Gigabyte GK-K6800 Keyboard Review

On the top right side of the keyboard above the Pause/Break key are a quartet of true multi-media keys including “Play/Pause”, “Stop”, “Rewind” and “Forward” which are fairly self explanatory. Just below these four keys are your three informational LEDs (which glow a nice blue) and include Num Lock, Caps Lock and Scroll Lock.

Moving over to the extreme upper right corner we come to a great little feature: a volume wheel. While a slider adjustment is tolerable and an up and down button is nice you just can’t beat the visceral feeling a volume knob gives you. This one gives you perfect feedback and is easily used with one finger. In testing, we found it would move the standard windows volume adjuster from 0 to 100 (and vice versa) in about two full rotations.


On the right side of the keyboard are five more general purpose keys. The topmost one is a mute key which comes in handy for when the phone rings and you want to multi-task by watching a video and paying only some attention to the phone conversation (your teenage sons and daughters can give you lessons in this if you need some help mastering this skill). Below this is a music key which opens up your default music player program. In the middle is the “My Computer” button which as the name suggest opens up you’re My Computer explorer…as long as you are running a Microsoft OS. If you run Linux or OS X your results may vary, but by this time you already know you are in the minority and are probably used to doing work arounds in a Microsoft world.

Below this is your “Email” key which opens up your default email program. Rounding out the list of extra keys is the good old “calculator” button for those times when you can’t remember your school days third R and need some help with aRithmetic. For some of us, this key alone is a huge selling point.


The back of this keyboard really underscores how thin the underlying tech is. After all, this is a membrane-based keyboard and thus does not require a lot of depth to secure mechanical parts. The large indent is perfect for wrapping up the cable and allows the unit to lie flat even when being stored.

As with every normal keyboard out there, you get two moderately sized legs to adjust the pitch and angle of the keys. It would have been nice if Gigabyte had included two more on the FRONT edge of the keyboard to allow for “reverse tenting” which -as a long term sufferer of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome can attest to- makes a huge difference in long term comfort when typing up a lot of data. As this is a rare feature not found and many keyboards, it's not something we can ding Gigabyte for not including. However, there are two low profile (yet reasonably wide) feet to keep the unit from slipping during heavy uses.


The keyboard's cable is covered in a soft and snag free plastic coating which gets the job done and keeps costs to a reasonable level. The cable may not be braided but it is nice and long, measuring in at about 58 inches.