• Two-port USB hub 1.1 and 2.0 compatible
• Blue LEDs
• 2-meter (6.6ft) USB cable
• Enhanced 104 or 105-key layout
• Three Windows keys
• Dimensions: 18in x 6.5in x 1in (thickest portion, feet not extented, 1.5in w/ extended feet)
• Weight: 1.2 Kg, 2.6 lbs

Environmental data

• Operating temperature: 0C to +70C
• Operating humidity: 5% to 95%

Electrical data

• Compatible with KVM switches with a USB port
• The USB hub has 2 ports and does not require an external power supply. It's compatible with the 1.1 and 2.0 standards. Both ports can be active at the same time but one can temporarily shutdown if the current consumption is too high.
• Compatible with KVM switches

Installation

• Das Keyboard does not require the installation of a software driver. It is plug and play.

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