KBT Poker 2 or Noppoo choc mini

[libz94]

hey guys,

I can not decide which one of these keyboards I should take? anyone has some experience with them?

[amos5606]

I own a kbc poker2 with mx brown, and I think it's a good choice for 60%.
If you want to try a 75% keyboard, I prefer kbt race2

[Tony]

I think either would be fine. Personally I prefer Noppoo Choc mini (I have four of them).

[epzy]

You really have to decide for yourself which layout you want the most, once you figure that out - you have your answer.

[davkol]

I have a choc mini. From a strictly utilitarian perspective, the keyboard is hard to beat, especially given the price. 84 dedicated keys (only Insert, Menu and right Win/Meta are missing from the ANSI layout), thick POM Cherry-profile keycaps out-of-the-box, CapsLock-Control swap on hardware level.

However, there are reportedly common debouncing issues and the layout isn't compatible with full custom keycap sets.

[BlueBär]

I have a choc mini. From a strictly utilitarian perspective, the keyboard is hard to beat, especially given the price. 84 dedicated keys (only Insert, Menu and right Win/Meta are missing from the ANSI layout), thick POM Cherry-profile keycaps out-of-the-box, CapsLock-Control swap on hardware level.

The Poker II has thick PBT keycaps and Caps and Ctrl switch on hardware level too, so there's that.
You should decide by which layout will suit you more.

[eddie]

The choc mini is nice, I'm using it now. Poker 2 and the mini have different layouts so they are hard to compare because of the difference in layouts. If you need f keys, home, delete, etc. buy the noppoo if not buy the poker.

I would recommend the poker more if you don't need noppoos layout because you can customize it more and it's more compact which is great. The choc mini also offers PBT and POM caps depending on which colour you buy and you can replace all the caps but the spacebar because of its size.

Buy what you see fitting

[Razor Lotus]

I'd go for the poker 2

[samwisekoi]

I have both, and much prefer the Mini's layout. It does have more flex than either Poker, and the stabilizers can rattle. Also, the Poker is way more customizable.

But really, as mentioned above, the question is do you need arrows and the other keys the Mini offers? If yes, then it is better. If no, then the Poker is a great 60% keyboard.

I disagree that the Race is as good as either. IMO, the Race is a worst-of-both keyboard. It is horrible for finding better keycaps, and it has a wierd layout. I had one as well as the Choco Mini and the Poker. Had, past-tense.

Want arrow keys and reasonable keycap compatibility? Get the Mini. Don't need arrows (or can handle hitting Fn a lot), get the Poker. Both are good keyboards.

Again, the above is one person's opinion.  YMMV.

 - Ron | samwisekoi

[libz94]

Is the noppoo the same size like a TKL?

But yes I ordered the noppoo because of the layout. 

I hope it wont have any debouncing issues or similar.

[Pacifist]

Is the noppoo the same size like a TKL?

But yes I ordered the noppoo because of the layout. 

I hope it wont have any debouncing issues or similar.

Noppo is slightly smaller than tkl

I would have gone for the Keycool 84, the PCB is solid and won't have any of these debouncing issues that the noppo has

[davkol]

Is the noppoo the same size like a TKL?

Smaller. The difference is about one row and 2.5 columns.

[nickr]

If you need f keys, home, delete, etc. buy the noppoo if not buy the poker.

 

There are many Poker II users who extensively use the F keys, home, delete, page up/down, arrows.  It's true that you have to use the FN layer to access them but after a month of use it becomes second nature.

[davkol]

In my experience the choc mini is perfect with CapsLock and Control swapped for games like SC2 that make relatively heavy use of Ctrl+F# and number row... I can't imagine having to press Fn too. Obviously, I could modify the hotkeys, but that's too much work. -_-

[paco]

I have a choc mini. From a strictly utilitarian perspective, the keyboard is hard to beat, especially given the price. 84 dedicated keys (only Insert, Menu and right Win/Meta are missing from the ANSI layout), thick POM Cherry-profile keycaps out-of-the-box, CapsLock-Control swap on hardware level.

The Poker II has thick PBT keycaps and Caps and Ctrl switch on hardware level too, so there's that.
You should decide by which layout will suit you more.

I don't believe you can swap Ctrl with Caps at the hardware level with he Poker II.

[BlueBär]

I don't believe you can swap Ctrl with Caps at the hardware level with he Poker II.

Looks like you're right. You can do it with the programming though I think.

[nickr]

In my experience the choc mini is perfect with CapsLock and Control swapped for games like SC2 that make relatively heavy use of Ctrl+F# and number row... I can't imagine having to press Fn too. Obviously, I could modify the hotkeys, but that's too much work. -_-

If you prancercise before you game then you're good to go