Is this XArmor any good?

[ZRock]

Ok ok, quit the fanboy'ism!  Everyone try to get alone and support me!

[noodles256]

to get alone? are you forever alone?

[BucklingSpring]

I see DOUBLE RAINBOWS of LEDS exploding across your eyeballs when you plug it in!

Maxed out, the leds are so bright, you can read "querty..." on the ceiling.
 
When you plug it in, look up and confirm ;-)

[ZRock]

Haha I'll take some pictures if this results in truth!

[ricercar]

The font won't bug me I believe... I don't look at the keys much themselves anyways.

 
Bwah? If you don't look at the keys, why the heck get a backlit?

[noodles256]

lol

[ZRock]

Who says I don't enjoy a nice blue glow coming up from the keyboard!

I need a tan anyway.

[Sk3l3tor]

This is my story ....I was looking for something to replace my aging 2001 w/white alps when I came across the Xarmor. Since I am somewhat of an impulse buyer , I pulled the trigger from Amazon grudgingly after some indicision..........while waiting for delivery I discovered this forum and immediately wanted to cancel my order after reading some of the posts regarding this keyboard.  I couldn't cancel my order so I waited to take delivery with a return shipping label already printed and waiting in hand. When I actually received the Xarmor, curiosity took the best part of me and I opened the package and plugged the keyboard in .......after a few days I decided to keep it. This is why......it had all the features that I needed. This was hard to accept b/c I really liked all the other keyboards that I saw mentioned on this forum......however none of them came close to putting all the features that I was looking for together in a single package. Deck ...I love the Alibaba letters on the keycaps and the lighting, Filco tenkeyless ....is just awesome, Das ...is probably built really well....but guess what ....NO USB.....OMG USB on a keyboard is HUGE and 2 USBs is even HUGER. Wireless mouse in one port and flash drive in the other.....no brainer, it's such a relief not to have to plug into a slippery external hub or my computer case...that alone sold me on the necessity of this keyboard....but wait ....headphone jacks .....on a keyboard ....useful or superfluous.....USEFUL!! OMG headphone jacks on a keyboard totally set me FREE........seriously, I can't even begin to describe how awesome it is not have to deal with plugging in and out of my speakers everytime I wanted to put my headphones on ....and to top it all off blue cherrys and lighting ...........WINNING!!

I am so glad I didn't listen to the Trolls on this forum and stuck with this keyboard..........BUT WAIT, do they make valid points regarding the build quality and such? Not in my opinion....OMG the keycap is made of inferior ABC plastic and here is a pic to document it.......yeah, okay get a life. But what about the rear stabilizer on the SHIFT deflector modulation key.......uh what about it, it's fine. Okay, but the LEDs...the LEDs .....will my LEDs go out.....absolutely not, as with all electronic equipment there is a lifetime guarantee that nothing bad will ever never ever happen to your keyboard in the whole wide worldest. Anyway, I've had this keyboard for about 4 months and I love it. Everything worx as it should. Maybe in the 5th month of it's life it will explode ....I don't know, but if it does I will buy another .....cause I can....HA!

If you want a feature rich keyboard that is designed for the practical person and won't break the bank or suck up your time trying to track it down from some shady Japanese website in China, than you can't go wrong with this keyboard. It's simple yet elegant ......for instance, a little subtle nuance.....while I am alone in the dark with my LEVEL 8 lit XARMOR kicking @ss in LEGO Pirates, I noticed that my WASD keys stand out ....yeah those orange WASD keys they include have a 3D effect against the blue background....it's like  totally trippy.....and made me ponder weird things like if linguists could find jobs .....or if bucklingsprings do trully buckle instead of give.

Now ...that I said all that .....I do see room for improvements and my demands are as follows .....tenkeyless... pronto......different colors... cause I am of that persuasion........get rid of the lame cheese grating platform....or at least make it functional......no really those 3 displays for num,cap and scroll lock have to go ...what were you guys thinking...who dropped the ball on that one? That is such a waste of real estate....I am proposing a change of design (see pic), I would  so love to see something like that ......placing the USBs and Jacks on the back is lame. Get a clue people ....why do you guys think cases are coming out with power buttons and USBs on top of the case ....DUH! Think about it and make it happen! Bottom line....good job on this design ...it's not revoutionary, but it is somewhat visionary.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/200/myxarmor2.jpg/

When is the FILCHCO NINJA TENKEYLESS coming out ....I so want it  

[BucklingSpring]

XArmOR, Sk3l3tOR, SolutOR, DefendOR

Didn't know Solutor had a twin brother.

[DaemonRaccoon]

Holy wall of text He-Man! Welcome to GeekHack!

Ellipsis much?

[ZRock]

Your post is good, however you often call the product good enough. I'm not looking for something that is just good enough

[daerid]

And for the record, the Ninja's are out. Somebody got one from KeyboardCo already and posted a review.

[The Solutor]

I'm not looking for something that is just good enough

 
So why to look at deck legends ?

[BucklingSpring]

Here we go again

Deck Legend - A bit old and outdated but comes with balls of steel :-)


XArmor - Pretty face, no meat.

[The Solutor]

Here we go again

 
It's a boring life w/o trolling, isn't it ?

