Royal Kludge

[FoxWolf1]

Anyone have information about this brand? There's a little discussion on Deskthority, and some stuff in Chinese, but overall not much info. Some interesting-sounding products though:

RC930 with capacitive switches (look like the same as Noppoo 2nd generation capacitive), available with RGB backlighting and ABS doubleshot (unconfirmed) or without backlighting and either PBT/POM caps (not sure which), 87 and 104 sizes (though I don't think the 104 is available yet), 45g or 55g.

RG928 with Greetech MX-compatible switches, RGB, white, or blue backlighting, 104 key, some kind of ABS keycaps.

Prices very low all around, at least in China; looks like on the RGB front, even Kailh RGB models like V-Ox G11, Tesoro Lobera Supreme, and the various Rosewill RGB80 variations are in danger of being undercut. Though I'm not sure what the final price difference will look like here in the US. 

[bowji]

Theyre up on Taobao and it seems like its worth a try, cheap with 55g weights.
If shetty, swap out the sliders. Its still under a buck per slider.

[Firebolt1914]

I might've wanted to try those, but those legends are awful

[Roibhilin]

why did they think having legends that looked like a mixture between Deck and CM Storm was a good idea ever
gotta buy it to try the switches tho

[hwood34]

Jesus those legends are hideous

[Coreda]

That brand name, oh my  )

[rowdy]

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kludge

1. (electronics engineering) An improvised device, usually crudely constructed. Typically used to test the validity of a principle before doing a finished design.
2. (general) Any construction or practice, typically inelegant, designed to solve a problem temporarily or expediently.
3. (computing) An amalgamated mass of totally unrelated parts forming a distressing whole.

Any one of those definitions would put me off this keyboard

[Oobly]

Code: [Select]

Royal
[roi-uh l]

adjective

<snip>
10. extreme or persistent; unmitigated:
a royal nuisance; a royal pain.
I would not like to own a Royal Kludge of any sort.

Seriously, though, it looks like a good source for MX compatible sliders for a Topre board without having to buy a Novatouch. The casings even have LED holes. I think some enterprising GH member could make proper "Royal Kludge" by mixing parts from this, an HHKB and a replacement controller.

[BucklingSpring]

That is hilarious. I like subversive branding. This one just raised the bar.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kludge

[SpAmRaY]

How do we know the sliders are compatible with topre boards?

[hwood34]

How do we know the sliders are compatible with topre boards?

It looks a little like the slider and the base are actually one piece, though it's pretty hard to tell the picture is so bright

[Oobly]

How do we know the sliders are compatible with topre boards?

Well, the housings and sliders look a lot like the Noppoo ones (http://deskthority.net/wiki/Noppoo_capacitive), which are essentially Topre clones with LED positions added. I don't think it would take much to modify a Topre board with those housings and sliders, or just the sliders if they fit.

http://deskthority.net/product-news-f44/tkl-rgb-keyboard-with-noppoo-topre-clone-capacitive-switches-t9645.html

http://deskthority.net/product-news-f44/noppoo-tease-a-very-familiar-capacitive-switch-design-t6741-30.html#p165268

[Oobly]

LOTS of pics of the Noppoo one here: http://www.pcwaishe.cn/thread-580462-1-1.html

[henryhaha]

Seeing as how its nearly impossible to find a 55g topre full size keyboard, I went ahead and bought one (The RC930-104 RGB, won't be here for a couple weeks I'm told).

[mougrim]

Hmm... capacitive with an MX-conpatible stem... Nice

[dustinhxc]

I just want those leds on the novatouch... hehe

[hwood34]

Hmm... capacitive with an MX-conpatible stem... Nice

"Royal Kludge: for people who want a Novatouch but with a dumber name and a horrendous font"

[heedpantsnow]

Royal Kludge + decent caps = waaaay more expensive than a Novatouch

[FoxWolf1]

If you get the non-backlit version though, you get POM caps with a regular font (see the first picture). And there's no such thing as a NovaTouch with RGB backlighting...

[foxer]

I actually really like those legends.

[heedpantsnow]

If you get the non-backlit version though, you get POM caps with a regular font (see the first picture). And there's no such thing as a NovaTouch with RGB backlighting...

But aren't you getting fake Topre switches as well?

[jacobolus]

The name perfectly matches the concept (knock-off Topre domes/springs + MX-compatible sliders + backlighting). Same name would also be appropriate for the Novatouch IMO.

