I got mine yesterday, but I haven't gotten a chance to play around with it until today. I'm actually typing on it now! I got the white/silver keyboard with black switches. My normal keyboard is a Razer BlackWidow Chroma, but I'm a sucker for impulse buys, and I convinced myself that I needed a quieter mechanical keyboard for when I'm on the computer late at night. Here are some of my initial impressions below (I'm typing stuff as it comes to mind, so sorry if it sounds like I'm all over the place):
Anyway, setting it up for use was simple with Windows 7, no issues there. The first thing that struck me was that the backlight on this keyboard is very bright. (Excuse the crappy image quality. Still it should give you an idea of the lighting intensity)
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Of course, you can toggle through several levels of brightness, so this isn't a criticism. The brushed look of the metal looks really nice, and it doesn't fingerprint, which is usually a concern of mine with brushed metal. The preprogrammed lighting effects are decent, consisting mainly of wave effects and reactive lighting and rainbows and whatnot. There's no software to customize your lighting however - everything is done on the keyboard. And if you want a completely custom lighting profile, you're going to need to do it key by key, toggling through the 7 color options available to you (you're definitely not getting 16.8 million colors like Razer or Corsair advertise with their keyboards). Personally, I'm fine with this - I'm not interested in setting up a dozen shades of red on my keyboard. Still, unless there's an easier way I'm not aware of, this key-by-key color toggling will probably be pretty time-intensive.
As for typing, it's a little hard for me to compare, since I've never used blacks. I've used reds before, and these switches definitely require more force to press than those. I did a little bit of gaming in Witcher 3, and I was a little surprised at the slight amount of fatigue my pinky finger was getting from holding down the Shift button during horse riding sections. Still, the switches feel consistent. Also, these black switches are surprisingly quiet. I tend to bottom out my keys fairly often, and on my red switch keyboard, doing so reasonably loud (not as loud as my Razer BW Chroma, however). The switches don't feel to mushy, and it's easy to tell that these are mechanical switches and not membrane.
Build quality feels solid - because of the metal plate, there's little to no flex in the keyboard. One issue I didn't like about my Razer BW Chroma is that there's a little bit of wiggle to the keycap when you fully bottom out a key. All of my Cherry keyboards didn't have this issue, and I'm glad to say I'm not getting any keycap wiggle on this keyboard either.
TL;DR: Very good keyboard for the price. Looks great too, and although each key is individually backlit, you're limited to 7 colors, and setting a color requires you to toggle through each one. Build quality is solid, and I'm satisfied with the typing experience so far.
Thanks for the info. Since I plan to use this on my Linux PC, I rather prefer not having software specific to certain operating systems in order to use features. So sounds like this board will suit me nicely. I have the white with blues ordered. Have been used to browns.
Any white keycaps are gonna get dingy after awhile because your constantly putting your hands on them. When or if they get dirty just take the caps off get a toothbrush and a warm bowl of water and clean them off and they will look good as new.
Its personal preference, I got it in black because it complimented my setup more. If they look dirty then they will look better after a cleaning. Honestly you wouldn't have to clean it more than 1 time a year max. I have a white Poker II that I have used daily for over a year and it has been cleaned once and that's because I thought the white looked a little off (Nobody would look at it and think "Wow that's a dirty keyboard"). So is it worth it to own a white keyboard if you have to clean it? Id say yes.
Also for your second question on which looks more professional I would personally say the black since it blends better with most dark professional/office settings but don't let me tell you what you think would look better.
I haven't seen any smudges or anything so far, but I imagine something like that would take a lot longer to become apparent. I imagine it'll fare as well as any other white ABS keycaps, and replacement should be easy enough.
sorry took so long here are the pics of my keyboard and the small differences i noticed from other. clear switches ,white logo not black, and the screws are now Philips [img:DSC_0038.vwu.JPG]
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Anyway, setting it up for use was simple with Windows 7, no issues there. The first thing that struck me was that the backlight on this keyboard is very bright. (Excuse the crappy image quality. Still it should give you an idea of the lighting intensity)
As for typing, it's a little hard for me to compare, since I've never used blacks. I've used reds before, and these switches definitely require more force to press than those. I did a little bit of gaming in Witcher 3, and I was a little surprised at the slight amount of fatigue my pinky finger was getting from holding down the Shift button during horse riding sections. Still, the switches feel consistent. Also, these black switches are surprisingly quiet. I tend to bottom out my keys fairly often, and on my red switch keyboard, doing so reasonably loud (not as loud as my Razer BW Chroma, however). The switches don't feel to mushy, and it's easy to tell that these are mechanical switches and not membrane.
Build quality feels solid - because of the metal plate, there's little to no flex in the keyboard. One issue I didn't like about my Razer BW Chroma is that there's a little bit of wiggle to the keycap when you fully bottom out a key. All of my Cherry keyboards didn't have this issue, and I'm glad to say I'm not getting any keycap wiggle on this keyboard either.
TL;DR: Very good keyboard for the price. Looks great too, and although each key is individually backlit, you're limited to 7 colors, and setting a color requires you to toggle through each one. Build quality is solid, and I'm satisfied with the typing experience so far.
Also for your second question on which looks more professional I would personally say the black since it blends better with most dark professional/office settings but don't let me tell you what you think would look better.