[BucklingSpring]

Deck and XArmor

Deck


Xarmor


They're obviously the same boots... Leather, steel toe, heel, everthing.

I now have a new theory for your persistent denial of the XArmor wobbliness.
You're a supermodel chick and don't mind walking with expensive high heels meant to be worn only once.

[ricercar]

My XArmor doesn't wobble. I'm a supermodel in moccasins. But i have more meat than that grotesque photo. Ew.

[noodles256]

wlcm 2 gh skeletor

tldr

[BucklingSpring]

My XArmor doesn't wobble. I'm a supermodel in moccasins. But i have more meat than that grotesque photo. Ew.

So you are not experiencing what was shown in Ripster's video reference? ->Here<-

#t=7m43s
[video=youtube;_oxX07ERyBw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oxX07ERyBw&feature=player_embedded[/video][/QUOTE]
 
Mine certainly does and it's getting worst over time.

[The Solutor]

 
Mine certainly does and it's getting worst over time.

 
You too...:happy:

[keyboardlover]

Wow...those stabilizers must be terrible.

[Lester]

The f @ those terribad stabalizers.

[BucklingSpring]

You too...:happy:

It's called aging, not sure you have this on your planet.
Here some are doing it faster than other.

The XArmor is showing some serious progeria symptoms.

You seam to be a smart person.
Except for those related to XArmor, you're making decent posts.
You are probably the kind of guy who's going to have one girlfriend/boyfriend and stick with her/him your whole life no matter what.
Or you are related to XArmor like a mother would be.

Anyway, you are clearly endorsing the brand beyond technical reasons.

As long as you are happy, I respect that.

[noodles256]

i dont

[ricercar]

So you are not experiencing what was shown in Ripster's video reference?

Correct. I would not have any reason to question the stabilized keys had I skipped this thread; however, now I'll be paying attention as my XArmor ages, comparing it to the aging of other boards.

The looseness/play in my Armor U91BL stabilized keys is equivalent to my Cherry, Scorpius, TG3, and Kinesis boards: more play than a buckling spring board, less than my Apple boards, but not a "cheap" feeling at all. Only one key in each board, the backspace, does seem to be looser than the others; I must be harsh on my backspace keys.

[BucklingSpring]

My Filco big keys don't wiggle like that at all.

I bet the OP is sure glad he bought a Deck instead of an Xarmor.

 
Yeah I don't get why they say same as Filco... Not yours or mine for sure.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to read the OP comments once he get his Deck.

[keyboardlover]

My cherry g80 stabilized keys NOR my Filco stabilized keys wiggle like that. Wiggle like that.

Wi-wi wiggle like that.

[BucklingSpring]

Someone should figure out what's going on.

It's not rocket science.

Maybe they don't complete their sentences "my XArmor keys do not wobble like that ... when I press the center of the key"

My 2c on it (applies to both my XArmor and my TVS Gold)
-The stabilizer bars are paperclip grade
-The clips holding these bars to the board are loose. They have a play in pretty much all directions.

So if the base is not stable... No wonder the rest of the key isn't either.
Lets forget the cheap stems... Although it probably contributes as well to the wobbliness.

[ZRock]

Haha deck should be here in 3 days tops. In the mean time I grabbed one of those data911 boards and cleaned it

[hybridsoul5]

Hey guys, I'm a bit of a lurker here but it seems like there's been a lot of talk about the Xarmor U9W from a lot of people that haven't used one. As a current Xarmor U9W user, I figured I'd give my 2c on the keyboard. Keep in mind that I'm still a novice at this sort of stuff.

Cons: The keys with stabilizers do wobble. This seems due to loose tolerances where the metal stabilizer bars snap into their plastic mounts (there's a bit of wiggle room even after the metal stabilizer bars have been snapped into place). There are also no snap-out feet for angle adjustment. The wrist pad that comes with it is cheap crap that broke on me within the first week of use. 2KRO is meh. Spacebar is at an angle where the edge sort of cuts into your thumb if you use it without a wrist pad (not just an XArmor problem).

Pros: Key wobble isn't noticeable while typing (maybe that's just my novice sensibilities). Wireless ability is super convenient. Cherry brown goodness. LED indicators DO NOT bleed like they did in the previously linked youtube video. No LED backlighting to die on me (I find that stuff too tacky anyway). Keyboard angle isn't too bad even without the rest. Spacebar problem fixed by reversing it. Key caps don't seem flimsy (I don't know much about the plastic used but it doesn't flex in my hand when I try to squeeze the key caps between my fingers). Keyboard has some heft and rubber feet. It doesn't go anywhere even with moderate pressure to the side.

Overall, I still think the keyboard is of lesser quality than most other brands favored at geekhack and at $100 may initially seem overpriced for a low end cherry keyboard. However, I will say that you get a set of cherry brown keys with wireless ability. No other mechanical keyboard I know of available in the US even offers wireless rf, and the XArmor U9B offers this at a price point that is cheaper than most mid range cherry keyboards. Is it overpriced? I'd say depends on how much you value the wireless functionality.

For me, I really like being able to pick up my laptop and go when I need to so a wireless mechanical keyboard was what I was looking for and the Xarmor U9B fit the bill just fine.

I will be keeping an eye on stabilizer key wobble and how it progresses in the future, but for now I'm happy with my purchase.