A keyboard with illuminated keys is a savior for those who sit up at the computer till late night but can’t touch-type. Not all of such devices are expensive, there are some quite affordable models. You need just about a couple tens of dollars to equip your workplace with one of them. Today, let’s try what it is.

We’re going to test SVEN EL 4002 keyboard – it’s a good variant of an inexpensive night keyboard. Besides, the illumination can be switched off if desired, so it should better be named a “24-hour” device. Except for the illumination, the keyboard has additional buttons making your work at the computer more comfortable, so the device is rather useful and functional. At least it looks like this on the manufacturer’s website.

Package Contents

Those who buy SVEN EL 4002 will get a white-and-blue box with a photo of the device on the front side and its description on the rear side (in English and several CIS languages).

There is a pleasant fact about the contents of the box: the keyboard comes with a user’s manual, a software CD and a warranty card. By the way, it has a year’s warranty.

Appearance

EL 4002 looks a bit futuristic – the white enclosure is classically shaped, but the keys have a green shade. They add slight fantastic notes to the design. The shape is streamlined, the enclosure is a bit curved, the material used is unusual: white glossy plastic reminds of seamless enamel. Do you remember all those spacecrafts and cities of the future from movies? Such a keyboard would look just perfect there.

The keyboard is wired; it’s connected to the PC via a USB cable, so it’s more suitable for a stationary home computer than for a notebook. Though, if desired, it can be easily connected to a laptop. As to its size, EL 4002 is a little shorter than a standard classical “board”. And indeed, it’s a bit thinner – the buttons are thin like in notebooks. So, the whole construction looks quite light and won’t take too much space at our workplace. You know, the weight is not heavy as well – only 680 grams. By the way, as we are speaking about the way the keyboard lies on the table: the device has non-slip rubber feet and special turn-down legs lifting its rear edge above the table and creating a tilt angle comfortable for the user.

To sum it up, the construction is quite traditional and simple, but the design is distinguished, it draws your attention.

Standard keys

SVEN EL 4002 is more compact than usual keyboards are. This is because its developers decided to do without two key blocks – the cursor control keys and the navigation block (the one where Delete and Page Up keys are). The buttons haven’t disappeared completely, they just have been placed differently, but space has been saved due to this manipulation. Only the right Ctrl was lost during the rearrangement. So the buyer should take into account the fact that the keyboard layout is quite unusual: it’s similar to that used in notebooks but the numeric keypad is still there. The Enter key is traditional, the space key is the same length as usual, so it’s pretty easy to get used to the changes.

Except for the standard keys, there are 13 additional buttons: they are lined in the upper part, above all the rest of the keys, as a straight silvery stripe. The buttons are conveniently divided into two areas: one of them facilitates internet surfing, and the other will be of great use when you watch movies or listen to music (to quickly adjust the volume, fast-forward a song or pause the player). There is also a separate button designed for putting the PC into sleep mode with one keystroke.

The keys are low profile, almost like in laptops. They are made on the basis of membrane technology used for most keyboards nowadays, they are convenient for typing and don’t stick. The letters are big enough and easy to see: the Cyrillic letters are black, the Latin ones are blue. The symbols are applied with silk screen printing.

In general, the keys are ordinary and have nothing outstanding about them. It’s worth mentioning the unconventional layout and praising the keyboard for the convenient and easy-to-see symbols on the buttons and availability of additional keys.

Key Illumination

Now we are getting around to the main advantage of this keyboard: the key illumination. Warning: if you just switch the keyboard on, nothing happens, the light won’t be on. Don’t be scared, everything is OK! To make it work, just press a special button – Scroll lock. Then all the keys light up with clear green light.

We must admit that the illumination is not quite usual here. Firstly, the keyboard uses the greenish color, which is more comfortable for the eye than blue or bright white. Secondly, not only the symbols are illuminated, but the whole key area. This is because the keys are transparent throughout the whole surface, so they let the light through well.

Actually there are two types of keyboard illumination: electroluminescent and LED. In this case the first variant is used. By the way, when the illumination is on, the most sharp-eared users can catch a hardly audible sound similar to buzzing or squeaking. That’s right, it’s there. We’ll relieve you: don’t worry, it’s a normal phenomenon – such a sound is typical of all electroluminescent illuminated keyboards, it’s a peculiarity of the lamps used. Besides, SVEN has a LED keyboard as well, this is Multimedia EL 4004.

Operation

Well, during daytime typing, EL 4002 doesn’t distinguish itself in any way – just an ordinary keyboard. In a couple of days your hands get used to the new non-typical layout, and the work takes its usual course again. But at night it’s much more convenient than standard input devices are. It appears that there’s no need to buy a premium-class notebook to enjoy all the advantages of an illuminated keyboard. The keys are excellently seen, all the misprints are brought to nought, so that there’s no need to switch on the light in the room or to bring a reading lamp any more. On the whole, it’s a decent solution for $20.

Conclusion

SVEN EL 4002 is an interesting keyboard. Its main peculiarities are ingenious design and key illumination. Such a device will come in handy to those who are in the habit of sitting up at a computer till late night but don’t want or cannot switch on the light.

People who can type without any mistakes with their eyes closed will hardly understand what the illumination is for, but the rest will recall the moments when EL 4002 would have come in handy.

Advantages:

• green illuminated keys;
• additional buttons;
• compact size;
• affordable price.