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On the front there’s a small opening where you can actually prod away and get a feel what the keyboard is like.

This gives you a better idea how the keys react and what you will encounter after you unpack it.

Inside the box is the keyboard and not much else.

Keyboard -Front

As you can see it’s a USB keyboard, supplied with a PS/2 converter.

Noted by a friend of mine, at first glance this looks like the insides of some of the more expensive normal keyboards.

Some keyboards have a rubbery mat inside that conveys the keystrokes to the electronics.

Keyboard - Rear

Here you can clearly see each contact point below its corresponding key. To the left in this picture, or to the right in the frontal view below, you can see the main electronics control housing. This is also where the keyboard lights are located.

This small housing hides the electronics that control the keyboard and it’s also the only part of the keyboard that is not flexible. The electronics are encased in some sort of rigid plastic shell, which in turn is encased by the silicone.

It can take quite a blow, but I don’t think you could drive you car over that part and not damage it.

On the website there are pictures of tests done with the keyboard, one of which is a motorcycle running over the mid section of the keyboard.

I compared it to a regular keyboard, here are the results.

Perhaps this is still a bit hard to see, here are some more shots.

In the upper picture you can clearly see that even with the little controller part, compared to a normal keyboard it doesn’t reach that high.

System requirements

The system requirements are simple.

You need a computer with PS/2 port or a free USB port.

For the USB functionality to work you will need Windows 98/ME/XP/2000.

In practise:::…

Now that we have seen the keyboard unpacked, it’s time to hook it up and see what it does.

The keyboard hooks up just like any other keyboard, no exception here.

It’s weird to try and describe how the keyboard types, the best way I can think of is this.

Typing on it feels rather like typing on a regular keyboard with gloves on, only better.

The keys feel sturdy and it takes more finger pressure to press them down than on a traditional keyboard, so it does take a bit of practice to become familiar with it.

The keyboard is very flexible and easy to roll up and tuck away in a laptop bag, as you can see in the picture below. If, like most of us, you can't afford one of the new breed of laser projection keyboards, this is the best choise for portability.

Of course you don’t have to roll it up; you can also neatly fold it, or anything else that fit your needs. It's not quite flexible enough for Origami though.

You can also use this keyboard to play games.I have used it personally in Need for Speed Underground 2 and achieved good results. Again it does take a little getting used to.

The sound from typing on this keyboard is naturally very low, which makes it very comfortable for those around you. If you are someone that types really fast or know someone that types really fast, then you know there can be a lot of noise coming from the keyboard.

This keyboard can resolve that as you can still achieve the same typing rate with 75% less noise.

With regards to RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury), this keyboard performs well too.

The height of the keyboard is very low; this means your wrists won’t have to make an angle to type. In fact your wrists stay straight during typing on this keyboard.

That will benefit the condition of your wrists greatly.

This keyboard is waterproof, which is also a useful feature among some of us.

Some people eat, smoke or drink behind their computer and now this won’t affect its operation in any way.

If you spill something, the spillage can’t reach the electronics and it will not get underneath your keys.

This means that you won’t come across half a loaf of bread or the crystalised sugar from two evaporated cups of tea or coffee stuck in and underneath the keys. (Not to mention the whole pack of cigarette’s worth of tobacco)

You do have to clean what you have spilled though, there’s no way around that. Either damp cloth or, in more serious cases, a dip in some warm, soapy water should be all it takes.

Here’s a picture of the keyboard with some water spilled on it.

As you may have seen the water stays on the keyboard and doesn’t seep beneath the keys or anything.

Here are some close-ups.

Keyboard Spill - Closeup

Keyboard Spill - Closeup

Keyboard Spill - Closeup

One thing I have noticed is that although this is easy to take along you still need a flat steady surface to use the keyboard on. Because it's so flexible, it becomes difficult to use it on your lap like you may with a strandard keyboard in some situations.

The keyboard comes with a year of warranty.

As I mentioned earlier, on the website of FlexKeyboard you can see more tests done and you can also read more testimonies about this keyboard. You can see how a dog eats its food off the keyboard and how a motorcycle runs over it.

Martien over at Thailand Display has assured me that they can fulfil request from most countries, not just Thailand and the Netherlands.

Conclusion

The 3DVelocity 'Dual Conclusions Concept' Explained: After discussing this concept with users as well as companies and vendors we work with, 3DVelocity have decided that where necessary we shall aim to introduce our 'Dual Conclusions Concept' to sum up our thoughts and impressions on the hardware we review. As the needs of the more experienced users and enthusiasts have increased, it has become more difficult to factor in all the aspects that such a user would find important, while also being fair to products that may lack these high end "bonus" capabilities but which still represent a very good buy for the more traditional and more prevalent mainstream user. The two catergories we've used are:

The Mainstream User ~ The mainstream user is likely to put price, stock performance, value for money, reliability and/or warranty terms ahead of the need for hardware that operates beyond its design specifications. The mainstream user may be a PC novice or may be an experienced user, however their needs are clearly very different to those of the enthusiast, in that they want to buy products that operate efficiently and reliably within their advertised parameters.

The Enthusiast ~ The enthusiast cares about all the things that the mainstream user cares about but is more likely to accept a weakness in one or more of these things in exchange for some measure of performance or functionality beyond its design brief. For example, a high priced motherboard may be tolerated in exchange for unusually high levels of overclocking ability or alternatively an unusually large heat sink with a very poor fixing mechanism may be considered acceptable if it offers significantly superior cooling in return.

The Mainstream User ~

This keyboard is easy to install and very easy to use.

It can help with reducing RSI complaints and isn’t noisy.

You can very easily clean it that makes it very hygienic.

Also the keyboard is easy to take along; this makes it a nice choice for laptop users.

	NA

The Enthusiast ~

This keyboard is useful to take along with you or to use at home.

It can take a beating and still come out ok.

This is the kind of keyboard that you can use when you need to swap computers quickly.

It’s just as flexible as your needs are.

	NA

We're always looking for ways to make our reviews fairer. A Right To Reply gives the manufacturer or supplier of the product being reviewed a chance to make public comments on what we've said. They can explain perhaps why they've done the things we were unhappy with or blow their own trumpet over the things we loved. It's easy for us to pick a product apart but sometimes things are done a certain way for very specific reasons.

Should Thailand Display decide to exercise their "Right To Reply", we'll publish their comments below:

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