Author Topic: WASD Code 104 key (cherry mx green) thoughts? First mech purchase.  (Read 2302 times)

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Offline illitirit

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  • Location: Socal
So I personally love a strong stiff clicky switch.  I have never tried mx greens before but I know I will love them because I love blues but always wish that they had a stronger spring.

As far as the keyboard, I am upgrading from my logitech g15 membrane keyboard that I have had for the past 7-8 years.  I think its time to let this baby retire even though its in perfect condition.


I was just curious if anyone has had any experience with the WASD code 104 key keyboard.  There are not alot of reviews out there and the ones that are there are on Amazon, which I have come to not trust all that much.

For a first mech purchase, was this a good option?  I already purchased from Amazon for 170$.  The price seems really steep imho, but they are the only keyboard I could find with green switches and minimalist design.  I know mechanicalkeyboards.com has a few keyboards with green switches, but they are all 60% and TKL's and I believe a few ducky's which I hate the gaudy branding on them. 

I kind of wish the led instead of white would be RGB, but oh well.

I keep thinking in my mind that I shouldve went with a TKL or 60% but I feel like I would miss the NUM pad way too much.  I bought my GF a kbp v60 a few weeks ago and used it for a bit and realized that I cant live without a dedicated delete key.  My CAD / Visio work requires too much delete presses so pressing fn+backspace got to be really annoying.

I am not too educated on keycaps however.  I know that the CODE 104 comes with UV coated ABS keycaps.  What that means?  I dont know lol.  But i have heard that they are of lower quality.

If I wanted to replace the keycaps, what material is the absolute best that I should be looking for?  I keep hearing terms like DCS or DCA.  Which is best?

Thanks for any advice.

Offline blastoid

  • Posts: 143
Re: WASD Code 104 key (cherry mx green) thoughts? First mech purchase.
« Reply #1 on: Mon, 23 March 2015, 21:59:15 »
http://mechanicalkeyboards.com/search.php?keyword=&switch_id=10&size=Full+Size&in_stock=on

The Ducky branding is only on the spacebar and win keys, right?

Offline saturnotaku

  • Posts: 680
  • Location: The 'burbs, IL USA
Re: WASD Code 104 key (cherry mx green) thoughts? First mech purchase.
« Reply #2 on: Mon, 23 March 2015, 21:59:45 »
There aren't many full-size MX green keyboards out there, but MK.com has the Vortex PFCN6800 in stock, which is cheaper than the CODE. Don't get me wrong, the CODE is a really nice keyboard - I use the brown switch model at home.

If you want something "RGB," you can buy these color changer tabs from Massdrop. It's a bit of a ghetto solution, but it at least partially addresses your desire for multi-colored backlighting. Be aware, though, because the tabs are opaque, the LED lighting will be dimmed somewhat.

The stock CODE keycaps are fine for what they are. The main problem with the material used is that the legends will eventually wear off after prolonged use. You can replace the keycaps with pretty much any standard set, but most will compromise the backlighting. There exists a backlight-compatible set of caps made of PBT plastic, which is more durable (and many will say better feeling). They come up for sale on Massdrop occasionally, so it might be worth your while to sign up for their email alerts. In the meantime, you could pick up a set of these Doubleshot PBT caps in white/blue, which would allow the lights to show more clearly. Now if you have little or no intention of ever using the backlight, well, your options for keycaps will open exponentially.

One thing to be aware of with the CODE is that most of the keys with stabilizers (backspace, enter, both shifts) can suffer from a combination of rattling and/or squeaking. You can fix this yourself by lubricating several parts of those keys with silicone grease, applied with a Q-tip or small paintbrush. There are guides on Youtube that show you what you need to do. It took about 30 minutes to do mine, and it made all the difference; the keys sound better and feel much more smooth.



« Last Edit: Tue, 24 March 2015, 05:15:00 by saturnotaku »

Offline illitirit

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  • Posts: 83
  • Location: Socal
Re: WASD Code 104 key (cherry mx green) thoughts? First mech purchase.
« Reply #3 on: Mon, 23 March 2015, 23:27:41 »
There aren't many full-size MX green keyboards out there, but MK.com has the Vortex PFCN6800 in stock, which is cheaper than the CODE. Don't get me wrong, the CODE is a really nice keyboard - I use the brown switch model at home.

If you want something "RGB," you can buy these color changer tabs from Massdrop. It's a bit of a ghetto solution, but it at least partially addresses your desire for multi-colored backlighting. Be aware, though, because the tabs are opaque, the LED lighting will be dimmed somewhat.

