CM Storm XT Stealth

[Hyde]

http://www.cmstorm.com/en/products/keyboards/xt_stealth/

Man CM Storm, gotta say you're pretty fast this time.  I thought we had to wait a few month for it.

Good job !

[phoenix1234]

I just wonder why many products of CM are similar to Filco ?

Filco Majestouch 2 TKL => CM QFR
Filco Majestouch 2 104 => CM XT
Filco Majestouch Ninja TKL =>CM Stealth
and now Filco Majestouch Ninja 104  =>CM XT Stealth

They look very similar to each other.
 )

[Hyde]

Because they are all made by Costar from Taiwan.

The following are made by Costar:

All Filco keyboards
CM Storm QuickFire Rapid, Stealth, XT, XT Stealth, Trigger
All WASD Keyboards
Older Das Keyboard (non-media edition)
Thermaltake MEKA G1
Mionix Zibal 60

[wetto]

I just wonder why many products of CM are similar to Filco ?

Filco Majestouch 2 TKL => CM QFR
Filco Majestouch 2 104 => CM XT
Filco Majestouch Ninja TKL =>CM Stealth
and now Filco Majestouch Ninja 104  =>CM XT Stealth

They look very similar to each other.
 )

Because CM copies other companies ideas and/or bases their keyboards on theirs. 

Also,

Razer Blackwidow Ultimate > CM Storm Trigger
PLUM 96 > CM Quick Fire TK

[davkol]

I just wonder why many products of CM are similar to Filco ?

Filco Majestouch 2 TKL => CM QFR
Filco Majestouch 2 104 => CM XT
Filco Majestouch Ninja TKL =>CM Stealth
and now Filco Majestouch Ninja 104  =>CM XT Stealth

They look very similar to each other.
 )

Because CM copies other companies ideas and/or bases their keyboards on theirs. 

Also,

Razer Blackwidow Ultimate > CM Storm Trigger
PLUM 96 > CM Quick Fire TK

What's MECH then?

[CPTBadAss]

Because they are all made by Costar from Taiwan.

The following are made by Costar:

All Filco keyboards
CM Storm QuickFire Rapid, Stealth, XT, XT Stealth, Trigger
All WASD Keyboards
Older Das Keyboard (non-media edition)
Thermaltake MEKA G1
Mionix Zibal 60

You know that Costar is a middle man right? They don't actually own a factory that produces keyboards. The only factory Costar owns is the same factory that Samsung RAM or SSDs come out of. Just because you get a Costar board doesn't mean they're all the same. And even if it was the same factory, it doesn't mean same product.

[davkol]

Because they are all made by Costar from Taiwan.

The following are made by Costar:

All Filco keyboards
CM Storm QuickFire Rapid, Stealth, XT, XT Stealth, Trigger
All WASD Keyboards
Older Das Keyboard (non-media edition)
Thermaltake MEKA G1
Mionix Zibal 60

You know that Costar is a middle man right? They don't actually own a factory that produces keyboards. The only factory Costar owns is the same factory that Samsung RAM or SSDs come out of. Just because you get a Costar board doesn't mean they're all the same. And even if it was the same factory, it doesn't mean same product.

However, it means the same design since Costar is an ODM.

[phoenix1234]

Because they are all made by Costar from Taiwan.
The following are made by Costar:
All Filco keyboards
CM Storm QuickFire Rapid, Stealth, XT, XT Stealth, Trigger
All WASD Keyboards
Older Das Keyboard (non-media edition)
Thermaltake MEKA G1
Mionix Zibal 60

Then it comes to my 2nd consideration.
Why other brands like :
- WASD
- DAS
- Thermaltake
- Mionix
have the same manufacturer Costa but their product ranges (type, design) does not look like Filco.
However, for me, I'm quite surprised by the number of equivalent types and designs between CM and Filco.

