Final words and conclusion
Final words and conclusion
Func released a pretty sweet Mechy alright. The aesthetics and ergonomics are fine and the keyboard feels fantastic to work with and play games on. I would like to see proper media keys though that aren't hidden away under function keys. Also I would have liked to see separated macro (buttons to the left of the keyboard, hiding macro's under fully functional keys really isn't my personal favor.
A lacking PS2 port could impose a restriction to some of you. Most mechanical keyboards support NKRO. If your keyboard doesnt specifically say NKRO somewhere on the box, then it is probably the standard 2KRO. NKRO stands for N-Key Roll Over, a feature that allows the keyboard to send any number of simultaneous keystrokes to the computer. On the KB-460 calls this Anti-ghosting key, which isnt exactly accurate, but lets assume they are making something sexier out of NKRO. There are numerous in-game situations where anti-ghosting and NKRO can really save you time and anguish. A few good key combos to try (and test your keyboard) are ASX and WDE as the first two letters should register, but the third would not. Anti-ghosting moves the trouble key combos to other areas of the keyboard, so its possible that your keyboard works fine with these key combos, but problems will still crop up with other (and much less likely) key combos. There are several websites that test for NKRO, even one provided by Microsoft, which is what we use. Pressing ten keys simultaneously registered perfectly fine. 64 key presses ... well considering the humanoid only has ten fingers, I'd say you are safe. NKRO it makes it very hard to classify though. Now "is a mechanical keyboard realty worth 100 EUR/USD?" is a question we always bring up. Is it really worth that money? Yes, we think so. Mechanical keyboards really are in a class on their own. See, once you have used a mechanical keyboard for gaming there is no going back to a regular keyboard. The differences are just too great, typing is better, faster and gaming is so much better as you get a feel with your keyboard It's terribly hard to describe though -- there's just no comparison. There is one downside though, mechanical keyboards do make a lot more noise so for desktop usage, you kind of can get annoyed if you type a lot. The message we are always trying to evangelize here is that you do not need a fancy mechanical keyboard to play a game well, but it can make a game much more enjoyable to play.
The keyboard is ergonomic and has a very relaxed grip to it. The rugged looks and sheer weight definitely help out there in that regard. Also func applied a nice rubberized feel to the keyboard. The keys themselves are a little slippery and the hand rest is merely thin plastic. For the WASD keys being so important it should have been nice to give these a second color LED backlit, I mean all keys RED with WASD colored white or something would have been great. The backlit keys themselves are good, if you feel they are too bright then you can dim them, what a simple yet elegant solution. Also now that I think of it, it would have been nice to have seen the keys switch in different colors corresponding to the macro modes as well. Func's software suite could probably use a little touch up in overall functionality and sheers looks, but the programmability works well and fast. You select your profile, then select say the M1 macro, select a key you want to program and boom, you are good to go. It does take a little getting used to use this software.
Concluding
Yeah we do feel the KB-460 is a great keyboard, it's a good looking and very sturdy gaming product that is programmable and has the added benefit of a usable USB HUB. Now we would have liked to see dedicated media buttons and separated macro buttons though. There is room for improvements in the software suite but overall we feel this simply is a gaming keyboard the way it's supposed to be. Mechanical keyboards are not cheap, the MSRP for the Func KB-460 is set to $ 119.95 but under a limited time, the keyboard will be sold in the $99.95 range. Now that is quite a bit of money for a set of keys, but as a true gamer we can certainly recommend making that investment as it makes quite a bit of a difference. Only once you start using a mechanical keyboard, you will understand what I am trying to say here. Mechies are not cheap, but the Func KB-460 keyboard definitely delivers and as such comes recommended by Guru3D.com.
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