Poker II -- First Impressions

[Hypersphere]

Earlier today I received my new Poker II and Tex Beetle from MK.com -- a very speedy delivery via FedEx ground. I posted my first impression of the Tex Beetle in a separate post. Now I would like to share my first impressions of the Poker II.

Unboxing

Compared to the large glossy boxing of the Tex Beetle, the Poker is packed in a substantially smaller and cheaper looking container, perhaps more appropriate for the 60% form factor of both boards. There is still a sense of humor in the more modest box, which carries the slogan, "The Keyboard to Cheer You Up". In addition to the keyboard, the box includes a detachable USB cable, wire keycap puller, unlabeled RGB modifier set, and best of all, a plain brown spacebar to replace the stock spacebar emblazoned with "Enjoy Your Feeling". However, the spacebar is thin ABS complete with a couple small nubbins of sprue.

Keyboard Revealed

Compared with the elegant appearance of the Tex Beetle, the Poker II is rather plain, and its brown coloration is reminiscent of low-grade military-issue clothing. The choice of font and yellowish color for the legends is also unfortunate, although the keycaps are PBT, which feel better to me than ABS. For a 60% board, the Poker II has a decent heft, because of its steel backplate. However, the case is a plastic shell, which feels and looks cheap. Moreover, the case is not entirely level and wobbles slightly on a flat and level desk. Although the case is already somewhat angled from front to rear, it is not enough for my typing comfort. Unfortunately, the bottom of the case has only four adhesive rubber strips and no extensible feet. The strips do not grip the desk as tightly as I would like, allowing a bit of lateral slippage. I will be heading to the hardware store to get some self-adhesive feet to elevate the back of the Poker II to a height I find comfortable for typing. Eventually, I would like to find a high-profile aluminum case for the Poker II.

Typing Experience

My Poker II came with Cherry blue switches. The feel of the switches was not quite as agreeably heavy and tight as that of the Tex Beetle, and the bottoming-out sound lacked the satifying "thonk" that I experienced with the Beetle.

The Poker II lacks a dedicated arrow cluster in the lower right-hand corner of the keyboard like that found in the Tex Beetle. Instead, the cursor keys are activated by Fn+WASD. The advantage is that the Poker II has a completely standard layout, which is great for standard typing and finding replacement keycaps. In particular, the Poker II has a full-size right shift key; consequently, I never miss it like I do when trying to find the 1.00x right shift key on the Tex Beetle. However, I have discovered that I make very frequent use of the arrow keys, and my muscle memory currently demands that they occupy the lower right-hand corner of the keyboard. Consequently, with the Poker II, I spend time fumbling with the Fn layer or using the mouse for cursor placement, thus interrupting the flow of my typing more so than dealing with the small right shift key on the Beetle.

Other Considerations

My computer setup comprises 3 computers (Mac, Linux, and Windows) that share the keyboard via both hardware and software KMs. While the Beetle had some initial difficulty  being recognized by the Mac, the Poker was immediately recognized. In fact, the Mac now registers it by name in the System Preferences. As with all my keyboards, I have remapped the Caps Lock key as Mac Command, which becomes the Win key in Windows and the Meta key in Linux.

The Fn layer appears to be reasonably intuitive, although I would have preferred a different default location for the arrow keys. However, the Poker II is completely programmable and presumably the arrow keys can be moved, but it is my understanding that they must then be accessed via the Pn key rather than the Fn key.

Overall

Unlike the elegant Tex Beetle, the Poker II in its native state has a rather proletarian look. However, underneath it is a Lisa Doolittle of keyboards, waiting to be transformed via some programming, new keycaps, and an aluminum case into something changeably stunning and regal. Time will tell which keyboard will become my default, but initially I find that I am having more trouble adapting to the lack of dedicated arrow keys on the Poker II than I am with the small right shift key on the Tex Beetle.

