Noppoo Choc Mini or Keycool 84? Amazon Different versions? Help!

[Zedaso]

Hello everyone.

I have recently been deciding on purchasing a Noppoo Choc Mini or a Keycool 84 and I am leaning towards a Noppoo, however, as I am from the UK I would have to have one shipped from somewhere, so I had a look on Amazon UK and COM and found that there seems to be two different versions? The UK Amazon has different weight and dimensions to the US version, and the keys on the UK version have a shiny "wet look", whereas on the US version they look dry and non-shiny? sorry for the poor description, I am not sure how to describe it. Also, in some of the pictures of the US and UK versions, the "Noppoo" text on the space bar is a different colour - a browny-yellow colour in one picture and white in another.

So, with all this in mind I feel worried that there are fake versions, anyone know anything about it? And should I purchase from the UK or the US Amazon? Oh yeah, US Amazon is about £5 cheaper in price and £5 cheaper shipping (Makes no sense to me!). I took a screen shot of the different UK and COM descriptions here: http://i.imgur.com/BZcXc0a.jpg

As for the Keycool 84 I don't know a place I can purchase one and it is Chinese Manufactured and I think it is safe to say we all know about Chinese Manufacturing, but does that apply to this keyboard?

Sorry for the long post, any help would be much appreciated.

[Fragil1ty]

Another one of these threads, jesus!

The 'dry' version are the older models that aren't in production any more. The 'shiny' versions are the new and updated versions which are the only versions that are getting shipped now.

Any that you find on Amazon will be perfectly fine. e.g. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mechanical-Keyboard-Noppoo-Keycaps-International/dp/B007OK9OOM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410116299&sr=8-1&keywords=noppoo+choc+mini here you go, simple as that.

As for the KC84, I wouldn't buy that new any more unless you can somehow find the old cherry version, if not, don't bother as Kailh switches are ****ing terrible.

glwp.

[jabar]

Fragil1ty, your review of Razer BlackWidow with Kailh switches didn't indicate that they were terrible...

[Zedaso]

Another one of these threads, jesus!

The 'dry' version are the older models that aren't in production any more. The 'shiny' versions are the new and updated versions which are the only versions that are getting shipped now.

Any that you find on Amazon will be perfectly fine. e.g. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mechanical-Keyboard-Noppoo-Keycaps-International/dp/B007OK9OOM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410116299&sr=8-1&keywords=noppoo+choc+mini here you go, simple as that.

As for the KC84, I wouldn't buy that new any more unless you can somehow find the old cherry version, if not, don't bother as Kailh switches are ****ing terrible.

glwp.

Thanks for the reply. Sorry if this is a popular type of thread, did not expect there to be many of these threads actually. I do have one question though; were the dry versions any better than the shiny versions? Or are they the same?

As for the KC84, that's what I was worried about. Shame

[Novus]

As for the Keycool 84 I don't know a place I can purchase one and it is Chinese Manufactured and I think it is safe to say we all know about Chinese Manufacturing, but does that apply to this keyboard?

Stop being so racist.
We all know Chinese manufacturing is terrible
You should always buy American goods and be patriotic.

[Fragil1ty]

Fragil1ty, your review of Razer BlackWidow with Kailh switches didn't indicate that they were terrible...

I tried to give them a chance, at first glance they're okay, but when you compare them with Cherry, they are horrible, cheap and feel crappy.

When I made that review, I stayed away from Cherry for an entire 2 weeks, to make sure that I would be making a review that would be entirely subjective and not comparing cherry vs kailh etc.

If I had made a review of I don't know: RBW Oranges vs Cherry Reds/Browns - then the review would have been entirely different and it would have been extremely negative towards that board/keyswitch.

