Logitech UltraX - Nice silent keyboard

CeeSami · Post by **CeeSami** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 6:24 am

Chancellor Martok wrote:CeeSami, sorry to be so blunt, but that photo is truly putrid!

I know! But I had to do something, because the noise of the keyboard was driving me crazy! (Well, looking at the photo, it should be obvious

If something starts bugging me, I just have to get rid of it at any cost.

I honestly don't recommend this to anyone, but as I said, you asked for it

CeeSami · Post by **CeeSami** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 6:31 am

Seal wrote: The mechanism is just standard laptop key style. To take the keys off, just pull gently from the top left corner untill you hear a click, then the top right corner untill you hear a click, and then lift the key up and pull gently untill the bottom 2 hooks unclip.

Ok, thank you very much! I've disassembled laptop keyboards before, so it should be no problem. I can live with the stock UltraX for now, but I will propably try to figure out a way to make it a bit quieter.

And don't worry, I won't do the vaseline thing!

lenny · Post by **lenny** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 11:15 pm

CeeSami wrote:What I would like to try, is use some very thin foam instead of the grease. I think it could yield some good results too.

How about silicone sealant? After they dry they're not sticky. Thanks for the info on silencing the keyboard, but I'm not dedicated enough to spread vaseline under each key

CeeSami · Post by **CeeSami** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 1:30 am

lenny wrote:
CeeSami wrote:What I would like to try, is use some very thin foam instead of the grease. I think it could yield some good results too.
How about silicone sealant? After they dry they're not sticky.

Yes, I suppose that could work with the MS style keys, although, it might not be as effective. It certainly won't work with UltraX, though, because of the construction of the scissor mechanism.

Seal · Post by **Seal** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 2:00 am

yeah i cant imagine how anyone would be able to silence the scisor mechanism as its very compact. I hate to be the one that says this but unfortunately i think that some sort of grease would work well in silencing that type of mechanism, although i would never do it myself....

wanna try it ceesami?

CeeSami · Post by **CeeSami** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 5:23 am

Seal wrote:yeah i cant imagine how anyone would be able to silence the scisor mechanism as its very compact. I hate to be the one that says this but unfortunately i think that some sort of grease would work well in silencing that type of mechanism, although i would never do it myself....

wanna try it ceesami?

Well, that is the only way I've come up so far, too... I'm not too eager to try it, though.. Besides, I promised I wouldn't

The noise is mostly rattling that comes from the not-so-tight joints in the mechanism. Silencing the joints one by one would mean a huge amount of work, so I'm propably going to abandon the idea for now, and concentrate on the most annoying component in my system, the crt.

chylld · Post by **chylld** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 11:09 am

CeeSami wrote:... I'm propably going to abandon the idea for now, and concentrate on the most annoying component in my system, the crt.

haha i'm in the same situation, i'm still using a 19" crt and it's the loudest component in my system

(well, second loudest, my waterbox's humming as of recent just pips it for the #1 spot)

my solution for the crt is to replace it with an lcd - i have a 710n that is absolutely silent.

heh... you know you've caught the spcr bug when you're comparing the noise levels of monitors

as530 · Post by **as530** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 11:17 am

i like my ultraX, but i have noticed that for a smooth typing experience, you have to keep your fingernails shorter than for normal "desktop"-style keyboards. Also, the hot keys could be a bit beefier.

CeeSami · Post by **CeeSami** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 2:02 pm

chylld wrote:haha i'm in the same situation, i'm still using a 19" crt and it's the loudest component in my system (well, second loudest, my waterbox's humming as of recent just pips it for the #1 spot)

my solution for the crt is to replace it with an lcd - i have a 710n that is absolutely silent.

heh... you know you've caught the spcr bug when you're comparing the noise levels of monitors

Heehee... True, but I actually discovered this "feature" of the crts some 5 or 6 yrs ago, and I don't think SPCR even existed then

Yes, I want a tft, and no, I cannot afford one...

as530:
I agree with you on the hot keys, although I rarely use them (except for the sleep key, of course). So it's not a big problem for me.

