Cheap linear boards

[grasshopper]

yes, of course. Here it is:

G80-1851LUCDE-0

As far as I can see it's just an ordinary 1800 with lasered pbt keycaps, German layout and an USB-Connector.

Thanks. I was trying to ascertain whether the keyboards are USB only or USB and PS/2 combined. The Geekhack wiki is slightly ambiguous on this point (link). However, I'm leaning towards believing that they are combo boards.

[CeeSA]

here are some pics from my first proxy job.

packing was average.

just open the box

paket.jpg (123.63 KiB) Viewed 14208 times

the boards:

4 boards

boards.jpg (170.8 KiB) Viewed 14208 times

closer look:

usb board.jpg (183.39 KiB) Viewed 14208 times

overall the boards need cleaning, but imo there are not yellowing.

[grasshopper]

From those pictures they look in pretty decent condition.

I ordered four USB models yesterday. I had no luck contacting the seller but CeeSA kindly agreed to act as a proxy.

I'll let you guys know what they're like once they arrive.

[rich0d]

Got mine yesterday, currently at work typing on one now - nice boards, needed a bit of a clean up, it also looks like they scratched out whatever OEM\Cherry logo was on the top corner which is a bit of a bummer. So far, blacks are nice, the space bar is a bit stiff, but the rest of the keys are quite nice to type on. One of the boards unfortunately had a cracked space bar, which was a bit of a bummer - but the other 2 I got are fine, taking home some foam cleaner and some paper clips tonight to give the other one a bit of a clean up.

[rich0d]

The one kinda annoying thing about these boards is the fact that the modifiers are small, I keep hitting space when I mean to hit alt

[Findecanor]

I keep hitting the right <Windows> key when I mean to hit right <Alt>.

[RiGS]

Can anyone make a picture of that 6 unit PBT spacebar? I wonder if it's thicker than the rest of the keys.
I suspect it has the same thickness as the older vintage lasered and dye subbed keys.

[Lustique]

I'm thinking of buying one of these keyboards as my first mechanical just to try them out. It will probably be more like a test of whether a new mechanical would be a worthwhile investment for me.

Are there any differences between the USB- and the PS/2-version other than the plug? Is one version generally in a better shape than the other? I could use both on my PC, but I think I would like a USB-version since I could use this on my netbook as well, but if there is no difference whatsoever quality-wise...

Oh, and do these boards work on PCs running Windows XP/7 without any problems?

Could someone here provide me with some insight (or a German resident with a spare keyboard? )?

[grasshopper]

Are there any differences between the USB- and the PS/2-version other than the plug? Is one version generally in a better shape than the other? I could use both on my PC, but I think I would like a USB-version since I could use this on my netbook as well, but if there is no difference whatsoever quality-wise...

I've ordered several of the USB models. The reason I chose USB is because I'm guessing they'll be slightly newer given that USB is the more up to date technology. Also, based on the model number, I think there's a good chance that they'll be combined USB/PS2. But I won't know for certain until they arrive.

[Lustique]

I've ordered several of the USB models. The reason I chose USB is because I'm guessing they'll be slightly newer given that USB is the more up to date technology. Also, based on the model number, I think there's a good chance that they'll be combined USB/PS2. But I won't know for certain until they arrive.

Yeah, I also thought of that. But on the other hand, older keyboards might have a better build quality, I think. Do you know how long it will be until you get them?

[rich0d]

The boards are pretty good, they just need a good scrub when they arrive.

I'm personally using them as my daily driver at work, and really enjoying blacks, some say that they find their fingers getting tired after a while, mine don't, I guess it's because I have awesome man hands, and not dainty girly man hands.

[kbdfr]

The boards are pretty good, they just need a good scrub when they arrive.

I'm personally using them as my daily driver at work, and really enjoying blacks, some say that they find their fingers getting tired after a while, mine don't, I guess it's because I have awesome man hands, and not dainty girly man hands.

[Lustique]

The boards are pretty good, they just need a good scrub when they arrive.

I'm personally using them as my daily driver at work, and really enjoying blacks, some say that they find their fingers getting tired after a while, mine don't, I guess it's because I have awesome man hands, and not dainty girly man hands.

If they are only (a little) dirty and not plain disgusting, I think I may go for it. Since they are used, I would probably have cleaned them anyway.

