How come Cooler Master keyboards are so popular for modding?

[ckar]

They have a whole sub forum for that: https://geekhack.org/index.php?board=152.0

I find it very strange that they are so popular for modding, I always thought the keyboards from Cooler Master were low end.

[Flyersfan1]

They have a whole sub forum for that: https://geekhack.org/index.php?board=152.0

I find it very strange that they are so popular for modding, I always thought the keyboards from Cooler Master were low end.

They are good value for what you are getting.  Plus, their case, like Filco, was compatible with the Phantom PCB so you could have an inexpensive reliable housing for a Phantom build.

[ckar]

Does that mean they have poor resale value, i was planning to order a beater CM keyboard and resell it later.

[Moistgun]

Does that mean they have poor resale value, i was planning to order a beater CM keyboard and resell it later.

Keyboards in general keep a pretty high resale value, but in my opionion, CM keyboards seem to have a higher depreciation rate on the secondhand market for some reason.

[fohat.digs]

to order a beater CM keyboard and resell it later.

Isn't that sort of a contradiction?

Is it better to buy a $100 keyboard that holds 70% of its value or an $80 keyboard that holds 60% of its value?

[phoible]

Is it better to buy a $100 keyboard that holds 70% of its value or an $80 keyboard that holds 60% of its value?

It depends on whether you ever want to sell it.

[wetto]

They have a whole sub forum for that: https://geekhack.org/index.php?board=152.0

I find it very strange that they are so popular for modding, I always thought the keyboards from Cooler Master were low end.

They're not very expensive, they've been around since 2012, they have standard modifiers, they're not hard to open and it's easy to find several mods for them.

[HeeCh2ei]

They have a whole sub forum for that: https://geekhack.org/index.php?board=152.0

I find it very strange that they are so popular for modding, I always thought the keyboards from Cooler Master were low end.

Some sub-forums on the intrenet is exists just for isolate other sub-forums from various ****.

[davkol]

CM Storm had a great relationship with Geekhack a few years back. Not sure about current situation, because I barely ever see their folks around these days, especially Carter, but their European branch is definitely somewhat active over at Deskthority. They've had an enthusiast-friendly product line, esp. QuickFire Rapid/XT and later NovaTouch… that originated in 2012-2013.

QFR is based on the same Costar prototype as Filco Majestouch(2), only cost half the filco's price. And those keyboards are *extremely* modding-friendly: from keycaps, to cases, to replacement controllers (from Bathroom Epiphanies) and PCB (Phantom).

CM Storm listened to community feedback back in 2012 and removed obnoxious branding from QFR. Then they added the full-size QF XT and finally NovaTouch—Topre with MX-compatible stems—that was IMO made for enthusiasts (and as an attempt to expand the market, of course).

[tp4tissue]

Because they're cheaper and the cost-to-quality ratio is high.

The filco might be --better quality--  but not significantly to command 3x the price.

[MOZ]

CM Storm had a great relationship with Geekhack a few years back.

There was a competition centred around  modding QFR case tops. These case tops were offered at a cheaper price on the Geekhackers store.

[davkol]

CM Storm had a great relationship with Geekhack a few years back.

There was a competition centred around  modding QFR case tops. These case tops were offered at a cheaper price on the Geekhackers store.

That was later AFAIK. First they removed the branding and started to sell replacement case covers (through their own store) to people, that already had the fugly case covers with logos all over the place.

[Hyde]

Because they're cheaper and the cost-to-quality ratio is high.

The filco might be --better quality--  but not significantly to command 3x the price.

^^^ This.

Holy crap tp4 speaks the truth for once lollllll. 

[UnFocused]

I've found them extremely easy to switch swaps on and I've completely replaced the switches on two of them.

[rowdy]

CM Storm had a great relationship with Geekhack a few years back.

There was a competition centred around  modding QFR case tops. These case tops were offered at a cheaper price on the Geekhackers store.

It's also that replacement case tops were commercial available at reasonable prices.  Nothing fancy, just a replacement case top.