Indeed, eventually, the end-customers will have more choices and benefits but I have a strange feeling after seeing CM following exactly what Filco has in term of product ranges.
My concern is what Filco is thinking about this competition.
Will they have any plan to fight back?
Will they have a Filco Majestouch 3 keyboard with:
+ TKL with full RGB led, programmable led modes, tool-free led replacement
+ Full programmable firmware controller
+ Alu-case
+ Detachable MDPC cable (+ blue-tooth optional using AAA battery)
+ Ergonomic optional
+ ... ....
 

[davkol]

All CST104-based keyboards look similar—actually, most full-size or tenkeyless keyboards look almost the same—and now two manufacturers offer side-printed keycaps out of the box... What a scandal!

Does CM Storm sell something like MiniLa or Zero?

[phoenix1234]

All CST104-based keyboards look similar—actually, most full-size or tenkeyless keyboards look almost the same—and now two manufacturers offer side-printed keycaps out of the box... What a scandal!

Does CM Storm sell something like MiniLa or Zero?

I don't think they will have Minila because Minila received so many negative feedback about the layout.
However, I believe they will have something similar like Poke 60% soon.
 

[oryan_dunn]

Sure seems like this is the 'xts', but I thought the XTS was supposed to be backlit?

The stealth looks just like an XT with different keycaps.

[ImperfectLink]

All CST104-based keyboards look similar—actually, most full-size or tenkeyless keyboards look almost the same—and now two manufacturers offer side-printed keycaps out of the box... What a scandal!

Does CM Storm sell something like MiniLa or Zero?

I don't think they will have Minila because Minila received so many negative feedback about the layout.
However, I believe they will have something similar like Poke 60% soon.
 

I'd definitely buy a Minila from CM.

[phoenix1234]

All CST104-based keyboards look similar—actually, most full-size or tenkeyless keyboards look almost the same—and now two manufacturers offer side-printed keycaps out of the box... What a scandal!

Does CM Storm sell something like MiniLa or Zero?

I don't think they will have Minila because Minila received so many negative feedback about the layout.
However, I believe they will have something similar like Poke 60% soon.
 

I'd definitely buy a Minila from CM.

Here is the discussion about Filco Minila :
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=40018.0

Layout improvement discussion:
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=42435.0

As some GHers said, it looks like Filco Minila was designed for Japanese people with very similar layout of HHKB JP.
I got a Filco Minila, US layout. I used it for a while and I think the weakness of point of it is the Right-Shift (1x).
(I'm ok with the small spacebar and the abnormal 4th left-shifted row)
I'm not sure if other people share the the same idea with me.
However, there are many times I missed that key.
Now I know why HHKB has 2 very different versions for US and JP Layout:
US:


JP


Minila ISO


Minila US

[ImperfectLink]

I agree about the differences in the Minila layout. I own one. The main thing that bites me is the 1x backspace. I pretty much got used to it in a week or so.

[savestheday]

Has anyone been able to find the Quickfire XT Stealth for sale?

[SpAmRaY]

Has anyone been able to find the Quickfire XT Stealth for sale?

I sold an XT with greens that had stealth caps, I had a hard time selling it actually, no one wanted it.

[berserkfan]

seems that people don't like greens. I also noticed the same for stealth keycaps - not really popular. Put the two together, and you get an unsaleable keyboard.

So how much did you have to discount or lose to sell the keyboard?

Has anyone been able to find the Quickfire XT Stealth for sale?

I sold an XT with greens that had stealth caps, I had a hard time selling it actually, no one wanted it.

[SpAmRaY]

seems that people don't like greens. I also noticed the same for stealth keycaps - not really popular. Put the two together, and you get an unsaleable keyboard.

So how much did you have to discount or lose to sell the keyboard?

Has anyone been able to find the Quickfire XT Stealth for sale?

I sold an XT with greens that had stealth caps, I had a hard time selling it actually, no one wanted it.

I got ~70% of what I paid out of it.