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geekhack Community => Reviews => Topic started by: RetroHollywood on Mon, 28 November 2011, 17:40:27
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There is a very popular review on the original Rosewill Rk-9000, which concludes it is a very good board. So how is the new version? You know, the one that would come in the mail if you order it today?
The Rosewill RK-9000 is a rebranded Filco Majestouch that can be had for a fraction of the price ($80-100). Rosewill is the house brand of Newegg and is sold exclusively by them. Does this huge price cut result in a worse board? In short... NO.
*This keyboard has had a few months of love, so the lettering has gotten a bit dirty. It is pure white out of the box*
PACKAGING: 7/10
It comes in a sturdy cardboard box which keeps the board safe, but says little about the board itself. Not much to say here, but the board won't fall out on the way from Newegg to your house.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]33185[/ATTACH]
ACCESSORIES: 7/10
It comes with a detachable USB cable and PS/2 cable. They are each braided and are extremely sturdy. Short of this, there is nothing else besides these and the keyboard in the box.
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AESTHETICS: 7/10
***the red escape keys is not included***
This is a very simple board. The font on in is extremely simple and quite large. Behind the keys, there is a red backplate. It may appear a bit orange in my pictures, which is somewhat true. It is the same red as my elitekeyboards escape key. Many HATE the Rosewill loge, whether for aesthetic reasons or out of contempt for the brand. I would prefer it not be there, but I don't mind it too much. The lock keys are under it, represented by blue LEDs. These are quite bright if looking straight down on them, but perfect if looked at from a normal typing position. After using a Ducky board, I became convinced that the LEDs should be in the keys themselves, but I guess Rosewill disagrees. One thing of note about this board is that not one of my non-tech savvy friends thought this was a "special" keyboard. If you want a board that matches your water-cooled, over-the-top rig, go buy a Razer or something, because this is not for you. If you are of more refined tastes, this will do quite nicely.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]33187[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]33188[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]33189[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]33190[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]33191[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]33192[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]33193[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]33194[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]33195[/ATTACH]
FUNCTIONALITY/FEATURES: 7/10
This board includes no media keys. It does have NKRO over PS/2, and 6KRO over USB. It has detachable cables, which is a good feature, especially since they are easily removable (not under the board). Some may complain it is not routable, but that isn't an issue for me.
TYPING: 10/10
My board in particular uses the MX Blue switch. The key presses are all very uniform. I had a bit of trouble early on with the shift key being spongy, and some spacebar squeak, but lube and time has cured these. It's difficult to explain how it types well, but I can just say that it makes me want to type things.
QUALITY: 10/10
It is simply perfect. You could use this thing as weapon (as they say about the M). There is NO chassis flex. There is NO ping. There is no hint of any of these keys initiating double presses. The chassis and keys are molded perfectly. The best part is that if anything does go wrong, you can just send it back to Newegg.
FINAL VERDICT: 9.5/10
I purchased this key from newegg for $100, and that came with a 20 or 25 dollar coupon. So basically, this keyboard is $75 with free shipping and a warranty (something that can't really be said for many imported keyboards). Why should you buy it? It is an amazing deal at this price at HALF THE PRICE of its twin brother, the Majestouch. The best part is the peace of mind that you can send it back if you don't like it or something goes wrong. If anyone wants to dip their toe into the world of mechanicals without shelling out hundreds, or buying a foreign keyboard with blind faith, this is simply the perfect option. I would recommend this keyboard to anyone, from the newbie to the most hardcore. And if you don't like it, send it back. Try that with your CM Storm or Ducky if you don't speak Mandarin.
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There is a 2 year warranty with the quickfire i think. You can just talk to support from cooler master :D. I just prefer the quickfire over the rosewill because it is tenkeyless and had red switches for a low price at the time.
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There are a few things I prefer about the Rosewill rk-9000.
1. normal font (not the weird space age font on the CMstorm)
This totally affects which keycaps you can put on your board without looking patchwork)
2. logo branding. The Rosewill logo is on the keyboard once. That's it. Some hate it, I don't mind. It's actually pretty sutble.
The CMstorm has their logo once by the esc key, HUGE above the arrows, replace thing windows keys with their logo (2 different sets! you can put the cooler master logo or the CMstorm logo), it's also on the back edge by the USB connector. They also have a Rapid Fire logo on the top of the space bar. It's pretty blinged out. OK for a gamer or a guy who likes putting glow in the dark fans and black lights in his tower case I guess. Not for me.
3. I prefer having the status lights on the chasis of the keyboard instead of on the keys. If your hands are on the board you can't see the lights on the keys because your hands are in the way. You will also have problems when replacing your keys if you want to keep seeing the status lights. (Drill the keys? Replace all keys except the windowed ones? Make sure you get thin white keys so the light shines through?) Rosewill doesn't have this problem.
Both are excellent quality boards that seem to be built by Costar. So you can't really go wrong.
