Saitek Eclipse II Illuminated Keyboard

Rob Williams · 09-07-2006, 11:06 PM

Craving one of the coolest looking gamer keyboards around? The Eclipse II delivers. It can be equipped with three different LED colors, and also packs a fair amount of functionality.

You can read the full review here and discuss it here!

BlindMonk · 09-08-2006, 12:09 AM

What of the feel of the keys? And how silent/loud are they? Too late to get it on Woot for $40 but doesn't hurt to know.

Greg King · 09-08-2006, 12:29 AM

The keys are virtually silent. There is a slight noise but not the typical clicking sound. The overall feel of the keyboard is comfortable as well. As I said, this has taken the place of the G15 and not entirely because of the sheer size of the G15. The Eclipse II is just an all around nice keyboard.

Tech-Daddy · 09-08-2006, 01:07 AM

WOOT! had a special on these last night, I bought two...

Good to know that it is a quality unit!!!

Greg King · 09-08-2006, 01:35 AM

I love it. Build sturdy so I am confident that a few pounding gaming sessions will not hurt it at all.

Greg King · 09-08-2006, 01:37 AM

And who writes for Woot anyway? Silly comments like "Now archiving your files is as easy as selling bratwurst at a Packers game."

Good times indeed!

Kalakaka · 09-08-2006, 09:00 AM

I have the first Saitek Eclipse keyboard and I love it. I love the fact that the Saitek Eclipse II has a dimmer knob. While I'm not going to upgrade to the Eclipse II, if it improves upon the features of the Eclipse I, its a great keyboard.

sbrehm72255 · 09-08-2006, 10:59 AM

I've been wanting one of these for a while now, thanks for the great review ......

Rob Williams · 09-08-2006, 11:12 AM

I almost feel like picking up one also... I love the fact that you can have three different colors. Great stuff... worth $60 imo.

Tech-Daddy · 09-08-2006, 11:16 AM

I bought 2 so that I could give one to the wife (for use with Lupine, all that purple... she loooves purple....) and one unit to review/mod.

I'll be comparing it against the original Saitek, as well as my Boss modded one. SHould be a good time indeed!
Cant wait for them to get here!

09-12-2006, 08:20 PM

I have the original Eclipse and was wondering, is the Eclipse II as bright? Or is it slightly less? Im considering buying it but im not going to if its not as bright

Greg King · 09-12-2006, 09:19 PM

Wallpaper,

I have not worked with the original Saitek Eclipse but for a short bit at a LAN center. I can't imagine the Eclipse II being any brighter than the original though. It's bright enough but not even close to as bright as I would have liked it.

I hope this helps.

09-22-2006, 07:42 PM

Oh, ok thanks i wont spend money on it if it isnt as bright as the original >_<

Greg King · 09-22-2006, 08:05 PM

If you are looking for bright lit keys, and have the space, the Logitech G15 is the way to go. I love my Eclipse II but I used the G15 at a LAN event last weekend and might change back to it. The keys are that well lit and easy to read.

Tech-Daddy · 09-23-2006, 12:05 AM

If you want *bright*, and $$ is not an object... then you want a Deck...

http://www.deckkeyboards.com/

I *may* actually splurge for one of these things some day... they look cool as hell!

09-07-2006, 11:06 PM	#1
Rob Williams Editor-in-Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 13,231	Saitek Eclipse II Illuminated Keyboard Craving one of the coolest looking gamer keyboards around? The Eclipse II delivers. It can be equipped with three different LED colors, and also packs a fair amount of functionality. You can read the full review here and discuss it here! __________________ Intel Core i7-990X EE @ 3.43GHz, GIGABYTE X58A-UD5, Kingston 12GB DDR3-1333, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD, WD VR 1TB, WD 2TB, Seagate 2TB, LG BD-ROM, ASUS DVD-RW, Corsair 1000HX, Corsair H60 Cooler Corsair 800D, Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Gentoo (KDE 4.10, 3.7 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter <Toad772> I don't always drink alcohol, but when I do, I take it too far.

09-08-2006, 12:09 AM	#2
BlindMonk Coastermaker Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Missouri, US Posts: 124	What of the feel of the keys? And how silent/loud are they? Too late to get it on Woot for $40 but doesn't hurt to know. __________________ + E6300 \| Gigabyte EP35-DS3R \| 2GB OCZ PC2-6400 \| BLT \| ASUS 4850 512MB Antec 550 TrueControl \| Tater tots \| Gateway FHD2400 \| Chipotle

09-08-2006, 12:29 AM	#3
Greg King I just kinda show up... Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 2,081	The keys are virtually silent. There is a slight noise but not the typical clicking sound. The overall feel of the keyboard is comfortable as well. As I said, this has taken the place of the G15 and not entirely because of the sheer size of the G15. The Eclipse II is just an all around nice keyboard. __________________ "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan System: Intel i5 2500K \| Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4 \| 16GB G.Skill DDR3 \| Crucial M4 128GB SSD WD 1TB Black x1 \| WD 2TB Green x 1 \| XFX Radeonn HD 6850 \| Corsair H80 Water Cooler Fractal Design R3 \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 \| Dell 2410 x 3 @ 1920x1200 ESXi Host: Intel i7 920 @ 3.0 GHz \| Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P \| 24GB Patriot DDR3 \| WD 1TB Black x 2

09-08-2006, 01:07 AM	#4
Tech-Daddy Tech Monkey Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Plano, Texas USA Posts: 663	WOOT! had a special on these last night, I bought two... Good to know that it is a quality unit!!! __________________ blingGreen \| Lupine \| BOSS:FX-57 \| DSF (Dallas Stars Foundation) \| Deuce \| DST (Dallas Stars Tribute) Currently working on : Sleeper