Anyway, HaaTa brought one of these to the last Bay Area meetup, but someone took it apart and so all the springs were all over the table before I got to try typing on it.

[spiceBar]

The TKL is on Massdrop right now.

Edit: link is:
  https://www.massdrop.com/buy/royal-kludge-rc930-87?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Massdrop%20-%20Master%20-%20Mechanical%20Keyboards&utm_campaign=Mech%20Keys%20Product%20Announcement%202015-03-12&mode=guest_open

Edit 2: and a very recent review by a fellow Geekhacker:
  http://www.keychatter.com/2015/03/12/review-royal-kludge-rc930-87-rgb/

[smoseph]

There's a review of this board on keychatter

http://www.keychatter.com/2015/03/12/review-royal-kludge-rc930-87-rgb/

[jacobolus]

Shorter link: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/royal-kludge-rc930-87?mode=guest_open

[Air tree]

Who the hell decided that the font was a good idea?!

That has to be one of the worst looking boards I've seen with backlighting..

[strict]

Anyone buying this only to use the stock keycaps is doing it wrong ...

[jdcarpe]

Royal Kludge + decent caps = waaaay more expensive than a Novatouch

Is a Royal Kludge + decent caps > Novatouch + decent caps?

Who uses stock keycaps??

[heedpantsnow]

Royal Kludge + decent caps = waaaay more expensive than a Novatouch

Is a Royal Kludge + decent caps > Novatouch + decent caps?

Who uses stock keycaps??

This is true. Not me. But at least the Novatouch is real Topre and includes usable stock caps.

[FoxWolf1]

If having stock caps with a more sober font is important to you, you could always get the non-backlit version (images in this post are stolen from Massdrop):


As a bonus, the non-backlit caps are fairly thick POM:

[Novus]

This thread makes me want to eat a klondike.

Royal Kludge + decent caps = waaaay more expensive than a Novatouch

Is a Royal Kludge + decent caps > Novatouch + decent caps?

Who uses stock keycaps??

Thin ABS THUG LYFE

[a_ak57]

Oh neat, that review posted earlier actually addresses swapping the sliders into an actual topre board.  Been waiting for someone to try that.  Shame that only the non-stabilized keys can be swapped.  Guess anyone who wants to harvest has to stick to the novatouch.

Also a shame that apparently even removing the o-rings doesn't really make it feel like true topre.  Granted, most people who don't want to pay the premium to experience true topre are also unlikely to wanna open up the board and de-band it, but still, could have been nice for that niche.

[intelli78]

My bottom line is that it's a budget board and does not feel the same as real Topre. That said, it's a solid value for what you're getting.

[a_ak57]

Right, it's not fair to knock it simply based on how topre-like it is since it is its own board, but I do think it's important to get the message out that it's still not the true topre feeling as I'm sure most people who'll buy this will buy it expecting that they can then judge whether or not topre is for them.

[saturnotaku]

I wonder if the 55g version feels more "true."

[a_ak57]

Yeah, I was wondering about that too.  The fact that removing the o-rings didn't change the feel very much makes it apparent that the dental-banded feeling is basically just inherent to the design rather because of the o-rings, but this also means it's possible the 55g version could provide enough extra tactility to make it feel as tactile as a 45g topre board.  Of course, on the other hand it could still just feel like dental-banded 55g.

Intelli, have you used 30g topre?  I'm curious if you'd say the tactility (or lack thereof) is comparable on the kludge and 30g.  That might give some indication to the answer about 55g.

[intelli78]

Yeah, I was wondering about that too.  The fact that removing the o-rings didn't change the feel very much makes it apparent that the dental-banded feeling is basically just inherent to the design rather because of the o-rings, but this also means it's possible the 55g version could provide enough extra tactility to make it feel as tactile as a 45g topre board.  Of course, on the other hand it could still just feel like dental-banded 55g.

Intelli, have you used 30g topre?  I'm curious if you'd say the tactility (or lack thereof) is comparable on the kludge and 30g.  That might give some indication to the answer about 55g.

Only a few keys on a variable realforce. The RK is heavier than those. It feels like 38-40g or thereabouts.

I wonder if the 55g version feels more "true."

So do I, wish I had one to test.

