PRODUCT REVIEW: "The Virtually Indestructable Keyboard"

One of the most underwhelming and most infrequently innovated upon is the computer keyboard. Most people have those standard cheap eggshell white ones, while others may have the specifically company branded ones that came with their PC. In general the keyboard is the most underwhelming and prosaic aspect of PC technology, however it's the most used. Sure there are some fancy keyboards for a hundred dollars that split the keys and are supposedly ergonomic, but I've found them a little odd to use, having grown used to the standard qwerty brick. It wasn't until I received a new kind of keyboard did it give me cause for celebration.

For Christmas 2002 a friend of mine bought me a "Virtually Indestructable Keyboard" from a company called Grandtec. When you first look at it you wonder what on Earth someone could have been thinking, but once you use it, it's actually quite awesome. First off the actual design is basically a sheet of rubber with all keys as raised rubber. It's layed out no different than any other keyboard, and has the standard qwerty format. What's unique about the VIK is that it is essentially the most portable keyboard ever made. You can actually roll the keyboard up into a cylinder like a carpet, and it is impossible to short it out by dropping liquids on it. And you know as well as I do, that chow, brews, and circuits don't mix too well, and soon your board gives new meaning to the term, "sticky keys." or ends up fried because you inadvertantly thought it was thirsty and gave it a drink. You can not wash or immerse a regular keyboard without damaging it, but because the VIK circuits are entirely enclosed inside rubber, it is safe to wash it, and you don't get all those debris particles stuck underneath standard plastic keys. To clean it all you do is turn it upside down and you can even dip it in water if you wanted.

They keys are actually very responsive and in general comfortable. The VIK sits flatly on the desk and there is no rise like a regular keyboard for your wrists to get strained on. I imagine if you absolutely had to prop it up, you could put a book or something underneath, but I just don't see the need actually. For gaming I found that the rubber arrow keys made for a slightly more enjoyable experience gaming on the PC. In general action based games on the PC make me cringe without a controller in my hand, but using the VIK to play was tolarable, far moreso that the plastic brick I had before.

Other than that, it doesn't have a pile of spiffy internet function buttons like I've seen on some boards, or PC volume control. Mind you, all these can be done via your PC. This is a straight up keyboard, that's comfortable to use, and you can clean it effectively and not break it if you spill stuff on it. I would definitely recommend this to frequent computers users, who spend long hours in front of the PC either working or gaming. Last I checked their site Grandtec now offers additional colors of the VIK if you have a specific case that might be themed in blue, green, red, or yellow.

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