09-08-2006, 01:35 AM	#5
Greg King I just kinda show up... Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 2,081	I love it. Build sturdy so I am confident that a few pounding gaming sessions will not hurt it at all. __________________ "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan System: Intel i5 2500K \| Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4 \| 16GB G.Skill DDR3 \| Crucial M4 128GB SSD WD 1TB Black x1 \| WD 2TB Green x 1 \| XFX Radeonn HD 6850 \| Corsair H80 Water Cooler Fractal Design R3 \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 \| Dell 2410 x 3 @ 1920x1200 ESXi Host: Intel i7 920 @ 3.0 GHz \| Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P \| 24GB Patriot DDR3 \| WD 1TB Black x 2

09-08-2006, 01:37 AM	#6
Greg King I just kinda show up... Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 2,081	And who writes for Woot anyway? Silly comments like "Now archiving your files is as easy as selling bratwurst at a Packers game." Good times indeed! __________________ "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan System: Intel i5 2500K \| Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4 \| 16GB G.Skill DDR3 \| Crucial M4 128GB SSD WD 1TB Black x1 \| WD 2TB Green x 1 \| XFX Radeonn HD 6850 \| Corsair H80 Water Cooler Fractal Design R3 \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 \| Dell 2410 x 3 @ 1920x1200 ESXi Host: Intel i7 920 @ 3.0 GHz \| Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P \| 24GB Patriot DDR3 \| WD 1TB Black x 2

09-08-2006, 09:00 AM	#7
Kalakaka Obliviot Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Winston-Salem, NC Posts: 3	Saitek Eclipse II Illuminated Keyboard I have the first Saitek Eclipse keyboard and I love it. I love the fact that the Saitek Eclipse II has a dimmer knob. While I'm not going to upgrade to the Eclipse II, if it improves upon the features of the Eclipse I, its a great keyboard.

09-08-2006, 10:59 AM	#8
sbrehm72255 Tech Monkey Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Back Woods of MO Posts: 785	I've been wanting one of these for a while now, thanks for the great review ......

09-08-2006, 11:12 AM	#9
Rob Williams Editor-in-Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 13,231	I almost feel like picking up one also... I love the fact that you can have three different colors. Great stuff... worth $60 imo. __________________ Intel Core i7-990X EE @ 3.43GHz, GIGABYTE X58A-UD5, Kingston 12GB DDR3-1333, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD, WD VR 1TB, WD 2TB, Seagate 2TB, LG BD-ROM, ASUS DVD-RW, Corsair 1000HX, Corsair H60 Cooler Corsair 800D, Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Gentoo (KDE 4.10, 3.7 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter <Toad772> I don't always drink alcohol, but when I do, I take it too far.

09-08-2006, 11:16 AM	#10
Tech-Daddy Tech Monkey Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Plano, Texas USA Posts: 663	I bought 2 so that I could give one to the wife (for use with Lupine, all that purple... she loooves purple....) and one unit to review/mod. I'll be comparing it against the original Saitek, as well as my Boss modded one. SHould be a good time indeed! Cant wait for them to get here! __________________ blingGreen \| Lupine \| BOSS:FX-57 \| DSF (Dallas Stars Foundation) \| Deuce \| DST (Dallas Stars Tribute) Currently working on : Sleeper

09-12-2006, 08:20 PM	#11
-=Wallpaper=- Guest Poster Posts: n/a	I have the original Eclipse and was wondering, is the Eclipse II as bright? Or is it slightly less? Im considering buying it but im not going to if its not as bright

09-12-2006, 09:19 PM	#12
Greg King I just kinda show up... Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 2,081	Wallpaper, I have not worked with the original Saitek Eclipse but for a short bit at a LAN center. I can't imagine the Eclipse II being any brighter than the original though. It's bright enough but not even close to as bright as I would have liked it. I hope this helps. __________________ "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan System: Intel i5 2500K \| Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4 \| 16GB G.Skill DDR3 \| Crucial M4 128GB SSD WD 1TB Black x1 \| WD 2TB Green x 1 \| XFX Radeonn HD 6850 \| Corsair H80 Water Cooler Fractal Design R3 \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 \| Dell 2410 x 3 @ 1920x1200 ESXi Host: Intel i7 920 @ 3.0 GHz \| Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P \| 24GB Patriot DDR3 \| WD 1TB Black x 2

09-22-2006, 07:42 PM	#13
Unregistered Guest Poster Posts: n/a	Oh, ok thanks i wont spend money on it if it isnt as bright as the original >_<

09-22-2006, 08:05 PM	#14
Greg King I just kinda show up... Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 2,081	If you are looking for bright lit keys, and have the space, the Logitech G15 is the way to go. I love my Eclipse II but I used the G15 at a LAN event last weekend and might change back to it. The keys are that well lit and easy to read. __________________ "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan System: Intel i5 2500K \| Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4 \| 16GB G.Skill DDR3 \| Crucial M4 128GB SSD WD 1TB Black x1 \| WD 2TB Green x 1 \| XFX Radeonn HD 6850 \| Corsair H80 Water Cooler Fractal Design R3 \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 \| Dell 2410 x 3 @ 1920x1200 ESXi Host: Intel i7 920 @ 3.0 GHz \| Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P \| 24GB Patriot DDR3 \| WD 1TB Black x 2

09-23-2006, 12:05 AM	#15
Tech-Daddy Tech Monkey Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Plano, Texas USA Posts: 663	If you want bright, and $$ is not an object... then you want a Deck... http://www.deckkeyboards.com/ I may actually splurge for one of these things some day... they look cool as hell! __________________ blingGreen \| Lupine \| BOSS:FX-57 \| DSF (Dallas Stars Foundation) \| Deuce \| DST (Dallas Stars Tribute) Currently working on : Sleeper

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