Last week I saw a Rollup Keyboard on eBay and after wanting to try one for a while, I decided to buy it. After hearing “rave reviews” about how crappy it is, I REALLY wanted to try one and was happy to pay the $16.95 to buy it and get it posted to me.
Today it arrived. I was overjoyed, but food had to be eaten and my stomach was trying to devour itself, so I ate a lovely Ravioli first. During the course of eating the Ravioli I tried multi-tasking. This involved eating and attempting to type on the keyboard. Grab forkful of Ravioli, put in mouth and chew, type something, swallow Ravioli, repeat.
Let me start by saying this keyboard is… different. It has [url=’/images/rollup-keyboard/four-shift-keys.jpg’]four shift keys (two on each side)[/url], [url=’/images/rollup-keyboard/two-space-keys.jpg’]two space keys[/url], [url=’/images/rollup-keyboard/two-enter-keys.jpg’]two enter keys[/url] and [url=’/images/rollup-keyboard/two-blank-keys.jpg’]two blank keys that do nothing at all[/url]. However, it comes with a USB connector with a PS2 adapter attached, handy for plugging it into either socket. It’s automatically recognised by Windows, which is also a plus. It is also extremely quiet, with I would say at least 10 times less noise than my G15.
A few downsides are that it has [url=’images/rollup-keyboard/caps-lock.jpg’]this very bright red light[/url] which the company who manufactured the keyboard appears to have borrowed from the Terminator’s eye socket. The backspace key is about three keys further away than what I’m used to, thanks to the insertion of insert, del and pause/break keys. It’s also one key DOWN from the top-right edge of the keyboard where you would usually find it. Typing on it you have to press harder than expected and more accurately than you would on a usual keyboard, not that I type with any accuracy at the moment. ; Here is me using it during a sandstorm just like the product description says
You’ll need sound for the full comic effect. The song in the background is Sandstorm by Darude.
If you are a novice keyboard user and look at the keys when typing, I recommend you buy this keyboard. It’s light, portable and seems useful in a way. If you are an advanced user however who does not look at the keys, you might be used to being able to touch the keys not quite in the direct center, and therefore you might find you make many more spelling mistakes on this keyboard than you would its larger, noiser brothers.
5/10
After initially writing this blog and using the keyboard for work I realised the total absence of both a Home and an End key. I wouldn’t mind if the two blank keys performed this action, but they don’t. It’s surprising how much you notice you need the home and end keys when you don’t have them.