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Author Topic: How does GH rate WASD among others  (Read 2281 times)

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Offline Belfong

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How does GH rate WASD among others
« on: Wed, 02 October 2013, 06:56:03 »
Now that I owned a Code, I must say that I'm impressed by the build quality. I'm just wondering how does this indie (are they?) company keyboard rate against more branded one like DAS, Leopold, Filco, etc? What's GH opinion?
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Offline tp4tissue

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Re: How does GH rate WASD among others
« Reply #1 on: Wed, 02 October 2013, 07:05:58 »
They're a solid choice as far as staggered qwerty goes...

Though, once you're looking for another board, you'd probably be better off with an ERGODOX.

It's just super awesome, and no grindy clears, lubed clears.... smooooth
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Offline N8N

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Re: How does GH rate WASD among others
« Reply #2 on: Wed, 02 October 2013, 07:16:31 »
My only experience with WASD is that I bought one of the very first V1s.  that said, I would consider them very similar to Filco, etc. in build quality and Weyman actually greases the Costar stabilizers for you which as far as I'm aware nobody else does.  I prefer the styling of the Filco, but that is pretty much the only way that WASD comes up short.

Today, were I buying a new keyboard and wanted Cherry MX, I would probably buy a WASD without caps and then throw a set of imsto dye subs on it and call it a day.  Unfortunately it took trying a lot of keyboards to get to that point.
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Filco Majestouch-2 with Cherry Corp. doubleshot keys - Leopold Tenkeyless Tactile Force with Wyse doubleshots - Silicon Graphics 9500900 - WASD V1 - IBM Model M 52G9658 - Noppoo Choc Pro with Cherry lasered PBT keycaps - Wyse 900866-01 - Cherry G80-8200LPBUS/07 - Dell AT101W - several Cherry G81s (future doubleshot donors) (order of current preference) (dang I have too many keyboards, I really only need two)

Offline SpAmRaY

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Re: How does GH rate WASD among others
« Reply #3 on: Wed, 02 October 2013, 07:18:05 »
They have a subforum here so I would say geekhack thinks pretty highly of them.
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Offline BliTzKiN

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Re: How does GH rate WASD among others
« Reply #4 on: Wed, 02 October 2013, 07:19:49 »
I've never owned one myself, but seeing that most reviews have positive feedback and pictures from others, I would guess their boards are of pretty decent quality too. However, the pricing they have on certain items are slightly questionable IMO.
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Offline ch_123

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Re: How does GH rate WASD among others
« Reply #5 on: Wed, 02 October 2013, 07:39:18 »
For one, the keyboards are from the some OEM as Filco, Das and others, so you can expect a similar level of quality from the WASD as others.
« Last Edit: Wed, 02 October 2013, 08:08:00 by ch_123 »
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Offline Belfong

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Re: How does GH rate WASD among others
« Reply #6 on: Wed, 02 October 2013, 08:19:43 »

Quote from: ch_123 on Wed, 02 October 2013, 07:39:18
For one, the keyboards are from the some OEM as Filco, Das and others, so you can expect a similar level of quality from the WASD as others.
Really? I thought they custom built their keyboard. Surprised that it's the same OEM as Filco!
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Offline MKULTRA

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Re: How does GH rate WASD among others
« Reply #7 on: Wed, 02 October 2013, 08:57:55 »
They are pretty well built.  The keycaps suck though.
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Offline tp4tissue

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Re: How does GH rate WASD among others
« Reply #8 on: Wed, 02 October 2013, 09:16:21 »
Quote from: MKULTRA on Wed, 02 October 2013, 08:57:55
They are pretty well built.  The keycaps suck though.

what?, why they suck..  where you hear suckitude.
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Offline Belfong

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Re: How does GH rate WASD among others
« Reply #9 on: Wed, 02 October 2013, 09:29:02 »
I really like the built of the case. Very strong stuff and I like that it is textured. Is Filco the same feel?
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Offline ch_123

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Re: How does GH rate WASD among others
« Reply #10 on: Wed, 02 October 2013, 09:40:54 »
Quote from: Belfong on Wed, 02 October 2013, 08:19:43

Quote from: ch_123 on Wed, 02 October 2013, 07:39:18
For one, the keyboards are from the some OEM as Filco, Das and others, so you can expect a similar level of quality from the WASD as others.
Really? I thought they custom built their keyboard. Surprised that it's the same OEM as Filco!

Nope, they get them from Costar, ship them to the US, and modify them there.

Costar is a pretty popular choice for Cherry keyboards, although there are more choices in recent years, particularly from Chinese companies.
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Offline Belfong

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Re: How does GH rate WASD among others
« Reply #11 on: Wed, 02 October 2013, 10:00:14 »
Now that explains the Made in Taiwan on the label. So that means WASD probably just installed the key caps and lube the stabilizer. Hmm...
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Offline Dansor

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Re: How does GH rate WASD among others
« Reply #12 on: Wed, 02 October 2013, 11:07:55 »
Just throwing in my 2cents.  As others have said, the keycaps are just terrible.
I can't understand why a relatively high end company like them wouldn't switch to something nicer.