The stock CODE keycaps are fine for what they are. The main problem with the material used is that the legends will eventually wear off after prolonged use. You can replace the keycaps with pretty much any standard set, but most will compromise the backlighting. There exists a backlight-compatible set of caps made of PBT plastic, which is more durable (and many will say better feeling). They come up for sale on Massdrop occasionally, so it might be worth your while to sign up for their email alerts. In the meantime, you could pick up a set of these Doubleshot PBT caps in white/blue, which would allow the lights more clearly. Now if you have little or no intention of ever using the backlight, well, your options for keycaps will open exponentially.

One thing to be aware of with the CODE is that most of the keys with stabilizers (backspace, enter, both shifts) can suffer from a combination of rattling and/or squeaking. You can fix this yourself by lubricating several parts of those keys with silicone grease, applied with a Q-tip or small paintbrush. There are guides on Youtube that show you what you need to do. It took about 30 minutes to do mine, and it made all the difference; the keys sound better and feel much more smooth.

Thanks for the response, its very informative.

Yes i also heard that the keys need to be lubed.

Currently at home I have this :

http://www.lowes.com/pd_363776-39963-DNS104101_4294607587__?productId=3550502&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNs%3Dp_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&facetInfo=


Would this work for grease?  Or should I stick to the one you linked?

As far as the keycaps, I like the idea of the white backlight and I will use it for a while without modding anything but i know for a fact I will get bored of it in the future.  Those LED changers are pretty cool and will pick that up whenever I get bored of the LED backlight.


By any chance could you give me the name of the keycaps you mentioned that would work with backlighting on massdrop?
Being backlight compatible just means that the LED light will illuminate through the key legends, am I correct? 
I think I would be okay if even if the LED light didnt shine through the key legend, at least the LED would shine in the back of the keyboard base, that would be okay.  Im not sure if I worded that correctly but I hope you got what I was trying to say lol.

Offline motherbrain

  • Posts: 27
  • Location: Nashville, TN
Re: WASD Code 104 key (cherry mx green) thoughts? First mech purchase.
« Reply #4 on: Mon, 23 March 2015, 23:36:26 »
There aren't many full-size MX green keyboards out there, but MK.com has the Vortex PFCN6800 in stock, which is cheaper than the CODE. Don't get me wrong, the CODE is a really nice keyboard - I use the brown switch model at home.

i own this vortex w green switches and can confirm that it's a good board.  one key has a bit of extra ping to it, but all in all very happy w the board.  i went from buckling springs to green switches and am very happy with the move..

KBT Vortex One MX Green // IBM Model M // Dell AT101W

Offline motherbrain

  • Posts: 27
  • Location: Nashville, TN
Re: WASD Code 104 key (cherry mx green) thoughts? First mech purchase.
« Reply #5 on: Mon, 23 March 2015, 23:40:50 »
By any chance could you give me the name of the keycaps you mentioned that would work with backlighting on massdrop?
Being backlight compatible just means that the LED light will illuminate through the key legends, am I correct? 
I think I would be okay if even if the LED light didnt shine through the key legend, at least the LED would shine in the back of the keyboard base, that would be okay.  Im not sure if I worded that correctly but I hope you got what I was trying to say lol.

you would need to get translucent keys if you want to have backlit legends.  opaque keycaps won't allow the light to pass through, but would provide some lighting beneath the keys as you say.  the cherry switches on the vortex have an led on the upper part of the switch.  i replaced my keycaps and keep backlighting turned off as i have no need for it.  too gimmicky for my tastes.
« Last Edit: Mon, 23 March 2015, 23:45:42 by motherbrain »

KBT Vortex One MX Green // IBM Model M // Dell AT101W

Offline saturnotaku

  • Posts: 680
  • Location: The 'burbs, IL USA
Re: WASD Code 104 key (cherry mx green) thoughts? First mech purchase.
« Reply #6 on: Tue, 24 March 2015, 07:32:37 »
Thanks for the response, its very informative.

Yes i also heard that the keys need to be lubed.

Currently at home I have this :

http://www.lowes.com/pd_363776-39963-DNS104101_4294607587__?productId=3550502&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNs%3Dp_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&facetInfo=

Would this work for grease?  Or should I stick to the one you linked?

As far as the keycaps, I like the idea of the white backlight and I will use it for a while without modding anything but i know for a fact I will get bored of it in the future.  Those LED changers are pretty cool and will pick that up whenever I get bored of the LED backlight.

