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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: wetto on Sat, 19 October 2013, 20:19:07
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Sup guys, it's me bringing yet another disassembled keyboard and analysis of it.
(http://matias.ca/miniquietpro/pc/resources/images/FK303QPC_header_1.jpg)
Anyways, the keyboard is way too easy to open, there's only two screws in total (really), the rest is just hold up by plastic locks, which thank heavens aren't made out of low quality plastic like on Metadot Das Keyboard (broke almost all of the plastic locks on it) or the Logitech G710+ (broke at least two). They're more similar to the plastic locks on the CM Storm Trigger, which are sturdy and easy to open.
(http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/7007/fccs.jpg)
Also, Edgar Matias told me that the keyboard cases on Matias Quiet and Clicky keyboards are made out of Injected Policarbonate (used on football helmets), a more resistant plastic than the commonly used ABS (and which also costs more). I know that ABS can have different levels of quality, some can be sturdy and others not, for an instance, I find the ABS front cover of the CM Storm Trigger quite well done, while the plastic covers on Logitech G710+ and Tt Meka G-Unit are just crap.
(http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/9765/4n53.JPG)
(http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/5723/6dp3.jpg)
(http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/3742/orbh.jpg)
(http://imageshack.us/a/img13/1818/7l4t.jpg)
Well, in the case of the Matias Mini Quiet Pro, the plastic is really sturdy and looks well done on both front and rear covers. But the only thing that gets me off is what most should've noticed by now, which are my fingerprints. Yeah, Glossy outside and inside, since its a characteristic of the plastic used on it (it's not even painted). That for me, is kinda like its only weak point, but the reason for that, according to Edgar Matias, is that he couldn't use a different cover from what's used on the Mac version and Mac users wanted the damn Glossy white covers. Damn hipsters...
Anyways, another detail on the photo of the rear cover, is that it has almost no rubber underneath it, which makes it easy to move around the table (and the glossy finish even helps). And its feet also don't have any rubber to keep the keyboard on place as well... :(
(http://imageshack.us/a/img580/3005/ostj.jpg)
Anyways, now let's talk about keycaps. The keycaps come from the same Taiwanese supplier (attention, although Costar does uses this supplier, Costar has no keycap tooling, so, this keyboard is NOT made by them) as FILCO Majestouch 2, CM Quick Fire Rapid/Stealth/XT/Trigger, Ducky Shine II, Ducky Shine III and a few other keyboards. Part of this affirmation comes from Edgar Matias himself and the other comes from how the plastic looks like, its feeling and the mold marking on the rear of the keycap.
(http://imageshack.us/a/img69/4145/qi4z.jpg)
(http://imageshack.us/a/img834/9792/dpgs.jpg)
(http://imageshack.us/a/img546/2829/r4kc.jpg)
Anyways, these are high-quality ABS keycaps with a very nice feel to them. Thankfully Matias didn't decided to choose cheaper keycaps from Datacomp or Solid Year...
Continuing, these are the photos of the keyboard disassembled, the PCB and the controller (which is removable) and the soldering (which looks well done):
(http://imageshack.us/a/img854/4165/ube0.jpg)
(http://imageshack.us/a/img10/3895/t7oy.jpg)
(http://imageshack.us/a/img20/4638/5bnr.jpg)
(http://imageshack.us/a/img543/9670/h6pn.jpg)
(http://imageshack.us/a/img707/7435/v3wd.jpg)
(http://imageshack.us/a/img22/3391/w25t.jpg)
Also, since the keyswitches themselves are transparent, that allows backlighting similar to membrane keyboards to be used. This here, is the Caps Lock key:
(http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/1111/qd3a.jpg)
This way, you can have:
- Cheaper backlighting methods:
(http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/57/mg3258.jpg)
- RGB Backlight
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Mother of double posts.
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Mother of double posts.
Damn internet got me :(
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lol nice review, are you doing the RGB backlit mod?
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lol nice review, are you doing the RGB backlit mod?
