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Hadtomakeausername
66
Mar 9, 2017
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I never normally post reviews or anything like that about items I have purchased however I felt like I should give some of my first impressions in this instance. I really hate to say it and I feel like a bit of a douche for doing so but I'm really disappointed with the quality of this keyboard. I have no doubt XMIT intended to create the best possible, high quality product and I realise this is the first round without the manufacturer being tested previously. I purchased the 70g bamboo TKL. I purchased the board primarily because it was different and interesting, and something I thought I would like to try out. I'll try to post some of my thoughts and not go over too many of the issues that people have already mentioned.
Firstly the keycaps are pretty horrible quality. Yes they are pbt doubleshot with pom however they are extremely thin with nasty legends and from what I can tell they really amplify the overall rattling of the keyboard. The caps are a minor issue for me personally and I imagine a lot of people as many people interested in this hobby I would assume have aftermarket sets they would wish to use. I also realise this board was $99 so the price has to come in to the equation when looking at not only the quality of the caps but the keyboard overall as well. There are also some issues with the fit, I haven't looked into whether this is a problem with the caps or the sliders. Taking the price into account I don't really see the keycaps as too much of an issue, though to be honest I would have preferred the generic abs caps that many mass produced rgb keyboards use. The option for a 'barebones' board without the caps would have been welcomed as well by myself.
The main issue I have with the board is the overall build quality and quality control. The board is very rattly, as far as I can tell the included caps do not help with this, but even without caps and using other more premium caps the upstroke is very loud. Looking at the slider mechanism I think some lube/dampening material placed on the sliders and the two tabs at the bottom of the slider that prevent it from flying out would definitely help to alleviate this. The finish of the bamboo is pretty poor and I don't think it would have taken a huge amount of extra effort to do a better job of sanding/finishing it. My case is also cracked on the top left beside pg up and pg dn, I'm not too bothered about this but I can imagine a lot of people would be.
I feel like with an increase in quality this could be a really great board though. The hall effect implementation seems to work exactly as expected (not that I have any other hall effect boards to compare to). The rgb also works well and there are a large variety of modes and options to choose from. I think the slider mechanism could be refined to give a much more quiet and slightly smoother experience. As I've said previously the main problem I have is just that it feels cheap and does not display the quality I would want in a keyboard. I personally would have been more than happy to pay a higher price in order to achieve this, however I realise I can only speak for myself. Sorry for the rambling and disorganised structure of this comment, I hadn't planned it out much before writing and I just blurted things out as they came to mind. (One other minor issue I just noticed is that the caps lock led doesn't work for me)
XMIT
881
XMIT
Mar 9, 2017
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HadtomakeausernameHadtomakeausername, thanks for the feedback.
On the key caps: there is some cost associated with maintaining additional SKUs. It got to a point where it was easier to bundle the included caps than to offer a separate "no caps" SKU. I personally /hate/ ABS caps so the decision to include PBT caps was my own.
The upstroke was much louder on earlier versions of the board. This is an ongoing effort.
There have been a lot of problems reported with the bamboo case, including cracking. If you don't want to return your board, at least please share photos of the cracking to see what we can do.
For future revisions I'm considering ABS plastic and aluminum bodies. Those would alleviate nearly all of the concerns we've seen so far.
On the key caps: there is some cost associated with maintaining additional SKUs. It got to a point where it was easier to bundle the included caps than to offer a separate "no caps" SKU. I personally /hate/ ABS caps so the decision to include PBT caps was my own.
The upstroke was much louder on earlier versions of the board. This is an ongoing effort.
There have been a lot of problems reported with the bamboo case, including cracking. If you don't want to return your board, at least please share photos of the cracking to see what we can do.
For future revisions I'm considering ABS plastic and aluminum bodies. Those would alleviate nearly all of the concerns we've seen so far.
Hadtomakeausername
66
Mar 9, 2017
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XMITHi XMIT, thanks a lot for reading my comments and taking the time to respond. I also want to say thank you for taking them in such a professional and courteous manner.
With regards to the caps: In that case I can completely understand the decision, I too prefer pbt to abs generally however I think the quality/thickness is the most important aspect. For example I would say that thick GMK ABS is superior to the thinner PBT of Tai Hao sets. I realise that this is down to opinion and either way many higher quality keysets alone cost more than the price of this entire board.
I totally get that it may take several attempts to try to dampen the upstroke as much as possible. I don't think it would even be fair to consider it a defect to be honest. I just think that many people that are interested in this hobby (myself included) like to have the upstroke as quiet as it can be. So thanks for your ongoing effort with this =].
Sure no problem, I would be open to returning my board, I just wasn't sure if this would be possible/ok with massdrop. I thought it may also be complicated by the fact I live in the UK and not the US? I realise I mistakenly said the left side previously when in actual fact it is located on the right side. I'll include some photos below (sorry for the poor quality):
I would absolutely be behind an ABS/Aluminium body. I'd personally love a CNC aluminium one however I'm sure that would need a significant price increase and may lose a lot of potential buyers. Not to mention it would create a lot more additional work for yourself! Again thank you very much for your response and I'm sorry that there have been some issues experienced that were out of your control.
With regards to the caps: In that case I can completely understand the decision, I too prefer pbt to abs generally however I think the quality/thickness is the most important aspect. For example I would say that thick GMK ABS is superior to the thinner PBT of Tai Hao sets. I realise that this is down to opinion and either way many higher quality keysets alone cost more than the price of this entire board.
I totally get that it may take several attempts to try to dampen the upstroke as much as possible. I don't think it would even be fair to consider it a defect to be honest. I just think that many people that are interested in this hobby (myself included) like to have the upstroke as quiet as it can be. So thanks for your ongoing effort with this =].
Sure no problem, I would be open to returning my board, I just wasn't sure if this would be possible/ok with massdrop. I thought it may also be complicated by the fact I live in the UK and not the US? I realise I mistakenly said the left side previously when in actual fact it is located on the right side. I'll include some photos below (sorry for the poor quality):
I would absolutely be behind an ABS/Aluminium body. I'd personally love a CNC aluminium one however I'm sure that would need a significant price increase and may lose a lot of potential buyers. Not to mention it would create a lot more additional work for yourself! Again thank you very much for your response and I'm sorry that there have been some issues experienced that were out of your control.
XMIT
881
XMIT
Mar 9, 2017
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HadtomakeausernameHmm, that crack is disappointing indeed. I'm pushing for the top two layers to be glued together next time - this might help with cracking issues like this. Bamboo wood has a very strong grain.
If you want to explore a return please contact Massdrop support and include this thread in your request. Cheers.
If you want to explore a return please contact Massdrop support and include this thread in your request. Cheers.
Hadtomakeausername
66
Mar 9, 2017
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XMITYes I can see how that could help to prevent this from happening. It probably doesn't help that bamboo is a fairly brittle wood. No problem I will do, many thanks for your help and all the best with round 2. I have no doubt you will manage to iron out these issues and I will be purchasing a board then =].
Ayimera
0
Mar 17, 2017
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HadtomakeausernameMine also has cracks and a substantial hole on the side where it looks like a piece of the bamboo got knicked and fell out. Massdrop offered me a return np (or the choice to wait on a resolution, if they come up with one). I've been waffling on what to do.
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