Laser projection keyboard review
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- čas přidán 22. 08. 2024
- Skip to 11:30 for a typing demonstration.
Follow me on Twitter for updates on my keyboard videos! / chyrosran22
My other keyboard reviews: • Thomas' Keyboard Reviews
I'm Thomas and I do keyboard videos and reviews. Today we look at a KB-580 laser projection keyboard. A little bit different from the usual mechanical keyboards I review, it's nonetheless a very interesting specimen, and the smallest keyboard I've ever seen. It's also horrific. Have a nice day.
I test these keyboards so you don't have to. Do not try this at home.
I remember seeing this, like a decade ago, and being advertised as *The future of keyboards*
They started selling them around here in 2004, with more or less the same catchphrase. The "hip kids" where I worked at at the time were into 'em, while I immediately saw some of their defects (Typing straight onto the wooden or glass desk? Nope.) and MISSED opportunities (Those things came with just the one layout, although it would have been trivial to actually have several distinct ones, user selectable and NOT HARD to allow the user to create their own.), so I kept on typing on my Model M while THEY wasted their money.
Some also say touchscreens are the future of UI, but really, all they do is reduce the interaction. For example even with the shitty keyboard on my laptop (OK, not nearly as bad as Apple's butterfly shite, but still pretty bad) I still don't have to stare right fucking at it to know what keys I'm pressing. Literally infinitely better at typing than any touchscreen ever could be.
@@233kosta As someone that types on my phone a lot, I can actually type decently when looking away for a few words, but I do need to look at the screen at least fairly frequently for my sentences to not devolve into gibberish.
@@happysmash27 I'm sure that if you kept the same phone for 20 years you'd become really good at that 😆
Same
Back in 2nd grade, I got a book at the school book fair called _Cool Stuff and How it Works._ In the keyboard section, they labeled this exact type of keyboard as the "future of typing."
Nice.
Also I'm not sure why you didn't just make a peanut-butter-bacon sandwich. Add sliced banana and it's Elvis's (and my) favorite samich. dee-lish
pseudo_ I don't like to soil the taste of bacon with that of anything else, generally. With the exception of bacon pancakes, of course.
Cheese and bread doesn't spoil bacon.
pseudo_ This goes to show, as usual, that you need to be really rather smart to do science-fiction, let alone future-tech.
Otherwise you get people just riding the hype train off a cliff.
OH MY GOD YES I GOT BOTH OF THE COOL STUFF BOOKS BACK WHEN I WAS A LITTLE KID. Dude...memories.
Thomas:"Which lets loose this horrendously loud beep."
Me a headphone user: Wait, is he going to-
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP
nerdyneedsalife Share in my pain >:D .
Chyrosran22 BAHAHAHAHAHA I actually had no headphones on! Thanks for the warning though!
Literally with my note 8 on full volume it was louder than my smoke alarm
First keyboard with louder sound then blue switches
Buckling springs are louder than Cherry MX Blues dude
0/10 horrible review would not watch again ; you didn't report upon the feel of its switch.
(the on/off button)
probably depends on whether it's 'on' or 'off' when toggled.
@@LampreyKisses Turning it off prolly feels pretty good.
0/10 horrible review rewiew would not read again
@@AwesomePossums111 you're not supposed to ask for an opinion... also it was a joke, you moron.
@@gempjef1635 wdym?
My headphones aren't good enough to play the deep bass of his voice
Jared Thomas I thought that it was a silent video
@@elmo8597 wait it isn’t?
I remember when every year there was a "rumor" or "leak" that the next iPhone was gonna have laser keyboard
Aqually They were big back in the early 2010s
and can project their screen
I'd appreciate that, it would likely still be better than typing on the screen.
@@Eddies_Bra-att-ha-grejer if you can swipe type it's not too bad
@@Eddies_Bra-att-ha-grejer except that they're less accurate than typing on screen.
If you press and hold the “FN” and “P” button the beep can be switched off!
However that does not improve the overall quality of the keyboard! They are bad!
EPIC video review btw! 👌
If you can even successfully hit those keys, that is.
How do you successfully hit two keys at the same time without accidentally hitting other keys first?
I did try to use one of these a long time ago. It was a horrible experience I wish I could wipe from my memory.