It's not impossible, I could use exactly one of those acrylics and LEDs to do it and for a cheap price (http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/57/mg3258.jpg) since that keyboard costs around US$ 30, but no one produces backlit keycaps for ALPS keyboards anymore and even the last one I saw was a customized Matias keyboard made by TrueCustom:
http://geekhack.org/index.php?action=profile;u=22875
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=46060.0
(http://geekhack.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=46060.0;attach=28995;image)
(http://geekhack.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=46060.0;attach=28997;image)
If anyone's making a backlit Matias Keyboard with backlit keycaps, it's probably him. But I bet getting his hands on backlit-able keycaps from those old ALPS clones ain't gonna be easy nor are they gonna have some good quality.
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So, what does Costar actually do, then?
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So, what does Costar actually do, then?
They're a middle-man between several factories.
They manage ordering switches, keycaps, PCBs, cases and all the stuff needed to assemble a keyboard and send that to a certain factory to assemble it, which isn't always theirs.
"They're as good as the factory they've chosen" is something I heard many times...
Which means, they can do a pretty damn good job once in a while, but they can also screw up really bad which happened in two cases recently:
- A batch of 100 units of CM Quick Fire Stealth with MX Brown switches and bad soldering sold in the United States. Around 25 weren't even sold yet and many of the other 75 are already RMA'd or are in RMA process.
- A batch of 130 units of CM Quick Fire Stealth with MX Red Switches here in Brazil had wrong printing on the enter key:
(http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/6475/iuwn.jpg)
Plus, add the fact that they screwed Cooler Master over the production cost of the CM Storm Trigger and there you have it. I really love their keyboards when they do a nice job, but you can't keep on the market by making mistakes frequently and not even caring about them, while also being slow and expensive :(
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Is the Costar reference platform actually theirs, or was that also designed by someone else?
We know that the Tactile Pro 2 was infamously made by Strong Man. The Tactile Pro 3 is supposed to be Costar. I don't know who made the original, though, and why Matias moved to Strong Man. (Strong Man claimed to have their own switch tooling, but I cannot find any evidence of this — all photos so far show known switches from other companies. Datacomp apparently had a trade fair stall recently demonstrating their new Alps clones, but there's no evidence of that either — I've had no reply since from Mechanical Keyboards, and no reply from Datacomp at all.)
Then you have all those holes in the PCB — it's like it's intended for Cherry MX, but it would be news to me that Cherry MX and Alps CM have compatible PCB holes.
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Is the Costar reference platform actually theirs, or was that also designed by someone else?
We know that the Tactile Pro 2 was infamously made by Strong Man. The Tactile Pro 3 is supposed to be Costar. I don't know who made the original, though, and why Matias moved to Strong Man. (Strong Man claimed to have their own switch tooling, but I cannot find any evidence of this — all photos so far show known switches from other companies. Datacomp apparently had a trade fair stall recently demonstrating their new Alps clones, but there's no evidence of that either — I've had no reply since from Mechanical Keyboards, and no reply from Datacomp at all.)
Then you have all those holes in the PCB — it's like it's intended for Cherry MX, but it would be news to me that Cherry MX and Alps CM have compatible PCB holes.
Beats me... Also, I don't know who exactly makes these Matias keyboards... :(
But the reason for those holes in the PCB, is actually to shine light through them, though as you said, it makes it compatible with Cherry MX Switches at the same time, which is quite interesting and could mean that these keybords with Matias switches can be produced in just about any mechanical keyboard OEM out there, with the only "problem" of ALPS keycaps being a bit hard to get and probably expensive.
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Very nice - thanks.
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Doh, didn't realise that the LEDs are on the reverse of the PCB …
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Then you have all those holes in the PCB — it's like it's intended for Cherry MX, but it would be news to me that Cherry MX and Alps CM have compatible PCB holes.
The holes are to allow backlight mods, once we have the keycaps available. You'd just need to design a second PCB with the LEDs, and mount it directly under the stock PCB.
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OK, so you definitely have to outdo Ducky's light shows :-)
(I love the one where the keys light up when struck, then fade out. Just make sure that the PCM converter has enough brightness steps that you don't see the light fade away in obvious brightness reductions. I also laugh at all the companies that have pulsating sleep indicators that have really unnatural, jerky rhythms, i.e. all of them. It should be a gentle, smooth curve.)
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OK, so you definitely have to outdo Ducky's light shows :-)
They remind me of Christmas tree lights. :-)
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PS when are you making RGB keycap sets for the Quiet Pro? :P
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PS when are you making RGB keycap sets for the Quiet Pro? :P
We're going to start tooling up soon. Perhaps 3-4 months from now.
