just got my first mech keyboard, its a dud :(

[herfalerf]

last week i ordered my first mech keyboard, a cherry 84-5200 with ML switches.  it was $45 new on amazon.  well i just received it today and i should have figured out based on the packaging and price that everything was not as it should be.  

box had clearly been repackaged and taped together with packing tape.
inside the keyboard was there in a nice plastic sleeve, however when i removed it i noticed that it had a little red tag on the end of the USB cord.  the tag read "plus and minus keys dont work" and was signed by an inspector. at first i wasnt bothered. i figured whatever its a refurb and i got it for almost half the price of a new one, but then i plugged it in and found out that... the plus and minus keys dont work.  after a few more minutes i discovered that the 5 and 6 keys dont work either, neither does the left ctrl.  also the box was missing the usb to ps2 adapter that was supposed to be included.  conveniently the package came after the amazon vendor had closed their CS for the day, but tomorrow they will be getting a very angry call about shipping "new" products that arent new at all.  

i do really like how the keys feel though, much more satisfying to type on than my old logitech membrane board.  

anyone have any ideas on what i should look at for a replacement?  
must come from amazon (has $65 gc)  would be willing to put in maybe 20 or 30 more dollars if it was really worth it, but would prefer to keep my 65 limit including shipping.
will be used primarily for gaming.

[noodles256]

wlcm 2 gh!

sry to hear it didn't work out, thats an awfully hard price point to hit though.

Gl

[audioave10]

I wish NewEgg would carry something better...I like ordering from them. Always reliable for me.
I just ordered a MX518 mouse.

[herfalerf]

I remember when Amazon was Amazon.

There's a reason why most 3rd party store ratings are lower than Ebay megastores.

surprisingly this particular store has like a 99 positive rating, i only saw a few reviews less than 5 stars.  reading reviews basically tells me that the company will refund my money and they may even let me keep the keyboard, apparently a few people had a similar experience with digital cameras purchased from this seller and they got to keep the product and the money.

yeah i guess that is a tough price point to hit, although im thinking i may just get the razer black widow regular as its like 79.99 and looks to be about the nicest mech for under $100.  there are a couple xarmors and a siig on there for under $100 also, but i havent heard good things about xarmor and the siig looks to be significantly cheaper than the other stores so it could be a similar situation to what i am going through right now.  

who knows how long it will take to get this situation resolved with amazon though, so by the time i get my gift card money back i may just decide to go all out and buy a filco or something along those lines.  i really like the form factor of this KB, but the keys are a bit small so i think a tenkeyless filco would be perfect, just a bit out of my price range right now.

i am kind of boggled by the fact that this cherry is supposed to be $84 retail, but the build quality is so terrible, the plastic feels incredibly cheap and the bottom is covered with sharp edges.

[keyb_gr]

i am kind of boggled by the fact that this cherry is supposed to be $84 retail, but the build quality is so terrible, the plastic feels incredibly cheap and the bottom is covered with sharp edges.

Well,
1. It's a specialty keyboard, targeted at business users more than the average consumer.
2. It's made in Euroland, which means
a) exchange rate works against it (over here they start at like 50€) and
b) production will be a wee bit more expensive than in Asian countries with questionable environmental standards.

[IvanIvanovich]

Perhaps a Cherry g80-3000? i got mine from this place, though they appear to be on backorder at the moment. I know it's not from amazon, but perhaps you could use your gift card for books or something instead. Otherwise if you really must buy from amazon, the Adesso mech seem like the only other choice close to your price range.

[herfalerf]

well i guess the reviews on the seller were right.  they credited my amazon account with a full refund before i even had time to call in this morning and they told me i can keep the defective keyboard.  

i managed to convince my dad to give me a $10 amazon GC that he had lying around and so i ordered a razer blackwidow for $75 shipped.  this time the order is directly through amazon and not through one of the stores so i have full confidence.

i picked the black widow after reading 4 or 5 reviews in the review section.  everyone seems to agree that this is an excellent keyboard for the price and i can live without nkro.  i dont think i have ever had a keyboard which had this feature anyway, so the addition of razers anti ghosting technology should be just fine.  most of my games do not require many simultaneous key presses anyway and the ones i do use seem to be supported by the razer keyboard (at least thats what the reviews say.)

[herfalerf]

should be easy enough as i dont even have an account on those boards.

[keyb_gr]

If you can keep the G84-5200, you might as well try repairing it, or at least give it to someone who's into fixing electronics. Judging from the symptoms, it probably has a cracked PCB, and/or several bad solder joints.