In fact, I posted about it on geekhack which i think gave Chryos the idea to make this video in the first place. I apologize.
Let me guess:
- It makes a beep each for both key presses anyway
- The beep is back on when you turn it back on again, so you have to turn it off every time
- The beep when you start it up can't be turned off
...am I right?
@@Liggliluff Who cares?
MCPHONEY how u have a check next to ur name
*Wet newspaper with dead octopus on it*
Fucking hell it's like typing on Cherry MY all over again!
I died.
Heheheh, I knew someone would get the reference ;D .
Chyrosran22 You were waiting to use that joke, weren't ya? XD
No actually, but it did seem like a natural opportunity xD .
Typing on bacon, lettuce, baguettes? WTF LOL
Top tier review as per usual
This one was on the cards for almost a year, so I had plenty of time to come up with ideas ;) . Thanks!
Typing on a keyboard!?!?!? Are you a mad man? thats simply ridiculous, water is a way more logical medium.
Don’t forget the newspaper with a dead octopus on it
@@XaddreThat was just to dunk on Cherry MY switches.
Figure 3 in that IBM patent is horrifying.
Someone really needs to learn how to draw hands. And in general.
The finger in its own manual is, ehm, weird. :D
The second that picture appeared I found your comment
It might be because they did trying to draw a hand from upfront perspective?
Worse is the rightest hand on Fig. 2, looks like an alien hand with claw on it.
Love the mechanical feel, and the clicking noise!
It doesn't feel mechanical, and it's a beep not a click XD
1/35th the weight of an IBM model M. Can we please have all future keyboard weights also expressed as a fraction of the model M?
Added as an official SI unit, has replaced the KG
Which Model M precisely? They do unfortunately come in a range of shapes and mass :/
@@233kosta Clearly the battle cruiser.
Ah, yes, M-perial units :P
I got your 300th like.
Of all the sound effects to use, it had to be an ear piercing beep.
designer 1: what should we put in this thing for feedback?
designer 2: i think the feeling of finger hitting surface should be enough, we don't need to add anyth-
boss: haha it goes beep beep
"Heo my nm L Lhoas andlim toihg o aroje ti eb5d"
looks sort of like gaelic : )
Maybe it supports Dvorak as well?
hee hel o ether e jny naem i9s xnad er toedqagh we are tgohiu ng roty rfg fujds iuyuea ]'
gerherth ewgerwt e
R u have stronke?
hello my name is Thomas and I'm going to say the n-word
How are the switches?
They feel... flat.
Chyrosran22 Can you tell me about this switch by Nintendo I've been hearing about?
XanthinZarda it's a game console
@@stampycatfan01lol Whoosh.
@@stampycatfan01lol will
KB-580 Headquarters:
Boss: hey fellas, we need to think up an amazing new keyboard
Johnson: how about one with lasers
Boss: Johnson that's a good idea, but I don't think it would feel good to ty-
Johnson: BUT LASERS..... LAAASSERRR
Boss: hmm you may have a point, but it's not shitty enough, we need to add one more thing to make it a little more shitty.
Johnson: how about a really annoying beep everytime you activate it.
Boss: Johnson, you're a genius!
I thought you said kgb headquarters there for a second
*THIS KEYBOARD IS TOTALLY MERDE!*
And I say more: ce clavier est totalement
shit!
*Nintendo switch*
Baguette
Sacre Bleu!
11:30 he is speaking the lanuage of gods
You are speaking the *lanuage* of gods
Talos?
i speak a lanauge as well
I only found your channel recently, but this is probably the best review I've ever seen on youtube for any type of product. So thank you for this very useful service. I greatly appreciate the pain (both physical and mental) you put yourself through to make this.
Isaac Johnson thank you :) .
3:53 that face you make when trying to communicate telepathically with a keyboard
When you try to hold in your fart 😂
This comment is ruined
When compared to both physical keyboards and touchscreen keyboards, this product appears to combine the worst of both worlds: you can't touch-type on it like you would a physical keyboard, but it isn't as compact as a touchscreen keyboard and it provides no visual nor haptic feedback that a smartphone keyboard would give. Plus, it beeps!
