Xenix Illuminated Keyboard Review

By Ian Bell Updated June 13, 2004

Quote from the review at Virtual Hideout:

“These days, it’s not enough to have a flashy case if your various peripherals don’t hold up their end of the bargain. Just about every component available has a version available to the modder or enthusiast, and the keyboard is no exception. This review will focus on the Xenix Illuminating Keyboard. A keyboard plays a pretty important role as far as peripherals go. In fact, if it weren’t for the keyboard, our machines would just be glorified consoles. Most users would consider the keyboard their primary interface, so it not only has to look good, it must function well. If you do a lot of gaming or typing, little things will enhance or detract from your experience when it comes to the keyboard.”

Read the full review

Publisher

I work with the best people in the world and get paid to play with gadgets. What's not to like?

Computing

Apple’s next Vision Pro may send you on a mood-altering trip

The Apple Vision Pro reveals the wearer's eyes on a front-facing display.

It sounds like something out of a sci-fi novel, but Apple could be working on a way to let you alter your mood just by telling its Vision Pro headset how you want to feel. That’s according to a recently granted patent (number 11703944) that outlines the whole futuristic idea.

It’s a strange concept and one that sounds woven right out of a Philip K. Dick story. In fact, in the author’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? there is a machine that puts users into whatever mood they desire. It sounds as though Apple’s inventors have been reading a little sci-fi in their spare time.

Computing

I can’t believe my favorite new keyboard came from a phone company

OnePlus Keyboard 81 on a pink background.

I don't get excited about keyboards much these days. There are so many good ones out there and little in the way of innovation. No surprise, then, that I wrote off the OnePlus Keyboard 81 Pro immediately after it was announced. How good could a keyboard from a phone company be anyways? Boy, was I wrong.

Like any new keyboard, I pulled the Keyboard 81 Pro out of the box and drummed my fingers along the keys, expecting a harsh, unpleasant smattering of plastic and squeaky springs that I'd heard many times before. This stock mechanical keyboard feel isn't bad, but I've become a keyboard snob over the past few years (and yes, feel free to roast me for that fact). But I didn't hear that sound or feel that feel. The Keyboard 81 Pro was quiet.

Computing

I’ve reviewed every GPU in the last 2 years — these are the only ones you should buy

A hand grabbing a graphics card.

There are a lot of options when you're on the hunt for the best graphics card. In years past, you could look at a product name and get a general sense of where it landed in terms of performance, but times are changing. With bizarre value propositions, extra features that go beyond raw performance, and questionable naming conventions, GPUs are a lot more complex than they used to be.

I've reviewed every graphics card released over the last two years, covering two generations from both AMD and Nvidia, as well as Intel's first push into the discrete graphics market. Here are the only GPUs I'd even consider buying.
What to look for