My new WASD v2 with Italian layout is here

[ganeshagames]

IMG_1422.JPG (509.09 KiB) Viewed 25980 times

I finally received my WASD mechanical keyboard (Cherry MX blue switches) and, pricey as it was (48 euros of import duties...damn!Why don't these guys open shop in Europe?) typing on it feels very nice. It is noisy but I love the sound and I work from home, and live alone, so no problem keeping people up as I type at night.



Well, gotta get back to work now
A.

[LLRnR]

Cool! Congratulations and enjoy your new board! I also plan on buying a TKL WASD v2 with MX Blues very soon, but mine will feature blank keycaps.

I received my Unicomp in France two weeks ago, and yesterday the FedEx invoice came in -- I had to pay 35€ of import duties. I hate this. If we're talking individual buyers, customs are just plain robbery. I mean c'mon -- we pay the VAT in the country of origin, and again in the country of import? Plus separate import duties if the package is worth more than a fixed amount! To add insult to injury, FedEx charges 10.75€ as their own import fee, and they also add a 20% VAT on this fee!

Agreed, it would be cool if WASD Keyboards opened shop in the EU!

[Hypersphere]

Looks nice. Recently, I sold all my Cherry mx boards, but then decided I really ought to have a 60% and a TKL, so I got a Poker II with browns (from qtan) and a WASD V2 87 Barebones with browns. I already have some nice Cherry keycap sets, so it was good to save some money on the WASD by getting the Barebones model. The WASD seems solid and reliable thus far. Before buying it, I had many questions, and I found the WASD customer service to be superb.

[gianni]

Hi ganeshagames, as an italian, 48 euros of import duties are killing my shopping fantasies
Your keys are abs or pcb? How are the characters printed on the keycaps?

I'm thinking to adapt an ansi keyboard to the iso standard, for two reasons:
- availability of ansi keyboards
- I hate the iso anyway.... for example the "ì" and the "apostrophe ?" are impossible to reach, in my layout I will also move the apostrophe where the dash is (near , and .)

what do you think?

[CeeSA]

The keycaps are looking very good! What method did you choose?

[noobie94]

Looks nice. Recently, I sold all my Cherry mx boards, but then decided I really ought to have a 60% and a TKL

Same here. I really enjoy my Realforce and can't wait for the second one to arrive, but I really miss to have a cherry mx board

[Muirium]

You guys come back to MX for the caps and modding, right? I like to regularly mix up keyboards too. But MX is only interesting to me for custom keyboards.

Hi ganeshagames, as an italian, 48 euros of import duties are killing my shopping fantasies
Your keys are abs or pcb? How are the characters printed on the keycaps?

Good question. I guess they're lasered or pad printed (or some other custom-legend-friendly processed) ABS. I don't think PBT is as friendly for them to work on, although it's the nicer material for us!

I'll be particularly interested to see how these hold up to a year of heavy use…

I'm thinking to adapt an ansi keyboard to the iso standard, for two reasons:
- availability of ansi keyboards
- I hate the iso anyway.... for example the "ì" and the "apostrophe ?" are impossible to reach, in my layout I will also move the apostrophe where the dash is (near , and .)

what do you think?

Good idea. I just write English, so ANSI is a piece of cake for me. But with custom legend caps you could adapt it to your own purposes. Does WASD let you buy a custom cap set without also ordering a keyboard? Anything to save on those horrendous taxes! (I'd order the MX caps and put them on a NovaTouch or whatever else better than MX comes along…)

[kbdfr]

[…] If we're talking individual buyers, customs are just plain robbery. I mean c'mon -- we pay the VAT in the country of origin, and again in the country of import? Plus separate import duties if the package is worth more than a fixed amount! […]

Wrong. Exported goods are not subject to VAT in the country of origin. VAT on imported goods is collected by the customs office, but is not an import tax, it equates to the VAT you would have paid anyway if buying in your own country instead of from abroad. Import duties apply above a certain limit, that's right.

The fact that there is no VAT in the US cannot be blamed on European customs,
and If US companies opened shops in Europe, they would of course (have to) add not only VAT to their retail prices,
but also the import duties they would have to pay themselves.

The only difference for the buyer would be that the announced price would be a final price, but it wouldn't be cheaper.
Considering the costs of handling the stuff themselves and managing a shop, it would probably be even more expensive.

