Wednesday, November 5th 2008

Saitek Reborns the Eclipse Brand, Releases Eclipse III Keyboard

Although it was aquired by Mad Catz, Saitek has managed to reborn an icon among the keyboards and release the Saitek III keyboard. The third Saitek series is a sleek backlit multimedia keyboard with touch-sensitive lighting and volume controls, and adjustable, multi color backlighting shortcut keys. The backlight of the keyboard can vary in colors depending on the user's preferences. Once you made some changes to the keyboard's color or its settings they'll remain unchanged after system reboot. This USB 2.0-connected peripheral also comes with a 2-stage height adjustment and removable wrist rest increase comfort, laser-etched keys, a head phone and microphone audio ports. There is no word on pricing or availability yet.
Source: Saitek
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23 Comments on Saitek Reborns the Eclipse Brand, Releases Eclipse III Keyboard

#1
Wile E
Power User
This is getting too far away from what I like in the original Eclipse, the small form factor. I hate big keyboards. I was spoiled by my Macs. lol.
Posted on Reply
#2
powerspec
I love it, i have both the Eclipse and Eclipse 2 so this will be my next keyboard as long as its under 100$
Posted on Reply
#3
Mussels
Freshwater Moderator
I have the eclipse II as well, the reason i bought it was the standard (aka old school) key layout, and standard form factor.

This is becoming larger and more complex, therefore moving away from the appeal of the earlier models. side buttons are a terrible idea, dont they realise what happens if you attempt to move your keyboard, or your mouse cord bumps against them? gah.
Posted on Reply
#4
alexp999
Staff
Wile EThis is getting too far away from what I like in the original Eclipse, the small form factor. I hate big keyboards. I was spoiled by my Macs. lol.
Totally agree, thats one reason why I bought the original eclipse before my G15 was cus it was nice and compact. Now its just getting bigger. Still prefer the Eclipse Mk1 out of the three.
Posted on Reply
#5
Unregistered
Wile EThis is getting too far away from what I like in the original Eclipse, the small form factor. I hate big keyboards. I was spoiled by my Macs. lol.
I totally agree - sold my G15 (rev 1) on to get an original Eclipse due to the size.
alexp999Totally agree, thats one reason why I bought the original eclipse before my G15 was cus it was nice and compact. Now its just getting bigger. Still prefer the Eclipse Mk1 out of the three.
And this is the man i did the swap with lol. Ill never buy a big keyboard again :D
#6
alexp999
Staff
kyle2020I totally agree - sold my G15 (rev 1) on to get an original Eclipse due to the size.



And this is the man i did the swap with lol. Ill never buy a big keyboard again :D
I'm loving the G15, but what made the eclipse series so good was their nice compact size, which at the time I bought it I needed.
Posted on Reply
#7
NamesDontMatter
I will never buy another eclipse keyboard. Saitek had a garbage design and never fixed ti with the eclipse II. I went through returning 3 of them under warranty and none of them fixed the issue until I went in opened the keyboard and fixed it myself. Absolute garbage IMO. Hopefully they finally fixed it.
Posted on Reply
#8
Mussels
Freshwater Moderator
NamesDontMatterI will never buy another eclipse keyboard. Saitek had a garbage design and never fixed ti with the eclipse II. I went through returning 3 of them under warranty and none of them fixed the issue until I went in opened the keyboard and fixed it myself. Absolute garbage IMO. Hopefully they finally fixed it.
ah, did you ahve the issue where the plastic inner layer kept shifting around? i had that with mine as well. I too, had to fix it myself. Didnt void the warranty or anything, so i had no problems doing so, and have had no problems since.


I feel sad that saitek seem to be following the path of the G15, who the hell do i go to for compact LED keyboards now?
Posted on Reply
#9
freaksavior
To infinity ... and beyond!
We have this at best buy (i think, it looks a lot like the pic) and i dont like the feel of it
Posted on Reply
#10
Unregistered
If a keyboard has a standard layout,ie keyboard,cursors,numpad,its not that easy to make it compact.I love my g15 rev2 and dont care if its a bit bigger,functionality over form for me.
#12
DrPepper
The Doctor is in the house
When will logitech release a successor to the g15 :(
Posted on Reply
#13
oli_ramsay
Wile EThis is getting too far away from what I like in the original Eclipse, the small form factor. I hate big keyboards. I was spoiled by my Macs. lol.
Agreed, this is one ugly looking mofo, it looks like the dashboard of knightrider, but hey, it could be worse:

Posted on Reply
#14
NamesDontMatter
Musselsah, did you ahve the issue where the plastic inner layer kept shifting around? i had that with mine as well. I too, had to fix it myself. Didnt void the warranty or anything, so i had no problems doing so, and have had no problems since.


I feel sad that saitek seem to be following the path of the G15, who the hell do i go to for compact LED keyboards now?
Yep I had the same issue.

Although My personal favorite keyboard I've ever used is the logitech wave. I find a lot of the "gaming" keyboards to be surprisingly cheaply made.
Posted on Reply
#15
niko084
I like it quite a bit, but not my style...

Bet I can sell a few though :)
Posted on Reply
#16
DeltaFox
Is it just me or is there no difference between this and their cyborg keyboard,
expert maybe color?
Posted on Reply
#17
Solaris17
Super Dainty Moderator
i actually like it im the kind of guy who needs every available feature i always fnd a way to use them. i do love my lycosa though
Posted on Reply
#18
Urbklr
I love my Eclipse II, but this isn't what I like in the Eclipse's. I love mine for being small, and plain while still looking badass. This is big, too complicated, and looks stupid.
Posted on Reply
#19
Katanai
I actually quite like it. My current Genius keyboard has almost the same layout and it works flawlessly. No need to worry about those side buttons, you can ignore them quite easily if you want and they wont get pressed by mistake.
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#20
WarEagleAU
Bird of Prey
Anyword on the price? Personally I like comfortable keyboards, which is why I havent exactly bought me a gaming keyboard yet. This with its touch sensitive controls, reminds me of my wifes HP laptop. I love the volume control on it :D
Posted on Reply
#21
PP Mguire
Musselsah, did you ahve the issue where the plastic inner layer kept shifting around? i had that with mine as well. I too, had to fix it myself. Didnt void the warranty or anything, so i had no problems doing so, and have had no problems since.


I feel sad that saitek seem to be following the path of the G15, who the hell do i go to for compact LED keyboards now?
My Fatal1ty keyboard is small as hell and backlit.
Posted on Reply
#22
theJesus
DrPepperWhen will logitech release a successor to the g15 :(
They already did, they just kept the name. G15 rev1 is better than rev2 though, IMO. It's black/blue instead black/orange, has a bigger screen, the screen has tilt adjust and can flip closed, and there's more "g-keys".
Posted on Reply
#23
_jM
I personally think it looks good. I have the eclipse II and i like it, im sure if anyone is a eclipse fan and you buy this it will eventually gain your comfort.

Oh.. and my milk duds melted inside the box so im eating them as a whole..
Posted on Reply
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