I just received your Deck keyboard and all I can say is that I love it. In low light conditions I don't get headaches anymore from squinting at the keys. With that said, when I showed it to a bunch of my buddies that also may be looking into one they kind of shunned it. The changes that I would recommend would be the following.

1. Make the case a little "shorter" there seems to be wasted space between the metal plate and the PCB. Right now the keyboard is a little higher than I'm used to.

2. Put some sort of device on the bottom of the back of the keyboard to be able to incline it.

I'm going to probably be modding this keyboard like that myself. These are just some of the comments that my buddies had about this.

Let me know if there is any possiblity that we could get a lower profile case in the future for this.

I could not agreee more with Overflow.Why put in the Titanic like boiler plate in the back?I would like to see a case that does not let any backlight spill out; my eyes are often tired enough from all the light!!The price should come down to reach a larger audience.

You can add more or larger feet to the rear of the board bottom to increase the incline. It is already inclined a comfortable amount.

I don't see any wasted space in the case. I compared it to 7 different keyboards I have and only 2 are lower profiles, and only then when the adjustable rear feet are folded down.

The glow of the keyboard is by design. I happen to like it. I can adjust the brightness to 7 different levels. I s'pose I could take it apart and paint the PCB with vinyl dye or something to reduce it and even paint the case a solid color, but like I said, I like it the way it is. I bet a majority of people do. I feel confident that Déck did their market research.

Every keyboard I have tried has required an adjustment period so I could get used to it. I like this one because of its compactness and ease of seeing the keys. It's a handsome keyboard, but maybe not the handsomest -- kinda square and bulky looking -- but it's durable, has good tactile response, comes in a variety of colors (I have 2) and the support is excellent.

As for price... this ain't a WalMart keyboard. Companies like that have you brain washed. The price is commensurate with the quality, the uniqueness and the desire of Déck to want to remain a profitable business and still develop and produce good products. When companies try to attract buyers because of their price, they have sacrificed quality and service because they still have to maintain a profit margin. Selling less to sell more does NOT make the product better or even the same. It makes it worse, I guarantee it. I don't want a product everyone can afford.

And the target market for this keyboard is? It's difficult enough to get the gamer's that attend LAN parties to cough up money for the Saitek Eclipse keyboard, let alone the Deck board. I'm holding off until the full size one comes out. Too bad this won't happen before the NewEgg LANFest 2005 event on July 30-31; although for a keyboard this expensive, I would be very hesitant to leave my PC alone in the BYOC area. The Deck boards should include some sort of laptop like slot to lock the board down with a security cable.

Price does not equate to quality. What a company charges for parts, labor and R&D is not the same as supply & demand versus volume & profit. Price after R&D expenses have been recouped and parts costs have dropped is a matter of the company's principles and beliefs. I wouldn't want a product that everyone can afford either, but that's not what dovadol asked for...s/he (sorry, don't know) only wants a larger audience to be able to buy it. With a price tag like it currently has, you'll only find the deck board with the very few peeps that have money to burn or have exhausted all other keyboards in their quest.

If the Deck side of the business doesn't create the demand for the product as planned, then the flaw in the marketing is obvious. The owners/upper management will then decide to shut it down and discontinue the product line or drop the price to attract "a larger audience". Business is just that, business. One doesn't go into business to lose money, most certainly, but one does not only re-evaluate a marketing direction "once in a awhile" because it's a principle or moral thing to do.

To date, I have yet to see Deck get more endorsements or reviews (Dan's Data was the most recent I've seen); although the gamer reviews keep pointing at the price as the biggest hurdle for other gamers. Nor have I seen any sponsorships of events or appearances at *any* computer trade shows--the AMD TechTour just came through California...talk about a leading edge appearance!

QuakeCon is in August, where more than 5000+ gamers will decend upon Texas. Every notable gamer web page will be tuned into this event--Quake4 is scheduled to make an appearance. Talk about word of mouth. Unlike others who read and post to these forums, a good word and appearance at QC2K5 would go along way to entering the billion dollar market that gamers buy into--and the action/FPS/RTS gamers are the majority of that market.