LASTLY, A MECH KEYBOARD WITH THE PERFECT LAYOUT + FOOTPRINT IS BORNED!!!!

[Human]

Has anyone had any luck getting these yet?  Last few times i tried getting a white one with red switches the vendors were out.

I had gotten mine. Being quite busy lately so no time to write a detailed review on it.
In short, it is a nice board.
1. Wireless
2. Nice/Perfect layout and footprint
3. PBT/POM keycaps
4. Solid + heavy built despite being a PCB mounted board
5. Backlit ready by just adding your own LED
6. NKRO
7. Detachable wire
8. Multimedia shortcut keys and bla bla bla, literally everything you every asked for

The only cons is that...
It uses an odd spacebar standard, similar to Neo Zelia 87, and probably Keycool/Leopold FC500R also...


P/S: Those Blank keycaps are KBC POM which I purchased seperately.

[Human]

Jesus, and it costs US$ 60 on China! I'm soo getting one!

Link!!! What is it called?

PLUM96

[laffindude]

Those POM keys looks really nice on it.

[TheQsanity]

Has anyone had any luck getting these yet?  Last few times i tried getting a white one with red switches the vendors were out.

I had gotten mine. Being quite busy lately so no time to write a detailed review on it.
In short, it is a nice board.
1. Wireless
2. Nice/Perfect layout and footprint
3. PBT/POM keycaps
4. Solid + heavy built despite being a PCB mounted board
5. Backlit ready by just adding your own LED
6. NKRO
7. Detachable wire
8. Multimedia shortcut keys and bla bla bla, literally everything you every asked for

The only cons is that...
It uses an odd spacebar standard, similar to Neo Zelia 87, and probably Keycool/Leopold FC500R also...

Show Image

P/S: Those Blank keycaps are KBC POM which I purchased seperately.

Led ready?!?!?!  What da... this is so unreal.  Shortcuts????!!!

[Human]

Has anyone had any luck getting these yet?  Last few times i tried getting a white one with red switches the vendors were out.

I had gotten mine. Being quite busy lately so no time to write a detailed review on it.
In short, it is a nice board.
1. Wireless
2. Nice/Perfect layout and footprint
3. PBT/POM keycaps
4. Solid + heavy built despite being a PCB mounted board
5. Backlit ready by just adding your own LED
6. NKRO
7. Detachable wire
8. Multimedia shortcut keys and bla bla bla, literally everything you every asked for

The only cons is that...
It uses an odd spacebar standard, similar to Neo Zelia 87, and probably Keycool/Leopold FC500R also...

Show Image

P/S: Those Blank keycaps are KBC POM which I purchased seperately.

Led ready?!?!?!  What da... this is so unreal.  Shortcuts????!!!

Yup, it come with holes and circuit for LED, just mount it yourself and you are good to go. Shortcut keys mean those Volume control, play/pause, Computer and so on.

[Cindori]

Uhm wait a seconddddd

It's WIRELESS, MECHANICAL, NKRO, with DETACHABLE WIRE, and LED support, and it cost $70 USD!?!?!?

[TheQsanity]

Haha that made me laugh.

Now the question is... black or white.. your white ones look a lillte cream. Are they clear white? What would look better with leds?

I haven't done an led mod yet. Should any led work? Does it have a manual that says?

[Human]

The keycaps are perfectly bright and clear white. The case is a little cream clay/greyish, not too much a problem.

If I am you, I will go for blackcase but white keycaps. Because white color case are prone to yellowing after long term use, worsen when exposed to sunlight(which is inevitable at my country). White keycaps are PBT, which are really comfort to touch on.

White color normally looks better with custom keycaps(rainbow especially).

For LED mod, it is normally discussed in China KB forums. There isn't any manual(except the one which explain the keys layout) inside. I had asked around and the answer I got is that board should use a 2.8V LED(that mean 3V should be OK?). Though, I am not reponsible if anything wrong with your board.
www.waishehome.cn/forum.php?mod=redirect&goto=findpost&ptid=45648&pid=1043760

[Cindori]

It is a normal 3mm led. Just search "3mm led" on ebay.

