KBT Race II (my 1st mechanical keyboard)

[Max]

Hey guys, so almost a month (21 days) ago, I came here asking for some advice/tips on basically and left-handed TKL. Anyways I ended up ordering the KBT race II in white with red switches, It arrived a few days ago. Here are some pictures*:

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*phone pictures :<



This topic isn't really meant to be a review but I have some notes on the keyboard:
-The case and keycaps aren't exactly the same white.
-There are a few keys of odd width. (I'll put a link to the layout I made for this keyboard in keyboard-layout-editor at the end.)
-The keycaps are sculptured all of them, check out dat top row, I believe the KBT race is the only sculptured 75% keyboard.
-Also for people with this keyboard looking for replacement keycaps for the top row check out; Vortex/KBT replacement keycaps you can get double shot PBT sculptured r5.

Here is that link I promised you:
http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/# ... 3534be1517

I knew I was getting it as a compromise to begin with, But I am happy with it, and that's what matters right? What do you guys think? Also free kudos to whoever guesses the name of monitor I'm using.

[Muirium]

Gets the job done. Those extra tall F-row caps are quite something — looks like every single row is indeed separately profiled, which is something many fancy keyboards don't even do — and towers like that must make the MX reds up there fall away quite nicely.

I also like the 1.25u arrow keys. I've found a layer of those to be very comfy indeed on a compact.

This is the sort of keyboard I should have got, to keep me from diving deep into caps GBs! Although that mismatch of shades would have driven me crazy some other way…

[Daniel Beardsmore]

I am confused as to what they hoped to achieve by making end, the arrows and control all non-standard sizes. My guess would be some sort of elaborate way to get right shift into a standard size keycap, as I presume it was the cheaper option.

[Muirium]

Since each row is different (unless my eyes deceive me) they were likely reducing the number of different molds required. Row 4 is just 2.25, 1.0 and 1.25u that way. Row 5 (?) is 1.25, 6.25 and a lonely 1.0. Those oddball 1.5u caps on the nutty top row (Row 0?) make it a simple one to produce: just 1.5 and 1.0u alone.

I actually kinda like it, despite myself! It's devious. Just as much of a nightmare to cover in a GB as any 75%, only worse. Yet it does look better than most of them to me.

[Max]

Muirium, Yeah I the R5 keys are pretty insane, It seems to me that Vortex/KBT are the only ones using the R5 profile. For me I wouldn't be surprised if I end up buying tons of sets of keycaps just for 1 key that would work so I can get this thing looking special.

Daniel, I completely get what you're saying but, I think they were just trying to make a square keyboard . Vortex/KBT have R5 Esc/F keys but they are 1u, they had to have gone out of their way to make R5 1.5u keys on the race. "KBT was smoking something good when they made this keyboard." -shibbyllama889.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Doesn't look square to me.

[Max]

rectangle ;s

[Max]

Muirium I cant find the picture of it at the moment, but KBT has a picture naming each of the row and they named the F row row 5, number row R4, etc.
Edit: I found the picture.

specR5keyheight.jpg (59.17 KiB) Viewed 5317 times

[Muirium]

Oh right, I was going by what I'm used to: Signature Plastics, which numbers the other way around.



Note the repeated rows. Quite common practice (Ducky does it too with OEM profile caps, independently of SP). Kudos to these guys for getting it right instead!

[Max]

Yeah Muirium I know me too , when I was researching the keyboard I was confused because the Signature Plastic's row system was what I was familiar with.

I'm not sure of the benefit of the Row 5 profile, because when I'm using the F Keys I'm already off(or barely on) the home row, so the ergo is already compromised. I suppose it looks better than if they just did a 75% sculptured with the # row profile repeated on the F-keys, and it does make the F-keys slightly easier to reach and press.

[xman]

Congratulations on your new keyboard. I think
it looks really good. The layout appeals to me,
but the real test is in the using, so you'll have to
report back how you feel about it in a few months.
Are the switches pcb-mounted or plate-mounted?

[Max]

Thanks xman!
The switches are PCB mounted, although I've seen people talking about a aftermarket mounting plate for the race layout before I haven't been able to find one for sale (I'll try to do some more research on that later tomorrow).

[xman]

I like pcb-mounted. Where did you buy it?

[Max]

Ebay, it was shipped from China, I think it was sold by the OEM.

[Hypersphere]

There's an interesting thread over on GH posing the question, "Why aren't 75% keyboards more popular", and a related thread here on DT about the 75% nomenclature.

I've considered boards in this general category, and despite my objections to the company's questionable business ethics, at one time I bought a white KC84, which is similar in many ways to the Race II. It was fun to type on; it sounded like a manual typewriter, and the PBT keycaps had an agreeable rough dry texture like pumice stone. It also had a somewhat more standard layout with more standard keycap sizes than the Race II, but I don't think the KC84 model that I bought is still available new.