 

Another one of these threads, jesus!The 'dry' version are the older models that aren't in production any more. The 'shiny' versions are the new and updated versions which are the only versions that are getting shipped now.Any that you find on Amazon will be perfectly fine. e.g. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mechanical-Keyboard-Noppoo-Keycaps-International/dp/B007OK9OOM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410116299&sr=8-1&keywords=noppoo+choc+mini here you go, simple as that.As for the KC84, I wouldn't buy that new any more unless you can somehow find the old cherry version, if not, don't bother as Kailh switches are ****ing terrible.glwp.

Thanks for the reply. Sorry if this is a popular type of thread, did not expect there to be many of these threads actually. I do have one question though; were the dry versions any better than the shiny versions? Or are they the same?As for the KC84, that's what I was worried about. Shame

Erm, I think that was basically hit or miss. Personally, I owned one of the 'dry boards' and they felt the exact same, but I preferred them as they looked better in my eyes.



vs



You can see the difference straight away, I'm not entirely sure why they switched away from their original design, it seems like they've gone backwards and not forwards in my eyes, but heh, I don't work for the company, so I'll never know.

But essentially, Noppoo's are or were prone to breaking, but it all depended upon how lucky you were really, I know of people who bought those 'dry' versions and they still have them working to this day, whereas I've bought 3 noppoos and one of them has broken and one of them arrived DOA, so it's just a matter of luck I suppose. I think if Noppoo introduced a backplate, that would increase the longevity of the board and maybe a different method of inputting the keypresses, as they're a combo of virtual keyboards built inside the keyboard or something if I re-call correctly.

Long story short though.

Buy the Noppoo, it's the better out of the two, especially now that KC don't have a non-backlit version around (that I can find at-least) and they use Kailh switches.

They are great keyboards and they're cheap as anything mate, if you buy from that link that I gave you, they come from France and are here in like 24 - 36 hours, so you don't even have to wait that long what so ever, but unfortunately, it looks like he's out of stock at the moment, but i'm not entirely sure on that one.

gl man, just buy the board, it's a fantastic board.

[Oobly]

Hello everyone.

I have recently been deciding on purchasing a Noppoo Choc Mini or a Keycool 84 and I am leaning towards a Noppoo, however, as I am from the UK I would have to have one shipped from somewhere, so I had a look on Amazon UK and COM and found that there seems to be two different versions? The UK Amazon has different weight and dimensions to the US version, and the keys on the UK version have a shiny "wet look", whereas on the US version they look dry and non-shiny? sorry for the poor description, I am not sure how to describe it. Also, in some of the pictures of the US and UK versions, the "Noppoo" text on the space bar is a different colour - a browny-yellow colour in one picture and white in another.

So, with all this in mind I feel worried that there are fake versions, anyone know anything about it? And should I purchase from the UK or the US Amazon? Oh yeah, US Amazon is about £5 cheaper in price and £5 cheaper shipping (Makes no sense to me!). I took a screen shot of the different UK and COM descriptions here: http://i.imgur.com/BZcXc0a.jpg

As for the Keycool 84 I don't know a place I can purchase one and it is Chinese Manufactured and I think it is safe to say we all know about Chinese Manufacturing, but does that apply to this keyboard?

Sorry for the long post, any help would be much appreciated.

If you HAVE to get a 75% board, there aren't any really good choices right now. The Noppoo is prone to failure and has a non-standard spacebar size (5.5x, making it impossible to replace), the Keycool now uses Kailh switches and the KBT Race 2 has some stupid keycap sizes (Esc and Del) which make it impossible to replace the caps, although at least in terms of quality and reliability that's probably your best option.

I'd recommend rather getting a TKL (TenKeyLess) or 60% board as there are much better options in terms of quality, reliability and keycap compatibility. The Poker II is a great 60% board with a programmable character layout and completely standard keycap layout so you can fit any aftermarket keycap sets and there are lots of TKL options (CMStorm QuickFire Rapid and Rapid-i, Ducky Shine TKL, KUL ES-87, Filco MJ2 TKL, etc..).

[Fragil1ty]

Hello everyone.