[Human]

It is a normal 3mm led. Just search "3mm led" on ebay.

The wattage or voltage of the LED also play an important role here.

Also, if you can get a PLUM96(most probably from taobao), you can easily get LEDs from taobao also. They are dirt cheap there.
http://shop34410686.taobao.com/search.htm?spm=2013.1.w6.2.e6ef66&orderType=_hotsell

[wetto]

Does the fact that it does not contains any plate affects it at all? Can someone answer me this?

[Human]

What you mean? You mean does the board PCB mounted causing any problems or inferiors? Most(if not all) Cherry made boards are PCB mounted.

Also, as I mentioned, the board itself is solid and heavy.

[wetto]

What you mean? You mean does the board PCB mounted causing any problems or inferiors? Most(if not all) Cherry made boards are PCB mounted.

Also, as I mentioned, the board itself is solid and heavy.

Damn, and here I thought that after gettting my Das Keyboard I wouldn't need to buy any other keyboard in my life.

Well gentlemen, I guess this PLUM 96 will sell quite well here on geekhack, hehehehe.... I'm surely getting mine.

[Human]

What you mean? You mean does the board PCB mounted causing any problems or inferiors? Most(if not all) Cherry made boards are PCB mounted.

Also, as I mentioned, the board itself is solid and heavy.

Damn, and here I thought that after gettting my Das Keyboard I wouldn't need to buy any other keyboard in my life.

Well gentlemen, I guess this PLUM 96 will sell quite well here on geekhack, hehehehe.... I'm surely getting mine.

The problem is that most China boards are not sold internationally. The most it gone to Taiwan.
You need to find those online vendors such as QTAN to get it but then the price goes up as it passed through more hands and distances.

[Cindori]

We have both Lin and Qtan here that acts as Taobao agents, and the fee is not too much.

[GensokyoTenshi]

Wow, that would really be the perfect layout for me, can't wait to get my hands on one.

[wetto]

I think I'll order 10, need to sell some around here in my country.... 

[nullstring]

is plum96 available in mx brown anywhere yet?

[desal]

is plum96 available in mx brown anywhere yet?

There's plenty on taobao. I just got one from qtan yesterday.
 

[nullstring]

is plum96 available in mx brown anywhere yet?

There's plenty on taobao. I just got one from qtan yesterday.
 

What was the total cost?

[N8N]

Do want.

[Grimey]

Loving my Panda Clears modded PLUM96 myself (work mate modded his PLUM96 to ghetto Light Grays).  It was interesting open up the board and see PCB was LED ready for every switch.  It is a totally decent board all around if you don't mind the Leopold 500 spacebar stabilizer spacing and cherry stabilizers.  The battery life isn't all the great in wireless mode, which is probably why it comes with a on/off toggle switch for it.

Just glad to see some interest peeking for this layout around the globe.

[desal]

is plum96 available in mx brown anywhere yet?

There's plenty on taobao. I just got one from qtan yesterday.
 

What was the total cost?

I got some other stuff too and i'm not sure of the breakdown, I think it was about $80-90 shipped.

[Human]

Loving my Panda Clears modded PLUM96 myself (work mate modded his PLUM96 to ghetto Light Grays).  It was interesting open up the board and see PCB was LED ready for every switch.  It is a totally decent board all around if you don't mind the Leopold 500 spacebar stabilizer spacing and cherry stabilizers.  The battery life isn't all the great in wireless mode, which is probably why it comes with a on/off toggle switch for it.

Just glad to see some interest peeking for this layout around the globe.

Wondering what are your complaint on the battery life?
What I read in China forums are that the battery life is actually pretty good.

At least for mine, it is still clearly functioning after a week of usage(on average around 4hours per day). Also, I am not expecting it(the battery) to die out that fast, as it actually using 3x AAA Energizer MAX batteries(which cost around 0.7USD each here and can normally last me a very long time for other uses) + it is awkward to keep on removing the case for changing battery.