Are they hard to get used to and should I prepare for a lot of typos?

The boards are pretty good, they just need a good scrub when they arrive.

I'm personally using them as my daily driver at work, and really enjoying blacks, some say that they find their fingers getting tired after a while, mine don't, I guess it's because I have awesome man hands, and not dainty girly man hands.

I see, there are definitely some MX black enthusiasts here.



Does anyone of you know whether these boards can be dyed easily? I think I want to try to "mod" one of these keyboards if they are that cheap, and I thought of dyeing a case with some textile dye (that's the easiest "mod" I could think of). I thought about (dark) blue/grey or something, somewhat like this, but the whole case. (using this guide)

[rich0d]

Typos depend on how good of a typer you are - they're DE layout, so if you have to hunt and peck, glhf with working it out, but I know all the keys\modifiers too - so it's no bother for me that it's DE layout.

The quality as you can see from CeeSA's pics above, if you pop the caps, casing, etc, and give them a scrub with some computer cleaning foam stuff, or just soapy water, they'll turn out nice.

And with regards to dying them, I'll let you know on Sunday, as that's when I plan to do mine. If you're in the UK I'll give you the links to where I got the Rit from and also the spray paint is from Halfords, so yeah... Sunday is going to be Funday!

[kbdfr]

Now he sells those German G80-1800 on eBay:
http://www.ebay.de/itm/120826842055

BIN price: 1€, shipping (to Germany): 4€

[rich0d]

If he opened his shipping up to the rest of the EU he'd make a killing. I'm also quite sure that people would pay more for these boards anyway - like the 3 which I got, 1 was slightly crappy owing to the duff spacebar (not sure if that was shipping via DHL, or whether the board was just bust anyway)

But the other two are superb, I'd have happily paid more than I paid.

[Lustique]

Typos depend on how good of a typer you are - they're DE layout, so if you have to hunt and peck, glhf with working it out, but I know all the keys\modifiers too - so it's no bother for me that it's DE layout.

The quality as you can see from CeeSA's pics above, if you pop the caps, casing, etc, and give them a scrub with some computer cleaning foam stuff, or just soapy water, they'll turn out nice.

And with regards to dying them, I'll let you know on Sunday, as that's when I plan to do mine. If you're in the UK I'll give you the links to where I got the Rit from and also the spray paint is from Halfords, so yeah... Sunday is going to be Funday!

Well, currently I am trying to learn touch typing, but the results still are a bit flaky, at best. But the DE layout would be more of an advantage than the other way round, as I am German myself and only used to the German ISO layout.

All right, then I'm looking forward to a little cleaning session in the probably not too near future (unfortunately).

That would be great! Perhaps you could even post some pictures in the modding section? No, I'm in Germany and I don't think that we have this Rit stuff here. I would probably have to order it or look for some German replacement, but thanks for the offer. Oh, and I'm curious of how you plan to dye the case. Currently I have no idea what I could use as a container for dying a whole case...

Now he sells those German G80-1800 on eBay:
http://www.ebay.de/itm/120826842055

BIN price: 1€, shipping (to Germany): 4€

There are only 3 left? I thought these guys claimed they had over a thousand of these boards?

And why is shipping nearly half the price of the shipping from their own online shop? Do they have to ship it cheaper because of ebay rules?

[rich0d]

There is a massive thread on dying caps over at GH and also OCN, it's pretty easy - I also think this seller ships to EU, http://www.lainesworld.co.uk/L/RITDYEPOWDER.html ignore the shit layout on the site, the seller is rather prompt and packs it well.

I'm not planning on dying the case, but you should use vinyl based spray paint, in Germany you can get DupliColor Vinyl and Fabric paint, which is what CeeSA used on his mods, I on the other hand have a much harder task at sourcing it and can only have black, grey or white.

I was too tired to do it this weekend, and this week I'm prepping for my Christmas hols, and am broke - so no paint for me... So this will have to be a new year mod.

[fossala]

I dyed a unicomp spacesaver with rit dye and the case with vht vinyl spray. Turned out good and is holding up as my sons keyboard after 3 months without scratching.

[rich0d]

fossala, you're a brit aren't you? where did you get the paint from? I can only find vinyl stuff for painting car plastics from Halfords.

