I understand your points, however I don't necessarily agree with you. I think they were going for the big hollow sound of 90s IBM keyboards, hence the clicky switches. RGBs weren't a thing in those days either. If you come at it from that perspective, it's a really interesting keyboard. I really like how easy it is to record macros on both the BA keys and the giant macropad. I'm hoping they will have additional modals later with the inclusion of 4 headphone jacks. I am happy with my purchase. I think if someone wanted a more modern keyboard with a retro look, I would direct them to the GMK87. It has all the features you want in a modern keyboard at a low price that would allow them to buy keycaps and switches to make it look retro. Too bad they don't have a beige color! Maybe someday.

@MechKeyboards

6 ай бұрын

I appreciate your points, I think I may have just set my expectations too high. I thought it would have the ridges, I assumed it would have LEDs not because LEDs were big during this time period, but is almost a "badge" for gamers now a days. I also feel that had they gotten a license from Nintendo, they could have gone all out on the design and could have really been something I would have gotten behind. Yes, keyboards back in the day were big, loud, and hollow, but my expectations was a new keyboard with retro aesthetics; a nice sounding and feeling keyboard, with that touch of nostalgia that enhanced the product; I'm of the opinion that it detracts from it. Again, I think I set my expectations too high, cheers!

@nebulazykbs

6 ай бұрын

@@MechKeyboards I watched some reviews before I purchased mine, so I knew what it was going into it. I think it feels nice for a clicky board. The Kailh V2s are like $30 alone, so the keyboard price isn't that bad considering. I think the fins would've been amazing to have, definitely agree with you there. I still own my NES, the same one I've been playing since I was 11. I think it's fair to have high expectations though, considering what you get for the money with a lot of the budget keyboards coming out lately. $100 for this keyboard or a tiny bit more for the Rainy75. Didn't think there would ever be this many options! We are truly living in a magical time for keyboards.

@MechKeyboards

6 ай бұрын

@@nebulazykbs it truly is a magical time!

Good and honest review. Thank you! I just got my IBM M (design) model, which is the latest addition to their collection, and although I expected more (spoiled by Keychron, I guess), I get why this keyboard is the way it is. It gave me goosebumps when I put it on my desk and started typing. A part of me felt like a 15 year-old again. The premium you pay is mainly for the look and feel, and it does hit home if you're older than 40. It sounds a bit hollow, but the overall feeling is close enough to that of the original IBM. I like the travel distance of the keys, and the puritan in me secretly wishes that the top left knobs and extra buttons weren't there. It is loud enough to stay home and not become an office keyboard, although it would've been great to see the look on the colleagues faces, especially my generation.

I recently picked this one up and knew it was meant to be this way, and like it for what it is. Your paying for what it looks like.

@MechKeyboards

4 ай бұрын

I was hoping it would feel and look good, if the plastic actually used some molding and the construction a bit more substantial, I would have loved it, but glad to hear you liked it.

I ordered two of the Famicon keyboards and returned both because they both had a defect of the volume dial missing inputs especially obvious when u switch between two different notches on the dial. Support was not able to assist me, only offered me replacement, for two keyboards to have the same issue, I've concluded it is a design flaw. At this price point, I wanted a robust product. I don't see reviewer mention this but this was 2 months ago and I was never able to fish for a video reviewer to tell me that they had the same issue.

@MechKeyboards

3 ай бұрын

I'm not surprised, these are so cheaply made. Sorry to hear of your issues, cheers.

Thanks for the info, i think i'm going to cancel my order of this & look elsewere. I want a Wireless keyboard to pair up with my steam deck oled and I assumed this would be a good idea. You've put me off though with your analysis/ review and i do feel like its a bit expensive (I payed £86) on amazon uk a few days ago... After what you've said i think i would prefer my keyboard to have less of a loud/ eventually annoying click. I am mostly clueless with knowing what to look for and how different keys and switches work etc, so i feel a bit like i'm back to square 1 in knowing what to pick, I'm definitely not clued up enough to bother messing around with a barebones type of board and adding my own mods to it, so what wireless gaming keyboards would you think i should look at for steam deck gaming? I want really low input lag to enable me to play competitively at times and a wirless signal that stays connected consistently, if i have to I'd consider a hybrid keyboard that is able to perform well enough wirelessly but is more designed to be used wired for input lag, consistency with keystrokes and stuff. Also, I do game in a dark room plenty of a night so i think leds/ rgb would benefit me more than a none led keyboard like this 8bitdo model. My budget is similar to £85/ $100 or less though, I can't justify spending over $100 on a keyboard for steam deck as i play on xbox and playstation alot too and the keyboard wouldnt get used enough to justify the purchase. Any help from you guys would be greatly appreciated. I'm struggling to decide between logitech, redragon, royal kludge, etc so many brands and models and hard to know if some of them would even be compatible with steamdeck. I have tried to do a good amount of research on keyboards over the last few days but some of the wording/ technical terms used just makes the it overwhelming.

