Engadget Finally Tests the Optimus Maximus

It's the damndest thing: yearsafter seeing the renders we're actually finally writing this post onour very own Optimus Maximus. We've had ours for a few weeks fortesting, but we weren't able to do a whole lot with it until we gotsome later firmware updates. Here's the preliminary report:

It's the damnedest thing: years after seeing the renders we're actually finally writing this post on our very own Optimus Maximus.We've had ours for a few weeks for testing, but we weren't able to do awhole lot with it until we got some later firmware updates. Here's thepreliminary report:

The OLED displays look really good, and are bright and colorful, just like we'd hoped.
Keychanges were instant (or almost) in Windows mode, but had a slightdelay in Mac mode, where some key bindings were also little out ofwhack. These are known issues, though, and are being worked on.
The keyboard itself is friggin massive, and very sturdy-feeling. The thing is a tank.
Replacingkeys is pretty easy, but larger keys are more difficult to pull off.You're really only intended to replace the standard-sized keys, so faras we can tell.
Typing on it, well, sucks. We kind ofhate to say it, but this thing more than likely won't replace what everkeyboard you're writing your novel on -- it's better off used as anabsurdly configurable swiss army knife for tasks like gaming,Photoshop, or just about any other productivity app that doesn'trequire a lot of typing.
Okay, why does typing on theOptimus suck, you ask? Well, although the keyboard uses mechanicalswitches and a lot of high quality components (evident when we pulledoff some keys), and there is some clicky tactility to keypresses, as awhole it just requires way too much force to depress keys. And thelarger the key, the more force is required, so enter is easier thanspace, but harder than tab. Let's put it this way, we sit around andtype all day long and this thing wore us out in about 30 seconds to aminute. Carpal sufferers, beware.
The Configurator iseverything we hoped it'd be and more. The ability to paint directlyonto the keyboard maps with the image editor of your choice is mostexcellent. Mapping keyboards to applications and conditions isridiculously easy. Not everything was working properly though, since wewere testing early beta software.

We'll have some video in a bit. We so can't wait for people to startgetting their keyboards so we can benefit from their wacky layouts.

Optimus Maximus: at long last, we bring one home