Saitek Eclipse opinions?

[DSF]

I've been thinking about an illuminated keyboard for a while now, but I've never felt like shelling out the dough for one, and I've been worried that the backlight would be too intense or too dim.

Fast forward to today - Newegg has the Saitek Eclipse on sale for 29.99 with free shipping, and I just recently got a belated birthday gift of $30 from a family member. The Newegg reviews are good, but does anyone here have long-term experience with the product? Any pitfalls I should watch out for, or is it a good buy?

 

[43st]

I've used both the Eclipse I and the II. To be honest the back lighting doesn't do much for me. Proper lighting, defuse from behind the monitor, illuminates the keyboard fine for me (not that you really look at it much during gaming). I do like the small form factor, the volume controls, and the solid feel. Perhaps it's not the best choice, but it is a decent keyboard, and $30 is a great price.

 

[DarkRogue]

My friend has the Eclipse I, which is currently on Newegg's 24 hour sale today. I personally use the Eclipse II.
Both are fairly good in my opinion. The keys are quieter than my previous Logitech multimedia keyboard, but they're not silent either if sound is of any concern to you.
They both have a "normal" sized enter/insert/backspace key which is a huge plus as I find those oversized ones ridiculous (You know, those L shaped enter keys and whatnot.)
Other than that it's a pretty standard keyboard, with the exception of course, of the backlight.

The original Eclipse only has one color - blue, although you get 3 different brightness levels, and an 'off' button. It's a nice color but some people complain it's a tad too dark. The Eclipse II comes with 3 colors (Blue, Red, Purple/Pink) as well as a 'dimmer' style knob to adjust brightness or turn it off. I usually use Red or Purple (looks pink but supposed to be purple) because they are brighter than blue. Eclipse II also comes with media controls, whereas I believe the original does not, which you may want to take into consideration if you use such functions.

My only major complaint is the paint on the keys may wear off after a while. I play FPS games a lot and the paint on the WASD keys are starting to come off.

Hope this helps.

Edit:
As far as "proper" lighting goes, it does go a long way in negating the need for the backlight, but it IS useful under certain circumstances. Mine personally are when I'm still working and my roommate is trying to sleep and thus has the lights turned off, and the monitor can't really illuminate the keyboard because the keyboard is in the keyboard tray. YMMV of course, but it's not completely useless.

 

[DSF]

The way the room is set up, the light source casts a glare, and there's not a whole lot I can do about it. I wouldn't be using the illumination during the day, but at night when no natural light comes in, so if I leave the other light on I get a glare.

Plus it's fun to play games in the dark sometimes.

Thanks for the input!

 

[43st]

This is what I was referring to with regard to back lighting the display. This is to relieve eyestrain for me, but it also illuminates the keyboard (Eclipse I from 1-2 years ago) nicely.

 

[gorobei]

i have the eclipse 2, still a not bright enough for my tastes. nice enough board tho.

as for the keys: there is no paint, the keys are laser etched from underneath to allow the light to shine through. If like me you are a little rough on the wasd keys during gaming, you might wear through the upper surface and affect the lettering.

 

[DSF]

I'm going to go ahead and get it, for $30 I think it will fit the bill. Thanks all for the advice.

Edit: By the way 43st, I know what you mean about the backlight, but like DarkRogue my keyboard is in a tray slung under the desk, so the light doesn't reach it.

 

[Ika]

The Eclipse II is much better than the Eclipse I. I've heard complaints about the letters wearing off of the original keyboard and various other complaints about the keyboard's build quality. I've been happily typing away on my Eclipse II for the better part of the school year, now, and I love it. The backlight is great; non-essential, but a treat to have when doing stuff in the dark or when you need to find a key fast.

 

[1ManArmY]

ECLIPSE II, great keyboard, easy to transport to LAN Parites nice upgrade from my Logitech. The lighting is nice but I really don't pay much attention to it while I'm gaming :shocked:

 

[corkyg]

I have used Eclipse II for almost three months now. The illumination suite me just fine. It has a nice touch and feel. I have one gripe - and that is, typos are frequent because there is just a shade less space between keys than on my old Keytronic. Hitting double keys is much more common.

But, I like it and have learned to deal with the smaller space factor.

 

[DSF]

Originally posted by: corkyg
I have used Eclipse II for almost three months now. The illumination suite me just fine. It has a nice touch and feel. I have one gripe - and that is, typos are frequent because there is just a shade less space between keys than on my old Keytronic. Hitting double keys is much more common.

But, I like it and have learned to deal with the smaller space factor.

The one that's on sale is the original Eclipse. No idea how the key layout compares to the Eclipse II, but I imagine it's similar. Hopefully it won't be an issue for me, since I'm used to changing keyboards around fairly often, with one on my computer, one on my girlfriend's, and one at work.