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I have a little bit of a peculiar question: I have a handful of keyboards coming in with a variety of switches. I more or less have to review them and I'm not totally sure where to start. Are there common construction shortcuts different manufacturers might take? Are there common issues or pain points with relatively unknown manufacturers? And I guess the same goes for mice if anyone knows anything there. Pointing towards more technical/tough reviewers than hardware Canucks might also help since they're the only ones I know reviewing in the peripheral space. Thank you thread!
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Jul 4, 2017 03:47
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Constellation I posted:I don't really know if there's much more to talk about when reviewing keyboards. There's nothing much else to be said with regards to switches since they're a known quantity and all the different switch types have been done to death and sound sampled / type tested to death. Thank you! That's very constructive.
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Jul 4, 2017 17:28
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pgroce posted:Why are their shipping fees that much cheaper? They ship from China to their warehouse in NJ (I think?) and ship from there, right? I may be parting the kimono a bit much here, but most business settle on either: 1) margins via product 2) margins via shipment Most folks go for the former (i.e. 100% markup at retail), but if you cut that some and decide to go for volume instead, you've got a pretty good recipe for success. Most of the time folks go all in on the former instead of the latter and holding down a day job and then moving fully onto that when you can. But that's also probably not the right/amount of detail you were looking for.
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Aug 1, 2017 03:28
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I need some help, thread! I found my ideal keyboard, and it's the Coolermaster Masterkeys M with white LEDs and MX Brown switches, only downside is that it appears to be sold out everywhere. Is there anyone else that ticks those boxes? I would ideally like to pick up a pair of them, one for home one for office. https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-MasterKeys-Mechanical-Keyboard/dp/B01ITE93K6 Any other keyboards that have a compact layout, but keep the numpad? It's super useful for 3D modeling, but I don't like having full size keyboards. TYVM, beautiful thread. PS: Miami doubleshot keycaps on Massdrop: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/tai-hao-miami-keycap-set
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Aug 30, 2017 03:54
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surebet posted:your thing has been rolled into coolermaster's quickfire brand, now known as the tk (available as white leds & browns): That's weak about the TK, looks like standard keycaps should fit on the OG, though, so that's nice. I'll probably end up rebinding "00" to "0" - splitting the key would have been just as well.
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Aug 31, 2017 06:30
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surebet posted:you'll still have the 1u 0/00 issue, those caps aren't standard at all. if you want to run the stock caps that's not an issue, but if the intent is to barbie up a board, you might want to consider another alternative. I was just going to put the arrow keys there on a fresh set of caps and remap "00" to just another "0" in software. It may be a hair inconvenient, but beauty is pain. I have also found this website: https://meckeyalpha.com/products/ma98?variant=41516891598 And I can put together the exact keyboard I want with backlighting and Cherry Browns (no keycaps) for $118. Has anyone heard of this site before? I might rather just order a pair of boards from there. e: Turns out they're in Hong Kong and I'm just across the border for an extended trip, may post a trip report. NewFatMike fucked around with this message at 01:32 on Sep 1, 2017 |
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Sep 1, 2017 01:24
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surebet posted:speaking of filthy computing casuals, my sister needs to replace her clunky mouse+keyboard combos at home and at the office I spend a lot of time thinking about this exact thing! My questions would be: what laptop does she have? How many ports does she currently plug in on a daily basis? Are there other peripherals she uses? If she has something with TB3 or USB-C and uses an external monitor, then my recommendation would be a hub that uses those ports so she can charge, use the external monitor, and plug in her stuff with just one cable plug. Some kind of USB hub is my general recommendation anyway, that way you can get the best mouse and keyboard in the price range. In that scenario, it would be a maximum of 3 things plugging in every day: power, hub, and monitor. Keeping one hub and charger at work and one at home is the way to do it, too. That was my workflow for a long time and it worked well, although planning for expansion is a good idea in case she wants a new peripheral or two in the future and she runs out of USB ports. The Logitech MX mice are very good, and I guess it depends on what she's looking for in a keyboard? Does she need a numpad? What's she using now?