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Yay.
(There must be a way to disable animated smilies on this forum by default! That one is particularly egregious.)
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(There must be a way to disable animated smilies on this forum by default! That one is particularly egregious.)
Haa, true.
You just need to include a nose... :-P
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I posted these months ago, I think in the Matias vendor forum, but here's my pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/88005189@N05/sets/72157631688113659/
One thing I will say about the keycaps is that they've shined up a ton. The lettering hasn't worn though...still as strong as when I got it.
I also didn't care for the glossy finish, so I did something about it....spray paint.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8323/8442553465_80b70dcb98_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/88005189@N05/8442553465/)
Full Keyboard Painted (http://www.flickr.com/photos/88005189@N05/8442553465/) by adfrost81 (http://www.flickr.com/people/88005189@N05/), on Flickr
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8511/8442553633_153c21c33f_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/88005189@N05/8442553633/)
Back Painted (http://www.flickr.com/photos/88005189@N05/8442553633/) by adfrost81 (http://www.flickr.com/people/88005189@N05/), on Flickr
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8371/8442553789_01beb0e382_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/88005189@N05/8442553789/)
Front Angle Painted (http://www.flickr.com/photos/88005189@N05/8442553789/) by adfrost81 (http://www.flickr.com/people/88005189@N05/), on Flickr
Now if only they made a white LED backlit version, I'd never need another keyboard.
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I also didn't care for the glossy finish, so I did something about it....spray paint.
Nice work!
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Back Painted (http://www.flickr.com/photos/88005189@N05/8442553633/) by adfrost81 (http://www.flickr.com/people/88005189@N05/), on Flickr
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8371/8442553789_01beb0e382_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/88005189@N05/8442553789/)
Front Angle Painted (http://www.flickr.com/photos/88005189@N05/8442553789/) by adfrost81 (http://www.flickr.com/people/88005189@N05/), on Flickr
Now if only they made a white LED backlit version, I'd never need another keyboard.
Jesus, that thing looks damn sexy :eek:
I'll mod mine ASAP, Jesus Christ...
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I also laugh at all the companies that have pulsating sleep indicators that have really unnatural, jerky rhythms, i.e. all of them. It should be a gentle, smooth curve.)
LED brightness increase non-linearly with current. It isn't as simple as you think. In the end, you have to tune it by eye, and hope your programs have fine grain enough control for adjustment.
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It's the 21st century. I don't accept excuses any more.
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I also didn't care for the glossy finish, so I did something about it....spray paint.
I know this is late to the party, but ... the paint job looks fab, did it work out durability-wise? If so, do you remember the details of how to do it? or if not, do you have ideas of what to do better? I'm finally just about to get a Quiet Pro for PC and I suspect I'll be distracted by all my fingerprints on that 'piano black'.
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I also didn't care for the glossy finish, so I did something about it....spray paint.
I know this is late to the party, but ... the paint job looks fab, did it work out durability-wise? If so, do you remember the details of how to do it? or if not, do you have ideas of what to do better? I'm finally just about to get a Quiet Pro for PC and I suspect I'll be distracted by all my fingerprints on that 'piano black'.
Asking how something held up is actually a really good reason to revive a necrothread.
I’m easily distractible and I don’t notice any smudges in normal use.
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Yes, I thought it was good timing for that question. So the spray paint worked, do you remember how you did it - what paint? primer? surface prep? I've hardly painted a wall, never mind a plastic keyboard.
Asking how something held up is actually a really good reason to revive a necrothread.
I’m easily distractible and I don’t notice any smudges in normal use.
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Yes, I thought it was good timing for that question. So the spray paint worked, do you remember how you did it - what paint? primer? surface prep? I've hardly painted a wall, never mind a plastic keyboard.
Asking how something held up is actually a really good reason to revive a necrothread.
I’m easily distractible and I don’t notice any smudges in normal use.
Sorry; I wasn’t clear. I’m not OP, but I do have a Mini Quiet Pro.
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Sorry; I wasn’t clear. I’m not OP, but I do have a Mini Quiet Pro.
Ah, I thought furosuto81 had changed username. Your comment is still useful to me, it probably means the glossy finish is fine for most people. I probably was only made aware of the possible issue by one reviewer/commentator. Thanks for clarifying.