For the last week Ive had the pleasure of using something that is normally out of what I would purchase for myself, a keyboard that cost more than $30-$40 bucks. The keyboard I’m talking about is the new Das Keyboard that was just released a few weeks ago. I knew I was getting one in to review so I hadn’t spoke about it sooner but if you visit the website, you’d see a beautiful black keyboard that comes in 2 flavors. The Das Keyboard Professional looks like the type of keyboard that you are use to seeing, nothing special there. Then you have the Das Keyboard Ultimate, which is the same keyboard but all the keys are blank.

Das-Keyboard

I have learned how to touch type but I have no where near the type of skill that I felt would be needed for an unlabeled keyboard, so I went with the professional. The tagline for the Das Keyboard is "The mechanical keyboard that clicks", which is the main draw of the keyboard. The keys are suppose to satisfy people that like the mechanical feel and sound of typing. Personally, I like quiet keyboards. I don’t want to be typing a blog post or chatting (which I hardly ever do anymore) and everyone nearby hear me clicking away).

Opening the box

When I received the Das Keyboard in the mail, I was actually looking forward to using it. I wanted to know what a $129 dollar keyboard felt like, as I have always used whatever came with the PC’s Ive purchased in the past. I quickly opened the box and was pleasantly surprised. The Das Keyboard is a really elegant looking keyboard. The keyboard itself has a smooth glossy black look, almost like a piece of furniture. It even came with a cloth so that you can shine it up if you get fingerprints on it. I picked it up and the weight of the keyboard was nice and heavy, heavier than most plastic keyboards. It really felt like a nice professional piece of "equipment". They use the word "refine" on the website and at first glance that word fits quite well when describing this keyboard.

Das-Keyboard-and-box

After checking it out a little more, I notice that there isn’t much else to the keyboard, which isn’t a bad thing. Its simple and I liked that about the Das Keyboard. There are 2 USB ports on the right side of the keyboard and the USB cable is a little longer than the keyboard I’m currently using, which works well for me.

Does it click?

Like I said before, one of the main bragging points about the Das Keyboard is the mechanical keys that click. Once I started typing, the difference was hugely apparent. The keyboard felt nice to use and while the keys do have a nice sounding click with each keypress, it wasn’t overbearing. Still, I like quiet keyboards and even though the clicking sounds on this keyboard was perfect for this keyboard, it was a little too much for me. My wife, who likes clicking keyboard, did like the clicking of this keyboard.

I used this keyboard for about a week and I really liked using it, typing on this keyboard had become quite addictive and after about a day or 2 I had grown to love the clicking. There are a couple of blue LED lights that let you know when the numlock key, capslock key etc are active that you cant see when they aren’t active, which I thought was a nice simplistic touch. I also used the USB ports on the side of the keyboard to transfer some files to a USB drive and it works like it should.

Conclusion

While there aren’t a lot of features or extra functionality to the Das Keyboard, I truly enjoyed using it (I hardly ever use those extra features that are added to keyboards anyway). It is a professional feeling and looking keyboard that I feel is well worth the $129. The mechanical keys makes all the difference in the world. I’m kindof sad to have to send this back. While I wont make the purchase myself, mainly because I’m cheap I don’t want to spend that much for a keyboard, I could truly see myself using it as my main keyboard.

Check out the Das Keyboard website for more information, or to purchase