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Sep 10, 2017 13:03
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I had a few too many drinks earlier this week and have some keyboards arriving today (MK Fission RGB with Cherry Greens and Leopoldo FC980M with Cherry Blacks). Miami keycaps should be getting in next week (they were supposed to get in today, thanks FedEx for giving them a nice tour around Ohio!). Meantime, I’ve been getting my 3D printer settings tuned up:  I have some translucent orange and blue PETG for a full set I might give a shot when I’m out of purple. NewFatMike fucked around with this message at 17:20 on Nov 3, 2017 |
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Nov 3, 2017 17:18
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The Leopoldo FC980M with Cherry Blacks might be my end game. The literal only thing that I find remotely problematic is that it doesn’t have backlighting. With the grey side-panel legends, I think the Miami key caps I have coming in will fix the visibility issues. It rules and feels great, I hardly bottom out anymore and that is awesome.
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Nov 4, 2017 21:15
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Gotta return the Leopold, turns out it's not compatible with any key cap sets. I've had my eye on a board from MecKeyAlpha.com that has the odd layout I want (numpad, no nav cluster), will post a trip report.
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Nov 6, 2017 21:35
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I got my keyboard from MecKeyAlpha in! Trip report time: The caps are from MassDrop, but I think they’re the usual Tai-Hao Miami PBT caps without the biofilm or whatever. The setup from this site is really cool. You choose the board layout, lighting setup (no backlight, colors, white, whatever), and it’s all put together to order. The customer service is really great, and it took about a week from order to receipt from Hong Kong to Chicago with the upgraded shipping from UPS. That includes the assembly time. Packaging is good, comes in a pretty nondescript box with the company name on it, but there’s good bubble wrap everywhere, and it arrived in great shape. It’s pretty much everything I wanted from the Leopold FC980M I got and returned - keeping standard key caps on a non-standard layout, getting backlighting (kind of a critical feature for me) was great, and I don’t use arrow keys enough to be bothered by turning off the numlock. Compared to something like the Master Case Master Keys M: the split 0/00 kinda killed me (a slightly rejiggered numpad on the MecKeyAlpha and full-size 0 are great), and the MX Browns didn’t quite give me the feedback I needed that the MX Black switches provide. If you’re not a numpad junkie or don’t need a peculiar switch, then this one may not be for you. Pricing is pretty tough to beat - $118 for this keyboard with MX Blacks and white backlighting. It doesn’t come with key caps, but they have a bunch of different sets on the site. Lots of extra goodies were included - including a nicer key puller (one of the metal wire ones) along with the ring-shaped iso puller. A ton of USB cables were included - this board takes mini USB instead of micro USB (a little lame) but it has multiple coiled cables, and comes with a USB A-A extension cable and a Velcro cable wrapper. It also uses the Bootmapper Client software, which I’m new to, but the native macro and remapping functionality is great, so you can set up media/macro keys how you please. It’s my first time with that kind of software, so I’m pretty excited. The only downside is that to get the software to work right, I had to update the firmware on the keyboard. It’s not on the MecKeyAlpha page, so I had to dig around. Turns out it’s all based on WinKeyless.kr equipment, so that’s great! Customer service rules from MecKeyAlpha also. I had a bunch of questions leading up to my purchase, and ended up upgrading shipping after I had already pulled the trigger since my key caps came in early. They were happy to do so, and it was a quick and easy thing. Now I’m sad that I’m at work and away from my lovely new keyboard. Definitely going to buy some stuff from them in the future, too! It’s kind of a deal being able to get the exact keyboard you want for a pretty competitive price.
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Nov 14, 2017 18:28
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| # ¿ Apr 20, 2024 03:42 |
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HappyCapybaraFamily posted:I know it's Massdrop and all, but the Kailh BIG Switch amuses me. Not sure I'd use it for much more than a desktop fidget toy, but the more creative engineers out there might be able to make something interesting out of it. Map your overwatch ult to it. It's the best possible application.
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Dec 3, 2017 07:37
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