Ducky DK9008 G2 Pro PBT Dyesub w/ Greens (UPDATED)

[nsrexler]

Just received this keyboard today, so I thought I'd do a quick write up of it.

Keyboard Body
There's not much I can say about the DK9008 body that hasn't already been said, so I'll keep this brief. This is a very solid board. There is no creak to it at all and it has a number of nice features. Overall it just feels like a very high quality product. I have nothing bad to say about it.

Switches
I really like the Greens so far, though they're not quite as heavy as I was expecting. Experience has taught me that first impressions can be misleading when it comes to switches, so I'll update this section of the review in a week or so when I've had more time to spend with the board.
Update: I really like the Green switches, but I'm still not sure if I like them better or worse than Clears. They feel nice but the clickiness is kind of annoying in a way that buckling springs aren't. I may end up removing the caps and just putting them on my Clear board, but we'll see.

Keycaps
The part everyone's been waiting for! I got the solid gray color scheme because that was the only one available with Greens. The gray is a little lighter than I was expecting, but it's a nice color scheme. The keycaps are very thick and have a nice solid feel to them. The surface is a little smoother than I'm used to with PBT, but it's not bad. The legends look great; they're very sharp and clear. There's a tiny bit of bleed on some of the legends, but it's barely noticeable.

(Sorry about the quality of the pictures, I don't have a real lighting setup right now.)

[Lupizza]

Nice! I'm about to order one with green switches too. I bought one with what the store said was white switches but I believe it might have been clear ones so I returned it. It's a shame they don't offer these in tkl, though.

[Jack Karneval]

Good overview man! MX Greens are my favorite switches so far, although the force they require does sometimes get me while I'm typing.

Nice! I'm about to order one with green switches too. I bought one with what the store said was white switches but I believe it might have been clear ones so I returned it. It's a shame they don't offer these in tkl, though.

Yeah, you gotta be careful depending on where you're ordering a board from. You'll sometimes hear MX White switches referred to as "Milky White" switches, whereas Clears used to be referred to as just "White" switches.

[kenmai9]

What switches did you have before? I use blacks and they're awesome but I do miss that tactile feel. I have another board with browns and I can't go back to it.. its too mushy. So I was thinking of going green. Do you have any relevant experience?

[nsrexler]

What switches did you have before? I use blacks and they're awesome but I do miss that tactile feel. I have another board with browns and I can't go back to it.. its too mushy. So I was thinking of going green. Do you have any relevant experience?

I was using mostly Clears before, and buckling springs before that. So far it feels like Clears are more tactile and heavier than Greens, although Greens have a more precise tactile bump. Buckling springs are more tactile and precise than both, although of course they're much louder.
I have never used Blacks and I've only very briefly used Browns a while ago, so I can't really compare either of those.
I did use Blues for a while, but I gave them up because they were too light. These Greens feel extremely similar to Blues, but just heavier enough that they feel a lot more comfortable to use IMO.

Again, I've only just got the board today though - I'll have to see how I feel after typing on Greens for a little while.

[Moosecraft]

Nice! I'm about to order one with green switches too. I bought one with what the store said was white switches but I believe it might have been clear ones so I returned it. It's a shame they don't offer these in tkl, though.

Are you sure they are MX clear and not MX white?
I got the impression that they are white from the Ducky Nordic thread over at DT.

[nsrexler]

Nice! I'm about to order one with green switches too. I bought one with what the store said was white switches but I believe it might have been clear ones so I returned it. It's a shame they don't offer these in tkl, though.

Are you sure they are MX clear and not MX white?
I got the impression that they are white from the Ducky Nordic thread over at DT.

They're definitely Clears, MK changed their listing for them a little while back. Some people have received theirs and they seem to be actual Clears.

[nsrexler]

Took some more photos because I didn't like how the first ones turned out.

[SeriouSSpotS]

Nice little review, striaght to the point. The keyboard looks awesome

[Lupizza]

Nice! I'm about to order one with green switches too. I bought one with what the store said was white switches but I believe it might have been clear ones so I returned it. It's a shame they don't offer these in tkl, though.

Are you sure they are MX clear and not MX white?
I got the impression that they are white from the Ducky Nordic thread over at DT.

Jag är ganska säker, ja. Det var detta jag köpte: http://www.netonnet.se/art/dator/kringutrustning/speltillbehor/mekaniska-tangentbord/ducky-g2prodyesubpbtmxwhite/188139.6061/ och det finns inget klickljud, och ej heller några piggar på ovansidan av brytaren, som det ska finnas på vita brytare.

