Gigabyte Aivia K8100 Gaming Keyboard Review

Results
Comfort
Using the keyboard for long periods of time went like a breeze, the keys don’t protrude too high over the surface of the board and this made typing comfortable. I do feel that the wrist rest could have been the same depth along the entire length of the board, if not made a little bit deeper as my left wrist was constantly on the edge of the board during use.

Strangely I found it easier to type with the protective dust cover left on the board whist typing this review although for gaming I found it better with it off. I felt that I had a better gaming response with it off, but whilst typing, the cover made the key noise a lot quieter, which typing for a long period of time can do your nut in hearing the constant tap tap tap of keys. The keys certainly were less clear to see as the cover is not clear, but this does not bother me as a) i don’t need to look for the keys to know where they are and b) i only glance at the keyboard whilst I type in any case.

Functionality & Features
Designed with gaming in mind the board is very simple and practical to use. The anti-ghosting function works well all round as ordinary USB keyboards will only work up to 6 keys at a time. The 20 key anti-ghosting flies way past this and even though I couldn’t myself get to this limit, it’s nice to know that if I was to get past the standard 6 key limit, the board will continue to provide unrivalled power in order to secure that match winning shot.

The touch sensitive volume control works well once the included software is installed although the mute works out of the box. I did note that you do have to exert more than a light touch on the board for the control to be recognised, but this takes no time at all to get used to and would also prevent accidental change from lightly brushing it.

The backlit keys give a nice glow which makes them clear enough to see in low light but not too bright as to distract your attention. Strangely when I plugged the keyboard in for the first time the backlit keys didn’t come on and it took me a couple of minutes to find the button on the back of the board to turn them on (no I didn’t read the manual first!). I feel this is a bit of a odd place to put this rather than say above the Fn keys like i have on my Logitech G11 board, but hey at least there is one.

The programming of the macro keys in the Ghost software is very simple and easy to use. Simply drag and drop the desired macro over the appropriate button and the macro is immediately active and stored on the board. There is, as seen before, the option to create your own macros and this is also easy to do.

Gaming
As mentioned earlier, some of the keys that are more commonly used whilst gaming have a slightly different elastic force on them in order to relieve the stress and tension put on your fingertips during use. Even though you don’t overly notice the difference between the keys, I did feel that after a long period of use that my fingers didn’t ache as much from holding the keys down or constant tapping (ie the space bar) – this also continued to be a bonus during general use.

Typing and Keystrokes

During general typing and use, (i.e. this article for example) the board was a breeze to use, apart from the fact the board was in a US layout – which did take a little getting used to after you’ve used UK layouts for many years (i.e. the lack of a backslash – even though the key is there in a US layout – with the keyboard in a UK layout in windows, the keys are mapped differently to what appears on the board) This you’ve find with any foreign board so not quibbles at the board there – purely an end user thing.

The keys are nice and light to use, yet still firm and responsive. Even though this is not primarily designed for ‘office’ use, it’s one of the best boards I’ve used, as all the qwerty keys are spaced exactly right, and the feel in general is natural so you can type for longer.