TrulyObscure - article - gadgeteer - Verbatim Tune Board: QWERTY Meets Hertz

Posted by Greg May Aug 27, 08:49 PM to gadgeteer : -

History is full of examples of successful inventions that filled a need that was previously unknown. Folks probably didn’t know that peanuts were so delicious as a paste until peanut butter came along, and even then it probably took some time before someone, somewhere added jelly. Verbatim is taking a similar tack, exploring the world of yet-undervalued computer peripheral combinations in the hope of filling a niche.

And we have to admit, the Verbatim USB Tune Board sounds (no pun intended) like a good deal: combine your keyboard and your speakers together, and let them make beautiful music together (ok, that one was). It sure saves on space, for instance- the TuneBoard is a bit bulky compared to some other keyboards, though not as large as some gamer keyboards we’ve seen, and smaller than the fairly tiny 2.0 speakers and portable keyboard we tested. At $70, it’s cheaper than many speaker systems and not bad compared to other keyboards. And the backlighting is certainly useful, and cool-looking.

But, like so many attempts in the past to innovate by combining functions, this one hits a bit of a sour note (apologies, last time). Neither the speakers nor the keyboard work all that well. The sound, for starters, is tinny, hollow, and without depth or volume- being so close to you, there wasn’t even much of the stereo separation that helps even mediocre systems. Available in both Mac (OSX 10.4 or higher) and PC models (and incompatible, sadly, with one another), the Mac version is especially odd as most come with either decent keyboards (desktops), decent speakers (laptops), or both. As a keyboard, it’s not bad- the keys feel reasonably good, and it is easy to install and use, with the usual Apple function keys and even some helpful multimedia keys for muting, volume adjustment, and track control. There isn’t a USB port though, a problem especially for laptop users who might not be so happy about giving up one of the precious ports. The glossy finish might not be attractive to those who find matte all the rage (Mac users especially), and the backlighting isn’t adjustable so can seem a bit glaring. Mac mini users might find it a good fit, but others might want to consider letting this innovation pass by. Available now, online and in stores, in black only.