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Paracon SPECTRA Gaming KeyboardThen we reached number two in the series of Paracon reviews. In this review, we will look at their SPECTRA keyboard, which is a fairly simple membrane keyboard.
Paracon SPECTRA is a basic keyboard for the new gamer. It is not packed with fancy light effects or software where you can program a lot as well as a lot of macro keys and so on.
Let's look at the packing and the content.
Paracon SPECTRA comes in a bit dull packing. With boring I mean that there are no pictures of the product, nor technical specifications on the packing.
When opening the box, the keyboard is wrapped in a plastic bag. It is protected fairly against bumps and scratches. The box is somewhat thin, so you can not use the box itself to send in, or I would not recommend it.
Contents in the box. Normally I would make a small list of the contents of the box. But since the box contains only the keyboard itself, I see no reason for that. That means, that you do not get any user guide or warranty description or anything else when you buy this keyboard.
The technical specifications.
Let's look at the keyboard.
The keyboard is built in plastic. It has some cool markings around the surface, making it a little bit future like. The little wrist support can not really be used for anything, as it simply is too small. But it looks nice.
Beneath the keyboard we find two rubber feet in the front and unfortunately none on the back edge. The keyboard is fairly steady on the surface with the feet it has. As you can see, there are a couple of drain holes, which are characterized by membrane keyboards. Then you can spill liquids into the keyboard without damaging it.
The two rear feet of the keyboard can be unfolded, raising the angle of the keyboard. It may sometimes be an advantage as it provides a more natural angle when writing. There are no rubber on these feet.
The cable is 1.5 m long. It's a fabric cable, with nice colored details on. The plug itself is a solid molded USB plug.
Finally, a picture of the membrane contacts. As you can see, it's quite standard.
Let's look at the details.
At the bottom right of the keyboard we find a key that can to turn the light on and off. There is also a Fn key that you can use to give other keys new features.
The Fn key can, among other things, enable various multimedia functions on the F keys. It also activates some different standard Windows shortcuts to various standard programs. You can also control the brightness of the light with the up / down arrow.
In the top right corner there are 3 little special sections. These are the lights of Caps Lock, Num Lock and Scroll Lock, respectively. There are lights in these sections, and I'll show that in a moment.
What does the light look like?
The light in the keyboard is rainbow colored. There are no effects in the light itself, the light is static. As you can see, the transition is quite fluid, which I really like. It is actually characterized by membrane keyboards, as the light is below the white membrane. It gives an awesome effect. The light can be adjusted up and down in brightness, and be turned off completely if desired.
The light in the LEDs in the Lock features is blue, and is quite subdued. Note that there is no light through the keys, so you need to have a little light in the room or be able to cope with the light from the monitor. If there is completely dark in the room, It can be difficult to see the characters on the keys.
The Paracon logo also lights up, nicely subdued as the rest of the keyboard.
How is it in to use. I have used the keyboard for about a week. There have been surfing, gaming and typing articles with the keyboard, so I've mastered the different ways to use the keyboard.
The comfort: The keyboard is quite flat, even when raising it on the rear feet. It does not angle the wrist so much, which is good and healthy. It also defends that the wrist support is as good as absent as you can use the table instead. The noise level: This keyboard is one of the quietest I've ever tried. It does not make any noise, and I'm even used to using membrane keyboard. Yet, I noticed how quiet it is. The layout: The keyboard is VERY standard in its layout, and there are no additional keys of any kind. However, there are the additional features on some of the keys, which is useful. I prefer that there are additional keys for the multimedia features, as I use them a lot. But it's all a matter of taste. The light: The light is really nice in the keyboard. It looks great with the rainbow colors, and I do not think I miss any crazy light effects. However, I miss the light through the key caps. It may be a bit strenuous in the evening, unless you have light in the room itself. The actual strength of the light in the keyboard is adjustable, and even at the highest strength, it is quite nice.
What is my opinion about the keyboard. There is not much to say about the keyboard. Paracon SPECTRA is a standard keyboard that doesn't offer any groundbreaking features. BUT, you would not expect that at a price of 299 DKK. Yes, you read correctly. It only costs 299 DKK, which I absolutely think is a really nice price. You get anice looking standard keyboard with great colors and function keys for both applications, multimedia and standard Windows shortcuts. So there is something for everyone. My rating of the keyboard is on a nice 5 star rating. It get that, despite the fact that it is a nice keyboard for the price. However, I need a little more features and awesomeness. Slightly basic light effects, light through the key caps and maybe some dedicated multimedia keys. I estimate that you could make that for the same amount of money.
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