[Moosecraft]

Nice! I'm about to order one with green switches too. I bought one with what the store said was white switches but I believe it might have been clear ones so I returned it. It's a shame they don't offer these in tkl, though.

Are you sure they are MX clear and not MX white?
I got the impression that they are white from the Ducky Nordic thread over at DT.

Jag är ganska säker, ja. Det var detta jag köpte: http://www.netonnet.se/art/dator/kringutrustning/speltillbehor/mekaniska-tangentbord/ducky-g2prodyesubpbtmxwhite/188139.6061/ och det finns inget klickljud, och ej heller några piggar på ovansidan av brytaren, som det ska finnas på vita brytare.

Thank you:)

[deadlyfunzo]

Just got mine this morning.

MX-blues. Blue/grey caps.

Freakin' love it. Would have loved to get greens but PCcasegear didn't stock them.
And love the clickyness of blue.

Sorry for crappy photo :S

[nsrexler]

Updated with switch impressions.

[Endzone]

I'm just wondering how much the board cost.  Also, aren't greens and dark grey switches both 80cN? 

[linziyi]

I'm just wondering how much the board cost.  Also, aren't greens and dark grey switches both 80cN?

It was 144 shipped when I brought it, and greens have a "click" while greys are linear

[nsrexler]

I'm just wondering how much the board cost.  Also, aren't greens and dark grey switches both 80cN?

Greens and Greys are both 80 cN at the actuation point, but Greys have a much heavier spring. Greens are that heavy at the actuation point because of the clicker.

[linziyi]

I'm just wondering how much the board cost.  Also, aren't greens and dark grey switches both 80cN?

Greens and Greys are both 80 cN at the actuation point, but Greys have a much heavier spring. Greens are that heavy at the actuation point because of the clicker.

:O I never know that greys have heavier spring! Nice to know

[nsrexler]

I'm just wondering how much the board cost.  Also, aren't greens and dark grey switches both 80cN?

Greens and Greys are both 80 cN at the actuation point, but Greys have a much heavier spring. Greens are that heavy at the actuation point because of the clicker.

:O I never know that greys have heavier spring! Nice to know

Yep, it means that Greys are much heavier on bottom-out than Greens are. I should note that I've never actually tried Greys before, I'm basing this purely on the technical specs.

[linziyi]

Then maybe I should return my Green and get a Grey... already have a XT green

[Ki Bored]

Great review, thanks.

I was thinking of getting this very board because I think I might like the green switches. Then I noticed the comments comparing the clears to the greens. Are clears tactile? And are they quieter than greens?

Also, is it possible to get/buy different color key caps for this specific Ducky board ? (I would like to configure the board in a two tone grey with beige or white keys)

[samwisekoi]

Cross-post:  Problem with Imsto spacebar on Ducky Pro with Greens:

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=44939.msg949282#msg949282

 - Ron | samwisekoi

[nsrexler]

Cross-post:  Problem with Imsto spacebar on Ducky Pro with Greens:

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=44939.msg949282#msg949282

 - Ron | samwisekoi

I don't have any Imsto keycaps so I can't try it, sorry.

[nsrexler]

Great review, thanks.

I was thinking of getting this very board because I think I might like the green switches. Then I noticed the comments comparing the clears to the greens. Are clears tactile? And are they quieter than greens?

Also, is it possible to get/buy different color key caps for this specific Ducky board ? (I would like to configure the board in a two tone grey with beige or white keys)

I have another board with Clears. They're more tactile than the greens, but the tactile bump is "rounder" and less precise than the greens. They're definitely much quieter than Greens.

At this time it's not possible to buy this board in anything but solid grey or to buy the keycaps separately. From what ShakeR said over on the MK forum, it sounds like Ducky is never going to make these keycaps again because of difficulties in manufacture.

[Ki Bored]

Great review, thanks.

I was thinking of getting this very board because I think I might like the green switches. Then I noticed the comments comparing the clears to the greens. Are clears tactile? And are they quieter than greens?

Also, is it possible to get/buy different color key caps for this specific Ducky board ? (I would like to configure the board in a two tone grey with beige or white keys)

I have another board with Clears. They're more tactile than the greens, but the tactile bump is "rounder" and less precise than the greens. They're definitely much quieter than Greens.

At this time it's not possible to buy this board in anything but solid grey or to buy the keycaps separately. From what ShakeR said over on the MK forum, it sounds like Ducky is never going to make these keycaps again because of difficulties in manufacture.

Thanks. Would ABS caps fit this Ducky? (I've never replaced key caps before so not sure if caps come in a 'standard' size?)