The custom designer is nice, but it's like putting lipstick on a pig.
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Offline ch_123

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Re: How does GH rate WASD among others
« Reply #13 on: Wed, 02 October 2013, 11:18:48 »
Quote from: Belfong on Wed, 02 October 2013, 10:00:14
Now that explains the Made in Taiwan on the label. So that means WASD probably just installed the key caps and lube the stabilizer. Hmm...

Well, it would hardly be worth the effort to make the keyboards themselves.
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Offline Belfong

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Re: How does GH rate WASD among others
« Reply #14 on: Wed, 02 October 2013, 18:13:25 »
I didn't really like the key caps in the Code but I thought that's an exception because of the backlighting  - ie they have to use a translucent one, painted them and laser out the character so the light shine through. But I'm surprised their other key caps are bad. Is it because of ABS material or what?
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Offline Belfong

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Re: How does GH rate WASD among others
« Reply #15 on: Wed, 02 October 2013, 20:33:05 »
Quote from: N8N on Wed, 02 October 2013, 07:16:31
Today, were I buying a new keyboard and wanted Cherry MX, I would probably buy a WASD without caps and then throw a set of imsto dye subs on it and call it a day.  Unfortunately it took trying a lot of keyboards to get to that point.
Interesting to hear you made this statement. I'd think that the Cherry switches are pretty standard among all other board so what is it about WASD that you like? The minimalist case design? The plate mounted? What?
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Offline The_Beast

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Re: How does GH rate WASD among others
« Reply #16 on: Wed, 02 October 2013, 20:33:48 »
I loved my V1. However, the caps are less than stellar
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Offline acer589

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Re: How does GH rate WASD among others
« Reply #17 on: Wed, 02 October 2013, 22:24:55 »
The caps are okay... but you know how PBT caps cause less noise? WASD do the opposite.
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Offline N8N

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Re: How does GH rate WASD among others
« Reply #18 on: Thu, 03 October 2013, 09:05:06 »
Quote from: Belfong on Wed, 02 October 2013, 20:33:05
Quote from: N8N on Wed, 02 October 2013, 07:16:31
Today, were I buying a new keyboard and wanted Cherry MX, I would probably buy a WASD without caps and then throw a set of imsto dye subs on it and call it a day.  Unfortunately it took trying a lot of keyboards to get to that point.
Interesting to hear you made this statement. I'd think that the Cherry switches are pretty standard among all other board so what is it about WASD that you like? The minimalist case design? The plate mounted? What?

I don't know that the keyboards are significantly better/higher quality than e.g. Filco, Leopold, etc. but the pricing is competitive, Weyman is a good guy to deal with, and I like the idea of supporting a US-based company that also sells pieces parts (stabilizers etc.)  I do prefer Costar stabilizers for feel which is an advantage of WASD over Leopold.  And you used to be able to save money by buying a "bare" keyboard if you don't like WASD's keycaps - but I don't see that option on the site anymore.  Would be worth it to inquire.

Personally I was totally stoked about the customizable keycaps when WASD first started but over time I have discovered that I prefer PBT keycaps hence my comment about getting dye subs.  I really haven't used my WASD board much but the caps already have a little shine to them.  I really shined up a set of BNIB Cherry doubleshots in about a year of daily use.
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Filco Majestouch-2 with Cherry Corp. doubleshot keys - Leopold Tenkeyless Tactile Force with Wyse doubleshots - Silicon Graphics 9500900 - WASD V1 - IBM Model M 52G9658 - Noppoo Choc Pro with Cherry lasered PBT keycaps - Wyse 900866-01 - Cherry G80-8200LPBUS/07 - Dell AT101W - several Cherry G81s (future doubleshot donors) (order of current preference) (dang I have too many keyboards, I really only need two)

Offline ijprest

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Re: How does GH rate WASD among others
« Reply #19 on: Thu, 03 October 2013, 10:07:40 »
They still sell 'barebones' keyboards... see this one, for example.

I got a barebones v2, and the build quality is pretty good, but I don't have a lot of others to compare against.

My main reason for choosing WASD over some of the other 'quality' brands is that they had a DIP switch to make the Menu key behave like an actual Menu key.  Most other manufacturers seem to be replacing it with a 'FN' key, and having a key in such a prime location that isn't visible to the OS is a dealbreaker for me.

But the real value-add of WASD's business is that you can get *fully* custom caps... so long as you're happy with the ABS plastic and lasered legends.  Personally, I thought the lasered legends looked good enough, but wasn't fussy on the keycaps themselves.

They sell a sample pack of their caps (and cherry switches) if you'd like to see what they're like before shelling out for a full board. 
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Offline acer589

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Re: How does GH rate WASD among others
« Reply #20 on: Thu, 03 October 2013, 20:54:59 »
Just note that they only carry the big three switches in their keyboards now.
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