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Author Topic: Budget Keyboard Thread.  (Read 2012 times)

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Offline P3TC0CK

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Budget Keyboard Thread.
« on: Sun, 20 July 2014, 08:03:03 »
When I was looking for my keyboard I spent a lot of time on Aliexpress, ebay, dx, etc looking at a wide range of keyboards. I found a lot that were being sold to people with budgets from about 30 USD to 60 USD. Is there a thread dedicated to keeping track of them? I wasn't able to find a list of budget 'boards on GH so I wouldn't mind turning this one into a budget board list.
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petcock
[pet-kok] 
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Offline Defect

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Re: Budget Keyboard Thread.
« Reply #1 on: Sun, 20 July 2014, 08:21:11 »
Great Finds might be what you're looking for.

Or did you mean list of commonly found, acceptable boards.  Like the QFR (which will be at the top of everyone's list.  Decent quality TKL for 60 bucks sounds awesome)
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Offline P3TC0CK

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Re: Budget Keyboard Thread.
« Reply #2 on: Sun, 20 July 2014, 08:29:50 »
Quote from: Defect on Sun, 20 July 2014, 08:21:11
Great Finds might be what you're looking for.

Or did you mean list of commonly found, acceptable boards.  Like the QFR (which will be at the top of everyone's list.  Decent quality TKL for 60 bucks sounds awesome)

That might be it, thanks. I was thinking of any boards (regardless of quality) with corresponding reviews and comments like the Mouse guide thread over in the inputs sub forum.

Found a rather cheap Aula keyboard for 28 dollars + 1-5 USD shipped, which even for a knock-off Cherry switch is a steal for a mechanical keyboard.
« Last Edit: Sun, 20 July 2014, 08:33:08 by P3TC0CK »
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petcock
[pet-kok] 
noun
1. a small valve or faucet, as for draining off excess or waste material from the cylinder of a steam engine or an internal-combustion engine.

Offline davkol

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Re: Budget Keyboard Thread.
« Reply #3 on: Sun, 20 July 2014, 09:26:36 »
A steal indeed. The question is, who is the person stealing?
Quote from: FoxWolf1 on Sat, 19 July 2014, 09:53:45
I hoped I could save money by buying the cheapest possible mechanical keyboard and having it last forever simply by virtue of being mechanical.

It didn't work.
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Offline P3TC0CK

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Re: Budget Keyboard Thread.
« Reply #4 on: Sun, 20 July 2014, 09:37:00 »
Quote from: davkol on Sun, 20 July 2014, 09:26:36
A steal indeed. The question is, who is the person stealing?
Quote from: FoxWolf1 on Sat, 19 July 2014, 09:53:45
I hoped I could save money by buying the cheapest possible mechanical keyboard and having it last forever simply by virtue of being mechanical.

It didn't work.

The keyboard is fine. It has gotten mixed reviews in comparison to other keyboards in that price range (60 USD + keyboards when it was found for 50) leaning on the generally positive side.

I'm not trying to attack anyone specifically but it's generally a counterproductive view point to view copies and knock offs of an established product as a bad product simply because they are copies and cheaper. Not everyone wants/needs a 100+ dollar mechanical keyboard for a variety of reasons.

Simply because something better exists at a higher price range does not immediately discount anything under it.  :)
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petcock
[pet-kok] 
noun
1. a small valve or faucet, as for draining off excess or waste material from the cylinder of a steam engine or an internal-combustion engine.

Offline davkol

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Re: Budget Keyboard Thread.
« Reply #5 on: Sun, 20 July 2014, 09:43:06 »
Please, can you post some detailed pictures of the PCB somewhere?
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Offline P3TC0CK

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Re: Budget Keyboard Thread.
« Reply #6 on: Sun, 20 July 2014, 10:12:36 »
Quote from: davkol on Sun, 20 July 2014, 09:43:06
Please, can you post some detailed pictures of the PCB somewhere?

Sorry, I don't own one myself. You'll probably have to ask the OP of the thread I linked.
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petcock
[pet-kok] 
noun
1. a small valve or faucet, as for draining off excess or waste material from the cylinder of a steam engine or an internal-combustion engine.

Offline davkol

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Re: Budget Keyboard Thread.
« Reply #7 on: Sun, 20 July 2014, 11:01:26 »
Why do you claim that the keyboard is fine then?
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Offline dantan

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Re: Budget Keyboard Thread.
« Reply #8 on: Sun, 20 July 2014, 11:15:12 »
I wish there was such a thing as a budget customs keyboard. Budget metal casing for only $20, budget PCB for 15. Total cost $80-100. That would be really awesome.
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Offline P3TC0CK

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Re: Budget Keyboard Thread.
« Reply #9 on: Sun, 20 July 2014, 12:16:42 »
Quote from: davkol on Sun, 20 July 2014, 11:01:26
Why do you claim that the keyboard is fine then?

Because there are plenty of people who have said it's good/OK? Like the review I linked you and are available online. You don't need personal experience with every single product to know something is good or bad or regarded as such by other people.
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petcock
[pet-kok] 
noun
1. a small valve or faucet, as for draining off excess or waste material from the cylinder of a steam engine or an internal-combustion engine.

Offline Puddsy

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Re: Budget Keyboard Thread.
« Reply #10 on: Sun, 20 July 2014, 12:19:14 »
it uses the same plastic as the old kalih switches iirc

you sure you want that?
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Offline jdcarpe

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Re: Budget Keyboard Thread.
« Reply #11 on: Sun, 20 July 2014, 12:29:29 »
You get what you pay for. Life is too short to use cheap keyboards.
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Offline davkol

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Re: Budget Keyboard Thread.
« Reply #12 on: Sun, 20 July 2014, 12:34:50 »
Unfortunately, I don't really trust reviews anymore, unless the reviewer appears to be knowledgeable (e.g., about other products), discusses actual data and hopefully is recognized as trustworthy by a community.

For example, take a look at wetto's mouse reviews. He shows pictures of the internals and lists components. Qualitative analysis is useful. vun's writeup on mice is nice too, because it offers a sort of a quantitative insight. OTOH, I've read "reviews" by paid shills and countless "reviews" by people, who didn't know any better.
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Offline P3TC0CK

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Re: Budget Keyboard Thread.
« Reply #13 on: Sun, 20 July 2014, 12:40:57 »
Quote from: TacticalStache on Sun, 20 July 2014, 12:19:14
it uses the same plastic as the old kalih switches iirc

you sure you want that?

No, I wanted a tenkeyless wireless keyboard with cherry MX black switches, so I bought that for 109 USD since my budget was decent.

 If I had only been able to afford a 30-40 dollar keyboard, wanted a cheap back up, or wanted to gift my friends a keyboard to try out mechanical switches, or many other reasons yes I would. The supposedly bad plastic thing isn't too worrisome as I've only heard of the breaks through hearsay and it's usually linked to the one or two images below. I'm sure there have been plenty of broken cherry stems but most people don't write off the entire switch.



For those interested I've started the thread here.
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petcock
[pet-kok] 
noun
1. a small valve or faucet, as for draining off excess or waste material from the cylinder of a steam engine or an internal-combustion engine.

Offline johndavis33

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Re: Budget Keyboard Thread.
« Reply #14 on: Sun, 20 July 2014, 12:58:14 »
The Dell AT101 is excellent and goes for 25-40 bucks on ebay
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