Optimus Keyboard Starts Shipping

Tom's Hardware is reporting that the Optimus keyboard that everyone was so anxious for (although maybe less so when they saw the price tag) started shipping this week. "According to an announcement made on the Optimus project blog, keyboards are now shipping to customers who pre-ordered the $1564 keyboard nine months ago. Keyboards with passive keys are delayed and will be shipping in about a month, the manufacturer said. [...] Earlier this month, one of the first Optimus Maximus keyboards was sold for $2750 on Ebay." Engadget even got the chance to test one of these expensive toys out.

Comments

Review summary

[Smackheid]

-LEDs are bright and clear
-Key Image Editing is quick and painless (use your graphic editor of choice)
-Still some quirks to work out with Macs
-High-quality parts and construction
-Requires extra strength for keypresses, so unsuitable for typing more than a few minutes.

Re:Review summary

[gEvil (beta)]

-Requires extra strength for keypresses, so unsuitable for typing more than a few minutes.

Phew! Good thing I wasn't planning on using my keyboard for that.

Re:Review summary

[eldavojohn]

Requires extra strength for keypresses, so unsuitable for typing more than a few minutes. Assistant: Every student in the school's grades are still failing.
Principal: Well, what about all the super resistant Optimus Maximus keyboards we gave them to repress internet usage?
Assistant: That backfired and merely created a generation of hackers with super strong fingers. We've got them trapped in the gymnasium but you can only approach them in specialized suits with extra padding so they can't get their fingers around your limbs or any part of your body. Several teachers have had their arms and wrists broken after attempting to block all gaming ports ... things have gone from bad to worse, sir.
Principal: Damnit, I was hoping it wouldn't come to this ... *sigh* ... increase the creatine dosage in the locker room drinking fountains. And then ... release the jocks into the gym. Kill all power and lights to the gym and pipe loud Metallica through the speakers to hasten the process.
Assistant: But ... but ... sir how will we stop the overpowered jocks once they are done?
Principal: Simple, we just increase the depressants being injected into the goth kids and the problem will eventually take care of itself, we might even be on the news!

No thanks

[MonorailCat]

according to Engadget, not only is it wildly expensive, but it's painful to type on. I wish form followed function a little more often in the gadget world.

Re:No thanks

[Dogtanian]

don't move when you depress the key. Personally, I like to depress keys by telling them that they're worthless and no-one likes them.

Re:No thanks

[penguin king]

Or a program that tries to anticipate what the next character you type is likely to be, and lights that one up. Sounds like something MicroSoft would want.
I can just see it now... press ctrl, suddenly alt and del light up

Stupid

[jointm1k]

This thing is the dumbest thing ever. Even more useless than the display on the G15 gaming keyboard. Who fricking watches the keys while typing or gaming?! And according to the review typing sucks on this keyboard. WTF? A keyboard that does not allow you to type properly has no reason to exist. And what looney pays $2750 for it?

Made by idiots, for idiots.

Flame on!

Re:Stupid

[jointm1k]

Haha, I bet the one who modded me as a troll actually pre-ordered one. Poor schmuck.

pwned keyboards coming soon...

[Will the Chill]

Since these things appear to be mostly geared toward Windows users (yes, I know, some Mac too) it's only a matter of time before somebody releases as script-kiddy utility for pwning your friends' and enemies' keyboard OLEDs.

I can see it now. Grandma is surfing for recipes and all of a sudden her nice new keyboards starts showing all sorts of inappropriate text and images.

And plus apparently it sucks as a keyboard.

-WtC

*** $!g +yP3d 0n 0p+!^^u$ k3Yb0@Rd ***

One of the three signs of the pending Apocalypse

[wowbagger]

One of the three signs of the pending Apocalypse:

• The Optimus keyboard ships
• The Phantom ships
• Duke Nukem Forever ships

Then the Destroyer will plug the Optimus into the Phantom, boot Duke Nukem Forever, and the universe will come to an end.

Third hotkey down on the right...

[Sqweegee]

Am I seeing this properly? Are the hot keys in the second column in the engadget article as follows?

Firefox, Youtube link, Lesbian porn link!?

Re:Lawsuits?

[johnsonav]

I hate to break this to you and the rest of the illiterates, but Rome and Latin really existed. (In fact, Latin still does exist.) It's not like Star Wars or Middle Earth. In fact, you can get on a plane, go to Italy and see remains of it. Whoa there! The reason we don't find any ruins from Star Wars is because it happened a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. Duh. And how many remains are there from Alderaan? I've got video proof that those societies existed, not just some books written by guys with weird names like Plutarch or crap like that.

Re:Personally, I wonder....

[orasio]

Chuck Norris jokes, just like Chuck Norris himself, are old and tired. Please, let them rest. Chuck Norris doesn't rest. He waits.