Epomaker has been doing some shady business lately. They claim to manufacture (and even did a group buy for this keyboard) their own boards, but they are just a rebrander. You could get the Dukharo VN96 for under $100, which is the original of this keyboard. None of their boards are cheaper than the alternatives they rebrand. None of their stuff is actually manufactured or designed by them, despite their claims. With the VN96, they even forged documents saying that they were the only reseller that was allowed to sell the keyboard, documents which were proven to be false and they backed down on the claims. Just FYI for anyone considering an Epomaker board, look to see if you can get the original for cheaper from somewhere else.

@AndyVNguyen

Жыл бұрын

Can you share where all this happened? I can believe matching internals because well that’s what a lot of these prebuilts do. They use the same factories. Forging documents is a hell of a claim.

@corecombat26

Жыл бұрын

Epomaker's not only rebranding Dukharo board but a lot other in their own name. The FK680 Pro in China was sold by them as "Epomaker 680 Gasket", the Keycool GZ68 as the "EP68" kit and so on. If you're in the west then it would be easier to buy from them, but for Asian just buy straight off Aliexpress or Taobao for cheaper

@HubertTheMad

Жыл бұрын

@@AndyVNguyen hopefully this reply doesn't get deleted (I've posted numerous times with details), look on r/mechanicalkeyboards and type in said brand in the video title as well as kprepublic (a search on r/mk with just the brand name, and then a search on r/mk with just KPrepublic). The posts are about 3 months ago dated October 2022 explaining both parties and their explanations regarding Dukharo and the vn96

@AndyVNguyen

Жыл бұрын

So far I do see there's other names for similar products at different price points in different markets. So yeah just buy whoever sells it cheaper. Not too much of a surprise here I wouldn't put weight on the forging documents or anything claiming they're the only vendors allowed to sell x product. These are Chinese products lol the laws are way different than US copyright

@HubertTheMad

Жыл бұрын

​@@AndyVNguyen Makes sense that it's different over there. Tbh, I'm over it already - legit wrote three essays before realizing that they were all deleted by the algorithm lol. Anyways, keep up the great content

Dude, at work I use the numpad pretty often. Really glad that I got my RT100 its very pleasent to work on.(flamigo switches)

As someone who works a a product manager, I use the numpad often as I’m doing some programming stuff, data analysis, and lots of numbers for productivity.

People never consider that we use numpad for MACROS, very useful

I use my numpad daily but I'm only somewhat finance based, not a full accountant. I find it extremely useful but I have an even more compact option: the GK73XS. Been my daily since 2020 and, though somewhat frustrating sometimes (no navigation keys beyond the arrows, need to use shift on keypads for pgup/down etc), once programmed under layers there's exceptional usability to be had. Once I've configured the keyboard using the GX68 driver software it's fine due to onboard memory so it consistently works on other machines. Mine doesn't have 2.4Ghz or QMK/VIA. I was tempted by the TH96 when it dropped but I decided to stick with the smaller keyboard due to its compact size as I take it into the office when I go in.

@AndyVNguyen

Жыл бұрын

I definitely prefer smaller keyboards even with work. I just got really good at using numrow. Big chonkers are annoying to haul around.

@TheChiraagG

Жыл бұрын

@@AndyVNguyen the GK73XS is thankfully fairly small for a keyboard with a numpad and if you don't want to use it all the time just use it as a macro pad the rest of the time. But without it you can still go a tad bit smaller and get better key spacing - I'd prefer some separation of arrow keys and dedicated nav keys hence the temptation of the TH96 but not biting because, as you say, chonky boards aren't fun to take with you.

I use a 96% for work. I use the numpad daily and the 96% means it's easy to slip into my laptop bag at the end of the day. I just picked up a barebones th96 in grey to pair with some custom spring boba u4's and some shine through caps for at home too. 96% with a volume knob is just about a perfect setup for me and to be honest I like that numlock is hidden behind a function key. I hate hitting that on accident

There is never a backspace on the numpad...

I'm not that sweaty with keyboards and this feels like a good option for someone who is looking for a nice aesthetic, price, and it just works right out the box. The Keychron q5 is great but it's wired.

@AndyVNguyen

Жыл бұрын

wireless in keyboards these days is a cool feature that i forgot i missed tbh. once i got into customs i forgot about how nice having no cables was

@jayrollo1352

Жыл бұрын

@@AndyVNguyen Yeah haha that seems to be the case. My company is letting us expense mech keyboards and I've just been on the hunt for the perfect one since it's on the company's dime lol. I've been considering the Epomaker th96 cuz it just checks so many boxes.

Obviously not a networking person. Enter IP addresses all day and you’ll miss the 10 key.