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP
Didn't know bacon is **that** multifunctional.
Is there anything bacon CAN'T fix? (besides this keyboard obviously)
Unfortunately, there is. Depending on where the device is located it could be considered an Orwellian "hate crime". So, *insanity* cannot be fixed.
best english accent of the whole Netherlands!!
So he is Dutch?
What??? Dutch? I thought he was american???? Im from the Netherlands and no one has this good of a accent
You don't have to be too worried about lasers. If there's no red spot where you're going to place an eye or camera lens (either via a direct path or after mirror-like reflections), you should be fine. If there is or your room is a hall of mirrors causing unpredictable light paths when you move anything, don't do it.
Yes, I figured as much, but my table is varnished, so I didn't want to run the risk of direct reflections damaging it. The sensor doesn't repair any damage it sustains, after all.
Chyrosan, no! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO YOURSELF! THIS IS WORSE THAN THE FLEXIBLE KEYBOARD
Someone has to do it, man. Someone has to protect the innocent from this antediluvian horror!
Chyrosran22 and you do an excellent job at it! I watched several videos of keyboards with blue Alps, and I need to find one with those switches to replace a keyboard with Cherry MX Blue!
Ah yes anime girl jotaro
@@jcdentongaming1304 Hm yes, quite right you are, JC.
@@InvidiousIgnoramus heh
Projecting it on a keyboard would actually be pretty good if it worked right. Assuming it could be adjusted, you could use it on really old keyboards that cannot be converted to work on modern computers.
Actually, the software could be tweaked to support this and would be easier to detect than slamming onto a hard surface. It would even be able to have a configurable actuation distance. The idea, however half baked it sounds on the surface, actually holds water xD
wouldnt it be aproximately 800 billion times simpler to adapt these "unadaptable" keyboards?
Are there any actual keyboards that can't be adapted to modern computers? I don't think I've ever heard of one without an adapter available.
@@happysmash27 Typewriters.
@@hahaiseewhatyouredoing9086 there's a kit for that
9:13 apparently predicted the future.
YIKES!
What are the switches like though? They sounded linear
Maybe red linear
Nah because it produces a lot of noise
Technically they are the smoothest linear switches in existence because there is no friction except with the air
how can something SOUND linear?
@@boiledicetea no click on the down stroke. it just bottomed out.
"This is a lot more satisfactory! Especially if you turn the projection keyboard off!" I love this channel XDD
The only situation in which I'd actually find something like this useful is if you were to use it in a sterilized area and the surface needs to be 100% clean.
Although even then there are plastic keyboard covers for that.
I like that it's made to save room on your desk, but you still need to make space about the size of a keyboard for the laser to project
Why does he sound like a evil anime character?
didn't realize he was speaking japanese
This is just one of those ideas where you just ask, why?
Jim Ramsey Khouri Hiya Jim :) . Honestly, probably just because it looks cool xD .
It was hilarious! Thank you for this review! ;)
I like the Duke Nukem toilet reference :P
Remember The Good Ol' Days when back in the 1990s and early 2000s, typing and PC gaming on a Laser Projected Keyboard seemed like the future of bleeding edge computing?
Check your calendars, kiddies. This is your wake up call from that dream.
I swear the intro song was Megalovania for a second
same-
@@vivimewved it came out 2 years ago so I wouldn't be surprised if it was haha
Best keyboard review ever.
The beeping reminds me of when you're using a microwave
this what Elon used when naming his child
yes
Because it's a lazer keyboard, you should be able to choose whichever layout you want. But I bet they didn't consider that.
Without even watching the video I can tell I'm going to learn a bunch of new ways to curse.
It's fun to overanalyse! :D
6:33 A cloth mousepad like the Steelseries QcK steelseries.com/gaming-mousepads/qck would show the keyboard image well while saving your fingertips somewhat, and it would roll up for portability. But the extra bulk of even a small mousepad would greatly reduce this keyboard's only attraction beyond novelty, its size and weight advantage.