[CeeSA]

today i received another proxy package from the seller "C.R.M. Computer and more GmbH"
http://cumb.de/shop_content.php?coID=82 ... abdbef2408
the delivery last much longer than my first proxy order.
Paid 21.11. / request Status 08.12.2011 / delivered today 13.12.2011

very poor packing, thin carton, the keyboards only in normal paper. no bubbles or anything else.
1 keyboard had a cut off cabel!
This is so obvious that he could not overlook it.

In the evening I wrote an email to the seller. I gave him a deadline until 24.12. to send my another keyboard or refund for one keyboard.

Atm i will not proxy for anyone to this seller!
Order at your own risk, i warned you.

[CeeSA]

the seller repsond to my complaint:

Dear Master of the Gaming PCB, holy follower of Mr. Interface, keeper of the switch culture, creator of skeleton keyboards, proxygod for "cheap linear boards", godlike user of Rutschstop, holy member of the Ring of Tipronists
unfortunately, that was an oversight, proper keyboard on backorder.
Sincerely
CRM GmbH

Ok, one or the other I added

So there is hope in the land of the cheap linear boards!

[RiGS]

Haha that was funny and true.
I voted on the Gaming PCB/Sinklist project in main Deskthority Award super category.
Thankfully to your amazing projects I won the final prize Filco from the Keyboard Company.

[RiGS]

Btw the same old question again do these keycaps have the same color as your Noppoo?

[CeeSA]

thank you for the voting and have fun w/ your price!

same answer for the keycaps - no. These are beige and the noppoo's are white.

[RiGS]

You are welcome & thanks.

[cable]

Has anyone managed to get these boards outside of Germany?

P.S. Sorry if this already has been answered.

[rodtang]

Has anyone managed to get these boards outside of Germany?

Get someone to ship it to you.

[ZombieDenden]

OK, so i thought i would check this option out for my first mechanical keyboard.

I live in Berlin so i thought i would go and pick up this keyboard in person and save the €7 postage.

Let me just say that it was an interesting ordeal trying to organise this. My girlfriend is German and i am Australian and trying to communicate with the people who have these boards is really hard, the guy in charge doesn't speak German well and doesn't speak English either. This is further compounded by the guy's inability to listen or remember to things that you say to him.

Altogether it took us 11 phone calls and 2 weeks to manage to meet up with this guy to get the boards. We ended up at the IKEA in Südkreutz at 3pm and called him to make sure he was there. after several delays and phone calls (fortunately we were planning on an IKEA trip this day) we met up with him at about 6:30 it was at the new warehouse and boy was it dodgy. Down a dark alley in the rain around the back of the warehouse, we met him and he produced 2 keyboards.

In this case i wanted 1 with a ps2 connector and 1 with a USB connector. He got one of them correct but the other was not right and wasn't a mechanical keyboard. I decide that this is so dodgy that i expect that some of the boards wont work so i ask for 2 more boards, this way i will not need to return! In his broken German and his assistants broken English (his assistant couldn't speak German either) he managed to tell us we needed to wait another 10 mins for him to do something and then he would send someone up to get some more boards.

Finally they return with the boards and some other stuff that they load into their van that they have there. I check the boards and they are the right ones and seem in good condition. I pay with a €10 note needing €2 change and he doesn't have it he empties his wallet an i get €1.70 back.

Happy enough with that and totally amused with the little adventure that we have had (and also somewhat glad we weren't mugged by them or something like that ) i leave with the 4 boards.

So from this misadventure i have learned that this guys are totally dodgy but do in fact have the beautiful keyboards the we were hoping for. I am typing on one of them right now and i can say i have fallen in love: I am a starcraft 2 player and this board is just so juicy to play on. So if you are going to buy from these guys, rest assured that you have the right product at an unbelievable price, but also be aware that they do not know what they have and are totally unprofessional and unreliable. I would advise having them posted to you and being VERY clear about what you want.

Additionally i have 3 working spares and was wondering if anyone has any good ideas what i should do with them. To me this seems like a good way to make a bit of money, perhaps customising them or turning them into barebone boards like CeeSA has been doing.

Any suggestions?

[Icarium]

Hm...how about you sell one to me and spare me the ordeal of dealing with these guys?