[Grimey]

Wondering what are your complaint on the battery life?
What I read in China forums are that the battery life is actually pretty good.

At least for mine, it is still clearly functioning after a week of usage(on average around 4hours per day). Also, I am not expecting it(the battery) to die out that fast, as it actually using 3x AAA Energizer MAX batteries(which cost around 0.7USD each here and can normally last me a very long time for other uses) + it is awkward to keep on removing the case for changing battery.

As I should probably point out, I have only had 2 attempts at monitoring battery life.  Both attempts provided about 10 days of battery life when wireless mode was left toggled on (the switch left on the wireless on position) while attached wirelessly to our media box which does not shut down.  These tests were not scientific or anything of that nature, but the actual time spent typing is very little.

If these were rechargeable I would not complain in the least at this amount of battery life, but the pain of opening it up and replacing the batteries has kept me very astute to toggle the wireless off when I am not doing any typing.  So the problem basically solves itself by just remembering to toggle the device off, but it would be nice if the device would put itself in standby after 10 minutes of non-use or something.

[absyrd]

I think that PLUM 96 is my next board. So the consensus is qtan is the way to go?

[Grimey]

Got mine through IMSTO, but qtan has good rep here as well.

[Carter]

Blue TK's will be available to people very soon. Followed by Red and lastly brown

[tjcaustin]

I'm tempted to get one in brown.  I would have my pennies saved for one if there was a black, though...

[wetto]

Blue TK's will be available to people very soon. Followed by Red and lastly brown

Nice to hear, though, what really made CM not release it in Cherry MX Black? Some gamers even like those.

[Human]

Wondering what are your complaint on the battery life?
What I read in China forums are that the battery life is actually pretty good.

At least for mine, it is still clearly functioning after a week of usage(on average around 4hours per day). Also, I am not expecting it(the battery) to die out that fast, as it actually using 3x AAA Energizer MAX batteries(which cost around 0.7USD each here and can normally last me a very long time for other uses) + it is awkward to keep on removing the case for changing battery.

As I should probably point out, I have only had 2 attempts at monitoring battery life.  Both attempts provided about 10 days of battery life when wireless mode was left toggled on (the switch left on the wireless on position) while attached wirelessly to our media box which does not shut down.  These tests were not scientific or anything of that nature, but the actual time spent typing is very little.

If these were rechargeable I would not complain in the least at this amount of battery life, but the pain of opening it up and replacing the batteries has kept me very astute to toggle the wireless off when I am not doing any typing.  So the problem basically solves itself by just remembering to toggle the device off, but it would be nice if the device would put itself in standby after 10 minutes of non-use or something.

It do had a "standby mode", which turn indicator LEDs off when keyboard is not in used for a durations on wireless mode. You can also manually doing so by Fn+F7.

Also, may be you should try with a better battery and see if the results turns out better.

[Human]

BTW, IIRC, PLUM96 may come out with an improved/refreshed version soon. The main different should be an opening at the back to reach the batteries without open up the whole board.

[wetto]

Anyone knows where I can buy one of those PLUM 96 keyboards? Someplace where there's international shipping as well.

[Human]

Yup, just read back and noticed my mistake. Had edited my previous post.

As above, some ppl said that QTAN is carrying the boards, which mean you can probably get it from him.

[Grimey]

It do had a "standby mode", which turn indicator LEDs off when keyboard is not in used for a durations on wireless mode. You can also manually doing so by Fn+F7.

Also, may be you should try with a better battery and see if the results turns out better.

I wouldn't disagree with anything you said, this keyboard may have somewhat of a standby mode.  My experience has been that actually toggling it off (the switch underneath) when not in use has given me a full month + of usage on the current set of batteries.  When the majority of typing I do is a few quick command line entries and plugging in some URLs it just seemed easier to toggle for now.  I will probably try the standbye mode again at some point in the future, I would rather just not take the keyboard apart every other week to change the batteries.