Whether you own an 18-inch desktop replacement or a 10-inch netbook you happen to use for World of Warcraft, attaching a dedicated external gaming keyboard with real mechanical keys provides a better play experience. Rosewill's new RK-9100 keyboard not only offers a more tactile experience with a choice of key switches, but also provides a unique, configurable backlight.
The $139.99 RK-9100's backlight can be set to off, light all keys, light all keys but the numeric keypad and -- our favorite -- light only the arrow and WASD keys that gamers use most-often as controls. You can also adjust the brightness level of the backlight.
When it ships later this summer, the keyboard will initially come in black with a blue backlight, but at its computex booth, the company showed a versions with red and white backlights, along with a white prototype. The company says it is considering offering these other colors at some point.
The keyboard comes with either Cherry Blue or Cherry Brown mechanical switches underneath its keys. Cherry Blue provides strong tactile feedback with an audible click while Cherry Brown is quiet and not as tactile.
We had a chance to go hands-on with the Rosewill RK-9100 keyboard briefly at the company's Computex booth and were impressed with the attractive look of the blue backlight, and the solid key travel. We preferred the clicky and audible feedback from the version with Cherry Blue switches, but many users will opt for the quieter Cherry Brown switch version.
To get a closer look at the Rosewill RK-9100 keyboard, check out our hands-on video and gallery below.
