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Wow, this thing is on its third edition? I still have the Eclipse 1 and loving it.

Seems very large with those extra "wings" on the sides...I think this would make it too wide to use the mouse on my keyboard drawer... (I like having them on the same plane...hate reaching awkwardly forward for the mouse...)

The Eclipse 2 keyboard I've had for a year has the paint that forms the letters on the backlit keyboard flaking off. Not just the WASD keys either, any key that gets used quite a bit in the English language has a little flaking off. For the price of this plus a little you can grab a Razer keyboard and get a better tactile feel and higher quality. The 4 key on my number pad is also going out. Also, while you can set the color of the backlight on the Eclipse 2, it won't remember the color between restarts. Cheap and irritating is what that is...having to reset the color every time you restart...Go with Razer.

Or, you know, you can get a perfectly adequate keyboard for under $15, and nobody online will never know that you don't have more money than brains (oh, I forgot - this is like "Type R" on your ricer!)

Is this really worth the premium???

No, this is not a good price for this keyboard but it is a nice one because it has backlit keys that make for easy gaming or typing in the dark. I have seen the previous versions get as cheap as $30 shipped.

Version 2 is currently $48 shipped at the egg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823175001

I really like the LCD display of the G15, nice to be able to see system temperatures and resource usage.

The backlit keys are good for typing in the dark, which let's be honest, most of us do. I payed 20 bucks for my eclipse keyboards. This new version looks twice as large, and I'm not seeing why. As far as why you would buy this, Type R douche drinker's can't see in the dark with their 2 dollar badges. With this, you can.

But since I don't do windows, and cute windows buttons everywhere are of no use to anyone using a real OS, this is a pass. The version 1 and maybe version 2 work well. Stick with those and they'll last you.

#8, as I do agree with you on most parts of your post. Please don't bring up the "real" OS debate, if Windows(which consists 95% of consumer computing) is not a real OS, you either living on another planet, or you just have your eyes/ears half covered while browsing in the Linux or Mac forums only.

eclipse needs to make an ergonomic version

The one thing I've noticed with my original version of the Eclipse, which is now a few years old, is that the backlights have slowly gotten dimmer over time. Now on the highest setting, the keys are barely readable in the dark. While there is some paint fade on the keys, it is not very bad--all of the letters are still clearly visible. The keyboard has a nice feel to it and is still as quiet and responsive as when I bought it.

That said, the one feature I would really like to see on a backlit keyboard such as the Eclipse would be a "screen saver" for the backlight. After, say, 5 minutes of no usage, the backlight would turn off. That would ensure a much longer life from the LEDs. Then again, it's not really in the keyboard manufacturer's interest to make a keyboard whose backlight will last 5+ years.

Well I hope the third time's a charm for Saitek. I have the Eclipse I and yes, the paint was wearing off the keys. Since it was only 4 months old, I e-mailed support and they asked me which keys, and sent me new ones to pop in. Kind of cheesy, but at least they did something. I'm sure the new keys' paint will wear off down the line too, though. Sounds like the Saitek II didn't fare any better with this problem.

So unless they corrcted this problem with this 3rd revision, I'd look elsewhere for an illuminated keyboard.