Logitech Releases Washable Keyboard

MrSeb writes "Logitech has released its first washable keyboard. We're not just talking about 'splash proof' either — you can take the K310, immerse it in up to 30cm of water (12in), and give it a good scrub. The only limitation is you can only use standard washing up liquid — oh, and Logitech says you should try to keep the USB connector out of the water, too. Once you've washed the keyboard, simply leave it to dry. The user guide says it takes eight hours to air dry, and that you shouldn't use a hair dryer. There are actually drainage holes on the backside of the K310, to help speed things along. This isn't the first washable keyboard — HP and Kensington have both had models on the market for a while — but the K310 does seem to be the first reasonably attractive, consumer-oriented washable keyboard. It goes on sale at the end of the month for $40."

Comments

Every keyboard is washable

[Osgeld]

just use a screw driver, still takes about 8 hours to dry and your not sitting there wondering if your not holding a blob of water under the spacebar that will fry the encoder

Re:Every keyboard is washable

[mirix]

Yeah, going by the 8 hours to dry stated in the summary - almost all electronics are washable by that standard (provided batteries are removed, etc).

And to think that motherboard manufacturers have been missing out on marketing them as "washable" all these years...

Re:Every keyboard is washable

[Anonymous Coward]

Mmmm. I find that if I use a screw driver, the orange juice leaves a sticky residue which interferes with the keyboards function.

Re:Every keyboard is washable

[mug funky]

if you just use the vodka you get a much cleaner keyboard.

Re:Every keyboard is washable

[Anonymous Coward]

if you just use the vodka you get a much cleaner keyboard.

I dunno, when I use vodka my keyboard gets blurry.

Re:Every keyboard is washable

[jimshatt]

Only at first. Drink much more and you're keyboard will get 'puky'. After that you'll want to clean it THOROUGHLY!

Re:Every keyboard is washable

[allanw]

Those ubiquitous black IC's are plastic packaging which is not moisture sealed. Not sure if it'd actually affect the silicon to soak it in water for a bit though and use normally. But if you ever order any parts, they come in moisture sealed bags with big warning labels saying that you must reflow solder the IC's within 24-72 hours of opening the package or else too much moisture from the air will seep into the packaging, causing them to act like popcorn when you bake them to 350C for soldering. So if you leave them out too long you're supposed to slowly bake them to get rid of all the moisture before reflow soldering.

Re:Every keyboard is washable

[blackicye]

Those ubiquitous black IC's are plastic packaging which is not moisture sealed. Not sure if it'd actually affect the silicon to soak it in water for a bit though and use normally. But if you ever order any parts, they come in moisture sealed bags with big warning labels saying that you must reflow solder the IC's within 24-72 hours of opening the package or else too much moisture from the air will seep into the packaging, causing them to act like popcorn when you bake them to 350C for soldering. So if you leave them out too long you're supposed to slowly bake them to get rid of all the moisture before reflow soldering.

The main reason the moisture needs to be controlled is because of heat applied by soldering processes.
Moisture will turn into steam rapidly and cause the PCB/chip layers to de-laminate (a.k.a. Popcorning.)

If the electronics are going to be operating at normal room temperatures, some moisture is generally not a problem.

Re:Every keyboard is washable

[trum4n]

i personally have dishwashered mobos, video cards, keyboards, random pci devices. Does no harm. Boards are conformal coated these days. let it dry, and youre good.

Does it come in a one handed version?

[hawks5999]

Just checking.

Re:Does it come in a one handed version?

[theshowmecanuck]

Yeah, now you can go back to sticky keys being a user access feature.

Anyone else have good experience with Logitech?

[GoodNewsJimDotCom]

I'm using a 20$ head set. I have a 10$ keyboard by them, and like a 15$ Optical Mouse. All my Logitech stuff works well and lasts for years. When I used Belkin, the stuff had weird errors and conflicts here and there. Logitech seems like it is the quality goto product when you're looking to be economical.

I was wondering if other people have had a good experience with this company?

Re:Anyone else have good experience with Logitech?

[Anonymous Coward]

I bought a high-end, gaming keyboard from Logitech.
And there are several key combinations that don't register. Key combinations that have come up in games and been integral to progress. Its left-down-z, to be specific. So, no, I would not recommend their keyboards.

Re:Anyone else have good experience with Logitech?

[Anonymous Coward]

That's called Key-Rollover. Keys on keyboards due to the matrix layout of the switches are grouped, and you can only use one key per group simultaneously. Added to that, USB keyboards support a max KRO of 6 keys simultaneously. Many keyboards however only support a KRO of 2.

Try holding left and right shift while typing the brown lazy fox sentence or just typing the alphabet. You will see that unless you have a pretty expensive keyboard or use PS2, that some keys just won't register.

In any case, this problem isn't just with logitech keyboards, it's with pretty much all USB keyboards. A lot of manufacturers try to fix this by placing WASD in a separate group or changing the groups a bit so that it avoids a lot of common scenarios, but unless you shell out a lot for a mech keyboard with a thought-out key layout, you will have this problem.

Been washing them for years...

[BWJones]

Dude... I've been washing my keyboards for years. Spill coffee in them? Run EM under the tap and dry them out. Spill beer in it, stick it in the dish washer. Air dry.

Meh

[Gazzonyx]

Meh. The keyboard that I'm using (Kensington, FWIW) is "water proof"; it has two holes in the bottom where liquids that are spilled into the keys can drain out. It also (in theory) dries quickly after a cleaning because of these holes. Best $15 keyboard I bought in college.

This is perfect...

[mark-t]

... for when I'm wanting to use my computer while bathing. Accidentally dropping the keyboard won't cause catastrophe. But is it bluetooth?

Dishwasher?

[jamesh]

Call me when I can put my keyboard in the dishwasher. When I spilled honey on my last laptop keyboard i took the whole keyboard out, ran it under warm water for a few minutes, sat it in the drainer for 30 minutes to kind of dry, then put it back together. It outlasted the rest of the laptop. Most keyboards can take this sort of abuse.

Washable keyboards

[Animats]

This is hardly the first washable keyboard. The IBM PS/2 keyboard was made to be machine-washable. There are many washable flex keyboards. They're not even expensive.

Most keyboards that don't contain speakers can be washed and rinsed, provided you use de-ionized or distilled water that won't leave solids behind when it evaporates. After all, PC boards usually go through a dishwasher-like cleaning step after soldering.

Re:A possible enhancement to this keyboard

[Dogtanian]

If they can make the USB connector detachable from this keyboard, then we do not need to worry about wetting the USB connector and ruin the whole thing

Hey Slashdot? Can we please have a 'Stupid' option included in the moderator drop down list?

In this case I'm not sure whether we need a "Stupid" moderation for the OP's post, or a "Whoosh" moderation for yours...