Introduction:

A cardboard box was delivered to my doorstep last weekend, curiously I opened the package and looked inside. A slim lightweight keyboard occupied the interior of the box.

After removing the proctective wrapping I was left with this, Eluminx Keyboard


Click the image for a detail shot!

A quick overview of the specifications of this keyboad:

High Quality

104 keys

12 function keys

Slim ergo curve design

Illumination Color: Aqua Marine

Fully compatible with PS2

Laser printing keycaps for longer wear

Keyboard dimension: 420(L)*156(W)*16(H)mm

Works with: Windows 95/98/2000/XP/NT/ME, IBM PC

MTBF : + 60,000 hours

Safety : FCC class B , CE

The people over at Auravision informed me that new colours will be available soon for the Eluminx, a wide range to fit everybodies needs: Citrine, White, Amethyst, Sapphire, Amethyst and Tourmaline.

I hooked it up straight away to the PS2 on my motherboard, with an adapter (not provided) you can also connect it to any free USB port!
The first thing you'll notice is the similarity of the keyboard with that of a laptop, except for the numeric pad, which is hardly ever present on notebooks.

This keyboard is ideal for people on the go or for use at a LAN-party. The size difference is quite striking and it does save space on your desktop!


Size does matter, the AL is really a compact keyboard solution

Thanks to rubber feet at the back it remains steady on its given place. The first downside I encountered was the inability to change the height. I am used to working on keyboards which are tilted a bit, this is a feature I'm looking forward to seeing appear on future versions!


No sliding thanks to these rubber pads

Typing on the Eluminx is accompanied by little or no sound as the keys are of high quality and they feel sturdy and robust. Of course the selling point of this keyboard becomes clear when darkness falls, find out how it looks, on the next page..

Action in the Darkness



The keyboard emits a blue radiating colour that becomes very visible in the dark, no longer do you need to search for that ~ or ù key, thanks to the Eluminx.
Every key is made out of clear plastic with the letter/number written on it in black


High quality finishing on each key, a lot of time and effort was put into making it all look perfect!


I used a version with the French Layout as this was the closest to my own Belgian one (AZERTY)

The plastic used for the keys appears to have some silver "sparkles" in it, when viewed up close:


Click the image to see a close-up of the keyboard in the dark


Gaming in the dark on the next page...

Houston we have a problem:

Although the keyboard worked flawless for me while typing on it the past 2 weeks, I did encounter some problems when it came down to gaming. As the layout resembles that of a laptop a lot, it becomes a finger-stretching exercise to hit the right key at the right time in high action paced games like UT2003 or GTA3. Remapping some keys did help somewhat, but the arrow keys (which I use most for manoeuvring in games) are located at the bottom of the keyboard, causing me some frustrations in game.



Of course not everyone will encounter these problems as it mostly depends on how you are used to playing games with your keyboard/mouse setup. People who use the numeric pad or the alphanumeric part of the keyboard won't experience the hick-ups I've had.

I hope they plan to release a full-sized Eluminx keyboard, as this would certainly improve the gaming experience for me :)


Second Opinion

After using the keyboard for some time I also hooked it up to the "family" PC in the living room, all the reactions I got were very positive, typing e-mails or filling out your taxes (yep online :) ) was never so easy.

The whole PC is built into furniture with a keyboard tray that can slide out, when there is little or no light it becomes very hard to type as most of my family members don’t know how to type blindly. With the aid of the Eluminx Keyboard they had no trouble whatsoever finding the right keys!


Wired to the "Family" PC


Conclusion

The Eluminx is a high quality product which will please a lot of people, not only does it provide you with a none-disturbing backlight in the dark, it is also very light and will fit even the smallest desktops! Typing goes fluently and the keys have a solid feel to them. A joy to work with as long as you don't use the arrow keys for gaming!

High Quality Product
Great illumination effect
Very light and small
Almost too easy to install, works with virtually any PC
No standoffs to change the height of the keyboard
Compact layout places arrow keys in uncomfortable spot when used for gaming
no PS2>USB connector included

I would like to thank Gunther at AuraVision Europe for giving us the opportunity to test this unique product!

Questions and comments can be dropped in this thread at the forums.