What's with the gradient/rainbow led trend? Is it just me that don't have the necessary cultural references to find it appealing?
To me I immediately associate it with an unprofessional, cheap look.
To me I immediately associate it with an unprofessional, cheap look.
Some people don't like the lighting at all, and that's ok. It's a preference and you control it. If you don't like changing colors or lighting whatsoever, then turn it off.
I switch backlight colors based on layout. It helps me remember where less frequently used shortcuts are, and is rather useful to me and I'm sure many others use it in a similar manner. And plenty of people just set a color that matches the color scheme of their desk, office, or computer.
Same. I use Dvorak as my primary layer, as well as blank keycaps, and have a QWERTY gaming layer that has LEDs outlining the standard gaming keys (WASD, crouch, etc).
I don't really like having a lightshow on my keyboard so the LEDs are off all the time for me but in the past I've used them to change color depending on the layout I'm using for instance. I'm sure a more creative hacker could come up with something useful.
"What range of colors can these LEDs I'm selling display."
Yes, RGB has been popular for many years now. Nice that I can pick any color or color pattern I like
Not only that half the RGB keyboards fuck out fairly quickly or have power and USB problems.
Electric truck nuts. That's all it is.
I switch backlight colors based on layout. The default typing layer is in my favorite shade of blue, then when I'm on my "ide shortcut/F-key layer" then it switches to a complementary share of orange. When I'm on my "common shortcuts/media control" layer it switches to purple for valid shortcut keys while the media keys have their own color layout to more quickly indicate where back/fwd/play/mute is.
No one says you have to use unicorn vomit colors or a constantly shifting color pattern. But it does look good in a demo and does a great job of indicating that it's not a solid color.
I have a key that toggles between keyboard layers, of which there are three. Different layers are assigned different colors. If I forget which layer I'm on then I can just glance at the keyboard and know. The LEDs are similar in purpose to a Caps Lock indicator.
And for the third layer, which has only a dozen or so keys defined, the keys that are defined are lit up in their own color. This layer sees less use than the first two, so it is helpful guidance to remember which are defined.
I have criticisms about the keyboard -- Moonlander -- but none are about the LEDs. The LEDs are useful and not simply moronic eye-candy as you seem to imply.