[theeattre]

great review! i really enjoy my beetle as well and have been contemplating a pokerII since mk got them back in stock. the future aesthetic advantage def goes to the poker for ease of mods...and there is a side of me that envies several of the keyboards i've seen in the show-your-poker forum to make me pull the trigger. too bad after it's said and done it you've thrown another three hundred at it to make it look perfect. maybe when they pop up on massdrop i'll pick one up (i get charged tax from mk). until then, i'm happy with my tex.

[PointyFox]

I also think the back of the Poker 2 should be elevated higher.  I'm getting used to the Fn+WASD.  I set the DIP that switches so that the left win key is also a Fn key.

[Hypersphere]

great review! i really enjoy my beetle as well and have been contemplating a pokerII since mk got them back in stock. the future aesthetic advantage def goes to the poker for ease of mods...and there is a side of me that envies several of the keyboards i've seen in the show-your-poker forum to make me pull the trigger. too bad after it's said and done it you've thrown another three hundred at it to make it look perfect. maybe when they pop up on massdrop i'll pick one up (i get charged tax from mk). until then, i'm happy with my tex.

Thanks. Yes, part of the beauty of the Beetle is that unlike many other keyboards, I found that it really didn't need modifications to make it acceptable. The same holds true of my IBM Model M and IBM SSK -- these already have a pleasing two-tone color scheme with high quality and  highly legible dye sub PBT keycaps. So even if you have to pay a premium for an SSK, it is not necessary to spend more for customizations, although being keyboard enthusiasts, we will eventually customize any keyboard that comes into our possession!

[Hypersphere]

I also think the back of the Poker 2 should be elevated higher.  I'm getting used to the Fn+WASD.  I set the DIP that switches so that the left win key is also a Fn key.

Yes, the Poker is crying out for an aluminum case with optional feet to elevate the rear of the keyboard. Now that I have both the Poker II and the Beetle, I am going to switch back and forth to see which compromise I can adapt to most readily -- the small backspace on the Beetle or the lack of dedicated arrow keys on the Poker II. Regarding the embedded arrow keys on the Poker II, for me it would be good to map the Fn key to the Win key as you have suggested, but then I would like to put the arrow keys in the lower right hand corner; I am too new to the Poker II to know if I could remap Fn (Win), Pn, Ctrl, and right shift to arrow keys, but this seems doubtful.

[Photoelectric]

In order for it to be a fair comparison, it should be stock for stock, as you've done.  While adding a $100+ aluminum case to a Poker will certainly weigh in its favor aesthetics and keycap layout-wise,  it will be entirely in a different price bracket--you could get a second keyboard for the price of one case.  I would argue that every keyboard could be improved with a fancy aluminum case.

[PointyFox]

In order for it to be a fair comparison, it should be stock for stock, as you've done.  While adding a $100+ aluminum case to a Poker will certainly weigh in its favor aesthetics and keycap layout-wise,  it will be entirely in a different price bracket--you could get a second keyboard for the price of one case.  I would argue that every keyboard could be improved with a fancy aluminum case.

We are here because we want a high-end keyboard.  It would make sense to spend more to get a better keyboard than to spend the same amount on two keyboards, since we can only use one at a time.

[Photoelectric]

You've missed my point.  The OP has made two comparative reviews.

[TimIsABat]

Very well written. I've been curious as to the Beetle myself. I have a Poker X and didn't have too much of a problem with not having a dedicated arrow set, but I guess it is slightly beneficial on my FC660M.

Go topre for that thock.

[wendell]

A few extra questions.

I'm also considering a 60% board for a crowded desk. Considering build quality and standardness of layout, the Tex Beetle and Poker II seem to be the best contenders. (I would have preferred the Pure Pro over the Poker II, but the top-right corner unnecessarily changes three keys that I use a lot.)

1. Did your Poker II come with a blank spacebar?

2. You described the Poker II's looks as yellowish print on brownish plastic. I thought it was white on black. Just how yellow/brownish do you mean?

