28 OCTOBER2020|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE392
THEULTRABOARD94 0 (Shopper359) was a
successful attempt to blur the line between
desktop and portable keyboards; it was small
and thin, sure,but it also avoided most of the
problems with making acompact keyboard,
such as undersized keys or alack of features.
The newer UltraBoard 960 is notadirect
replacement, as it leansmuchfurther
towards desktop usagewithits non-
removable USB cable andtenkeynumber
pad. Still, it clearly shares much of
theUltraBoard 940’s DNA, andisactually
much cheaper; possiblybecause it doesn’t
include all thewireless hardware.
BLANDAMBASSADOR
Granted, the UltraBoard 960 doesn’tdomuch
to catch the eye. It’s asymphonyinplastic –
thesilver paint on topdoesn’t remotely
convince that any of it is metal –and the
keycaps’shadeofwhite is just ateensybit
toodull. There’s no backlighting, either.
It’s gotapairofpull-out legsonthe
underside,for abit of fixed height adjustment,
but these are downright rubbish: small,
plasticky, andwithnospring mechanismor
even astrong hingetokeepthem extended
as you laythe keyboard back down. If any
onecomponentofthiskeyboard is going to
break,the smartmoneyisonone of these.
This is also an issue the UltraBoard 940 had,
so it’sashametosee this particularaspect
hasn’t changed.
Still, look closer and there’s actuallyquitea
lot to like. It is,for one,very thin and light, in
addition to being compactwidthways. It’s
wired, so its usefulness as aportablekeyboard
BAKKERELKHUIZEN
UltraBoard960
★★★★★
£66•From http://www.viking-direct.co.uk
VERDICT
It’sfarfromtheflashiestkeyboard,but
theUltraBoard 960 isnicelycompactwhile
maintaining usability
WIREDKEYBOARD
SPECIFICATIONS
KEYBOARD SHAPECompactstandard•NUMBER PADYes
- CONNECTION1x USB2•DIMENSIONS19x285x147mm•
MEDIA KEYSPause/play, rewind, fast forward, mute, volume
up, volumedown•USB PORTS2x USB2•WARRANTY
Twoyears RTB•DETAILSwww.bakkerelkhuizen.co.uk•
PART CODEBNEU960SCUK
is limited,but itstill looksgood–and saves
space –onadesk, comparedtomost.
There arealsonot one,but twointegrated
USB2 ports: oneeachonthe leftand right
edges. These areextremelyuseful forquickly
plugging in asmartphone or removable
storage drive without needing to reachall
the wayover to your PC itself,and their
positiononthe sides keeps them quickly
accessible without messing up theUltraBoard
960’s slim profile.
To achieveits narrowdimensionswhile
maintaining theinclusion of anumber pad,
the UltraBoard seemingly takes inspiration
from laptop keyboards: ditching most of the
dedicatednavigation keys and relocating the
arrow keys (alongwithPageUpand Page
Down) below right Shift.
This, truthbetold, takes some getting
used to,and there areafewother quirks:
Backspace,left Shift,left Ctrland the Spacebar
are all smallerthan they’dbeonafull-size
keyboard,and the Enter keyisonly single-row
height. We’ll cop to more than afew spelling
mistakes occurring as muscle memory sent
our attempts to hit Enter producing ahash
symbol, or an attempt to hitBackspace
clippingthe Equal sign keybymistake.
Forthe most part, however,the UltraBoard
960isgenerally fine forkey sizing and spacing.
Likeswitching between afull-size desktop
keyboard and the one on your laptop,itcan
feel oddatfirst, butthere are no deep-lying
issueshere that can’tbeacclimatisedto.
CUTTING POWER
Likethe 940, the UltraBoard 960 employs
scissor switches as
the key mechanism.
These use arubber
dome switch for
the registering input
but suspend each
keyonaset of
scissor-shaped arms,
which collapse when
pressed and snap
back up when
released, resulting in
asharper,more
consistent typingfeel
than conventional
rubber dome and
membrane keyboards.
It’sstill amile off havingthe travel depth
and tangible feedback of agood mechanical
switch, but again theUltraBoard960 proves
adequateenough. There’s avery clear
distinction underthe finger between the
switch’s on and off states, which acts as akind
of tactile feedback:itmakes it hard to miss
accidental inputs even when thetravel depth
feels relativelyshallow. At the same time,
bottoming outakeypressdoesn’t requireso
much effort that your fingers get fatigued.
As foraural feedback, there’s no distinct
click-clack, but the sound of the scissor
mechanism collapsing andexpanding addsa
modest indication that you’rehitting the right
pace.The lackofamechanical click might
even be preferable if you’re prone to
distracting yourself whileworking, or if
yourPCislocated in ashared space at home.
In this case,aquieter keyboard will avoid
annoyingyourcohabitants.
The slight concave shape of thekeycaps
also helpsmaintain comfort, though the
cheapfeel of theplasticremains alittle
offputting. Whilethe underlying switches are
decent enough, thekeycapsaren’t very
substantial, and their finishisjust slightly
more matt than we’d like.
NUMBER CRUNCHING
The fully mechanical Razer BlackWidow Lite
(Shopper380) is atempting alternative,
costing only £6 more forvastlysuperior
build quality –includingbacklighting.That
said, it lacks atenkeynumber pad, something
that’s centraltothe UltraBoard 960’s appeal.
Any keyboard maker cancut this feature
and call it compact, but BakkerElkhuizen has it
both ways, makingroom forthe pad while
keeping aspace-savingdesign. Get used to
this keyboard’s layout, andthere’s littlereason
it can’tserve youaswell as afull-size
keyboard would.
JamesArcher
⬆The unusual keylayout maytake abit of getting used to
