Zarathustra
Cloudless
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2019
- Messages
- 4,133
- Points
- 113
(Pun intended)
I was about to thread jack a Keyboard press release news post, but then figured,m there must be a keyboard/mouse thread already, right?
Well, turns out I was wrong. So now I am creating one.
I recently picked up a WASD Keyboard CODE V3. I wanted something more durable than the ABS case on my Ducky One, as the spots I usually rest my fingers were worn smooth and shiny and looked like ****, so I decided to get something a little more durable, and spent way more money than I had intended on the anodized black aluminum version.
I waited quite a while to buy, as I love heavy clicky switches, and the Cherry MX Greens I wanted were out of stock, but they finally got the green switch versions back in, and I pounced.
It's an amazing keyboard, striking in its simplistic appearance, fantastic fit and finish, tight tolerances and very rigid and delicious to type on. It's like a Monolith on its side. Pictures do not do it justice.
Only downside is that the ABS caps, while they looked great new started wearing shiny after only 2 weeks of use.
I decided I can't have that, so I went keycap shopping, which is a topic I knew nothing about, and still know very little about.
Apparently good keycaps are difficult to find, and when you find them they are usually pretty expensive.
I ordered a set of Dolch-colored (apparently that's a standard color scheme?) Shine Through PBT keycaps made by some manufacturer going by the name of "YMDK":
These are pretty nice. Shine through is not quite as crisp as the OEM ABS caps, but that is one of the trade offs for going with the greater wear resistance (and nice texture) of PBT. They appear similar in thickness and shape to the OEM caps.
There are some things I don't like though:
- Lettering is comically oversized, giving it kind of a "Fisher-Price my first keyboard" feel, especially on the F-keys. This isn't entirely apparent in pictures until viewed up close:
While I do like the color scheme, it is not exactly as expected. The keys have three different colors. What I thought I was getting was "black", "dark grey" and the red Escape.
I wasn't crazy about the red escape (overdone 15 years ago by Das Keyboard) but I was thinking, well I have lots of left over black PBT caps from y Ducky One's. One of the black Escape keys will do.
Except, What I thought was black was actually dark grey (almost with a hint of brown) and what I thought was dark grey was actually a medium to light grey. This means the darker pattern I was hoping for didn't happen, and my black PBT escape keys don't match the colors of the other keys, so I am stuck with the red escape. At least for now.
The biggest issue I had with the new caps was that when I first started typing on them, I frequently hit them off center, making them not move down and register key-presses. Not sure why this was, as they appear almost identical in shape to the OEM caps. A couple of days of typing and this doesn't seem to happen anymore. Maybe they have been beaten into submission, or maybe I have subconsciously trained my fingers.
Another downside is that there is some resonance with these caps. Most I could live with, but there is a significant vibration in the space bar which is particularly bad when I am typing quickly. Not sure why that is. It was not there with the OEM spacebar.
These keycaps will have to do for now. As keycaps go, they were reasonably affordable at $30. More premium keycaps can cost over $200
I don't think I am going to go off the deep end into luxury skycaps like some people have, but I am going to casually shop around for something I like slightly better than this.
As far as the mouse, I'm still using the Logitech MX518 Re-release model. I like the shape on them, they just feel right to my hands, but unlike my G5 and G500 I had before them, they don't have the weight cartridges. I used to max those things out, as I love some heft and tracking stability, and the MX518 - at 101g - was just too **** light for my tastes....
...so I modded it. Bought some tungsten putty used for tuning pinewood derby cars, and plopped about 3ox of the stuff inside the mouse, as evenly distributed as I could and put the cover back on. End result? 185g. That's pretty good for me.
Only downside to this mouse is that the circle with the G logo is just some shiny emulated-chrome button which they have coated over most of in black, leaving the G logo shiny. This means, the black coating wears off and looks like **** fairly quickly. I've been touching it up with a Sharpie every couple of months, but that is not ideal. I am plotting some sort of permanent solution. I wish I could pull that button out, but there is no screw on the inside, so I presume it is just heat-staked in place. Eventually I'll think of something. It seems wasteful to replace such a good mouse just because of ****ty wear resistance on the exterior shell.
A while back these MX518's were on sale for $39, so I stocked up. Bought like 5 of them. I learned my lesson with my favorite mouse ever, the G500. When it wore out, I couldn't find a replacement I liked. Took me like 2 years of mice I hated until the MX518 launch saved my ***. I'm not going to let this happen again.
Since then, I'm guessing they have discontinued them again, as I can't find them on Logitechs main page, and the sellers on Amazon all list few quantities left and want $89-$109 for them...
So, yeah, that's where I am right now. To summarize:
- WASD CODE v3 with Cherry MX Green switches and Black Anodized Aluminum case and shine-through YMDK PBT "Dolch" pattern keycaps.
- Logitech MX518 (relaunch model) modded with tungsten putty to a total of 185g weight.