I have recently been deciding on purchasing a Noppoo Choc Mini or a Keycool 84 and I am leaning towards a Noppoo, however, as I am from the UK I would have to have one shipped from somewhere, so I had a look on Amazon UK and COM and found that there seems to be two different versions? The UK Amazon has different weight and dimensions to the US version, and the keys on the UK version have a shiny "wet look", whereas on the US version they look dry and non-shiny? sorry for the poor description, I am not sure how to describe it. Also, in some of the pictures of the US and UK versions, the "Noppoo" text on the space bar is a different colour - a browny-yellow colour in one picture and white in another.

So, with all this in mind I feel worried that there are fake versions, anyone know anything about it? And should I purchase from the UK or the US Amazon? Oh yeah, US Amazon is about £5 cheaper in price and £5 cheaper shipping (Makes no sense to me!). I took a screen shot of the different UK and COM descriptions here: http://i.imgur.com/BZcXc0a.jpg

As for the Keycool 84 I don't know a place I can purchase one and it is Chinese Manufactured and I think it is safe to say we all know about Chinese Manufacturing, but does that apply to this keyboard?

Sorry for the long post, any help would be much appreciated.

If you HAVE to get a 75% board, there aren't any really good choices right now. The Noppoo is prone to failure and has a non-standard spacebar size (5.5x, making it impossible to replace), the Keycool now uses Kailh switches and the KBT Race 2 has some stupid keycap sizes (Esc and Del) which make it impossible to replace the caps, although at least in terms of quality and reliability that's probably your best option.

I'd recommend rather getting a TKL (TenKeyLess) or 60% board as there are much better options in terms of quality, reliability and keycap compatibility. The Poker II is a great 60% board with a programmable character layout and completely standard keycap layout so you can fit any aftermarket keycap sets and there are lots of TKL options (CMStorm QuickFire Rapid and Rapid-i, Ducky Shine TKL, KUL ES-87, Filco MJ2 TKL, etc..).

This ^ is a very good option right now, I'm looking at getting a Leopold FC660m next just because it's better construction and has all of the features of my 75% board, TKL boards are just as good, most TKL boards that interest me (filco, ducky) etc are just built to last.


I mean, I love the noppoo and it'll take me a very long time to switch away from this keyboard, but I will admit, there are better options out there.

[Zedaso]

Fragil1ty, your review of Razer BlackWidow with Kailh switches didn't indicate that they were terrible...

I tried to give them a chance, at first glance they're okay, but when you compare them with Cherry, they are horrible, cheap and feel crappy.

When I made that review, I stayed away from Cherry for an entire 2 weeks, to make sure that I would be making a review that would be entirely subjective and not comparing cherry vs kailh etc.

If I had made a review of I don't know: RBW Oranges vs Cherry Reds/Browns - then the review would have been entirely different and it would have been extremely negative towards that board/keyswitch.

 

Another one of these threads, jesus!The 'dry' version are the older models that aren't in production any more. The 'shiny' versions are the new and updated versions which are the only versions that are getting shipped now.Any that you find on Amazon will be perfectly fine. e.g. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mechanical-Keyboard-Noppoo-Keycaps-International/dp/B007OK9OOM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410116299&sr=8-1&keywords=noppoo+choc+mini here you go, simple as that.As for the KC84, I wouldn't buy that new any more unless you can somehow find the old cherry version, if not, don't bother as Kailh switches are ****ing terrible.glwp.

Thanks for the reply. Sorry if this is a popular type of thread, did not expect there to be many of these threads actually. I do have one question though; were the dry versions any better than the shiny versions? Or are they the same?As for the KC84, that's what I was worried about. Shame

Erm, I think that was basically hit or miss. Personally, I owned one of the 'dry boards' and they felt the exact same, but I preferred them as they looked better in my eyes.

Show Image

vs

Show Image

You can see the difference straight away, I'm not entirely sure why they switched away from their original design, it seems like they've gone backwards and not forwards in my eyes, but heh, I don't work for the company, so I'll never know.

