XArmor = QPad?

[Coya]

Hey all,

i feel kinda bad to come with a question to you with my first post but after quite some time of research i dont see another way. If my research was not thorough enough and there happens to be a thread about exactly my question, I'd be glad to be redirected and sorry for wasting your time.

So i have been considering to buy a mechanical keyboard for a long time, but for my first one I didnt want to pay so much money on Keyboards like a Filco or a Leopold and I don't like the Das Style, additionally to that alot of Keyboards aren't available here in Germany for reasonable shipping prices and I want Cherry MX Red switches for it, which most of the Keyboards don't have. I know alot of people are saying they're overrated and all that, but I think they will suit me. So i stumbled upon the Qpad Mk-50. Which noone seems to be talking about, i searched for reviews and all that but only found threads about the Mk-80,Mk-85 or the Xarmor U9BL.

And here's the point, I've read that Xarmor is supposed to be the same company as Qpad or at least Qpad sells rebranded Xarmor keyboards. So I read that the LEDs on the U9BL are not equally as lit up, but that wouldnt be a problem since the MK-50 doesn't have any backlight. And i read that the Keys and Key Stabilizers are supposed to be horrible in the U9BL. The list of problems does not seem to cease.

Long story short, is it unrecommended to buy Qpad Keyboards or am I safe to order the MK-50? The thing is you do not find alot of reliable information on the MK-50 on the internet.

Thanks for reading, and sorry in advance if this is a repost and for the long text.

[Coya]

Yes to Qpad=Xarmor? So it is unrecommended to buy the MK-50?

Edit Thanks for the welcome

[IvanIvanovich]

Most people here won't recommend anything oem'd by iOne: X-Armor, Qpad, Tessoro, Max, Adesso, Razer, CMStorm Pro (exclude Rapid oem'd by costar), Thermaltake meka (exclude G1 oem'd by costar), I'm probably missing a couple. Basically for the money most of these boards cost there is a better alternative without all of the build and qc issues.

[Coya]

Yea I hoped that Qpad is an exception since nobody seems to be complaining about it here, but I'll be looking into the Rapid and the G1 one wether i can get those here in Germany with red switches. Thanks for the fast replies

[IvanIvanovich]

Tt meka G1 only comes in blacks, but I believe the CM storm Rapid will be available with red switch in Europe soon if it's not yet. I haven't been following that much.

[Coya]

Indeed the G1 seems to be only available in blacks, the CM storm Rapid is available with reds in UK but I guess its worth the waiting, until it comes to Germany, since it seems to be tenkeyless as well, which i searched for too since Filco doesnt produce the red tenkeyless anymore. Again thanks for the help, strange that I didnt find the CM Storm rapid myself

[Coya]

Okay just as an update for people who will search this in the future. As it stands now the CM Storm Fire Rapid wont be sold in Germany.

[Coya]

That would be epic as a name. But no the only CM Keyboard here is the CM Storm Trigger. Guess I'll go with the Filco Brownswitch Tenkeyless then..

[waffochan]

Running off of the MK-50 right now, as it were - and in all honesty I haven't had any QC issues with mine (lucky batch?)
Opening the board to solder in new switches(reds weren't my thing) didn't reveal any inherent faults either.

For sure there are better alternatives, but as far as my experience with it goes - it's fair enough.

[dbdynsty25]

I've got the monorpice re-badged qpad MK-50...and while it's not nearly up to the quality of my Filco TKL or my Mionix Zibal 60...it's still a pretty nice board overall.  I only really hate the fact that it does NKRO over USB so that I can't use it on my MacBook through my KVM switch.  It constantly crashes my Mac while my Filco/Mionix work perfectly with 6KRO.