For those who want something more compact than a TKL, but who don't like the lack of F-keys and navigation keys in a 60%, a 75% like the Race II would be one way to go.

In my case, I usually prefer to use either a TKL or to drop all the way down to a 60%, in which case I very much like the HHKB Pro 2. At other times, I use oddball vintage boards such as the IBM XT.

If I were to get another 75% for myself, another one that might be considered a 75?% that I liked is the Matias Mini-Tactile Pro, which is geared toward Mac users, and the silenced version, the Mini-Quiet Pro, geared toward PC users. The Matias has the best layout I have seen in this category, and I like the feel and sound of the switches, especially in the Mini Tactile Pro model.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

I wanted to buy a Mini Tactile Pro for PC, but it still doesn't exist!!!

[Max]

Yeah and to be honest I didn't want to get this keyboard, the keyboard I wanted doesn't exist. I choose the KBT race for the reason you mentioned (I use the F-keys a lot so going with out them was a deal breaker for me). I had been thinking about getting a TKL but I was exclusively looking at the Filco Majestouch 2 with red switches, there was one I was looking at for a while that I could have gotten for ~$150 shipped, but I wasn't able to get it so I went looking for a good 75% keyboard. I did look at the Keycool 84 key keyboard you had but I couldn't find it from a good source with red switches, my plan was to get the KC84 with red switches then get the Keycool numpad with red switches. I did find a seller that had the numpad in Cherry Mx red switches but they wanted ~$100 before shipping. So I just went for the KBT Race II because I thought It looked good (I know shallow but what can I say ). When I got it I was pretty impressed by how it feels, the number row seems easy to reach I think that's because of their profile (could also just be placebo from the keyboards aesthetic ), I hate how chalky the keys on the race feel though.

That Matias keyboard is pretty nice. If I were looking for something that size I'd probably just go with a TKL, due to the Matias mini tactile pro taking up more desk space than other 75% keyboards. That being said, I'd definitely understand getting it just for the Matias switches in that form factor.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

I don't want to use the Mini Tactile Pro for PC, I just wanted a keyboard to evaluate the clicky switches, and I wanted one that would take up less desk space. I've had to order the full-size Tactile Pro for PC :/

It's really weird when I go home and have to come to terms with actually having useful keys on my keyboard … I can actually press function keys, arrows, page down etc … I've not (yet) gone 60% or TKL — I'm still using the Filco I've had since January 2010.

[Hypersphere]

I don't want to use the Mini Tactile Pro for PC, I just wanted a keyboard to evaluate the clicky switches, and I wanted one that would take up less desk space. I've had to order the full-size Tactile Pro for PC :/

It's really weird when I go home and have to come to terms with actually having useful keys on my keyboard … I can actually press function keys, arrows, page down etc … I've not (yet) gone 60% or TKL — I'm still using the Filco I've had since January 2010.

And although I am now rotating between an RF 87u (TKL) and a HHKB Pro 2 (60%), I am looking forward to refurbishing my IBM F122 and converting it to USB. Talk about a plethora of keys!

[Max]

I'm not sure if I'm going to get some flak for posting on this topic again after 8 months, but I wanted to give an update on the KBT Race II.

The issues some people had complained about, particularly LEDs failing, has not happened to me. So I think that, the LEDs failing were probably a first generation KBT Race problem.


Another issue some people complained about was the keycaps wearing out. The keycaps haven't worn out for me and I use my keyboard heavily for typing, and also for gaming. I would note that I keep my hands very clean and my finger nails short, so I wouldn't be surprised if other peoples keycaps wore down quicker.

As you may have figured from seeing the first picture, I am another victim of KBT Race keycap replacement torture. The R5 profile on the KBT Race is amazing, using F-keys is great. In fact for someone heavily using F-keys I would even go as far as to say the KBT Race might be the best keyboard for them. The problem with the KBT Race is not being able to get away from the stock thin-ABS keycaps while still keeping the R5 sculpture. I figured I would wait until Vortex sold a blank set of PBT keycaps, which they did recently. Unfortunately these blank OEM profile keycaps stop at R4 profile.

Using these keycaps have made me aware of two things, (1) how nice the R5 sculpture is on the Race and (2) also how terrible the ABS keycaps feel in comparison to thick PBT keycaps. Here's what $80 (because I had to buy two sets...) of keycaps look like on a KBT Race II.

Note the R3 tab keycap on the top row. :\ #KBTRaceProblems

So, I think I'm going to try to source a set of Bi-Color Vortex PBT keycaps to get the top R5 profile. It'll probably look weird but It'll feel good and I think that's what matters most on this board.

Cheers, and sorry for the necro.
-Max