But essentially, Noppoo's are or were prone to breaking, but it all depended upon how lucky you were really, I know of people who bought those 'dry' versions and they still have them working to this day, whereas I've bought 3 noppoos and one of them has broken and one of them arrived DOA, so it's just a matter of luck I suppose. I think if Noppoo introduced a backplate, that would increase the longevity of the board and maybe a different method of inputting the keypresses, as they're a combo of virtual keyboards built inside the keyboard or something if I re-call correctly.

Long story short though.

Buy the Noppoo, it's the better out of the two, especially now that KC don't have a non-backlit version around (that I can find at-least) and they use Kailh switches.

They are great keyboards and they're cheap as anything mate, if you buy from that link that I gave you, they come from France and are here in like 24 - 36 hours, so you don't even have to wait that long what so ever, but unfortunately, it looks like he's out of stock at the moment, but i'm not entirely sure on that one.

gl man, just buy the board, it's a fantastic board.

Thanks a lot for the informative post, I will definitely go ahead and buy a Noppoo from the link you gave me. I agree that the dry versions look better though, shame!

[Zedaso]

Hello everyone.

I have recently been deciding on purchasing a Noppoo Choc Mini or a Keycool 84 and I am leaning towards a Noppoo, however, as I am from the UK I would have to have one shipped from somewhere, so I had a look on Amazon UK and COM and found that there seems to be two different versions? The UK Amazon has different weight and dimensions to the US version, and the keys on the UK version have a shiny "wet look", whereas on the US version they look dry and non-shiny? sorry for the poor description, I am not sure how to describe it. Also, in some of the pictures of the US and UK versions, the "Noppoo" text on the space bar is a different colour - a browny-yellow colour in one picture and white in another.

So, with all this in mind I feel worried that there are fake versions, anyone know anything about it? And should I purchase from the UK or the US Amazon? Oh yeah, US Amazon is about £5 cheaper in price and £5 cheaper shipping (Makes no sense to me!). I took a screen shot of the different UK and COM descriptions here: http://i.imgur.com/BZcXc0a.jpg

As for the Keycool 84 I don't know a place I can purchase one and it is Chinese Manufactured and I think it is safe to say we all know about Chinese Manufacturing, but does that apply to this keyboard?

Sorry for the long post, any help would be much appreciated.

If you HAVE to get a 75% board, there aren't any really good choices right now. The Noppoo is prone to failure and has a non-standard spacebar size (5.5x, making it impossible to replace), the Keycool now uses Kailh switches and the KBT Race 2 has some stupid keycap sizes (Esc and Del) which make it impossible to replace the caps, although at least in terms of quality and reliability that's probably your best option.

I'd recommend rather getting a TKL (TenKeyLess) or 60% board as there are much better options in terms of quality, reliability and keycap compatibility. The Poker II is a great 60% board with a programmable character layout and completely standard keycap layout so you can fit any aftermarket keycap sets and there are lots of TKL options (CMStorm QuickFire Rapid and Rapid-i, Ducky Shine TKL, KUL ES-87, Filco MJ2 TKL, etc..).

Hey, thanks for the post. I will take a look at the keyboards you mentioned then before I go ahead and buy the Noppoo. I have to say though I love how the F keys are placed directly above the number keys on the Noppoo, quite handy for me as it makes them easy to reach and I often play MMORPG's/RTS games in my spare time and key bind them.

[katushkin]

Chinese build quality is not poor. I SERIOUSLY have no idea why people keep saying this. I have two KCs and they are both awesome.

[Fragil1ty]

Chinese build quality is not poor. I SERIOUSLY have no idea why people keep saying this. I have two KCs and they are both awesome.

Chinese are known for cheap labor and skimping out on inspection e.g. quality assurance. They just mass produce and then ship them out.

