Hi all!

I am looking new new 2.1 speakers reasonable price. And I'd be grateful for input you can give me.

Speakers I was thinking: Logitech X-230 2.1 32W. Pretty budget but will be a lot better than my current miniature Cambridge Soundwork 2.1 that has annoying white noise when you tune volume or might loose sounds now and then ( they're nearly 7 years old and are doing pretty well considering that ). I think going for Logitech Z4 might be better but that starts to be slightly too expensive for me atm.

X-230's are around 50€'s. if someone can me suggest good speakers around that price range ( +/- 10 €'s [ 1 is roughly 1,6 USD's ] ) I'd be eternally grateful.

But real problem is I need new keyboard. Since rig is game orientated and I am doing quite a lot gaming in dark... Would some sort of backlight be nice... I just hate blue backlight.

So I've thinking: Saitek Eclipse II ( Blue, purple and red backlight ) has gotten good reviews. Is around 70€'s with postal feeds. Saitek Cyborg has more colour variables and more macros. Is also 10€'s more expensive than the Eclipse II.

Logitech G15 Rev 2 is possible too ( the orange backlight seems quite nice ). That is just outragiously expensive keyboard. Not quite as expensive and Steelpad SteelKeys.

The thing is that I've noticed that I really sometimes need backlight when I game. Eclipse II seems good and its been said to have good typing feel, better than logitech's.

Hi

The X-230s are decent. I have them.
Pretty good budget option.

Cant help you with keyboard choice.

A friend of mine has the saitek and she's quite happy with it - personally I'm using a apple alu keyboard though (works perfectly under windows or linux out of the box), for typing it's just the most comfortable and least straining keyboard I've ever used and for gaming it's great as well.
As pretty much any shop that carries apple hardware has these on display it should be easy for you to have a look at one yourself and decide wether it works for you - the downside is it doesn't have any backlights though.
As for gaming in the dark...i used to be able to do that, but these days it'd just tire my eyes out in no time - working on a computer screen in complete darkness is just an absolute killer for your eyes in the long term - even just a desklamp that provides some ambient light is loads better than working in complete darkness, just some well meant advice

I just picked up a G15 rev2 last week and I gotta say it's worth the money. I know how important a backlit keyboard is at night even though you have a monitor providing some light. The only nono's about this keyboard are the fact that the keyboard USB ports are USB1.1 (no high speed flash drive transfers, but it makes a great gaming mouse port) and the location of the macro G keys. They're too close to the rest of the keys in my opinion. When I go to his escape, control, or any other key on the side of the keyboard, I tend to feel for the side of the keyboard before going for the key. Something I didn't notice I did until I got the G15. Now sometimes I end up pressing the macro keys instead of the desired key. Not all that big of a problem, but annoying to get used to. It's a pretty quite keyboard as well so that's a bonus. I also wish it had some multimedia keys other than play stop forward reverse and volume. That however can be programmed into the macro keys. The LCD isn't blinding like rev 1.

I have the Saitek II and i must say not only is it lovely (I prefer the red backlight myself) but its also one of the best keybaords ive used for writing on.

As for speakers i dont know, i went 5.1 and never looked back.

I really like Saitek's way making the illuminatiion and its control. But I still like how logitech has done with their illumination so it won't leak from the sides like Saitek's. it will be tough choice.

I will look into matter more deeply. However if I would now buy a keyboard, I probably would go for Saitek...

A bit of black tape on the side will fix that. Its only a thin strip of light anyway.

Bob, you're right. Besides everyone's saying how great Eclipse II's typing feel is and how quiet it is compeared to Logitech G's...

on speakers, I went with jbl creature II. I've been quite impressed. bought them on the strength of a pc pro round up. bit more expensive than the logi's but build quality is unquestionable and sound repro is best i've ever heard for a pc. they replaced an ageing pair of quickshot sound force 600's which i was given can you believe. for pc speakers the quickshots were excellent although lacking in bass. i've started listening to music through my pc, heresy i know. it seems as i get older my ears want higher quality sound sources. i never used to be able to differentiate different frequency ranges! anyway the whole audio odyssey is a journey i'm only just beginning and getting quite off topic..

If you don't need so many lights, the Logitech UltraX or the Apple Keyboard Aluminum would be recommended as far as keyboards go. Those are the best money can buy at the moment. A backlight is only useful if you want to write in the dark, and can't do that without looking at the keyboard. In games, you only place your hand on the keyboard once, so lights are usually not necessary. Also, if your monitor isn't very far away, the keyboard is often lit enough to see the keys.

For best sound quality on the cheap, ditch small speakers in favor of good headphones. At the same price point, you'll get much better sound.

If you can afford a little more, try getting second hand speakers (80W is nice), and a stand-alone amplifier (also second hand). This equipment doesn't die quickly, and such setups beat the crap out of all-in-one 2.1 and 5.1 products (much better mid-range, and overall dynamics).

You might want to consider a mini-size keyboard. I recently got this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6823110006 and really like it. It gives me a lot more room to move my mouse around, and feels more comfortable due to laptop-style keys.

But if you want a standard-size keyboard, and an illuminated one, I'd have to recommend the G15.

I'll throw in my points for the Saitek II as well. Been using one for several months now, and it has a very nice 'feel' to it when typing. Only minor complaint is when gaming, it doesn't handle multiple keypresses very well. It doesn't do anything BAD that I've noticed, but it definitely ignores four or more at a time. I haven't actually tested with say, two or three. (I play Eve Online a lot, and it would have been nice for activating modules)

Atomic

I used to own an Eclipse II, and the backlight doesn't "leak" out of the sides as implied; those are two entirely separate light sources that Saitek put there intentionally, presumably to create a "glow" effect on the surrounding desk space.