Sub hundred dollars endgame.

[ulises3.14]

Hi everyone, this is my first post here. I just wanted to share with you my recently pimped Rapoo V500, they keycaps are Chinesse off brand from ebay (I just loved the color and side printing was a must for me), the capslock key is the original one but I'm gonna erase the legend and paint it with a mate black paint. The keyboard itself was under 40 bucks and the keycaps were around 30, switches are rapoo browns that are suprisingly good.

I'm open to your criticism and commentaries.

[ideus]

This is the first time that I read that someone finds an endgame this fast and this cheap.

[ulises3.14]

This is the first time that I read that someone finds an endgame this fast and this cheap.

I maybe buy more keyboards, but there is literally nothing I don't like about this one and I'm pretty satisfied with the results.

[Hypersphere]

You're not playing the game correctly! You are not allowed to reach endgame this easily!

Tried Topre yet? What about Alps? IBM capacitive buckling spring? Gaterons? Zealios? 60%? 65%? 75% Full-size? HHKB?

[Chyros]

"In another moment, down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again."

[ohaimark]

Don't try anything else! Ignorance is bliss.

[Hypersphere]

Don't believe it! Ignorance is not bliss! 'Tis better to know!

“Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice: I don't much care where.
The Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn't much matter which way you go.
Alice: ...So long as I get somewhere.
The Cheshire Cat: Oh, you're sure to do that, if only you walk long enough.”

[ulises3.14]

You're not playing the game correctly! You are not allowed to reach endgame this easily!

Tried Topre yet? What about Alps? IBM capacitive buckling spring? Gaterons? Zealios? 60%? 65%? 75% Full-size? HHKB?

This is my third mechanical keyboard, the first was the one included in the first family computer (an Olivetti around 1989, it was an used computer), the second was a Corsair Strafe RGB (which is nice, but you geeks turned me away from the 'gamey' aesthetics) and is still attached to my home desktop; I wanted something small, tactile and cheap for the office so I opted for a Rapoo V500, lovely board, specially for the price; I wanted new caps I searched them (for a long time) and found exactly what I wanted for a very reasonable price.

I've tried capacitive switches and they feel too similar to good rubber domes (Lenovo or Dell keyboards, maybe I'm just too naive), I like tactile cherry clones and I'm keeping them forever.

I love HHKB size and layout (I've used Emacs since college and it seems rather comfortable for it) but, alas, I don't have the disposable income to try a keyboard more expensive than my CPU.

The new keycaps and the fact that the board is fully programmable solved a common criticism of it (the island above cursor keys are a row below to accommodate for volume keys), I kept the capslocks key cause I like the fact that is sculpted to avoid pressing it when reaching for the 'A', and the odd black key gives it some personality.

Maybe I'm not playing right, but is been a lot of fun.

[ulises3.14]

"In another moment, down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again."

Hey! I follow your youtube channel! Every knowledgeable person online now has your voice in my mind (and this is completely unintended).

[Chyros]

"In another moment, down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again."

Hey! I follow your youtube channel! Every knowledgeable person online now has your voice in my mind (and this is completely unintended).

...That sounds extremely creepy xD .

Btw, Alice in Wonderland is full of amazing quotes. I've been strongly tempted to include one or more in my thesis, though I didn't in the end xD .

[kbdfr]

[…] solved a common criticism of [this keyboard] (the island above cursor keys are a row below to accommodate for volume keys) […]

Should you ever want (as any sensible person would ) to replace your caps with vintage Cherry ones,
the solution is stripping a G80-2100, where those caps also are a row below their usual location.

[czarek]

Lucky you. For me there is no end game. Neither such board or components to make one don't exist in this world

[Wodan]

Well ... if you're talking end game, you're probably in the wrong place here. Especially if your end game is available in retail ...

Most people here have long understood that "end game" is just a marketing term used to sell purple Gateron switches for three times the regular price. If you unfollow all keyboard related searches on ebay and look at an amazing SA or GMK keycap set you missed out on without getting an increased heart rate ... if you sell all your keyboards but one and uninstall the 14 different Atmega flashing toolkits you have in your computer... if you sell the unused modifiers from the keycap set on your end game keyboard ... you've probably reached end game

[Rimrul]

uninstall the 14 different Atmega flashing toolkits you have in your computer...

You know there are non-keyboard use-cases for atmel chips, right?

[Tangtawan]

Thats what i thought when I got my first mechanical keyboard, and never understood why anyone would spent more than $100 on a keyboard.

Now I have 9 keyboards in my closet and had spent over $1500 so far, while still havent achieved my end-game.

[pr0ximity]

Thats what i thought when I got my first mechanical keyboard, and never understood why anyone would spent more than $100 on a keyboard.

Now I have 9 keyboards in my closet and had spent over $1500 so far, while still havent achieved my end-game.

Same, I bought a Filco thinking "okay this is a little too much, but it means I'll never need another keyboard"

Yeah.

[Hypersphere]

I keep mis-reading the title of this thread as "Six hundred dollars endgame".

[fohat]

"Endgame" for you young whippersnappers is an amusing concept.