3. Could you give a little more on comparison of the rigidity of the two.

4. How much better are the Poker's PBT caps versus the Tex's ABS?

5. To what degree do you feel the lettering on the caps of both?

I guess I'm mainly down to choosing between the PBT keycaps of one versus the solid build of the other.

Thanks

[Hypersphere]

A few extra questions.

I'm also considering a 60% board for a crowded desk. Considering build quality and standardness of layout, the Tex Beetle and Poker II seem to be the best contenders. (I would have preferred the Pure Pro over the Poker II, but the top-right corner unnecessarily changes three keys that I use a lot.)

1. Did your Poker II come with a blank spacebar?

2. You described the Poker II's looks as yellowish print on brownish plastic. I thought it was white on black. Just how yellow/brownish do you mean?

3. Could you give a little more on comparison of the rigidity of the two.

4. How much better are the Poker's PBT caps versus the Tex's ABS?

5. To what degree do you feel the lettering on the caps of both?

I guess I'm mainly down to choosing between the PBT keycaps of one versus the solid build of the other.

Thanks

1. Yes it did, and I replaced the stock spacebar with the plain one immediately.

2. Definitely not white on black. More like egg yolk on a WWI Turkish army uniform. Actually, the color scheme of the Poker II is rather similar to that of the of the Leopold FC660M with respect to its case and stock keycaps. You can see some pics of the Leo on the EK site.

3. The Beetle feels more solid and rigid to me than does the Poker II, perhaps because in addition to the steel backplate that the Poker II and the Beetle each have, the Beetle has an aluminum faceplate.

4. The Poker II has laser-etched PBT caps; the Beetle is described as having laser-engraved ABS caps. I tend to prefer the feel of PBT keycaps over that of ABS keycaps, but if I were getting new keycaps, I would try to find dye-sublimated thick PBT. To me, the actual typing feel is agreeable, but different, on both the Poker II and the Beetle.

5. I don't notice the feel of the lettering on either of the keyboards while typing. However, if I stop and consciously feel the keycaps, I can feel the lettering on each of the keyboards. The size of the lettering is somewhat larger on the Poker II, but this is not readily palpable to me.

For me, the choice between the two keyboards is not only a matter of my perception that the build quality of the Beetle is more solid than that of the Poker II, or that I tend to prefer PBT keycaps over ABS. A major issue for me is the presence of dedicated arrow keys on the Beetle versus the absence of arrow keys in the visible layer on the Poker II. Before actual typing tests on each board, I had not realized the extent to which I use dedicated arrow keys. I found it maddening on the Poker II, because I kept reaching for the arrow cluster in the lower right-hand corner of the board. In contrast, when typing on the Beetle, the arrow keys were there on the visible layer where I expected them to be. However, if I really wanted to make the Poker II work for me, perhaps because of my desire to customize the keycaps, I would be able to learn to use the Fn layer efficiently.

Having said all this, typing on purely 60% boards, whether the Poker II or the Beetle, is still not as natural for me as typing on my IBM Model M, IBM SSK, Filco MJ2 TKL, or Leopold FC660M.

In fact, I am typing this on the Leo, and I find it an almost perfect design for a mini keyboard. The Leo is rather like the Poker II, but with the addition of a dedicated arrow cluster and Insert / Delete keys. The Leo is a bit larger than a purely 60% board, but it adds the arrow keys without unduly sacrificing a standard layout for the main part of the board. The Leo also has stock PBT keycaps, although I have replaced the originals with dye-sub PBT Cyrillic sets from Originative, mainly for the legibility and ease of navigation afforded by a two-tone color scheme with light-colored backgrounds and dark legends.

Despite the  strengths of the Leopold FC660M, I am still seeking the best board I can find in a purely 60% form factor. At the moment, choosing between the Poker II and the Beetle, I would choose the Beetle because of its build quality, dedicated arrow keys, appearance, and ease of typing. On the other hand, I still like the Poker II because of its standard layout, which makes it relatively easy to customize with respect to cases and keycaps.

Ultimately, you will need to try the boards for yourself and decide which one to choose based on your actual experience.