One · Post by **One** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 10:12 am

I have 2 Ultra-X keyboards, the old one is 6 months older. When I got the new keyboard it was twice as loud as the old one, it seems that over time it gets more quiet.

niels007 · Post by **niels007** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 3:41 pm

I invested in an Ultra-x keyboard and I'm quite pleased with it. Only SPCR can make one think about quiet keyboards! It makes so much sense though. Why have a silent pc when you're still hammering away at a normal keyboard!

My white old CRT is looking a bit out of fashion on my desk now though.. This keyboard is a great excuse to get that 20" LG or Dell TFT. Sadly the wallet took enough of a hit from the keyboard. I might just have enough left for two cans of spray paint for the world's first pimp my CRT episode..

koninc · Post by **koninc** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 3:59 pm

Anyone know where to get one of these suckers in Australia?!

gitto · Post by **gitto** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 6:40 pm

koninc

I've had no luck searching for one in Australia - importing one from America might be the best option. Maybe even importing a pack of 5, if you can round up some other Aussies who want one.

Trip · Post by **Trip** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 7:11 pm

The keys on mine haven't been able to withstand my brutal typing. When it finally becomes unuseable, I predict a few months at most, I'm going to look at some Edward Ng recommended. Heh, somehow I'm going to need to test one outside of Best Buy (where I can hear the keys).

The Cooler Master keyboard layout was poor, but the keys were, in retrospect, very quiet. though I hadn't appreciated the quality.

lenny · Post by **lenny** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 8:45 pm

One wrote:I have 2 Ultra-X keyboards, the old one is 6 months older. When I got the new keyboard it was twice as loud as the old one, it seems that over time it gets more quiet.

It may also be bad news - that the newer batch of UltraX are not as quiet as the old ones. Hope this is not the case. But a keyboard that gets quieter with use doesn't seem very likely.

Somewhat off-topic : This reminds me of "The Practice Effect" by David Brin.

dyle · Post by **dyle** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 9:24 am

i'm going to get mine later today. Can't wait to test it out after i get back from work! Meanwhile, I've been using a generic compusa $10 keyboard for 6 months now. It's a pain to type with this thing since the keys are so hard.

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 7:41 pm

Could someone take/find some closeup pics of the full layout please? And what hotkeys does it have?

lenny · Post by **lenny** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 12:49 am

Lourdes wrote:Could someone take/find some closeup pics of the full layout please? And what hotkeys does it have?

Well, at least I can help with second request:

Hot keys :

Media
Play / Pause
Mute
Favorites
E-mail
WWW

Edit : OK I figured what the heck, here's a photo of my keyboard. If you guys with newer versions notice any difference please point it out.

If you want a close up look at it, here's a link to the original sized photo. Remember that most people's IE / firefox config will shrink it to fit in the browser window - if you want to see the actual size you need to click on the "expand" box in IE, or just click on the image in firefox.

dyle · Post by **dyle** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 9:26 am

lenny wrote:
Lourdes wrote:Could someone take/find some closeup pics of the full layout please? And what hotkeys does it have?
Well, at least I can help with second request:

Hot keys :

Media
Play / Pause
Mute
Favorites
E-mail
WWW

Edit : OK I figured what the heck, here's a photo of my keyboard. If you guys with newer versions notice any difference please point it out.

If you want a close up look at it, here's a link to the original sized photo. Remember that most people's IE / firefox config will shrink it to fit in the browser window - if you want to see the actual size you need to click on the "expand" box in IE, or just click on the image in firefox.

looks the same with the keyboard i just go tthe other day. i'm loving it, by the way. not really the most silent but it feels great to type and looks nice to boot.

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 11:57 am

Cheers lenny, looks great. I wish it had more extra keys for media functions but it sounds like it's a pleasure to use.

intx · Post by **intx** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 2:09 pm

Anyone know where I can get one of these in Canada? Or does someone not want theirs and want to sell it to me?

