Introduction, AKA needless backstorySo a couple of months ago I started seeing the beautiful Korean custom boards with the glowing cases and the diffuse RGB acrylics.
I thought to myself that wow those things look awesome, but I was rather disappointed by the price and the fact that I had to learn to solder myself - I had psyched myself out and resigned to only drool at other's examples.
Fast forward a few weeks and I thought, soldering doesn't look that hard, and I was feeling really adventurous so I put in an order with winkeyless, because I had seen too much negative press from Gon Works, and even if it's not all fair, I was/am impatient.
Anyway, long story short, I ordered a kit from Winkeyless.kr, and I have no regrets whatsoever (I may even order some other plates to change the look of my case).
Purchase experience The website has a forum where you can ask basically any question you want in the QNA section, and you'll usually get a response within 24 hours. The owner of the site/store is super responsive to emails as well, and gives you a whole host of options to pick from when you want to customise your build. That is the sole downside, it can be a little bit overwhelming to try and work out what exactly you want. But, you can also email/post on the QNA section with a link to any of the keyboards you see on the site and just ask "what do I order to make one that looks like that."
Impressions of the boardSo, onto the keyboard itself. The PCB is white and beautiful, with 16 SMD RGB LEDs on the bottom which are bright and work brilliantly in conjunction with the frosted acrylic case. I opted to have all the resistors, diodes, controllers and SMD LEDs soldered for me, as this was my first time, I wasn't comfortable trying to do surface mounted soldering. I opted for the Gateron Yellow switches because I really like the feel of linear switches and find the tactile bump to be a little bit distracting.
When the package arrived well within the allocated window (it takes a little bit longer if you want some soldering done), it was beautifully packaged and securely wrapped in bubble wrap - I had full confidence that there would be no damage incurred during the transit.
The Gateron yellows are quite enjoyable to type on, and they feel significantly smoother than my previous Cherry MX Red that I got with my Ducky Mini Shine. They're also a nicer typing experience than with the browns that I had when I was using my full-sized Rosewill from a few years ago.
The pictures below are currently the keyboard with PBT blanks that I obtained off banggood for the cheap as an interim solution because I'm still waiting for the Mito Canvas massdrop thing to ship. I have also ordered some ABS keycaps from MaxKeys just for funsies. The caps are...mediocre and are great for their purpose, a placeholder between my final keycaps. If not, I can always wait for some crazy expensive SA keycaps that comes around every now again and demands a sacrifice of blood and solder.
SoftwareI would
highly recommend anyone who is contemplating purchasing this kit to have a look around this forum, and in other places, regarding how to best utilise the software. It's not the most intuitive thing ever, but after a while the 3 layers of functionality is very very useful, and the ability to customise the LEDs etc is very comprehensive.
Overall, I have basically nothing to complain about. Like at all, and I can't wait till this keyboard is "finished" when I replace the keycaps.
PicturesAnyway, too much text, here are the pictures:
Full picture of my desk set up
Close up of the side
The moving lights!