[Muirium]

A lot depends on the shop.

The Keyboard Company sells Realforces for so much here in Europe that it's still cheaper to import from EK and take it in the balls from customs! But that's their choice, as Europe's de facto exclusive Topre dealer. Not every imported product in Europe is as marked up as that, mind. Goodness, we'd all be shafted then!

Also, a lot depends on the customs procedure.

Here in Britain, you're charged £8 minimum for processing, the moment customs strikes. Which is on anything over £15 declared value! That absolutely murders small items, like my ducks. That was the lion's share of the £12.68 customs I had to pay on… drum roll… 12 caps! That's just the smallest possible handling fee. It's higher for larger items like keyboards. And unsettling in its randomness.

A competent local dealer, that's not out to gouge suckers, is a blessing for any field. They can even handle returns! My bloody goodness.

[LLRnR]

Wrong. Exported goods are not subject to VAT in the country of origin. VAT on imported goods is collected by the customs office, but is not an import tax, it equates to the VAT you would have paid anyway if buying in your own country instead of from abroad. Import duties apply above a certain limit, that's right.

Ohh so that's the way it goes! Thank you for clearing that up for me, I honestly believed the US price included the VAT.

The fact that there is no VAT in the US cannot be blamed on European customs,
and If US companies opened shops in Europe, they would of course (have to) add not only VAT to their retail prices,
but also the import duties they would have to pay themselves.

The only difference for the buyer would be that the announced price would be a final price, but it wouldn't be cheaper.
Considering the costs of handling the stuff themselves and managing a shop, it would probably be even more expensive.

Yes, I understand that.

Here in Britain, you're charged £8 minimum for processing, the moment customs strikes. Which is on anything over £15 declared value! That absolutely murders small items, like my ducks. That was the lion's share of the £12.68 customs I had to pay on… drum roll… 12 caps! That's just the smallest possible handling fee. It's higher for larger items like keyboards. And unsettling in its randomness.

Gah, that sucks. Goodbye custom keycaps then. I haven't yet encountered random handling fees because I've only imported in the EU once, but the VAT tax did strike me as being random, standing at 35% of the value of the keyboard (for France, it is supposed to be 20%).

Anyway. I'll need to consider really well my next import. Sorry for thread hijacking

[Muirium]

Caps aren't a problem, if you buy from 7bit. He handles all the customs stuff for you. He simply ships from Germany.

Meanwhile, lots of stuff sneaks in without getting spotted by customs thanks to eBay sellers in China marking everything as "samples" or whatever. Even gifts are taxed in Britain, if they are £36 or greater including shipping. But Chinese sellers tend to put no value or just something absurdly small on their declarations. Which although practical, is the opposite of legal and doesn't strike me as a smart thing to rely on for us over here. What if things go missing in transit? Or get seized by customs? What a mess!

[Hypersphere]

Yes, I reacquired a couple Cherry mx boards mainly for the caps. There is no Cherry mx switch that I like, but for my two Cherry boards, I have settled on browns as an all-around compromise. I strongly considered blacks or reds, because these are the purest form of the inherently linear design of Cherry switches, but after much experimentation, it seems that the grafted-on tactile bump of browns provides a subconscious awareness of something happening near the actuation point. In any event, I seem to type faster and more accurately on browns than on reds or blacks, despite the fact that I bottom out on every keystroke.

Regarding WASD custom caps, as far as I know they are relatively thin ABS with lasered legends. They do a rather good job with their legends, and they will do virtually anything that you can provide to them in a layout file in svg, cdr, or ai format or by using their handy online configurator. It would be great if they would upgrade to dye-sublimated PBT or even lasered PBT.

Recently, I sent a message to WASD asking if they would consider producing keyboards with Matias switches. I got a reply saying that they had forwarded my request to their manager. We shall see. In the meantime, the Taiwan-based company, Keyboard Paradise (KBP), has already released a 60% with either Matias Click or Matias Quiet switches, and they have a 60% with Matias Linear switches in the works along with an 80% (TKL) with Matias switches. Unfortunately, it is a challenge to find good keycaps for Matias switches, but I would rather type on a Matias-switch keyboards with ABS caps than on a Cherry-switch keyboard with any kind of caps.