By any chance could you give me the name of the keycaps you mentioned that would work with backlighting on massdrop?
Being backlight compatible just means that the LED light will illuminate through the key legends, am I correct? 
I think I would be okay if even if the LED light didnt shine through the key legend, at least the LED would shine in the back of the keyboard base, that would be okay.  Im not sure if I worded that correctly but I hope you got what I was trying to say lol.

The Teflon lube you linked to should work fine as well. I was going to try that stuff myself but none of my local hardware stores had it in stock, and so far the SuperLube is working a treat. The difference was noticeable right away and has only gotten better over time. You should see similar results.

Here are those backlit PBT keycaps. They're not available yet, but with 570 people requesting them as of the time of this post, I can't imagine it will be long before they come up again.

Offline illitirit

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 83
  • Location: Socal
Re: WASD Code 104 key (cherry mx green) thoughts? First mech purchase.
« Reply #7 on: Tue, 24 March 2015, 08:18:55 »
Thanks for the response, its very informative.

Yes i also heard that the keys need to be lubed.

Currently at home I have this :

http://www.lowes.com/pd_363776-39963-DNS104101_4294607587__?productId=3550502&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNs%3Dp_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&facetInfo=

Would this work for grease?  Or should I stick to the one you linked?

As far as the keycaps, I like the idea of the white backlight and I will use it for a while without modding anything but i know for a fact I will get bored of it in the future.  Those LED changers are pretty cool and will pick that up whenever I get bored of the LED backlight.

By any chance could you give me the name of the keycaps you mentioned that would work with backlighting on massdrop?
Being backlight compatible just means that the LED light will illuminate through the key legends, am I correct? 
I think I would be okay if even if the LED light didnt shine through the key legend, at least the LED would shine in the back of the keyboard base, that would be okay.  Im not sure if I worded that correctly but I hope you got what I was trying to say lol.

The Teflon lube you linked to should work fine as well. I was going to try that stuff myself but none of my local hardware stores had it in stock, and so far the SuperLube is working a treat. The difference was noticeable right away and has only gotten better over time. You should see similar results.

Here are those backlit PBT keycaps. They're not available yet, but with 570 people requesting them as of the time of this post, I can't imagine it will be long before they come up again.

just curious how much the vortex keycaps usually go for on massdrop?  Mechanicalkeyboards.com has them right now for 44$ usd.  If its within 10$, i wouldnt mind picking them up from mechanicalkeyboards.com.

Offline Dihedral

  • Posts: 827
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Re: WASD Code 104 key (cherry mx green) thoughts? First mech purchase.
« Reply #8 on: Tue, 24 March 2015, 08:21:10 »
Thanks for the response, its very informative.

Yes i also heard that the keys need to be lubed.

Currently at home I have this :

http://www.lowes.com/pd_363776-39963-DNS104101_4294607587__?productId=3550502&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNs%3Dp_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&facetInfo=

Would this work for grease?  Or should I stick to the one you linked?

As far as the keycaps, I like the idea of the white backlight and I will use it for a while without modding anything but i know for a fact I will get bored of it in the future.  Those LED changers are pretty cool and will pick that up whenever I get bored of the LED backlight.

By any chance could you give me the name of the keycaps you mentioned that would work with backlighting on massdrop?
Being backlight compatible just means that the LED light will illuminate through the key legends, am I correct? 
I think I would be okay if even if the LED light didnt shine through the key legend, at least the LED would shine in the back of the keyboard base, that would be okay.  Im not sure if I worded that correctly but I hope you got what I was trying to say lol.

The Teflon lube you linked to should work fine as well. I was going to try that stuff myself but none of my local hardware stores had it in stock, and so far the SuperLube is working a treat. The difference was noticeable right away and has only gotten better over time. You should see similar results.

Here are those backlit PBT keycaps. They're not available yet, but with 570 people requesting them as of the time of this post, I can't imagine it will be long before they come up again.

just curious how much the vortex keycaps usually go for on massdrop?  Mechanicalkeyboards.com has them right now for 44$ usd.  If its within 10$, i wouldnt mind picking them up from mechanicalkeyboards.com.

If its within 10$
unlikely

Offline KHAANNN

  • Posts: 1660
Re: WASD Code 104 key (cherry mx green) thoughts? First mech purchase.
« Reply #9 on: Tue, 24 March 2015, 20:27:31 »
I would suggest buying a barebone WASD V2 with greens, mod it first if you're that type of person, and put keycaps of your choice on them

It doesn't have backlighting, but that's actually a good thing in most cases, backlighting really takes from the maintainability of keyboards, you can't easily find the exact led's they used for example, no mainstream-ish manufacturer I've seen sells spare leds etc.
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