For the money there are few purchases that can enhance your computer using experience more than buying a quality mouse and keyboard can. Using a fancy computer with a cheap keyboard is to us like hooking up high end speakers to an old tape player or touring the Louvre while wearing old, smudgy glasses. Sometimes a small extra purchase can greatly improve an experience.

The problem is: Picking out the right computer keyboard is hard without trying out each possibility for a few hours.

So Spot Cool Stuff got our hands on three of the top rated computer keyboards and spent a week typing on each. In addition to being considered among the best keyboards, our three chosen keyboards each connect easily to a computer via a USB cord and have a slim profile.

Which one did we like best? Read on to find out . . .

The SlimType is very much like a keyboard you might find on a high-end laptop. The keys are a little closer together than they are on a full keyboard. The SlimType also has the softest feeling keys of the three keyboards in this review—there's only the faintest of click-click-clicking sounds while typing. That lack of clicking, combined with the very shallow downwards distance each key travels, made it difficult for us to be sure that our keystrokes were registering when we first started out on the SlimType. After we got used to it we found typing on this Kensington to be efficient.

In terms of features, the Kensington's highlight is the multimedia functionality. The silver chrome buttons above the main keys control the play/pause, next/previous track and volume on various audio and video programs. That these buttons worked well with iTunes didn't surprise us. That we could also control YouTube videos through them (ie. without using our mouse) did.

On the downside, we wish that the keyboard itself had USB plugs (like the Macally does). We also aren't keen the look of the keyboard's chrome border.

If typing on the Kensington SlimType is like driving a Cadillac down a highway then typing on a Macally iceKey is like driving a race car through the winding streets of Monte Carlo. While the SlimType's keys are soft and silent the Macally's are stiff and relatively loud. The Macally isn't so loud that the keystrokes would drown out, say, a car engine. But it is possible that typing on the Macally would be audible from the other side of a closed door.

Of the three keyboards in this review we personally found typing on the Macally the most enjoyable. By far. In fact, we've never found a keyboard we like typing on more! Pushing down on an iceKey we'd get a satisfying click. And then the springiness of the key would propel our finger back up off the keyboard slightly, ready to pounce down on the next key. One bounces along from letter to letter on the Macally.

We also appreciate the extendable "feet" on the end of the Macally that can be raised or lowered depending on taste. The two USB plugs on the keyboard are also big additions for us, especially since we use our keyboard with a laptop. A USB flash drive and a mouse are kept plugged into our Macally. Instead of plugging each of those three devices in when we return home with our laptop we have to only type in our Macally. In other words, this Macally also serves as a sort of low-end docking station. 

Thanks to the fine people at Logitech we got one of their new keyboards to try out before this October's official release. To write our review of their product the first thing we did was to turn off the lights and sit in a dark room. That's because the keyboards major feature touted by Logitech is its backlighting.

Now, the backlit keys on the Logitech do look incredibly cool. Our first thought was: Wow!

Our second thought was: Is this really necessary?

Our Macbook Pro has backlit keys. That is a feature we have found useful on the (rare) occasions when we find ourselves with our laptop in a low light working environment—a darkened cabin on an airplane for example. But this computer keyboard is presumably meant to stay on one's desk. We wonder who these people are who can afford a desktop, a desk, a chair and a quality keyboard but not a lamp.

So, to us, that this Logitech keyboard has an illuminated keys is not a reason to buy it. There are at least three reasons why you should: First, most people will find the Logitech's key stiffness near perfect—harder than the Kensington but softer than the Macally. Second, this is the only one of the three keyboards that comes with an ergonomic palm rest. Third, we think the Logitech is the best looking of the three keyboards.

Each of these three keyboards are similar enough that your choice comes down largely to your preference for key hardness.

If you prefer more mushy keys then the Kensington is for you.

If you like a stiffer, bouncier typing experience go for the Macally. Ourselves, we are firmly in the later group and so future Spot Cool Stuff articles will be typed on Macally. That this keyboard has two built-in USB ports also helped make it our personal pick.

That said, most people reading this article will do best with the medium key stiffness offered by the Logitech. In our informal survey of 23 people who came over for a get-together unrealated to this article, 4 of them preferred the typing qualities of the Macally and only 1 voted for the Kensington.

So choose the Logitech for the reason most people prefer it: the feel of the keys. After that, you can wow your friends with the Logitech's backlighting. And if you are typing at night and all of your light bulbs spontaneously explode, well then you'll still be able to see your keyboard.

• SpotCoolStuff.com 

Do you own one of these keyboards? Or know of another keyboard we should review? Or simply have a question or comment? Let us know . . . 

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