@MechKeyboards

6 ай бұрын

Redragon boards are engineered for gaming, I've reviewed a few. Staying with the same profile, TKL, S113 or the K552 both ~ £50 on Amazon UK.

@PeterLFC96

6 ай бұрын

@@MechKeyboards how do you narrow it down to specific model numbers though for example? Sorry to be a pain, redragon seem to have a crazy amount of models on amazon though or their own website, i do think i would prefer a wireless 1 which should help me narrow it down alot, Thanks for the recommendations

@MechKeyboards

6 ай бұрын

@@PeterLFC96 which layout would you prefer? 60, 65, 75, 80, 100 percent?

@PeterLFC96

6 ай бұрын

@@MechKeyboards If i was to go for either a 60 or 65% size what functions would i be missing out on? If theres not much i'd miss out on i suppose a smaller form factor would be my best option since i dont have a desk setup in my home yet.

@MechKeyboards

6 ай бұрын

@@PeterLFC96 a 60% wont have arrow keys, but a 65 is a nice middle ground, and function keys can always be accessed using the function key plus a number. I would usually recommend the K631 Pro, but I can't find it on Amazon UK. The K649 Pro is a 75% and is also gasket mounted (softer typing feel), and is available for £69. This is my review of it: kzread.info/dash/bejne/l6F3l6WPoMnLZ6Q.html

A Tester68 is a much better keyboard than this one and that is saying a lot! This keyboard is obviously not intended for the keyboard enthusiast, it target is just your normal folk that wants something that looks retro and doesn´t know any better. That is why they are charging $100 bucks for it. It´s shame you didn´t mod it as long as you had it open, it would have been interesting to see you make it sound much better.

@MechKeyboards

6 ай бұрын

If I didn't have a backlog of keyboards, I would have modded it, but I've got some new and interesting boards coming down the pipe and I just couldn't justify spending more time on this one. And yes, I'd rather a Tester68 over this any day! 😃

Sounds like a 22$ Redragon K552 KUMARA from 2018 to me. Not great. Maybe with quite a lot of work it could sound alright but by the look of it, it's not worth it.

@MechKeyboards

6 ай бұрын

I'd almost give the edge to the Kumara, but yes, my thoughts as well.

@TheRealFlott

6 ай бұрын

@@MechKeyboards At least the 8Bit Retro gets an easy win for the stabs. The Kumara stabs were absolutely awful (at least in it's 2018, red only backlight version). It was also the most unreliable keyboard I ever encountered. Fun story, two of my colleagues and I all bought the Redragon 552 Kumara to annoy each other at the office =] All 3 boards had double actuation issues after 3 to 8 months. Redragon honored the warranty... and the replacements had the same issue. All of them ended up at our local electronic recycling center except two that are now used by my youngest kid as toys. At least we had fun while it lasted haha.

@MechKeyboards

6 ай бұрын

@@TheRealFlott one of the first full mods I did was to the K551 full sized! imgur.com/NTNIkVZ I still have a barebone K552 with a port I've been meaning to mod up and turn into a thock beast! I've always been fond of Redragon keebs; they haven't always been the best, but their service always comes through. Now where did I leave that K552 barebone...

@TheRealFlott

6 ай бұрын

​@@MechKeyboards Wow! That's pretty cool! Do you happen to know when you purchased your K552? Just like Royal Kludge with keyboards like the RK61, Redragon made massive improvements to their keyboard over the years without changing the sku. My K552 was basically e-waste (that's a shame, nothing I hate more than sending stuff to the landfill) but my understanding is that they eventually fixed whatever issue they had with the PCB in the one I had. Yours might be actually worth modding ;) I would love to see that. Another weird anecdote, the RK61 I bought on amazon in 2019 was actually shipped by Redragon... It made me quite nervous that I was going to get another lemon at the time. Spoiler alert, my RK61 is still working working perfectly. I'm planing to do some work on it and share the result (bad or good) on /r/budgetkeebs Anyway, thank you for sharing! Cheers

@MechKeyboards

6 ай бұрын

@@TheRealFlott I got mine in July 2020, still using the Outemu sockets but it still works. The barebone 551 I bought has 3/5 pin and USB socketted! I love my RK boards, though old as they are. Looking forward to the work on yours, I know I have a slate of older keebs I still have planned for modding just calling my name! Cheers!