T9 Plus gaming keyboard by aLLreLi

September 19th, 2016

Just take a look at the T9 Plus award winning programmable gaming keyboard. Gaming keyboard? For a professional lab? No, we’re not forming a League of Legends team (unfortunately) but we were after something practical for use with our Bosto 22HDX graphics tablet, hence the T9 Plus.

What’s the point?

Why not just use a small keyboard then? I do, together with the express keys on the Bosto 22HDX unit. Working with Photoshop 8 hours a day is demanding, so I wanted a way to increase productivity by automating some standard procedures via macros.

Macros? For Photoshop users a macro is essentially the same as an Action (in Photoshop), in other words an automated process. Macros are a pre-recorded string of keyboard commands that you can initiate with a single key press. The whole point is to keep my eyes on the screen so I can work quicker. Gaming keyboards are designed to be intuitive, so once you’ve programmed your keys you don’t have to keep looking down at the keyboard.

With the aLLreLi T9 Plus I can choose to program each key, create long macros and assign them to individual keys or even assign a Photoshop action to a key. Once setup I can work without taking my eyes off the screen or moving my stylus away from the image.

Delivery & unboxing

The T9 Plus arrived securely packaged in just 2 days and can be ordered from aLLreLi’s Amazon listing. Our keyboard arrived in Amazon’s standard frustration free packaging, which is always handy. Overall, the weight of the package was reassuringly heavy. It’s always a positive sign that the product inside will be robust and durable.

A tear-free sleeve protects the keyboard box which, as it turns out, is quite informative. The attractive packaging measures 29cm x 20cm x 5cm and features artwork of the keyboard together with a highlight of functions. Purple text found on the box is difficult to read against the black background, so white or light blue/green might be more practical here.

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Tagged and bagged

aLLreLi T9 Plus comes with the keyboard, manual and driver CD. A nice addition is the soft touch pouch around the keyboard, which helps prevent marking during transit and unpacking.

The unit was held snugly in place thanks to the additional interior card sleeve.

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What the box of wonders holds

The T9 Plus

The dimensions for the keyboard are 24cm x 15cm x 4cm at the widest points. The whole unit feels incredibly well built. Its 29 keys use mechanical switches, not a membrane, so they produce a satisfying click when pressed.

A large rubber palm rest dominates the bottom half and as you can see, provides a natural position for your hand. Several rubber feet under the unit help to provide grip. The USB cable is 2m long, includes a cable tidy, magnetic ring to maintain a quality signal and is also braided to avoid snagging.

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Great ergonomic design

So far I’m really impressed by the T9 Plus and can’t wait to plug it in and create some macros. Stay tuned for the full review soon.

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