[a_ak57]

Ah, I guess I should have phrased my question a bit differently.  What I mean is that aside from obviously being lighter, 30g topre feels less tactile than 45 and 45 is less tactile than 55, so I'm wondering if the tactility of RK 45g is more like the tactility of 30g topre, or if it's truly just akin to dental-banded 45g topre.  Basically what I'm getting at here is wondering if 55g RK topre would have 45g topre tactility or banded 55g topre tactility (regardless of how heavy it feels).

[Liar]

I just picked up a non-backlit POM 55g, wanted to compare to stock MX Clears, which are my personal preference for typing currently. 

Thanks to a post I saw on Massdrop, I saved 14 dollars from the lowest MD price including shipping - and it should arrive much sooner.

http://en.jd.com/search?key=rc930

Edit:
It appears the non-backlit versions are Sold Out on JD now - apologies if you sought those!

[saturnotaku]

These are available on Taobao as well, including (apparently) full-size boards.

[henryhaha]

Welp my 55g version just arrived in the mail today, first impressions, not bad, really isn't that far off from the topre, maybe I'd say about 80% there.



It has some really funky modes though that are hard to figure out as the manual is in Chinese.

Actually, the more I type on this thing the more I am liking it. My favorite keyboard to date is the 55g topre (seen in picture).

[thebornotaku]

Hmm... capacitive with an MX-conpatible stem... Nice

"Royal Kludge: for people who want a Novatouch but with a dumber name and a horrendous font"

Who uses stock keycaps? Who cares about the name of the keyboard?

A lot of keyboards have dumb (or really arcane) names, what about CM Storm Quickfire Rapid-i? That's a pretty stupid name, let's be honest.

My bottom line is that it's a budget board and does not feel the same as real Topre. That said, it's a solid value for what you're getting.

^That's gotta be the important bit here. It's a Topre knockoff board for the same cost as most Cherry MX boards. It also has MX Compatible stems and that's only something you're gonna get in a 1. Novatouch, 2. Nova-modded Topre board, 3. Knockoff Topre, because Topre has an exclusivity deal with CM for the MX stems.

Right, it's not fair to knock it simply based on how topre-like it is since it is its own board, but I do think it's important to get the message out that it's still not the true topre feeling as I'm sure most people who'll buy this will buy it expecting that they can then judge whether or not topre is for them.

I mean, to be completely fair, it is *trying* to be a Topre board but at ~half the price of a Novatouch I'm sure we can forgive some of it's downsides for that.

Royal Kludge + decent caps = waaaay more expensive than a Novatouch

Really? RK board on Massdrop is what, like $100ish, plus a set of doubleshots from Massdrop for another $30 is somehow "way more expensive" than a $180+ Novatouch? Somebody's maths isn't quite right...

Even if you go off of SP prices, $90 for a keyset + $100 for the RK, that's only a $10 difference and at that point you have both a board *and* keycaps.

So where this "waaaaaay more expensive" comes from, I have no idea.

Royal Kludge + decent caps = waaaay more expensive than a Novatouch

Is a Royal Kludge + decent caps > Novatouch + decent caps?

Who uses stock keycaps??

Seriously though... Doubleshots for life.

The name perfectly matches the concept (knock-off Topre domes/springs + MX-compatible sliders + backlighting). Same name would also be appropriate for the Novatouch IMO.

Anyway, HaaTa brought one of these to the last Bay Area meetup, but someone took it apart and so all the springs were all over the table before I got to try typing on it.

Bay area meetup, you say? I'm intrigued...

[heedpantsnow]

Hmm... capacitive with an MX-conpatible stem... Nice

"Royal Kludge: for people who want a Novatouch but with a dumber name and a horrendous font"

Who uses stock keycaps? Who cares about the name of the keyboard?

A lot of keyboards have dumb (or really arcane) names, what about CM Storm Quickfire Rapid-i? That's a pretty stupid name, let's be honest.

My bottom line is that it's a budget board and does not feel the same as real Topre. That said, it's a solid value for what you're getting.

^That's gotta be the important bit here. It's a Topre knockoff board for the same cost as most Cherry MX boards. It also has MX Compatible stems and that's only something you're gonna get in a 1. Novatouch, 2. Nova-modded Topre board, 3. Knockoff Topre, because Topre has an exclusivity deal with CM for the MX stems.

Right, it's not fair to knock it simply based on how topre-like it is since it is its own board, but I do think it's important to get the message out that it's still not the true topre feeling as I'm sure most people who'll buy this will buy it expecting that they can then judge whether or not topre is for them.

