Gigabyte GK-K6800 Keyboard Review

Usability and Functionality (General Applications)

No matter how a good looking a keyboard is and no matter how many bells and whistles it comes with, when all is said and done it will still spend most of its time acting as a normal keyboard and not multi-media enhancement tool. There are some exceptions to this rule (as in HTPC users) but there are keyboards out there designed specifically for them which add tons of functionality. To this end, we swapped out our normal MS Comfort Curve 4000 keyboard and replaced it with this keyboard for a full week.

While I may use an ergonomic, reverse tent (aka “reverse slope”) keyboard as my system's main tool, I also routinely use my beloved Compaq IBM clone (aka heavy as a log, all metal keyboard) and thus have not been “spoiled” by the split keyboard layout yet. While I usually type at a nominal 50 - 55WPM on the 4000, I still type at a nominal 35-38WPM on a straight keyboard.


The very first thing we noticed was how nice a feel the keys had to them. With most membrane keyboards you get an ultra long throw to each key and then at the end is a mushy feel to tell you have reached the end. Sure the latest generation does give a fairly good imitation of tactile feedback but for the most part the long throw can become fatiguing over time. This keyboard on the other hand didn’t jump out and scream “hi I’m a crappy membrane keyboard”, in fact it felt like any other keyboard we have used in the past.

After using it for awhile, we can differentiate it between others we have. In a nut shell the k6800 has a very responsive, relatively short throw just not found in most other membrane keyboards. However, if you pay close attention the mushy feeling is still there, albeit it is very muted. To further investigate this issue we download a simple “learn to type” time key test which not only tells you how fast you are typing but also how accurately. Before beginning with the K6800 we first ran the test 4 times using the Compaq clunker and the Comfort Curve 4000 keyboards. With our older straight keyboard our accuracy rate hovered around 92% at 37WPM, and with the comfort curve 4000 we were hitting 95-96% at 49WPM. This is about right for me as I can get down and boogey at about 65WPM but only with mid 80 accuracy.

When we then swapped in the 6800 our best rate was still 35WPM and 90%. For all intents and purposes we did not have to learn (or relearn) proper typing skills in order to use this keyboard. It really is that user friendly and we suspect that unless your main keyboard is a laptop with an ultra short throw to the keys you too will have a very short and graceful learning curve.


If we stopped here this would have been all wine and roses but a learn to type test only shows how you do with a fairly static parameter. I then further subjected this keyboard to the task of writing up a whole whack of reviews (including this one). I quickly realized that this keyboard has a one heck of an Achilles heel: it has a double column layout to the Insert, Del, Home, End, Pg Up & Pg Down keys whereas most of us are used to a double ROW. This may sound like a subtle difference BUT unless I was very precise I had a tendency to overreach the small ENTER key and slam the INSERT key. This was annoying, but after awhile I did get used to the difference. Personally, I prefer the double row layout with nothing past the enter key but on the positive side this is about the only negative issue we had with this multi-media keyboard when it came to general usage.