Sometimes you get lucky e.g. Your two were fine, but other times, you do not. Like I've stated, one Noppoo came to me DOA, same for a friends also, so it may be great for you, but may not be so great for others.

[irecresum]

Chinese build quality is not poor. I SERIOUSLY have no idea why people keep saying this. I have two KCs and they are both awesome.

Chinese are known for cheap labor and skimping out on inspection e.g. quality assurance. They just mass produce and then ship them out.

Sometimes you get lucky e.g. Your two were fine, but other times, you do not. Like I've stated, one Noppoo came to me DOA, same for a friends also, so it may be great for you, but may not be so great for others.

Agreed. Too bad unicomp can't do it like IBM quality. Americans are known for using cheap Chinese labour but then complain about the low quality. Bring back slavery and make keyboards like the Taiwanese who are Americanized Chinese basically.

Driven a lemon lately?

Buy a Ford.

[Fragil1ty]

Chinese build quality is not poor. I SERIOUSLY have no idea why people keep saying this. I have two KCs and they are both awesome.

Chinese are known for cheap labor and skimping out on inspection e.g. quality assurance. They just mass produce and then ship them out.

Sometimes you get lucky e.g. Your two were fine, but other times, you do not. Like I've stated, one Noppoo came to me DOA, same for a friends also, so it may be great for you, but may not be so great for others.

Agreed. Too bad unicomp can't do it like IBM quality. Americans are known for using cheap Chinese labour but then complain about the low quality. Bring back slavery and make keyboards like the Taiwanese who are Americanized Chinese basically.

Driven a lemon lately?

Buy a Ford.

Rofl.


If Noppoo was a German manufacturer, then oh boy. Completely different story!

[irecresum]

Chinese build quality is not poor. I SERIOUSLY have no idea why people keep saying this. I have two KCs and they are both awesome.

Chinese are known for cheap labor and skimping out on inspection e.g. quality assurance. They just mass produce and then ship them out.

Sometimes you get lucky e.g. Your two were fine, but other times, you do not. Like I've stated, one Noppoo came to me DOA, same for a friends also, so it may be great for you, but may not be so great for others.

Agreed. Too bad unicomp can't do it like IBM quality. Americans are known for using cheap Chinese labour but then complain about the low quality. Bring back slavery and make keyboards like the Taiwanese who are Americanized Chinese basically.

Driven a lemon lately?

Buy a Ford.

Rofl.


If Noppoo was a German manufacturer, then oh boy. Completely different story!

Look no further than German company Cherry's mx whites. Where's the consistency. If you want Teutonic plague better realize the Germans have a habit of getting their lubes mixed up. You order lubed sliders and there's a mix up with their propensity for latex and goo. Nooppoo bukakke Lolita watta winner rofl

[paicrai]

Hello everyone.

I have recently been deciding on purchasing a Noppoo Choc Mini or a Keycool 84 and I am leaning towards a Noppoo, however, as I am from the UK I would have to have one shipped from somewhere, so I had a look on Amazon UK and COM and found that there seems to be two different versions? The UK Amazon has different weight and dimensions to the US version, and the keys on the UK version have a shiny "wet look", whereas on the US version they look dry and non-shiny? sorry for the poor description, I am not sure how to describe it. Also, in some of the pictures of the US and UK versions, the "Noppoo" text on the space bar is a different colour - a browny-yellow colour in one picture and white in another.

So, with all this in mind I feel worried that there are fake versions, anyone know anything about it? And should I purchase from the UK or the US Amazon? Oh yeah, US Amazon is about £5 cheaper in price and £5 cheaper shipping (Makes no sense to me!). I took a screen shot of the different UK and COM descriptions here: http://i.imgur.com/BZcXc0a.jpg

As for the Keycool 84 I don't know a place I can purchase one and it is Chinese Manufactured and I think it is safe to say we all know about Chinese Manufacturing, but does that apply to this keyboard?

Sorry for the long post, any help would be much appreciated.

[Novus]

I think Logitech is the best.