As I mentioned in an earlier post I've been looking to replace my old Razer Blackwidow Ultimate keyboard, not because it was worn out but because I wanted something other than the Cherry MX Blue switches,. Specifically I Wanted Cherry MX Brown or similar. As I use the desk top for soldering, sanding 3D prints and the like I also wanted to be able to move the keyboard out of the way and also wanted some smaller overall, as the Blackwidow is actually quite large with the macro keys on the side. The macro keys on the Razer board also presented a problem when it came to the backlight too, as after replacing the keycaps with these DSA Dolch ones I had none for the macro keys. As a result, having the backlight on would blind me with the blue LEDS.
So the requirements were:
Cherry Brown or similar mechanical switches
Full size board with numpad (I considered tenkeyless but I use the numpad too much in spreadsheets)
minimal borders, as small as possible with no macro keys.
RGB backlighting.
Floating key design.
Wireless or at least an easily removable cable.
UK layout (this was a killer of most potential options on Amazon)
Apparently wireless in this configuration simply doesn't exist, there's a gap in the market there. Why, I have no idea as adding a numpad surely doesn't eliminate the use of a wireless transmitter. Logitech make a full sized wireless board but it's rather large, expensive and doesn't have any backlighting. As I said in the first paragraph I was tempted to go for a DREVO tenkeyless Bluetooth board but I just wasn't happy with the idea of losing the numpad. I considered the ASUS ROG Claymore as it's Aura compatible and fitted most of the needs but it wasn't small enough, especially with the detachable numpad attached. It was very expensive too. Anyway, it turns out the right board was under my nose all along.
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Sorry about the mess. This desk is multi-purpose, hence wanting to have the ability to get the keyboard out of harm's way.
Behold the Cooler Master Masterkeys MK750. A nice full-sized board with minimal overall size, RGB, a nice floating key design and genuine Cherry MX Brown switches. The compromise I had to make is that it's wired, but has a USB-C connector on the bottom so I can easily disconnect it. Getting a short USB-C extension isn't hard either so I'll probably get one and make it even more convenient.
The RGB is very nice and because of the floating key design I can still see the backlight with my DSA Dolch keycaps without windows for the light to pass through. I might have to drill small holes in the num lock and caps lock keys though because rather than an individual light on the keyboard their status is indicated by a variation in the backlight intensity. Maybe I can just set them to red or green so It's obvious at a glance. Currently it's set to mimic the Aura colour as it's not directly Aura compatible, however when copying over the RGB values there's quite a significant hue shift on one of the two systems that has to be corrected. It's not a big deal and I wonder if the ROG Claymore would've been the same. Probably not.
Currently it has no Windows menu key, just the Windows key and the function key, but as I won't be using the function key at all (I have no idea what the keys do now I've changed the keycaps) I'll swap that out for the menu keycap I already have and remap it in the software.
I also made a second, significantly less sane purchase this week in the pursuit of nostalgia. A Dolch PAC 62 computer, complete with a whole 100MHzes and 32MB (I have to double check every time I type that as I automatically go to type GB) of RAM, replicating the first machine we had as a family in 1998. This is the picture from the eBay auction, it's probably on a plane from the US now. Yeah, I'm importing a 20+ year old computer that is outclassed by watches these days. Why are you surprised, you all know I'm mad.
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I've been watching a lot of retro tech videos in the last six months so obviously I wanted to get something of my own and the Dolch PAC seemed to suit perfectly, a whole machine complete with LCD screen and keyboard with Cherry MX Blue switches all in one package the size of a big old radio. A luggable machine built originally to sniff out network issues and with a whole stack of PCI slots I can add on whatever I want from that era of computing and still pack the thing away. I simply don't have the space for a big old white box and associated CRT screen.
First thing I need to do is fit a floppy drive as it doesn't have one currently, then I intend to use an SD card to install Windows 98SE on to. I'll need a USB PCI card so I can use an external, USB CD-ROM drive as this model has no space for one (the later PAC 64 and 65 had slimline CD and floppy drives but the machines are considerably more expensive) and I can get some old games on there. I'm thinking that I might start with Worms.