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Melodist
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Aug 24, 2016
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livingspeedbump
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KeyChatter’s Owner and Editor-in-Chief
Aug 24, 2016
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MelodistOk. For starters I've spent a lot of time with a lot of keyboards, including the White Fox https://www.keychatter.com/2016/07/25/review-whitefox-by-matt3omassdropic/
Comparing something like the White Fox to the POK3R is a stretch, right out of the gate. You can't really compare a keyboard custom designed by community members to a mass produced keyboard like the Poker, with a few similarities at best. I've had Pokers since the Poker X, and none of them have come in perfect condition. Notably all 4 POK3Rs I've had all came with loose solder under the PCB that shook around in the case. The keycaps are honestly just shit quality as well for most Vortex stuff. Many come warped or scratched. A few of my Pokers also came with repeat keys. Generally the QC of Vortex stuff isn't fantastic by any stretch and the pricing proves they cut all the corners they can.
Have you ever tried to program a Poker? It sucks. Input Club probably has the best GUI for programming keyboards out there right now. It is incredibly simple to use, but also quite powerful. Remember, these guys not only designed the actual keyboard case, but also the PCB, the firmware, the GUI, the keycap set. The whole package deal. All of that takes a lot, A LOT of time. Hell, I spent well over 100 hours just designing my keycap set alone. I can't imagine all the hours it really would take to develop an entire keyboard. The quality of everything form the keyboard to the packaging was all top notch as well. A huge feat as far as I'm concerned.
Speaking of development, Massdrop basically fronted all of the money for research and development. Something else that people just seem to completely overlook. You can't just design a new product, and expect to compete price wise with the huge established companies in any field. It just doesn't happen. Want a steel knife? Buy a Gerber for $40 in the store or $250 from a small shop than hand makes each and every one. Want a fast car? Buy a Corvette for $80k or something like a very hands on car like a Noble for $250k+. Other custom keyboards (Duck, OTD, etc) easily cost$350+, and include less than the White Fox, though are of comparable quality.
Huge companies, like Vortex, also have to pay for R&D, but the cost can be offset the by huge number of units they sell. Customs, like the White Fox, don't sell nearly the same volume, thus the price increases. Other community customs have cost $350-$500+ because it is EXTREMELY expensive to prototype keyboards. Most customs are just a PCB+Plate+Case. The White Fox added multiple styles of plates, packaging, and keycaps into the mix.
Moral of the story, this is a FANTASTIC price for a 100% custom keyboard. It is absolutely absurd to expect keyboard like this to compete in price with a mass produced keyboard like the Poker or V60, or whatever. I would encourage you to do a lot more research into what things actually cost.
Comparing something like the White Fox to the POK3R is a stretch, right out of the gate. You can't really compare a keyboard custom designed by community members to a mass produced keyboard like the Poker, with a few similarities at best. I've had Pokers since the Poker X, and none of them have come in perfect condition. Notably all 4 POK3Rs I've had all came with loose solder under the PCB that shook around in the case. The keycaps are honestly just shit quality as well for most Vortex stuff. Many come warped or scratched. A few of my Pokers also came with repeat keys. Generally the QC of Vortex stuff isn't fantastic by any stretch and the pricing proves they cut all the corners they can.
Have you ever tried to program a Poker? It sucks. Input Club probably has the best GUI for programming keyboards out there right now. It is incredibly simple to use, but also quite powerful. Remember, these guys not only designed the actual keyboard case, but also the PCB, the firmware, the GUI, the keycap set. The whole package deal. All of that takes a lot, A LOT of time. Hell, I spent well over 100 hours just designing my keycap set alone. I can't imagine all the hours it really would take to develop an entire keyboard. The quality of everything form the keyboard to the packaging was all top notch as well. A huge feat as far as I'm concerned.
Speaking of development, Massdrop basically fronted all of the money for research and development. Something else that people just seem to completely overlook. You can't just design a new product, and expect to compete price wise with the huge established companies in any field. It just doesn't happen. Want a steel knife? Buy a Gerber for $40 in the store or $250 from a small shop than hand makes each and every one. Want a fast car? Buy a Corvette for $80k or something like a very hands on car like a Noble for $250k+. Other custom keyboards (Duck, OTD, etc) easily cost$350+, and include less than the White Fox, though are of comparable quality.
Huge companies, like Vortex, also have to pay for R&D, but the cost can be offset the by huge number of units they sell. Customs, like the White Fox, don't sell nearly the same volume, thus the price increases. Other community customs have cost $350-$500+ because it is EXTREMELY expensive to prototype keyboards. Most customs are just a PCB+Plate+Case. The White Fox added multiple styles of plates, packaging, and keycaps into the mix.
Moral of the story, this is a FANTASTIC price for a 100% custom keyboard. It is absolutely absurd to expect keyboard like this to compete in price with a mass produced keyboard like the Poker or V60, or whatever. I would encourage you to do a lot more research into what things actually cost.
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Having said all that, I'd appreciate whoever puts this massdrop together, for this being a massdrop, to offer a more realistic price to lure people in that actually have a sense of the money they spend, and then, the keyboard might reach a much broader scale of interest than solely the fashion and trend driven mechanical keyboard enthusiasts. Because again, for this being a "MASSDROPP", sounds to me that you'd benefit from a lower price, yet for nearly 200 bucks, this is built to order pricing.