Studio 15/17 Backlit Keyboard- now $50 upgrade...ouch

I was just checking out the Studio 17 again and noticed that the backlit keyboard option has doubled in price! It was $25 as recently as yesterday morning, but it's now $50. I was debating whether it was worth $25 more than the standard keyboard....at $50, the decision is much easier to make...no thanks.

 

Well...its an individual choice....I for one am enjoying the backlit KB a LOT!!!! I just wish that they back lit the multi-media buttons as well.

The only real thing that irritates me in my studio is the keyboard flex...I am really scared of the arrow keys the most, given that my 8 year old plays a lot of car racing games on it...(is there a USB device that mimics the 4 arrow keys, LOL !!!, it would suck if the kb dies on me within 6 months

 

sorry about the double post

 

Is the flexing really that bad? After all these years why can they not make a solid one?

 

Yes, there is.

W = up
A = left
S = down
D = right

It's actually a lot easier to use if you practice.

 

Why not pick up a cheap USB keyboard and let him bang away?

 

Backlits sound gimmicky to me. All up to personal opinion.

 

The price went up because Dell has a shortage. I'm sure it'll go back down in the next couple of months. Definitely not something worth waiting for.

 

I for one love the backlit keys. It made my choice easier over the XPS series.

You can now do night time gaming and all round surfing with minimal nights on to find the keys.

 

As far as the media buttons go - does anyone know if they are planning on giving us the option of having them permanently lit at low levels?

Also, how bad is the flexing? I saw a youtube demo, but that was on a pre-production model, so I assumed it would be better by now. An chance of a video? How many people don't have this problem?

 

There is a minor case of flexing according to Studio owners, but nothing to fret over.

And so far, from reading this forums a lot, no one has figured out how to permanently light the media button keys yet. I might be wrong here.

 

I wish they would have given me an option to not have the fingerprint reader. It seems useless and a complete waste of $20.

I think the backlit keyboard is handy, but $50 is a bit much.

 

I think Dell expects back-to-schoolers(or the parents) to pay top dollar for laptops with the best of everything since they expect it to last them 4 years.

 

Ive seen the Youtube video of the Studio 15 keyboard flex. Quite scary but i thought the guy was pressing with too much pressure; more than normal. ^^

Even with keyboard flex, it shouldn't be that bad to type on. All problems aside, I'm still looking forward to getting my Studio 15. ^^

 

Hey everyone, I just wanted to know if I could upgrade my normal keyboard to back-lit one now that I have already bought and received my studio 15.

 

I have a Studio 17 with the back lit keyboard. The flexing is pretty minimal with mine. Nothing like the wifeys Inspiron 1502 which is a bullet proof keyboard, but the Studio is good enough for me.

The back lit keyboard though is pretty **** awesome though. I would pay 50$ if I had to do it over again.

I also woke up one morning and half my media keys were permanently lit up. None of them worked and my system froze once I hit the eject button, but obviously there is a way for the system to keep those lights on. I really hope someone figures out a way to keep those lights on.

 

I too suggest taking the backlit keyboard over the normal one. One use in the darkness and you will come to appreciate its usefulness. You wont have to lower the LCD down to illuminate the keyboard.

I even find the fingerprint reader very useful to log into bank sites and gmaill...and of course for vista logon...it only takes a bit of time to configure and faster than typing in the u.name/password. One peculiar thing with the FPReader is that it seems to detect only my fingers during enrollment...none of my friends' fingers were detected

 

I myself couldn't take the keyboard flexing, it was too much for me and I type lightly. I returned in in 2 days for an XPS which I paid only $70 more with faster processor and better built machine.

Tony

 

i have owned my 1735 for two months...

the flexing is minimal, how hard do some of you press?

the back lite keyboard was a bargain when it was 25 dollars; however, at 50 dollars it makes me hesitant to recommend it.

i have to admit, the back lite keys are amazing to look at, a very soft glow to them. i do wish the media keys were kit permanently.

 

Well, here in the UK, the backlit is $60 and so is the fingerprint reader, so yet again we pay more..

 

You piqued my curiosity, so I decided to visit the dell.co.uk website. The backlit keyboard option is showing as 30-GBP (I can't remember how to make the pound currency symbol). The exchange rate has improved, or the British economy is in a similar state to ours, because the exchange comes out to $47.10. Not long ago it would have been close to $60 at the going rate....