3:24, 11:29 It seems that accuracy might be OK if you stick to one-handed index-finger hunt-and-peck at a measured pace. The real problems seem to begin when you bring other fingers forward, involve both hands at once or start pushing the pace. This does help to highlight why that antisocial beep noise is there though: there has to be some source of feedback on input registration which works when you're looking at the keyboard surface itself. Some visual feedback on the projected screen would have been a good alternative ... At the very least it should have been possible to send the audio signal as BT audio to the connected device so at least you could listen to it over headphones.
And there are other disadvantages you didn't even get to. One is that you're going to have to find a surface to use this on wherever you want to use it: and you need both a projection surface for the keyboard image and a stable perch for the projector itself. The throw on the projector looks like it *might* be just narrow enough to use the keyboard on the seatback tray you find on trains or planes, but I wouldn't bet on it. I think you could forget about using this on your lap, unless you want to carry around some kind of tray or other hard surface to put there, in which case you really would be better off just taking an actual keyboard.
Finally, how heavy is this thing, and how is the weight distributed? Even in the best case, with that narrow base I have to imagine that it would be prone to at least wobbling when your train or plane lurches around, if not toppling over and skittering through the cabin. You could remediate that by using adhesive or crafting some kind of little stand for it ... if it were worth the hassle.
Even with all that said, this might still be a little nicer than typing on a smartphone keyboard! Whenever you can get it set up properly, at least. The real final downfall of this thing, as a portable personal input device for mobile users, is that a little folding butterfly-switch Bluetooth keyboard roughly matches or completely trounces it in all relevant categories, including portability, battery life and price. The folding keyboard will even just about work on your lap. (Meanwhile the true mobile-input hardcore will be using their 60% or 40% mechanicals; or their Twiddlers www.tekgear.com/twiddler3.html ; or speech-to-text with their Stenomasks www.amazon.com/SR-microphone-professional-communicate-microphone/dp/B0756KXK6G/ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stenomask ...)
But it likely *does* have a reasonable use-case beside novelty or decoration. It might be pretty good as the keyboard for a kiosk-like setup in a public or semi-public atrium/hallway space, especially one where users won't typically type much more than their name or a few letters of a search term. In that kind of application a few input beeps aren't the end of the world and a solid typing surface can be provided: meanwhile, most real keyboards with physical keys will get trashed astonishingly quickly and those that can withstand the wear and tear are often even more horrible to use than this thing. In that situation it would be competing head-to-head against capacitive touch surfaces, but it might have advantages of price, convenience and robustness (not so much physical robustness as risk of lagging, bluescreening or getting pwned).
Like some people here in comments said, yes I also remember those horrible "keyboards" in magazines and books in the past, and yes they were portrayed like the things we were using probably not only today but since middle 2000´s. I´m really glad that never happened, but if you stopped to think for just a moment, who could imagine himself hitting the table, like a satisfactory sensation??? Horrid from the beggining....
"following as a video of me attempting to type on this peace of boiled dogshit"......you got me deceased with that at the end. LMAO. I think I'm gonna have to stick to your videos cause you are hilarious man. Thanks for the videos. This is actually the first video I watched of yours and it made me subscribe in an instant mate. A job well done.
This might be the best review of any product ever thus far that I have seen.
Clearly one of your best videos
3:34
“It can’t take more than a few clicks a second”
*clicks the living shit out of it*
“See”
This is really good for streamer with anger issues imagine watching a streamer and seeing them trying to pick it up and destroy it
No, the lasers will -NOT- damage the camera. It is most likely >5mw which is a class 1 laser... even eye-safe. A good rule of thumb is for visible light lasers if it’s not uncomfortably bright it’s probably fine for your camera. Either way don’t stare directly into the beam.
There's a fatal flaw to this idea. I once did my taxes on an iPad, which involved a lot of typing. On a flat, hard surface. When I was done, my fingertips were sore, my hands were sore and my wrists were sore.
Typing on a flat hard surface sucks. Period.
12:13 is giving me food wars flashbacks because of the tentacles + peanut butter
Fancy seeing you here
Know what would be funny? Going to a library and start typing on this calamity, slowly hitting a crescendo of madness and hate on the piece of crap and finally violently disposing of it in the closest bin before being launched by a mob armed with chairs, books and sexual frustration.
FYI, to lower the volume you have to press FN + right arrow (FN+right arrow lowers it, FN+left arrow raises it, FN+m mutes it).
