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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: 5949 on Sun, 16 February 2020, 19:19:48
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On my search for a cheaper Zealios alternative, many (in the MechKeyboard subreddit at least) have suggested that the T1 as a good alternative switch compared to - for instance - the Outemu Ice and Sky series of switches. And so I search for T1 switches... but are introduced to many burning questions.
I search online and see that the T1s are branded as either: DuRock, ZugGear, or even KBDFans? According to the Deskthority Wiki, they even say that these switches may be made by Everglide too. So who the heck makes these? Which brings me to my next question:
- Are they even built well?
The fact that the original manufacturer is never really shown gives me the impression that the T1s are cheap rebrandable keys. It doesn't help that branding is nonexistent on the switches. Are they El-Cheapo switches designed to replicate the Zealios switches for cheap? Will they last at all?
- Where can I get them for a reasonable price?
With KBDFans stopping the sale of the switches (because Stealios), there's practically no practical source of this switch that isn't "reasonably" priced. I'm looking at a price equal or below $0.50 per switch which should be reasonable knowing the nature of the switch's non-brandedness. In many places, it seems that the T1 switches are always at least $0.70 which seems unusually pricey.
And one last slightly unrelated question:
- If not T1s, would Everglides do the job well?
As mentioned, Deskthority claims that the T1s are produced by Everglide. This I cannot confirm, but if that is the case, which of their switches are the closest ones that resemble "their" T1 switch? Their switches seem to be significantly easier to find compared to T1s so if I can't find an easy way to get T1s, I'll just get Everglides.
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Those will be all the questions I have so far. I've searched far and wide trying to find answers to these, but can't seem to get a definite one. I hope I can find at least some more answers here.
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Deskthority claims that the T1s are produced by Everglide.
No. The article says the opposite: "It is believed that the Everglide is also a T1.".
I wrote that based on hearsay (keyword: "belief"): a couple of posts on forums about the (tactile) Everglide having an identical housing to the T1. I have not seen proof yet myself. (I did not find hearsay worthy enough of a reference though.)
Anyone can edit the Deskthority Wiki. The blurb was posted also a hint to other people to encourage them to post proof if they can find it, or to prove it themselves and post it in the article.
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Deskthority claims that the T1s are produced by Everglide.
No. The article says the opposite: "It is believed that the Everglide is also a T1.".
That was of course only based on hearsay ("belief"), based on a couple of accounts on forums about the (tactile) Everglide being very similar to the T1.
Ah, got it. I suppose that's why there's no source in the wikipage from which the info originated from.
Sketchy stuff... How much do you know about the switches by the way?
Any info is helpful
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According to VicareyG who has done GBs of the T1 (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=102248.0): "The manufacturer for the T1 Tactile Switch is Durock.".
During the Stealios debacle it was revealed that the founder of Durock did have an association with Gateron at one time. He could have been one of its founders, but I can't confirm. Supposedly he got forced out of Gateron and then formed his own company. He saw that Zealios were sold at high prices and saw a business opportunity to compete.
The T1 feel similar to Zealios V2, but less sharp at the beginning. I'd like to say that they feel in-between Zealios V1 and V2. Some say that they are a bit wobbly.
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Re: Everglide
Everglide and KBDFans/Durock T1 are both made by JWK. The Everglide Oreo and Crystal Purple are allegedly identical to (or very similar to) T1, while the other Everglides are basically Zealio v1 clones.
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According to VicareyG who has done GBs of the T1 (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=102248.0): "The manufacturer for the T1 Tactile Switch is Durock.".
During the Stealios debacle it was revealed that the founder of Durock did have an association with Gateron at one time. He could have been one of its founders, but I can't confirm. Supposedly he got forced out of Gateron and then formed his own company. He saw that Zealios were sold at high prices and saw a business opportunity to compete.
The T1 feel similar to Zealios V2, but less sharp at the beginning. I'd like to say that they feel in-between Zealios V1 and V2. Some say that they are a bit wobbly.
Ah, the "I don't work for them anymore so I'll make my own stuff" brand, huh? A lot like AsRock/Asus and Unicomp/IBM it seems. Looking at how those brands turned out, I guess Durock isn't as bad as I thought it was.
And about the feel, what might you mean by "wobbly"? Like, is the stem loose? If so, how bad compared to Cherries (since I have those in hand)?
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Re: Everglide
Everglide and KBDFans/Durock T1 are both made by JWK. The Everglide Oreo and Crystal Purple are allegedly identical to (or very similar to) T1, while the other Everglides are basically Zealio v1 clones.
Ah, it's all coming together. That pretty much explains all the rebrandings everywhere (except maybe ZugGear). Pretty vital information; thank you for sharing it!
Though, with your mentioning of how the EverGlide Oreo/Purple is similar to the T1, I think I should mention that their bottom-out force according to some shops is 62g and 67g respectively. Not much of a difference but still worth mentioning.
And... a small extra question: Assuming the Oreo and T1 cost the same, which one of them would you buy? (Doesn't really matter for what reason)
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kbdfans t1 switches are produced by durock and they can be found on their aliexpress store
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kbdfans t1 switches are produced by durock and they can be found on their aliexpress store
Oh... What a pain.
I search up "DuRock" in Aliexpress directly and nothing shows up but Everglides.
I search up "DuRock Aliexpress" in Google and find it instantly.
The site's search engine really needs some reworking :|