It's not my perfect setup, but I am reasonably happy with it.
Now show me yours!
I was about to thread jack a Keyboard press release news post, but then figured,m there must be a keyboard/mouse thread already, right?
Well, turns out I was wrong. So now I am creating one.
I recently picked up a WASD Keyboard CODE V3. I wanted something more durable than the ABS case on my Ducky One, as the spots I usually rest my fingers were worn smooth and shiny and looked like ****, so I decided to get something a little more durable, and spent way more money than I had intended on the anodized black aluminum version.
I waited quite a while to buy, as I love heavy clicky switches, and the Cherry MX Greens I wanted were out of stock, but they finally got the green switch versions back in, and I pounced.
It's an amazing keyboard, striking in its simplistic appearance, fantastic fit and finish, tight tolerances and very rigid and delicious to type on. It's like a Monolith on its side. Pictures do not do it justice.
Only downside is that the ABS caps, while they looked great new started wearing shiny after only 2 weeks of use.
I decided I can't have that, so I went keycap shopping, which is a topic I knew nothing about, and still know very little about.
Apparently good keycaps are difficult to find, and when you find them they are usually pretty expensive.
I ordered a set of Dolch-colored (apparently that's a standard color scheme?) Shine Through PBT keycaps made by some manufacturer going by the name of "YMDK":
These are pretty nice. Shine through is not quite as crisp as the OEM ABS caps, but that is one of the trade offs for going with the greater wear resistance (and nice texture) of PBT. They appear similar in thickness and shape to the OEM caps.
There are some things I don't like though:
- Lettering is comically oversized, giving it kind of a "Fisher-Price my first keyboard" feel, especially on the F-keys. This isn't entirely apparent in pictures until viewed up close:
While I do like the color scheme, it is not exactly as expected. The keys have three different colors. What I thought I was getting was "black", "dark grey" and the red Escape.
I wasn't crazy about the red escape (overdone 15 years ago by Das Keyboard) but I was thinking, well I have lots of left over black PBT caps from y Ducky One's. One of the black Escape keys will do.
Except, What I thought was black was actually dark grey (almost with a hint of brown) and what I thought was dark grey was actually a medium to light grey. This means the darker pattern I was hoping for didn't happen, and my black PBT escape keys don't match the colors of the other keys, so I am stuck with the red escape. At least for now.
The biggest issue I had with the new caps was that when I first started typing on them, I frequently hit them off center, making them not move down and register key-presses. Not sure why this was, as they appear almost identical in shape to the OEM caps. A couple of days of typing and this doesn't seem to happen anymore. Maybe they have been beaten into submission, or maybe I have subconsciously trained my fingers.
Another downside is that there is some resonance with these caps. Most I could live with, but there is a significant vibration in the space bar which is particularly bad when I am typing quickly. Not sure why that is. It was not there with the OEM spacebar.
These keycaps will have to do for now. As keycaps go, they were reasonably affordable at $30. More premium keycaps can cost over $200
I don't think I am going to go off the deep end into luxury skycaps like some people have, but I am going to casually shop around for something I like slightly better than this.
As far as the mouse, I'm still using the Logitech MX518 Re-release model. I like the shape on them, they just feel right to my hands, but unlike my G5 and G500 I had before them, they don't have the weight cartridges. I used to max those things out, as I love some heft and tracking stability, and the MX518 - at 101g - was just too **** light for my tastes....
...so I modded it. Bought some tungsten putty used for tuning pinewood derby cars, and plopped about 3ox of the stuff inside the mouse, as evenly distributed as I could and put the cover back on. End result? 185g. That's pretty good for me.
Only downside to this mouse is that the circle with the G logo is just some shiny emulated-chrome button which they have coated over most of in black, leaving the G logo shiny. This means, the black coating wears off and looks like **** fairly quickly. I've been touching it up with a Sharpie every couple of months, but that is not ideal. I am plotting some sort of permanent solution. I wish I could pull that button out, but there is no screw on the inside, so I presume it is just heat-staked in place. Eventually I'll think of something. It seems wasteful to replace such a good mouse just because of ****ty wear resistance on the exterior shell.
A while back these MX518's were on sale for $39, so I stocked up. Bought like 5 of them. I learned my lesson with my favorite mouse ever, the G500. When it wore out, I couldn't find a replacement I liked. Took me like 2 years of mice I hated until the MX518 launch saved my ***. I'm not going to let this happen again.
Since then, I'm guessing they have discontinued them again, as I can't find them on Logitechs main page, and the sellers on Amazon all list few quantities left and want $89-$109 for them...
So, yeah, that's where I am right now. To summarize:
- WASD CODE v3 with Cherry MX Green switches and Black Anodized Aluminum case and shine-through YMDK PBT "Dolch" pattern keycaps.
- Logitech MX518 (relaunch model) modded with tungsten putty to a total of 185g weight.
It's not my perfect setup, but I am reasonably happy with it.
Now show me yours!