You can also adjust the brightness of the laser diode (FN + up arrow makes it more bright, FN+down arrow dims it).
I guess you simply had no manual shipped with yours :=))
The day is that bit better when I see you’ve posted a video 😂
I love how he went to the trouble of setting up wet newspaper with dead octopus just to roast Cherry MY switches.
That intro was satisfying lmao
Imagine taking this keyboard to a nuclear power plant
Omg this mic is so good and ur voice is quality, videos are very well made u deserve much More subs
Man, this dude must've had some crazy dinner with all those ingredients.
Best review ever, perhaps they can replace the "beep" with the sound of Cherry MX Blue... oh wait....
Help me obi wan kenobi, your my only hope!
Surely has the absolute best keyfeel ever.
Did you try a nice soft pair of 38 Double D's to type on? I hear they have perfect tactile touch and you don't have to worry about bottoming out. Plus you can either go all natural for a more softer touch or enhanced for a more rigid springy touch =)
YES! I've been waiting for your take on one of these... things.
7:58 Omg yes, War of The Worlds has the best fucking ost of all time.
The only thing worse than the keyboard is you putting peanutbutter and octopus on a baguette
That typing demonstration at the end lmaoo
I think that IBM didn't end up producing a laser projection keyboard for a reason. I suppose that if they had the sense to invent it that early, they had the good sense not to release it.
He sounds like he could narrate a golf game..
What would be really cool would be a device like this where you set up your own keyboard layout (different sizes too?) and use it as a secondary keyboard.
I'd buy one of those.
Really accurate typing, gamers next move from the steelseries apex pro.
Imagine using it for gaming lmao
as soon as i saw the title i knew i was in for a good vid.
best review of the worst keyboard
You have a nice voice and are really good at getting points across. Subbed. Keep it up!
You could probably remove the speaker quite easily. But it would be easier to just throw it into a trash can.
You need *some* kind of definite feedback to tell you when a keypress has been detected while you're looking at the keyboard: without that it would *really* be horrible to use ... Now they could have added visible feedback to the keyboard display itself, or made it possible to send the beep noise to your device (and then hopefully into your earphones) using BT audio, but ... well, apparently they didn't.
This is the future of keyboards.
My rabbit runs away from the sound of this keyboard
*spills a bit of water*
Eufnruqmvfspbeodbriwnfowbdiwlfbeocbeoevdoebdoevdoevdisgsllhgdsawosbxisvsowcsowvdodhwpqnyocbfiegfnaudbslsgebrosvdodwusn
we used foldable keyboards on our carts for patient charting. I get the idea, but god I hated getting the cart with the rubber keyboard.
I don't now why but on devices like microwave ovens or calculators they always make this beeping sound soo loud, like it was supposed to inform every one in 100 meter radius that you pressed a key. I always solder a resistor when warranty expires. Sorry for my english
I wonder if a mouse mat would be a better surface, it will be softer to touch on.
My god your reviews are hilarious!
11:33 he is speaking the language of the gods
@FNaF Foxy Aka Henry Mozzert ok furry
I remembered being tempted to get this at the time it came out due to its quirky nature. Thankfully, I decided to get a Microsoft Sidewinder X4 membrane keyboard.
Funny that this type of keyboard was imagined to be the future, however we've gone backwards trying to recreate 1970s buckling springs
Peanut Butter and Squid Baguettes. OK, I'm convinced.
The keyboard goes tick-tick, tick-tick *BOOM*
11:35 Me as a kid swiping the same item over and over on the till.
Just to let you know, water works as a great lube, too.
Imagine typing with a baseball in that.
This is not a keyboard. This is a text input device. A keyboard is KEYS + BOARD. This has neither.
It’s surprisingly entertaining to watch a deep-voiced man talking about keyboards as if they murdered his family.
I like how the keyboard soumded like a metronome when testing peanut butter.
Wow, Jeff Wayne music! Thanks for that. Wish I could subscribe TWICE or like the video TWICE to show youtube how amusing and satisfying this vid was :D
How to disable the speaker tip #1: **jab a needle into the speaker.**
**Problemh soved**
"dude why you wearing nail varnish?" "freekin' lazerbeams bro!"
9:16 that corona board truly is evil