geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboard Keycaps => Topic started by: jcoffin1981 on Wed, 23 June 2021, 20:57:24
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I've been wanting to try new aftermarket keycaps for a while now and have been mulling over a few dozen options for weeks. I finally pulled the trigger on these ePBT cherry profile Japanese keycaps, and I'm not as pleased as I thought I would be.
They are very smooth- thought they would be grittier. Running my fingers over the surface they are also very irregular. The legends edges don't look very neat and clean at all. Surprisingly space bar is almost perfectly straight, but all the modifier keycaps are warped, especially the 2.75 shift is badly curved and it's unsightly.
I have to say that I like the stock Vortex Pok3r, Drop, and even the Anne Pro II caps (though they are thin) better than these. I'm just wondering if I would be better off getting some of the more mass produced offerings from Vortex or Mistel. They are less than half the price and more consistent. There are also a lot of other keycaps in the 25 - 50 dollar range and I may experiment with them and put these on eBay. This is all highly subjective of course, but I was wondering what other people's experiences have been. I am experiencing buyer's remorse here. I've also seen lots of beautiful canvas colored keycap sets, but most are XDA or DSA profile and I've never tried those.
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Smoothness just depends on the molds. MT3 PBT keycaps are supposed to be particularly gritty, if that's what you're after. Some people like smooth, there was a thread the other day about polishing recommendations.
I may not be the right person to reply to this comment, since I seem to be less picky (those legends look fine to me), but: yeah. Get yourself some cheap sets from as many manufacturers as possible, in as many different profiles as possible. You're not going to find something new without doing some experimenting.
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I'm loving Ivory
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I'm just wondering if I would be better off getting some of the more mass produced offerings from Vortex or Mistel. They are less than half the price and more consistent.
I've bought three sets of Mistel keycaps, and they're very nice, much better than Tai Hao, which is about the only other thing close to the price. They are OEM profile, though, which not everyone wants. Sometimes you luck out with cheap ones from AliExpress, too. One of my favorite sets is a "Siberian" keycap set that I bought there for $40.
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O bought a set of Mistel, readily available on Amazon for $40. I am impressed. I do wish they were available in more colors though.
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The Signature Plastics PBT keys on pimpmykeyboard.com are very high quality, though their profiles are not for everyone. I personally love their DSA keycaps. They feel solid and thick, with smooth sides and satisfying texture on top. And their legends are very crisp - probably the best dye sublimated legends I've seen. (Sadly) I can't go back to cheaper keycaps ever since I got my first SP DSA set.
Their color range (at least in the 24 main colors that are readily available) is hit and miss though.
For instance they have 2 shades of red that are almost indistinguishable to the naked eye, yet no shades of turquoise or brown at all. And most colors appear brighter on the website than in real life.
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These caps have really grown on me. I was just a change I was not used to. They sound phenominal, they look great, and I now like the smoother texture. Another thing I like is that the edges of the top of the cap are just a little more rounded than many others, and it really makes a big difference. I will be purchasing another set at some point. I'll post an image, it's just a pain getting images off my camera.