Thoughts?

Thanks.

They are handy if you use your computer in low-light conditions and you don't have a backlit keyboard, or to illuminate your workspace. I keep one in my tech bag. Occasionally I will plug into the back of a server to help see.

Not for me, I do "touch" typing. Those little bumps on the "F" and the "J" keys are there for a reason... I don't look at the keyboard unless I need to use some very special keys.

I'll use a flashlight or headlamp when I need light. Such as finding the very special key on that particular keyboard configuration, or looking at my notebook as I type.

But hey, that's me... I want to drag around LESS fidgety items, not more. Any "cool gadget" that wants to find its way into my laptop case has to pass my very harsh "how can I do without this gadget" scrutiny.

I'm a touch typist, and I've had good fortune with seeing the keys by the light of the monitor when I do need to see them. I've been given a couple of USB keyboard lights and never ended up using them.

I can bang out 90+wpm touch-typing and still find it useful. Using a headlamp with a computer causes annoying glare when I tried it. I primarily use it to light up my workspace.

I can touch type in the dark just fine, but many times, staring too long at the laptop screen in the dark causes a lot of eye strain and gives me a headache, even with the screen brightness turned down. In those cases, I often prop up a flashlight to illuminate the area around/behind the screen to reduce the contrast between the screen and dark background if I can't raise the general room illumination. That helps.

In those situations, I have wanted a USB keyboard light for the convenience factor since they are easier to aim than propping up a flashlight somewhere, although your laptop battery life could play a factor if you're not plugged in. I don't like a headlamp for this purpose because of glare.

In addition, if you have to deal with any documents, you need some additional light to read them by.

Of course, for any hunt-and-peck typists out there, it's pretty darn hard to type without light to see the keyboard.

If I needed a light for using my laptop and didn't have a lamp nearby I'd really rather just wear a headlamp on a low setting.

The light built into the Leveno I had via work worked decently, the laptap was a pig otherwise.

Same here. I'd rather use a headlamp with low light or red light, which I have two of.

I'm not exactly a "touch typist", I look more like a flailing squid at the keyboard. However, after decades of computer programming, I'm a dang good flailing squid!

If I were to buy a keyboard light, I wouldn't get a USB powered one. I'd get an LED clip-on AAA powered one. They last forever on a pair of AAA's (I know, I use one clipped to my reloading press). And since it wouldn't be powered by USB, you're not tied to your laptop and can use it elsewhere. Also, it wouldn't drain your laptop battery (although LED models take negligible power in the first place).

I know I am not allowed, nor allow myself, to wear a ball cap in the house (momma didn't allow it growing it and it stuck) but I do have a tactical ball cap and I sticky velcroed a photon light under the bill, for night land nav and training in the dark. Same principle apply's here, it would be easy to just slap a red light LED photon on it and type away.

I have an old version of a usb light that I take on business trips. I don't really use it much for the keys since the laptop screen backlight usually throws enough light for me to type well (sort of touch typing).

I do use it in the hotel as a night light / just in case light. I hate waking up in strange places and trying to remember where everything is. Once stayed in a hotel that lost power and the room was pitch dark. The usb light, running on the laptop battery, made it a lot easier for me to orient myself and let me gather my stuff without running down my edc light.

-Eric

What's the point of an EDC light if you don't use it when you need it?

I must not have been clear enough - I did use my EDC light when I needed it.

I also had a nice low powered light attached to my laptop that let me more readily orient myself in a strange place and also let me take care of a lot of tasks that morning without needing my EDC light. More importantly, for me, I woke up in a strange room and had enough light to quickly find my EDC stuff. I have travelled enough to know I wake up a bit disoriented in dark hotel rooms.

This happened several years ago and my EDC light at the time was single AAA incandescent so an extra source of light came in pretty handy.

-Eric