I was looking at a DEck for about 2 years before I finally bought one tonight. I struggled with the idea of being able to have macros and programability or just to have a plain but well built backlit keyboard. In the end I thought I probably wouldn't use those macros and though I've never actually broken a keyboard depsite some temper tantrum tries the Viking looking font and cool green backlighting just kept calling me!
The second runner up was a new keyboard that had an almost infinitie variety of backlit LED colors that could be programmed for each individual key. COst- around $200. I'm going to bet the someone will question the quality of this novelty. I know nothing about the hardware involved.
If I had the money though, I think that the new Optimus Maximum keyboard would have to be called the coolest keyboard... you could even do the exact same color and font as Deck if you wanted plus infinite variations of colors and photos on each key. Each key is basically its own mini computer screen with remarkable resolution- certainly photo quality. Also, I'd have to imagine anyone selling a $1500-2000 keyboard is going to build top notch quality into it.
How do you folks feel about this at Deck and are you planning on looking into similar technology? Do you see that as the future of keyboards or just as a passing fad?

Final question- off topic- which are bnrighter, usb or PS2 lit boards? Thanks

Just my personal thoughts...I think the Optimus could have some interesting applications, however in most cases you can probably consider it a toy more than anything else. The OLEDs are probably much less durable as well and it will be intersting to see the failure rate over time on this product. Plus the cost is astronomical - you could buy nearly 10 Deck Legend boards for the cost of one Optimus!

We will not be looking to make an OLED based product to compete with the Optimus product. Here at Deck we will stick to making the best and most durable LED backlit keyboard on the market.

Also the PS2 and USB versions of Deck boards are exactly the same so there should not be any difference in brightness.

Similar thread about the Luxeed
http://www.deckkeyboards.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=566&p=2205#p2205

I might hesitate a second between hanging an Andy Warhol or an Optimus Maximu on my wall. But in the end, I would still choose the Warhol, which is a much better investment.

Good article about the Optimus Maximus on Engadget
http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/22/optimus-maximus-at-long-last-we-bring-one-home-to-test/

The part that stoke me:
“Typing on it, well, sucks. We kind of hate to say it, but this thing more than likely won't replace what ever keyboard you're writing your novel on -- it's better off used as an absurdly configurable swiss army knife for tasks like gaming, Photoshop, or just about any other productivity app that doesn't require a lot of typing.
Okay, why does typing on the Optimus suck, you ask? Well, although the keyboard uses mechanical switches and a lot of high quality components (evident when we pulled off some keys), and there is some clicky tactility to keypresses, as a whole it just requires way too much force to depress keys. And the larger the key, the more force is required, so enter is easier than space, but harder than tab. Let's put it this way, we sit around and type all day long and this thing wore us out in about 30 seconds to a minute. Carpal sufferers, beware.”


Deck (especially with tactile switches) wins as a typing device.
Of course, if you are placing art over function. The Optimus Maximus passes with flying colors.

Replacement keys are available for the Optimus should any die, so a failed OLED display isn't quite the end of the world. Pity that their key response is reported to be subpar. Something like a 12-key macro extender would be pretty cool if they ever came out with that to supplement other, non-macroable keyboards.

I've been looking into a number of mechanical keyboards since these cheap dome membrane types hurt my hands, and there are a few options out there depending on what you're after. Das is probably the most similar to Deck in features insofar as being backlit and Cherry MX based. I want to say they use the browns, but double check that before you rely on my word.

- Unicomp bought the rights to IBM's buckling spring keyboards and makes a few variations. As I mentioned in another thread, no n-key rollover, and none are backlit. My biggest gripe about the Type M design is the spacebar guides are weak, and I have a few Type Ms with broken spacebars. I spoke with a rep at Unicomp and, unfortunately, they make them the exact same way. I seem to be one of the very few who has that problem with them though.

- Similarly, Creative Vision Technologies now makes what used to be Northgate Omnikey keyboards. These use the Alps style mechanical keyswitches. Personally, I never liked them since the click and actual character output weren't synchronized exactly--I can't remember anymore, but it was possible to either get a click without character generization or vice versa if you touched a key just barely too lightly. Either way, it happened often enough to annoy me. I haven't checked, but I suspect these also wouldn't have n-key.

- Filco is one of the really interesting ones to me right now. No backlight, so Deck beats them there, but they're available in linear, silent tactile, and clicky tactile, and they do have n-key rollover. There's a blank keycaps version a la Das if you want to be super 1337. They also have a really cool 87-key version which caught my eye--basically a completely standard 104-key version with the numpad cut off (and available separately). A nice, narrower keyboard without the weird layouts which always seem to happen with sub-104 boards.

- And while it might not be strictly mechanical, the new HHKB comes with a capacitance-based system which is supposed to be better than dome membrane. Pretty expensive though, and no idea what the key response is like. Their compact layout is typically odd, but super extra bonus of swappable L-CTRL and Capslocks keys.

I think that's all I've found so far. Firefox was kind enough to eat a bunch of my newer bookmarks recently so I may have forgotten a few. Right now Deck wins if you want backlighting, n-key, 30-day trial period, a company supported mod community, a choice of backlight colors, and the option of standard 104 or a somewhat strange sub-104 layout; their tactile option is rather weak right now, and their compact keyboard is, as I said, a bit weird. I'll leave it to someone else to compare build qualities on all these.

My dream keyboard right now? A tactile, (red, amber, and/or green) backlit 87-key with standard layout, a row of OLED programmable keys along the top, and the ability to swap L-CTRL and Capslock. Oh, and the Windows key stiff enough not to easily hit by accident, maybe recessed a bit too. Until that ideal of typing perfection exists, there's always this.

Even with a 1000 chances, I wouldn't have guess what was hanging behind this

LOL that is one of the gnarliest production input devices I have ever seen

This one is pretty cool too. Though the main reason they came to mind was for the parent company's X-Keys (one version is the same as the RailDriver's lower key array), which were pretty much what I was thinking about when I wished for an OLED macro add-on. Except of course that X-Keys don't have the OLED displays.