Author Topic: First Impressions: Tai Hao Doubleshot Alps Keycaps  (Read 17256 times)

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Offline njbair

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First Impressions: Tai Hao Doubleshot Alps Keycaps
« on: Wed, 30 September 2015, 15:43:46 »
This is a preliminary review of Massdrop's Doubleshot ABS Alps Keycaps. I bought these caps the first time around, when the MOQ was 500 orders. That didn't tip on its own, but KBP bought up about 200 sets just to help meet MOQ. Massdrop is currently running the same buy again, this time with a 100 MOQ. I decided it might be helpful to potential buyers to hear opinions from a fellow community member.

DISCLAIMER: I am currently running my own Alps keycap group buy (shameless self-promoting link here), so I'm not totally unbiased here. I'm also not the biggest fan of Massdrop, so keep all that in mind while reading my review, although I think you'll agree that my findings aren't at all self-serving.

If there is interest, I can write a full review later when I have more time. But so that I can get this out there in time for others to jump on the buy, I'll keep it short and sweet. For now, I'll just say that overall, I'm pretty impressed.

First and foremost, they arrived safely in one piece from Massdrop's now-infamous fulfillment center. In terms of feel, these caps are on par with or better than any Alps keycaps I've tried. They have a nice, well-pronounced texture and they're not particularly thin. The legends look nice and are relatively consistent. They are a little bit tight going on and coming off, but not as bad as PBT DSA. There were a few very minor quality issues, but overall they are much better than I expected for the price. The colors are not bad, but only loosely similar to their Dolch & Olivetti namesakes. All in all, not the worst way to spend $27.



Photos


Can't complain about how they were packed. When I opened the box it was packed just like so with some air packs on top.


Guys! I've done it! I've found the best gaming keycaps for your mechanical keyboard!


Glamour Shots. Note the cruciform stabilizer mounts on the spacebar. All the other caps had Alps-style stab mounts. Fortunately, my stock Filco Zero caps had the exact same setup.


Some minor quality issues, but nothing a razor blade can't fix.


Tai Hao Dolch on my Filco Zero.


Side-by-side thickness comparison. Stock Filco Zero keycap, left, next to a Tai Hao doubleshot, right.


As you can see, the colors are much different from the geniune article, but they look good in their own right.


Alpine Winter GB | My Personal TMK Firmware Repo
IBM Rubber Band "Floss" Mod | Click Modding Alps 101 | Flame-Polishing Cherry MX Stems
Review: hasu's USB to USB converter
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AEKII 60% | Alps64 HHKB | Ducky Shine 3, MX Blues | IBM Model M #1391401, Nov. 1990 | IBM SSK #1391472, Nov. 1987, screw modded, rubber-band modded | Noppoo EC108-Pro, 45g | Infinity 60% v2 Hacker, Matias Quiet Pros | Infinity 60% v2 Standard, MX Browns | Cherry G80-1800LPCEU-2, MX Blacks | Cherry G80-1813 (Dolch), MX Blues | Unicomp M-122, ANSI-modded | Unicomp M-122 (Unsaver mod in progress) | 2x Unitek K-258, White Alps | Apple boards (IIGS, AEKII) | Varmilo VA87MR, Gateron Blacks | Filco Zero TKL, Fukka White Alps | Planck, Gateron Browns | Monarch, click-modded Cream Alps

Offline rowdy

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Re: First Impressions: Tai Hao Doubleshot Alps Keycaps
« Reply #1 on: Wed, 30 September 2015, 21:46:06 »
I've found that Tai Hao are actually not bad for the price.  I joined the original $6.50 GB (that ended up $12 or something) and still occasionally rotate those sets in today.

I also have a set of the Alps ones coming, but no Alps keyboard to put them on.

Dedication!  Or lunacy - the difference is no so great sometimes :)
"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ

Offline Jokrik

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Re: First Impressions: Tai Hao Doubleshot Alps Keycaps
« Reply #2 on: Wed, 30 September 2015, 22:09:23 »
Thx for the write up, it's good to know that they're not that disappointing
Nevertheless, they are what they are for that price

Can't wait for mine :)
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Offline njbair

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Re: First Impressions: Tai Hao Doubleshot Alps Keycaps
« Reply #3 on: Wed, 30 September 2015, 22:22:38 »
I've found that Tai Hao are actually not bad for the price.  I joined the original $6.50 GB (that ended up $12 or something) and still occasionally rotate those sets in today.

I also have a set of the Alps ones coming, but no Alps keyboard to put them on.

Dedication!  Or lunacy - the difference is no so great sometimes :)

It's incentive to buy an Alps board, I guess!