I mean, to be completely fair, it is *trying* to be a Topre board but at ~half the price of a Novatouch I'm sure we can forgive some of it's downsides for that.

Royal Kludge + decent caps = waaaay more expensive than a Novatouch

Really? RK board on Massdrop is what, like $100ish, plus a set of doubleshots from Massdrop for another $30 is somehow "way more expensive" than a $180+ Novatouch? Somebody's maths isn't quite right...

Even if you go off of SP prices, $90 for a keyset + $100 for the RK, that's only a $10 difference and at that point you have both a board *and* keycaps.

So where this "waaaaaay more expensive" comes from, I have no idea.

Royal Kludge + decent caps = waaaay more expensive than a Novatouch

Is a Royal Kludge + decent caps > Novatouch + decent caps?

Who uses stock keycaps??

Seriously though... Doubleshots for life.

The name perfectly matches the concept (knock-off Topre domes/springs + MX-compatible sliders + backlighting). Same name would also be appropriate for the Novatouch IMO.

Anyway, HaaTa brought one of these to the last Bay Area meetup, but someone took it apart and so all the springs were all over the table before I got to try typing on it.

Bay area meetup, you say? I'm intrigued...

Wow, thanks for the classy and helpful correction!  I can tell you're going to make a ton of friends here. #yesthatssarcasm

[jacobolus]

Bay area meetup, you say? I'm intrigued...

The most recent was http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=68697 last weekend at MassDrop. Next meetup on April 18, but no thread yet, and no venue picked out.

[dustinhxc]

I just cant look at the case.. Looks super glossy and odd, just something about it catches the light weird. Id spend the extra for novatouch. Then Realforce is higher quality above that of course.

[nightdriver]

well, i got mine today, and one of the RGB LEDs seems to have its green component pretty borked.  it looks orange when the rest of the keys are yellow, blue when the rest of the keys are cyan, dim when the rest of the keys are green, and pink when the rest of the keys are white.

guess this board is getting mailed back to china?  sigh... it does feel pretty nice.  and it sounds real quiet compared to any cherry.

[berserkfan]

This is really awesome

http://www.cart100.com/Product/42503771165/

Selected:"The green axis white and clean the mud"

Or you can always choose "RGB red mud + cleaning shaft"

Or maybe this "87 key black light mixing shaft + black clay"

Judging from all the mud references, this is a TRUE ROYAL KLUDGE!

btw am getting interested in seeing more reviews. The price looks good enough to try out.

[Cbisquit]

This is really awesome

http://www.cart100.com/Product/42503771165/

Selected:"The green axis white and clean the mud"

Or you can always choose "RGB red mud + cleaning shaft"

Or maybe this "87 key black light mixing shaft + black clay"

Judging from all the mud references, this is a TRUE ROYAL KLUDGE!

btw am getting interested in seeing more reviews. The price looks good enough to try out.

Lol, these translations.  Btw, keep in mind that this is for the RC928, their Greetech switch keyboards rather than the RC930 with the electrocapacitative.  I myself used Liar's link to http://overseas.jd.com/search?key=rc930 to get myself the 55g, non-backlit version, spent some ~$90 shipped.  At first when I looked, they were Out of Stock, but you can email them to contact you when they're back in stock, and jd.com responded promptly and within their expected time frame of being in stock, so I was very impressed by that.  Shipping took about 2 weeks to get to me, and you can only get a belated view of the shipping progress when you're logged into your account, but I wasn't expecting much to begin with, so no big deal. 

I've been using it at work for the last 2 weeks and am extremely pleased with it!  The spacebar feels so nice~  I've never used an authentic Topre board, but if Topre-esque is enough to give me a taste, count me in!  I bought the RK to see if electrocapacitative was up my alley, and now I'm a believer.  A Realforce 55g is definitely staying on my wishlist for future, but for now, I'll just keep thocking away. 

[berserkfan]

admittedly the name and the translations make me not want to try this out... I feel, pun intended, bogged down just reading.

 am kinda waiting (not exactly impatiently, I confess) for more reviews.

But even if it is that good, I really want to make my own split layout... goodness knows how tough that would be and how many years before other geeks create their own electrocapacititative PCBs that I can copy and swipe the sliders to a Kludge from...

[nightdriver]

i would recommend thinking carefully before buying one on en.jd.com.  mine came with a defective LED and i'm having a really hard time getting them to honor their buyer protection policy.