I just hope that Rosewill or WASD get a tenkeyless soon or I will have to suffer the Filco shipping and import taxes to get my perfect tenkeyless board.
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Backspace font and all other font is different.
Rosewill logo really isn't that bad.
jellowiggler: Try getting a ducky from pchome, they're reeeeeally cheap
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I got a cherry black rosewill that I grabbed for 80 dollars shipped :D Such a great deal. Keyboard only has only one issue that I hated--the squeaking keys. Handled that with some grease. Probably my favorite board right now. I am not sure if I rather have it in tenkeyless or not.
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I got the one with Reds and LOOOOOOOOVE it. Swapped out the keycaps with what originally came on my Das (I have red ABS on my Das, except for the nipple keys which are black). As I've said in other threads, I prefer my Rosewill over my Das.
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I prefer my Rosewill over my Das.
I'll +1 that.
The only other board I love above both would be a Model M. Got to type on one at my friends house and was insta-hooked. Mine shows up tomorrow via UPS so the 9000 might go on the shelf :D
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I think another great part to mention about the Rosewill keyboards is that the new ones ship with all the flavors oh Cherry switches.
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As of Jan 2012 they don't ship a model with clear switches. Red, Blue, Black and Brown.
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I was wondering how this keyboard is related to the Filco's. The review of the previous RK-9000 version had a picture showing that they keyboard controller had filco branding on it. I found a picture online at the Guru 3D review page of the RK-9000 version 2. It shows a picture of the new keyboard controller, but it appears to lack filco branding (see here: http://www.guru3d.com/article/rosewill-rk9000-review/4).
They mention that Costar still manufactures the second generation of RK-9000s. Aside from sharing the same OEM manufacturer... how are the the RK-9000 and Filco's related?
Edit: So I did some further research and found this at the Costar website: http://www.costar.com.tw/index.php?option=com_flexicontent&view=items&cid=52%3Amechanical-keyboard-or-keyboard-moduleoemodm-&id=62%3Acst-104-sydney-&Itemid=87&lang=en
Here they show a generic keyboard listed as "CST-104-SYDNEY". The controller on the Rosewill in the Guru3d pictures reveals a CST-NF104 label under the controller. Is this evidence that the 2nd generation RK-9000 is still manufactured by Costar? Does this speak to the quality of the keyboard?
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Agreed with review, but I'd give it a 9/10 overall because I've heard a lot of issues about the USB connector falling back into the case
I'm very happy with my 2 $65 Rosewills
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No usb problems here. I much prefer my rosewill with reds over my leopold with browns. It just feels like a higher quality board.
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I had done a lot of research before ordering the RK-9000BR, which will arrive tomorrow. Most reviews were very positive, and to me it seemed like a cheaper alternative to a Filco. However, after reviewing a bunch of NewEgg reviews about the gen 2 RK-9000 in each switch color-type, I found a common criticism was that the mini-USB plug was flimsy.
Battou62: you report having no usb problems, which is a good indication.
I'm wondering if anyone else can weigh in? Is the mini-USB port really that cheaply made? I bought this item hoping it would last me a long time, considering the high cost.
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My friend has been using a MX red Rosewill for about 6 monthes with no problems with the USB port.
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mini-usb was never designed very well for a connection that people expect to have some durability. Keyboards are frequently moved and sometimes the cable snags and sometimes people just start yanking... this is the death of a mini-usb. Often the connector on the PCB will fail before the cable end fails.
My current (and previous) scanners have had mini-usb. Lots and lots of insert/remove cycles, no issues at all. Key point being that you usually don't move a scanner while you're using it and the first thing I do when I'm done is unplug it and get it out of the way. I only went to a new scanner to get driver compatibility w/ something newer than win98.
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Thanks for the quick replies. I guess I'll just have to be careful not to snag or yank the cable... shouldn't be a problem.
Edit: Found an archived thread where some RK-9000 owners comment on the usb -- http://hardforum.com/archive/index.php/t-1696021.html
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I would agree that miniUSB is not the most robust type of connection so I plan to be careful with my RK-9000.
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I haven't had any issue with the USB on my boards, but it is one I have heard around GH quite often when referring to the Rosewill keyboards.
Also, now that I've been typing on my blue Rosewill, I can tell they did but any lube on the backspace (the red board is just fine). It squeaks, but it's nothing a dat of lube won't fix. Plus it's a motivation not to make mistakes :D
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used super glue on mines when it got pushed into the keyboard and it is fine now. good keyboard.
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Agreed with review, but I'd give it a 9/10 overall because I've heard a lot of issues about the USB connector falling back into the case
I'm very happy with my 2 $65 Rosewills
Yeah that could be caused by weak solder and inherent from the use of single layer PCB design. But even then it shouldn't get loose that easily. Probably just got a lemon there that's all.
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hello world!
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Great review! I enjoy my Rosewill 9000 w browns a lot :)