Alpine Winter GB | My Personal TMK Firmware Repo
IBM Rubber Band "Floss" Mod | Click Modding Alps 101 | Flame-Polishing Cherry MX Stems
Review: hasu's USB to USB converter
My boards:
More
AEKII 60% | Alps64 HHKB | Ducky Shine 3, MX Blues | IBM Model M #1391401, Nov. 1990 | IBM SSK #1391472, Nov. 1987, screw modded, rubber-band modded | Noppoo EC108-Pro, 45g | Infinity 60% v2 Hacker, Matias Quiet Pros | Infinity 60% v2 Standard, MX Browns | Cherry G80-1800LPCEU-2, MX Blacks | Cherry G80-1813 (Dolch), MX Blues | Unicomp M-122, ANSI-modded | Unicomp M-122 (Unsaver mod in progress) | 2x Unitek K-258, White Alps | Apple boards (IIGS, AEKII) | Varmilo VA87MR, Gateron Blacks | Filco Zero TKL, Fukka White Alps | Planck, Gateron Browns | Monarch, click-modded Cream Alps

Offline sean

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Re: First Impressions: Tai Hao Doubleshot Alps Keycaps
« Reply #4 on: Wed, 30 September 2015, 23:17:53 »
Thanks for the review. As I stand right now, I am still reluctant to buy them because although I want the keycaps I don't need the keycaps, and I wouldn't have anything to put them on. I'd mix Olivette alphas with Badwrench's modifier set but the difference between DCS and OEM profile is probably too much.

Offline njbair

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Re: First Impressions: Tai Hao Doubleshot Alps Keycaps
« Reply #5 on: Wed, 30 September 2015, 23:27:30 »
Thanks for the review. As I stand right now, I am still reluctant to buy them because although I want the keycaps I don't need the keycaps, and I wouldn't have anything to put them on. I'd mix Olivette alphas with Badwrench's modifier set but the difference between DCS and OEM profile is probably too much.
Yeah I don't think they'd mix very well.

Alpine Winter GB | My Personal TMK Firmware Repo
IBM Rubber Band "Floss" Mod | Click Modding Alps 101 | Flame-Polishing Cherry MX Stems
Review: hasu's USB to USB converter
My boards:
More
AEKII 60% | Alps64 HHKB | Ducky Shine 3, MX Blues | IBM Model M #1391401, Nov. 1990 | IBM SSK #1391472, Nov. 1987, screw modded, rubber-band modded | Noppoo EC108-Pro, 45g | Infinity 60% v2 Hacker, Matias Quiet Pros | Infinity 60% v2 Standard, MX Browns | Cherry G80-1800LPCEU-2, MX Blacks | Cherry G80-1813 (Dolch), MX Blues | Unicomp M-122, ANSI-modded | Unicomp M-122 (Unsaver mod in progress) | 2x Unitek K-258, White Alps | Apple boards (IIGS, AEKII) | Varmilo VA87MR, Gateron Blacks | Filco Zero TKL, Fukka White Alps | Planck, Gateron Browns | Monarch, click-modded Cream Alps

Offline geniekid

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Re: First Impressions: Tai Hao Doubleshot Alps Keycaps
« Reply #6 on: Thu, 01 October 2015, 15:45:26 »
Show Image

Guys! I've done it! I've found the best gaming keycaps for your mechanical keyboard!

You did it.  You crazy son of a *****, you did it.

Thanks for the review.

Offline nickheller

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Re: First Impressions: Tai Hao Doubleshot Alps Keycaps
« Reply #7 on: Thu, 01 October 2015, 15:57:47 »
Nice! My white on black set should be here tomorrow.

Offline Elrick

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Re: First Impressions: Tai Hao Doubleshot Alps Keycaps
« Reply #8 on: Fri, 02 October 2015, 04:53:11 »
Nice! My white on black set should be here tomorrow.

NNiiccceeee, or would that be some, Black on White action....  :)) ?

Offline nickheller

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Re: First Impressions: Tai Hao Doubleshot Alps Keycaps
« Reply #9 on: Sat, 03 October 2015, 18:13:01 »
I just put my white on black set on my Matias V60, for around 20$ for a 104 key set of double shot caps, they are definitely worth it. These are a nice upgrade over the stock caps  :thumb:

Offline Luciqueii

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Re: First Impressions: Tai Hao Doubleshot Alps Keycaps
« Reply #10 on: Mon, 05 November 2018, 09:50:52 »
The space key got mx stabs style... the rest got alp style stab on the keys. How did you mount them... I have to make the plate of my kb for space key mx and the rest alp style? Sorry for replying old topic. <3