This made it very easy for people to order a few of them and do some experimentation.

[UnFocused]

QFR is based on the same Costar prototype as Filco Majestouch(2), only cost half the filco's price.

I have two QFRs, but have never seen a Filco. How is the build quality and overall feel of the QFR compare to the Filco?

[davkol]

QFR is based on the same Costar prototype as Filco Majestouch(2), only cost half the filco's price.

I have two QFRs, but have never seen a Filco. How is the build quality and overall feel of the QFR compare to the Filco?

Higher-quality PCB and soldering with better quality control. That's great, if you don't know how to solder or don't plan to replace/mod switches by yourself.

There have been large batches of QFRs with problems out of the box—that shouldn't happen with Filco MJ2… and it doesn't matter, if you can fix it by yourself.

[kawasaki161]

QFR is based on the same Costar prototype as Filco Majestouch(2), only cost half the filco's price.

I have two QFRs, but have never seen a Filco. How is the build quality and overall feel of the QFR compare to the Filco?

Here is a comparison video: https://youtu.be/Cy1JgF4_UT0

[Magna224]

Cheap. Also same OEM? Not that they're made to the same guidelines. I bought my QFR, Gateron Blacks, and PBT keycaps for ~$110 from 3 different sources. A filco cost $140 on ebay to me as the cheapest option. I'd take my QFR over ANY stock filco by a long shot.

EDIT: I know this kinda comes off as talking crap about Filcos (Which have obviously become part of this thread) but I don't have any negative feelings towards them. It's just down to the price. My friend is in Japan and I was looking for a JIS keyboard for him to pick up for me. I ended up with a 55g 87 to replace my old 103UB I sold a long time ago vs a close second to a MX brown TKL Filco.

[zephyr11]

interesting. never did I think to buy a CM keyboard and add some mods to it.

[UnFocused]

interesting. never did I think to buy a CM keyboard and add some mods to it.

I've modded two. The first was one I bought in 2012 with MX blues. I replaced all but the stabilized switches with linear "Taiwan Jet Axis" switches from a keyboard a friend found at a demolition site.

I recently bought a brand new one with MX browns and I replaced all of those with vintage MX blacks from a 1989 datecoded Wyse board.

Desoldring a QFR is fairly easy and I only lifted one or two pads per board, but that's easy to fix because the QFR PCBs are single sided. I tried doing the same thing with a KUL and I wound up butchering that PCB.

[CPTBadAss]

CM Storm had a great relationship with Geekhack a few years back.

There was a competition centred around  modding QFR case tops. These case tops were offered at a cheaper price on the Geekhackers store.

Yup and the competition didn't really go anywhere but the sub-forum stuck around.

[zephyr11]

interesting. never did I think to buy a CM keyboard and add some mods to it.

I've modded two. The first was one I bought in 2012 with MX blues. I replaced all but the stabilized switches with linear "Taiwan Jet Axis" switches from a keyboard a friend found at a demolition site.

I recently bought a brand new one with MX browns and I replaced all of those with vintage MX blacks from a 1989 datecoded Wyse board.

Desoldring a QFR is fairly easy and I only lifted one or two pads per board, but that's easy to fix because the QFR PCBs are single sided. I tried doing the same thing with a KUL and I wound up butchering that PCB.

novatouch just got in on massdrop, can't decide if it's worth it. but option to get it barebones does help, I'm sure I wouldn't stick with the stock keycaps. and what not.

thoughts?

[UnFocused]

novatouch just got in on massdrop, can't decide if it's worth it. but option to get it barebones does help, I'm sure I wouldn't stick with the stock keycaps. and what not.

thoughts?

That seems like a decent price for that board.

[zephyr11]

novatouch just got in on massdrop, can't decide if it's worth it. but option to get it barebones does help, I'm sure I wouldn't stick with the stock keycaps. and what not.

thoughts?

That seems like a decent price for that board.

damn, that's what I was worried about...

 ) ) ) )