As a big strong old man with a large desk at my home office, who likes hefty solid mechanical tools, and who works with numbers, my "current-game" is an ANSI-modded Model F 122-key terminal with mice both left and right. The keyboard is a monstrous loud thing because I have some spatial separation from any family members who are likely to be bothered.

When and if I get another job with an office somewhere, that environment will probably dictate a standard footprint keyboard and mouse. Noise considerations will probably force me to back off to a more quiet (but still tactile) setup.

When and if I stop working with numbers to the point that the numpad is no longer a necessity, I will probably scale back to a smaller keyboard and a single mouse. My environment and companions will determine the maximum noise that can be tolerated, and that will inform the keyboard choice.

When and if I lose mobility and environmental restrictions start limiting my options, I will probably need to scale back to a keyboard that is quite small, lightweight, and quiet - the very opposite of my current "endgame" setup!

When you get old you start thinking like this.

[ulises3.14]

after a little paint job; caps lock and control are, of course, switched.

[Wodan]

"keycap paint job" and "end game keyboard" can't be used in the same thread.

[seebart]

You're not playing the game correctly! You are not allowed to reach endgame this easily!

Tried Topre yet? What about Alps? IBM capacitive buckling spring? Gaterons? Zealios? 60%? 65%? 75% Full-size? HHKB?

That is correct, in fact you cannot reach "endgame" without trying most of what Hyper is mentioning, what you are reaching is "pretendgame" which is fine but not the same thing because you have not tried the options.

[Khers]

[...] what you are reaching is "pretendgame" [...]

[Menuhin]

You're not playing the game correctly! You are not allowed to reach endgame this easily!

Tried Topre yet? What about Alps? IBM capacitive buckling spring? Gaterons? Zealios? 60%? 65%? 75% Full-size? HHKB?

I've tried almost all of them (except Zealios).
And then I never knew I would like to try all the spring and lubing method combinations, or the many many flavors of Alps instead of just knowing the MX that I don't like so much most of the case.

Thats what i thought when I got my first mechanical keyboard, and never understood why anyone would spent more than $100 on a keyboard.

Now I have 9 keyboards in my closet and had spent over $1500 so far, while still havent achieved my end-game.

Same, I bought a Filco thinking "okay this is a little too much, but it means I'll never need another keyboard"

Yeah.

I sold my NIB black model M13 7 years ago after many times of trying to adjust to it, I actually tried some mechanical keyboards back then 10+ years ago, now I remember that included Matias's Apple keyboards, but I like the feelings on some high-quality rubber-dome because of the smooth and strong tactile curve and the soft padded landing when bottoming out. i thought ABS caps are nasty and 'shine'-prone.
Now I'm in the same boat again. thinking a purchase will be slowing down my future purchases and a $100+ new (vs vintage and out of production) keyboard was crazy. And fairly quickly, I'm looking at these gorgeous ABS double shot key cap sets (GMK and SP mainly) forgetting their sin of getting the shiny-oily look after typing, and cursing how they hurt my wallet.

Well ... if you're talking end game, you're probably in the wrong place here. Especially if your end game is available in retail ...

Most people here have long understood that "end game" is just a marketing term used to sell purple Gateron switches for three times the regular price. If you unfollow all keyboard related searches on ebay and look at an amazing SA or GMK keycap set you missed out on without getting an increased heart rate ... if you sell all your keyboards but one and uninstall the 14 different Atmega flashing toolkits you have in your computer... if you sell the unused modifiers from the keycap set on your end game keyboard ... you've probably reached end game

It can be quite true: end-game = getting bankrupted or getting a pathological OCD controlling spouse in your finance and lifestyle. Or that you've gone through so much and now enlightened / bored.

[volhodav]

Am I the only one here that's wondering if this is 'troll' post?

[cookie]

Am I the only one here that's wondering if this is 'troll' post?

If it were about this beauty: https://www.alternate.de/MS-TECH/LT-940 ... ct/1218211? I'd say he is a troll

You're not playing the game correctly! You are not allowed to reach endgame this easily!

Tried Topre yet? What about Alps? IBM capacitive buckling spring? Gaterons? Zealios? 60%? 65%? 75% Full-size? HHKB?

[seebart]

You're not playing the game correctly! You are not allowed to reach endgame this easily!

Tried original F77 yet? 62key Beamspring? NIB blue Alps? Nixies...? Indy SSK? (just for the color )

giphy.gif (1.41 MiB) Viewed 4891 times

[Rimrul]

To be fair, proper endgame does not require bankrupticy. You are even allowed to aquire items for cheap and sell them at more or less reasonable prices. But trying a lot of stuff is important.

[davkol]

I was in a similar boat as OP… 4-5 years ago. Got Noppoo Choc Mini (MX Red, POM caps) and it was instant happiness. Even though the build quality was mediocre. I'd used only a few full-size keyboards with ABS caps and stiff switches (clicky Alps, linear Cherry) beforehand, and knew the choc was exactly what I wanted.

4-5 years and hundreds of keyboards later, I'd still be mostly happy with the cheap choc, if I wired it to a Teensy in order to run TMK. Messing with the relatively large collection has been a neat novelty (+ I've learned a thing or two about the history of computing), but that's about it. Well, the whole ErgoDox experience and associated experiments aside…