I want a numpad is my only thing.. so thanks for reviewing. any recent budget suggestions? maybe ebay? i'm looking to spend no more than what this one costs retail.

Just picked it up for $45 USD shipped 😎

I play a "competitive fps", CounterStrike, on a daily basis. after years of playing the game I have learned to buy weapons with only the numepad with combinations pressed. I know a lot of people have purchase bindings on numepad and I bet I'm not the only one who would struggle for quite some time without numepad.

check out the ajazz ak966, 1800/96% keyboard with proper sized knob and more uniform looking

Some games like Arma require numpad for the best flight experience - i'm guessing some flight sims are like that as well. Also software testers user num pads :)

Hi bro, can you recommend a low-profile keycap for the stock switch?

well, there's a sucker born every minute....... is what they said when putting it up for sale

end key also missing, but its not the end of the world for me

yeah not a fan either, just got in the space and got the EP84 from them @ 67e shipped and w/ taxes so felt pretty good, did all the mods but damn I missed out the qwertykeys qk75 I feel like I would of got that and called it a day on keyboards only changing internals like plates, switches and stabs every so often. The IQUNIX 80 explorer is the most interesting keyboard I've wanted but holding out for a qk75 some time in the future.

@AndyVNguyen

Жыл бұрын

I do like iqunix options more for sure. Qk75 looks pretty cool - owlab doing good work

Put me in the pro-knob column. They're fun.

Only reason why I want a numpad is because I enter a lot of numbers for work.

@AndyVNguyen

Жыл бұрын

definitely valid

Did you say that there's a backspace on the numpad? or did I mishear that?

I use a numpad on a few of my games. If you play some milsim games squad and arma ik at least need them. Need being subjective I survived without one but it makes life easier. I believe if you wanna do direct comms in squad you need one. Also and accounting student lol so mostly accountants using one definitely applies

Guys, can anyone say what is difference between th96 pro and th96?

Babe, 3D modeling requires number pad so bad. I get totally lost without it. HAHA

@AndyVNguyen

11 ай бұрын

Haha that makes sense. I’m in engineering and I have pretty minimal number input so I’ve been surviving

Mainstream should look into the southpaws, if for example you take tiger80 lite or even a 75% keeb and put numpad on the left side its the best of both worlds, I really dont understand why they're not popular

@AndyVNguyen

Жыл бұрын

It’s just very hard to get adoption for it. People aren’t used to it. Might be covering southpaw 75v2 soon tho

@sajers

Жыл бұрын

@@AndyVNguyen the problem with 75v2, beside being a custom and not a prebuilt, is the fact that the name might be misleading, call it 75 but it doesn't have a f-row? IMO the southpaw only makes sense if you're using numpad for work, and most people will also need f-keys and won't be happy to need to learn smashing fn key everytime they need to do something, but maybe thats just me being a fucking boomer 🤷‍♂

@AndyVNguyen

Жыл бұрын

yeah i let go of the original for a similar reason. i personally don't use the arrows in numpad bc it's weird lol. i want dedicated arrows

Just my 2 cents but I wish they had never started putting knobs on custom keyboards.

@AndyVNguyen

Жыл бұрын

I agree

I wanted to ask if some keys would go unresponsive for gaming, if you know.

@AndyVNguyen

Жыл бұрын

Like what keys?

@tenser727

Жыл бұрын

@@AndyVNguyen Like i dont know, if you have experienced typing issues with whatever keys

@AndyVNguyen

Жыл бұрын

Issues like that only happen if you spill something IMO

@tenser727

Жыл бұрын

@@AndyVNguyen do you have a keyboard you recommend for gaming?

numpad only for prassword? I think ppl dont use numpad because only play games, the same standard :D

I feel like when Keychron sells the V5 (which is in essense, the same layout) for basically half the price, it's hard to justify keyboards like this

@AndyVNguyen

Жыл бұрын

True

@iambear.6526

Жыл бұрын

The v5 is nothing like this...

Dogege where lumi

Un-first AND un-second #justsaying

@AndyVNguyen

Жыл бұрын

thank you for your service

A fully built V5 is less than $100 so the price is a little high for what it is

@AndyVNguyen

Жыл бұрын

true forgot about those keychain options

first

@kename1280

Жыл бұрын

No me

@AndyVNguyen

Жыл бұрын

@@kename1280 sorry Justin Lee won

@kename1280

Жыл бұрын

@@AndyVNguyen but I saw video first last night :copium:

@AndyVNguyen

Жыл бұрын

shoulda commented last night

We want to hear the keyboard, not you talking

@AndyVNguyen

Жыл бұрын

You must be lost