Gigabyte unveils Aivia K8100 variable force gaming keyboard

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Gigabyte has announced "the world's first" gaming keyboard with an ergonomic variable force design. Easily accessible keys such as WSAD, numbers one through five and space require a force of 70g to actuate, while keys like shift and tab have a peak force of 50g because they are often hit with your weakest finger. Most of the keys are rated at 60g. The company also touts the Aivia K8100's massive wrist rest, which it likens to the hood of a sports car -- an odd comparison, if we may say so.

The 'board has five macro buttons with support for up to 100 macros courtesy of Gigabyte's "Ghost Macro Engine," which includes onboard memory to remember your settings between systems. The product page claims you can press up to 20 keys simultaneously, but we assume there's just an optimized gaming cluster with 20 anti-ghost keys. In other words, certain combinations might not register but Gigabyte has tweaked the board so it shouldn't be an issue for common gaming keys.

The Aivia K8100 features backlit keys with an on/off switch, though we don't see any way to adjust the illumination level. There's also a button to disable the Windows keys, two USB 2.0 ports, and a pretty nifty "touch and slide" volume control. The bottom seems to have a cable routing system, but Gigabyte doesn't elaborate on that. The Aivia K8100 comes in black, yellow or red and includes a silicone keyboard cover, rubber WASD keys and a plastic keycap puller. No word on pricing or availability.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/42858-gigabyte-unveils-aivia-k8100-variable-force-gaming-keyboard.html

 

[PinothyJ]

I'll let the Violent Femmes have this one:
You're so ugly -- I'm tellin' you straight
You're so ugly -- don't make a mistake
'Cause you ugly -- I'm tellin' you that
Say, why, why, why would I lie to you?
Why would I lie? Why would I lie?

You're so ugly -- all the time
You're so ugly -- you ain't no friend of mine
'Cause you ugly -- you can bet it on the bank
Say, why, why, why would I lie to you?
Why would I lie? Why would I lie?


:|...

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Just to be clear, that image has a colored diagram to show the force value of each key. You can see other pictures on the product page. Nonetheless, I find it unattractive too.

 

[n00bzZy]

An interesting concept nevertheless, though it's probably useful only for a small percentage of gamers. Us hardcore gamers got our pinky's all trained

 

[Guest]

The macro feature is nice for MMO's, and yea i could see it's only useful for small percentage of gamers. I still prefer a mouse with a boatload of buttons for MMO and FPS games.

 

[BlindObject]

MECHANICAL OR NOTHING

 

[PinothyJ]

I know, but still, it has that - well nremember when your mother did something 'cool' to impress you when youb were little and you hang your head in awkward embarrassment? - kind of feel?

 

[gwailo247]

n00bzZy said:
Us hardcore gamers got our pinky's all trained

Especially if you learned to type on a typewriter.

 

[Lokalaskurar]

I would definitely get one if it comes in fire-orange and black, it would look really nice on a major LAN. Sticking out from the crowd is the deal.

 

[Lurker101]

I'll definitely be giving this keyboard a miss.

 

[Rasta211]

Comes with a key "puller" so you can clean underneath the keys. I guess if your a fan of the big wrist rest area then you will like this.

I like the different colour in keyboards most of all. lol.

 

[Arris]

Weird to have a touch and slide volume control and an additional separate display for current volume level. Would have been neater to combine the two like on Logitech Dinovo Edge. Not convinced by this product at all...

 

[andreasf93]

BlindObject said:
MECHANICAL OR NOTHING

This.

 

[Cota]

Im the only one that doesnt have a gaming keyboard and still thinks that this weight thingy looks useless?, i mean yeah sometimes you miss press some keys but if you do it often its not entirely the keyboards fault.

 

[Rick]

gwailo247 said:

n00bzZy said:
Us hardcore gamers got our pinky's all trained

Especially if you learned to type on a typewriter.

.. Especially if you play games ON a typewriter. I used to burn through a 6 ink ribbons a week.

Now I can only type properly on keyboards with keys made of rocks held up by a minimum of 40psi of hydraulic pressure.

 

[gwailo247]

Rick said:
Now I can only type properly on keyboards with keys made of rocks held up by a minimum of 40psi of hydraulic pressure.

with that grip I hope you have a good urologist...

 

[fpsgamerJR62]

The first thing that came to my mind when I saw the keyboard wasn't " Wow, cool gaming keyboard" but rather " I hope they don't think I borrowed my niece's Disney-themed keyboard because my regular Logitech G15 broke down."

 

[Guest]

Just got it, heaps better than a stock standard key board, i like the silicon dust cover, practical and nice feel to it.

wanted something comfortable for gaming, and the wrist rest is perfect for when using 'wasd' keys. it's nice and big without being MASSIVE, i was worried from the pics but it's reasonably compact, dosnt need a huge amount of space on the desk, just a bit more than average which is what i wanted.

the heavier 'wasd' buttons is defianantly a nice touch too, bit more solid press for keys that get hammered. is my 1st gaming keyboard, and i bought the x8000 mouse to match, and like i said as an upgrade from stock standard, nice to have peripherals with gaming in mind.