[samwisekoi]

Great review, thanks.

I was thinking of getting this very board because I think I might like the green switches. Then I noticed the comments comparing the clears to the greens. Are clears tactile? And are they quieter than greens?

Also, is it possible to get/buy different color key caps for this specific Ducky board ? (I would like to configure the board in a two tone grey with beige or white keys)

I have another board with Clears. They're more tactile than the greens, but the tactile bump is "rounder" and less precise than the greens. They're definitely much quieter than Greens.

At this time it's not possible to buy this board in anything but solid grey or to buy the keycaps separately. From what ShakeR said over on the MK forum, it sounds like Ducky is never going to make these keycaps again because of difficulties in manufacture.

Thanks. Would ABS caps fit this Ducky? (I've never replaced key caps before so not sure if caps come in a 'standard' size?)

Yes.  The Ducky keycaps are very much the 'standard' size.  There are four extra on the Ducky, but they are all standard.

Any 104-keycap set for Cherry MX switches will fit just fine. Search on eBay and you will find dozens.

 - Ron I samwisekoi

[knguyen553]

mmmm those thick pbt !

[dvinn]

Show Image

Just got mine this morning.

MX-blues. Blue/grey caps.

Freakin' love it. Would have loved to get greens but PCcasegear didn't stock them.
And love the clickyness of blue.

Sorry for crappy photo :S

How and where did you get those blue keycaps?  They look more blue than the light blue that comes with the keyboard.

Thanks!

[Jalberstone]

Just received this keyboard today, so I thought I'd do a quick write up of it.

Keyboard Body
There's not much I can say about the DK9008 body that hasn't already been said, so I'll keep this brief. This is a very solid board. There is no creak to it at all and it has a number of nice features. Overall it just feels like a very high quality product. I have nothing bad to say about it.

Switches
I really like the Greens so far, though they're not quite as heavy as I was expecting. Experience has taught me that first impressions can be misleading when it comes to switches, so I'll update this section of the review in a week or so when I've had more time to spend with the board.
Update: I really like the Green switches, but I'm still not sure if I like them better or worse than Clears. They feel nice but the clickiness is kind of annoying in a way that buckling springs aren't. I may end up removing the caps and just putting them on my Clear board, but we'll see.

Keycaps
The part everyone's been waiting for! I got the solid gray color scheme because that was the only one available with Greens. The gray is a little lighter than I was expecting, but it's a nice color scheme. The keycaps are very thick and have a nice solid feel to them. The surface is a little smoother than I'm used to with PBT, but it's not bad. The legends look great; they're very sharp and clear. There's a tiny bit of bleed on some of the legends, but it's barely noticeable.

(Sorry about the quality of the pictures, I don't have a real lighting setup right now.)

I have the same keyboard except in clears and I love it except I have one problem. My spacebar makes a bit of a sqeaky noise when I press it and it is not as crisp as my other ABS spacebar, which it really annoying. I put this spacebar on my Ducky Shine II and the same problem was there. However, the spacebar on my Shine II has no problem on my clears. Is this happening with anyone else?

[jameslr]

Show Image

Just got mine this morning.

MX-blues. Blue/grey caps.

Freakin' love it. Would have loved to get greens but PCcasegear didn't stock them.
And love the clickyness of blue.

Sorry for crappy photo :S

I want this keyboard badly. I cannot afford it after buying my Ducky Shine 3 though. It was a hard choice between this and the Shine 3 but ultimately the Shine 3 won me over with its Shineyness :D

[Ekruceal]

Very nice keyboard indeed.  I've had mine for almost a week now, and no complaints, very solid board.

I got the version with white/beige keycaps and MX Blue switches.

[listokei]

Nice review!
Thank you 

[mv_LaiN]

drooling over this one

[gh_pp]

I dont like full size board. But might pick up one in the future for the keycaps before they are sold out.

Anyone know if these are OEM profile or cherry profile keycaps?

[nsrexler]

I dont like full size board. But might pick up one in the future for the keycaps before they are sold out.

Anyone know if these are OEM profile or cherry profile keycaps?

OEM profile. Nearly all non-Cherry branded keyboards are, unless specified otherwise.

[Txduck]

........At this time it's not possible to buy this board in anything but solid grey or to buy the keycaps separately. From what ShakeR said over on the MK forum, it sounds like Ducky is never going to make these keycaps again because of difficulties in manufacture.

Thanks for a great review! I know it's been quite a while since you wrote this, but everything you reported is still applicable. I like the quality of the caps and I wanted light grey instead of white, so these might be what I was looking for.
Thanks again.