I know I'm not the first person to say this, nor do I expect to be the last, but upon first handling Saitek's new Cyborg gaming keyboard, you can't help but feel like you're holding something stolen from the future. Measured against all the other peripherals for gamers out there, we expect it's the closest any of us are going to get to fragging with one of those control consoles from the Starship Enterprise.

Of course the Cyborg doesn't have all of the cool extras that go along with an actual Star Trek control panel like chirps and beeps, Worf spittle, or the reflection of a very uncomfortable Captain

watching over your shoulder, but there is the ease of use and the touch-configurable lighting.

What exactly do I mean by that? Well of one of the Cyborg's main selling points is a panel above the normal keys on the board that responds to the heat present in your fingers. On other recent keyboards, this is where you might find the volume controls or buttons for navigating through your media player. The Cyborg is no different, except that it accomplishes these same tasks without conventional buttons and ads in the ability to alter the lighting on the keyboard and switch it between normal and gaming modes.

The switch is made by pressing the Cyborg graphic on the panel which allows you to deactivate the "windows" key, toggle the lighting on enable the 12 programmable keys along both sides. Very handy. The touch panel also features a mini map of the keyboard itself complete with hot zones you can select for fine-tuning the brightness and color of each area. In other words, you can select the numpad and differentiate it from the rest of the board by having it light up a bright green while choosing to then have the WSAD keys give off a deep red. All of this is further enhanced by the character on each key being laser-etched so that the lighting comes up through it rather than just around. While these small touches may seem to be all-show to most, twitch gamers should appreciate the ability to navigate their keyboards with increased confidence in the darkness of an all-night LAN party. Saitek was even thoughtful enough to give the board a memory so it could retain your light settings for when you return home or in the event of a power failure.

Unfortunately, no memory was allocated to on-board key profiles and none of the functions you can perform with the thermal touch panel work for that either. All of the macros and actions you bind to the very accessible programmable keys can only be done through their software. And while there is a lot you can do with it, the most recent iteration of Saitek's SST program (used to configure all of their peripherals) is so visually intimidating and unfriendly, if given the choice, most gamers would probably rather go a couple rounds with a shirtless Captain Kirk than spend the time trying to figure out how it works.

The unapproachable software and the lack of any real manual are real disappointments, and since most of you may only have to configure and program the keys once per game, it’s not too big an issue and shouldn't overshadow all of the other things Saitek did right that extend well beyond the touch panel and programmable keys. In fact, in some ways they even exceeded the standards set by Star Fleet. An example - when communicating with others, users of actual Star Trek equipment only have two choices – Uhuru’s wax-encrusted earpiece or repeated jabs to a brooch on their chest. The Cyborg keyboard lets you decide on your own what you would like to use by including a conveniently placed USB port, headphone and mic pass-throughs. And while the Star Trek consoles only swung to the side so you could get out of your chair, the Cyborg keyboard has multi-level tilting options so you can control wrist fatigue.

With its touch panel and its "it came from the future" looks, the Cyborg could be easily mistaken for a gimmicky, poorly conceived attempt to capitalize on a trend. (Much like the movie Cyborg with Jean Claude Van Dam.) However, Saitek's latest isn't just a pretty boy and it really can kick ass. If you've been looking to upgrade your keyboard, we're pretty confident this one will put a toothy, Wesley Crusher-sized grin on your face.