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Drop Signature Series Islay Night Keyboard

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Drop Signature Series Islay Night Keyboard

Name: Drop Signature Series Islay Night Keyboard
Brand: Drop
SKU: drop-signature-series-islay-night-keyboard
Price: 349 USD
Availability: OutOfStock
Rating: 4.25 (4 reviews)

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Product Description

Inspired by the dark and mystical colors found on one of Scotland’s most famous islands, the Islay Night Keyboard is a desktop destination few arrive at. Part of our Signature Series, it sports a shadowy and subdued aesthetic with a host of high-quality components for enthusiast-approved performance Read More

Customer Reviews

4.3

(4 reviews)

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Mkong

Dec 29, 2021

Verified Buyer

I love it

The color is really nice and i swap the keycaps for gmk kaiju. D60 pcb and case foam fit perfectly

Recommends this product? Yes

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in4mer

Jan 4, 2022

Hey there. Thanks for pointing that out, the sets I've found for sale here are single-color. Two of the keys are black-on-white MT3s, and each set is $110. I would prefer not spending $220 to replicate this set (I do have one of the Islays) Edit: Oh! I see, the extended set does come with a number of white keys. Thank you.

(Edited)

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Mkong

Jan 6, 2022

in4mersorry for late reply. but yeah its WOB come with the white esc and enter.

(Edited)

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ant1

Nov 4, 2021

Verified Buyer

it is awesome but a little expensive. Configurable via QMK, and you can see the default/factory layout. FN+Q toggles RGB, FN+W/E cycles through some animations. https://config.qmk.fm/#/tokyokeyboard/tokyo60/LAYOUT_60_hhkb

Recommends this product? Yes

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Niniison

Oct 29, 2021

Verified Buyer

Modding required !

Unfortunately, the stabs of my enter key and space bar started rattling upon five minutes of use. I am quite disappointed simply because of the high expectations I had based on the descriptions of this product. My expectation was full usability upon receiving the product because of its price point. It is still a beautiful product - great packaging, albeit my unit came with a bit of oil / fingerprints. Love the colors of the board, great feel provided by the keycaps. HHKB layout. Also, for any Drop Alt or CTRL users out there, this keyboard remembers the RGB settings and does not light up every time you plug it in again. Bottomline: I like it, it’s pretty, however do have the expectation that modding is required.

Recommends this product? Yes

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modest.gg

113

Oct 20, 2021

The best Signature Series keyboard, but is that enough?

The best Signature Series keyboard, but is that enough?

Disclosure: This product was provided to me by Drop to review in advance as a member of Drop Keycap Club. All opinions in this review are my own. Also pairs well with Scotch.

It’s no secret that Drop has received some flak from the enthusiast keyboard community over the past couple of years, mostly in response to the dated designs and lack of innovation in their keyboards. When I heard they were releasing a new series of Signature Series keyboards, I was hopeful they would be a direct response to community feedback considering they now own GeekHack, the number one forum in the enthusiast keyboard community. What a great opportunity for Drop to introduce a readily available, updated keyboard with a new mounting design and features that bring them back to the forefront of the rapidly growing community!

Upon delivery of this new mysteriously named keyboard, I was immediately impressed by the packaging and presentation. It feels special and premium, as the marketing would suggest. The new Islay Night keyboard is a new take on a familiar keyboard, and a truly classic layout. The deep forest green aluminum case is beautifully finished, and the heritage-inspired MT3 keycaps are a perfect complement in the white-on-black colorway. The keyboard certainly looks the part and gets you excited for what’s to come.

Unfortunately, that’s where the illusion starts to fall apart. As the saying goes, you can’t judge a book by its cover. In direct contrast to the fit and finish of the keyboard itself, the accessories are lackluster. The keycap puller is top-notch, but the cable is disappointingly rigid and bland, and the switch puller is borderline unusable. This isn’t a deal breaker, but it is surprising for a $350 keyboard. As soon as you plug the keyboard in to start typing, the acrylic sandwich layer lights up bright red like an alarm and you realize there are no instructions or guide to adjust or disable the lighting. This means you’ll have to search the internet for a map of the Scottish isles to decipher the layout, which should be included in the box (for anyone wondering - FN+Q is the usual shortcut to turn the lighting off). Equally alarming is the typing experience - specifically the sound. Due to the integrated plate and hollow case design, as well as the almost entirely non-lubricated stabilizers, the Islay Night keyboard is an echo chamber that pings with every keypress. This wouldn’t be a big issue if sound-dampening foam came pre-installed or if the proper allen key was included to take the bottom plate off the keyboard, but as it comes the keyboard is very harsh on the ears. I should also mention my particular unit came with a non-functioning tilde key due to a switch pin being jacked up during installation, which is a very easy fix.

Thankfully the Tokyo60 platform this new keyboard is based on has some well documented potential, and doesn’t take much time or effort to improve with the right tools. After disassembling the keyboard and installing various foams nearly everywhere they will fit, heavily lubricating the high quality PCB mounted stabilizers, and lubing/filming the switches if you feel inclined as I did, you’re rewarded with a really solid keyboard that types almost as well as it looks! It sounds noticeably deeper and more substantial, with an unmistakable sturdiness to fit the overall look and theme. Add to that the hotswap, QMK/VIA compatible PCB with south-facing five-pin switch support and you’re left with a good introduction into the custom keyboard community, and just maybe the “enthusiast-approved performance” that Drop touts in the product description.

The Islay Night keyboard is an interesting choice. On one hand, it’s very nice to look at and includes a good-but-dated case, solid (albeit pricey) Drop Holy Panda switches, and fantastic keycaps that are my personal favorite profile for typing. MT3 WoB keycaps really are some of the nicest quality keycaps money can buy. On the other hand, the out-of-the-box typing experience is harsh and disappointing and I can’t help but feel like the keyboard is lesser than the sum of its parts until it’s modified, and isn’t built to showcase its own components. I know Drop is capable of a whole lot more so why are they holding out in the midst of an increasingly competitive marketplace? Also, would it hurt drop to include five extra switches for when one inevitably stops working, or more than one lonely alternate keycap for a little more customization? All things considered, this keyboard is a worthwhile purchase with a few rather confusing caveats. If your decision to buy is based on looks alone, I can't fault you. Go ahead and just buy it. I doubt you'll regret it.

Recommends this product? Yes

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