RK-9000 may finally be back in stock soon

[muchadoaboutnothing]

After months of being delisted, the RK-9000 is finally marked as out of stock on Chiefvalue (who had removed the page) and Newegg (who had deactivated it). Seems like they're getting ready to put it back up; you can sign up for an auto notify on either site.

Good news if you want a fullsize MX blue keyboard and don't want the blackwidow. Or if you like the red backplate...

[daerid]

Nice. Been hearing good things about this board.

[godofdeath]

im debating between this and a more expensive by 40-50 bucks filco

[tanman777]

im debating between this and a more expensive by 40-50 bucks filco

I don't have a Filco, but I have had my Rosewill since February, and I am completely happy with it.

[godofdeath]

I don't have a Filco, but I have had my Rosewill since February, and I am completely happy with it.

its the red plate that annoys me
and i wanna give browns another shot too

[RickyJ]

Hooray!  With EK lacking in the fullsize dept for a while, I have no reason to wait anymore.

[False_Dmitry_II]

I didn't even know it had that backplate. So it's not lit or anything, it's just visible? I don't think I've seen something like that yet.

[godofdeath]

WELL ITS DEAD AGAIN

now its deactivated again lol

[muchadoaboutnothing]

I predict it'll be back soon enough. Anyone want to email Rosewill & ask?

[aegrotatio]

Give the BlackWidow non-ultimate a try.
I have an RK-9000 for keepers.  I don't use it much after I got this BlackWidow.  It was cheaper than the RK-9000 on Amazon Prime of all places.

[godofdeath]

Give the BlackWidow non-ultimate a try.
I have an RK-9000 for keepers.  I don't use it much after I got this BlackWidow.  It was cheaper than the RK-9000 on Amazon Prime of all places.

why would anyone want the blackwidow
razer quality
the rosewill is a filco underneath

[patrickgeekhack]

why would anyone want the blackwidow
razer quality
the rosewill is a filco underneath

Simple answer: taste.

[strum4h]

I would love for them to be back in stock. I want nothing else for my board with mx blues.

[Eric5676]

why would anyone want the blackwidow
razer quality
the rosewill is a filco underneath

Is it really?

I've fielded an amazing amount of mixed feedback from that from various people either "in the know" or at least people whose opinions on these subjects I respect a lot.

Some people have told me that Filco never sanctioned these "clones" and that corners were cut and others swear that they are dead on clones across the boards except for the name.

Some of the pictures and past threads around here would tend to support the latter statement but who knows for sure?


I have no idea which is true except to say that the KB seems to be of excellent quality and the only complaint I have with it, that may even partially my fault, is the key fading started on only 3-4 weeks into ownership.

Past that, I think it's an awesome KB and I have a hard time imaging a "real" Filco would be appreciably better. I'm not sure how it could be.

I would have been giddy to get this thing at the $70 sale that was going on late last year. I'm still happy with it even at its full asking price. I don't really think someone can go wrong with it if they know they want Blues and don't way to pay extra for "frills."

[snowball]

Is it really?

Taken from the review

http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=Island:12688





So it is at the very least partially Filco.

[muchadoaboutnothing]

It's a Costar board that uses a Filco controller ( I can unplug my Filco from the PS/2 converter and plugin in my RK-9000 and not have to reboot to get the keyboard working.

Other than that, there may be differences under the hood with the exact PCB and such (I haven't dissected either of them). I would consider the two to be of comparable enough quality to not care.

Only thing is that the "long lasting lasered keycaps" fade quite a bit, I don't think they put anything on to protect the infill. I'm using doubleshots on mine.

[p.s.]

looks lacks wa

[Eric5676]

It's a Costar board that uses a Filco controller ( I can unplug my Filco from the PS/2 converter and plugin in my RK-9000 and not have to reboot to get the keyboard working.

Other than that, there may be differences under the hood with the exact PCB and such (I haven't dissected either of them). I would consider the two to be of comparable enough quality to not care.

Right.

And the review quoted on the bottom of the previous page was what I was thinking of in terms of "The Rosewill is a rebadged Filco."

Only thing is that the "long lasting lasered keycaps" fade quite a bit,

And in my case, fast. First signs of fading a mere three weeks into ownership. That was disappointing.

 I don't think they put anything on to protect the infill.

I'm going to guarantee you they didn't, at least on mine.

I'm using doubleshots on mine.

I'm halfway considering going PBT or tracking down some doubleshots myself but I'm not sure how much money I want to throw at a $100 keyboard that works just fine...it just looks like it's a couple of years old.

[p.s.]

Well, it was Japanese old-school Wa till Japanese people found it have some negative meaning. And in Chinese it is Wo, not Wa or WOW

Japanese Wa > Chinese Wa

WA!

[aegrotatio]

One thing that I mentioned in another thread about the Blackwidow non-Ultimate model is that it has firmware that can be controlled directly, and the key remapping is done at the firmware level, which is someting the RK-9000 does not do.  I have to say that this is a good keyboard manufactured by the same company that makes the RK-9000 keyboard (allegedly Costar).  I've been banging hard on the Blackwidow non-Ultimate and I have nothing bad to say about it, especially as compared to the RK-9000 or the Metadot Das Keyboard Model S Silent.

As much as I love DSI keyboards, the Blackwidow is so much a better keyboard for a very affordable price.

[False_Dmitry_II]

The ones with nets I suppose

[aegrotatio]

Yeah, I think you're right.  I can say that whomever it is that makes the non-ultimate BlackWidow did a satisfactory job.