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 2:28 pm

NewEgg sells it.

EDIT:

# No international/Canadian shipments.

Oops.

Tiamat · Post by **Tiamat** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 4:17 pm

Is it easy to remap say the "media" key to be "volume up" and another one of those "hotkeys" to volume down? Out of all the "junk hotkeys" on my cheap microsoft keyboard, I only use mute, volume up and volume down. If the Logitech is easy to rewire/reprogram the hotkeys, then thatd be cool...

Mar. · Post by **Mar.** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 6:39 pm

Why would you want a silent keyboard? I'd rather have some sort of weird modded typewriter keyboard.

lenny · Post by **lenny** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 12:20 am

Mar. wrote:Why would you want a silent keyboard? I'd rather have some sort of weird modded typewriter keyboard.

Perhaps because this is Silent PC Review?

Using it in the dead of night, while carrying my daughter, like right now, the quieter the better.

I love the tactile feedback of those old IBM PC keyboards. If only there's a quiet version with that kind of feel. Those keyboards weigh a ton and can wake up the dead.

Seal · Post by **Seal** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 1:19 am

Tiamat wrote:Is it easy to remap say the "media" key to be "volume up" and another one of those "hotkeys" to volume down? Out of all the "junk hotkeys" on my cheap microsoft keyboard, I only use mute, volume up and volume down. If the Logitech is easy to rewire/reprogram the hotkeys, then thatd be cool...

yeah you can, read the previous posts.

Trip · Post by **Trip** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 1:35 am

I fixed the problem of mine... I had small pieces of metal under three of the keys. I recognised the problem yesterday when one of them came free and rolled under the keys.

So, the keyboard has withstood my brutal typing though not quite as quiet as the Cooler Master. I'm happy now that the keys are working

Mar. · Post by **Mar.** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:25 pm

lenny wrote:
Mar. wrote:Why would you want a silent keyboard? I'd rather have some sort of weird modded typewriter keyboard.
Perhaps because this is Silent PC Review? Using it in the dead of night, while carrying my daughter, like right now, the quieter the better.

I love the tactile feedback of those old IBM PC keyboards. If only there's a quiet version with that kind of feel. Those keyboards weigh a ton and can wake up the dead.

I have this game controller called the Claw, I've mentioned it on the boards before but basically the buttons give you taht same sort of tactile feedback (a "click"), but they don't make any noise... It would be perfect if they made a keyboard.

Doose · Post by **Doose** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 10:23 pm

Thanks to http://www.mrpower.com.tw/, i am typing this up with an UltraX.

Finally, an UltraX i can get shipped to Australia.

Took 3-4 days to get here from overseas, which is good considering its same time as I get most parcels from Auspost.
Keyboard is ps/2, with english and chinese(i think) characters.

At $33 AUD, its a bargin.

Bruce Ballslap · Post by **Bruce Ballslap** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 6:41 am

Hi!

It seems that other companies are putting out the same keyboard as Logitech's UltraX. I bought a Prodigi FlatX keyboard from http://www.verkkokauppa.com/popups/prod ... p?id=16770. That is a PC-hardware store called Verkkokauppa and is located in Finland. I went there to buy Logitech UltraX for 23.90EUR but then saw this interestingly similar looking FlatX going for 18.90EUR. After brief examination I noticed that the two units are actually identical except for the top part of the plastic casing. Everything else is identical.

A picture:

Once again, the two units are identical except for the top part of the casing. So go for this one as you save a couple of bucks. The looks might be a notch worse, but I can bare it. And there is a typo in either the unit and its package or in Verkkokauppa's website. The website states it as Prodige, the unit has Prodigi printed on it. The Prodigi text is printed right below the num, caps & scroll lock lights and is in red and black. Quite ugly actually

. I dont have a digicam to take a photo of it.

I didnt care reading through this thread so maybe someone has posted about this already. My apologies if that is the case.

Logitech UltraX - Nice silent keyboard

UltraX shipped to Australia

Prodigi FlatX