4 ms·

I think the authors point was to suggest that Atwood's keyboard is no better than existing models, which can be had for much, much less $$$

busterarm 13y ago
As a bit of a keyboard collector, I think the price for Atwood's keyboard is incredibly fair. It's actually priced pretty similarly to keyboards offering the same features and has some things that are really hard to get in an off-the-shelf keyboard (Cherry Clears). The partnership with WASD Keyboards actually makes this board cheaper than it would have been otherwise.
pdubs 13y ago
>no better than existing models He didn't really go into that though. He looked at features, not materials or build quality, which are both major factors in mechanical keyboards. I can tell you first-hand that the materials that Logitech, Cooler Master, and Corsair use on those particular keyboards don't compare to anything that WASD uses; the K60 isn't even completely mechanical! Those are all "budget" mechanical keyboards. The Filco is more comparable, but at the same price and without backlighting or MX Clears.
- MoosePlissken 13y ago
  From what I've read, Cooler Master and Filco use the same OEM (Costar) so there's almost no difference in quality between the two.
  - busterarm 13y ago
    The CM Pro isn't Costar, but the linked one in the post is. They keys are a bit nicer on the Filco and there are also more mods and replacement parts available for it (yay, aluminum bodies). The Filco PCBs are a bit better: "the through-holes for the switch pins has pads only on the top surface for CM, while Filco has pads that are on the top surface and goes all the way inside the holes. The trace/pads are less prone to being ripped out, but of course this probably only affects desoldering." On top of that, Diatec (Filco) has great customer support and has been known to send their customers replacement parts long out of warranty.
  - pdubs 13y ago
    I've heard that argument too, but so does Rosewill and there are definitely some quality issues there; that's certainly up for debate though. Some might also call Filco overpriced, but I've certainly never heard that about a WASD board.
    - busterarm 13y ago
      Anyone who thinks a Filco is overpriced should just buy a Leopold. Other than the stabilizer, they're almost the same keyboard by the same designer. :B
stonemetal 13y ago
Most of the keyboards he links to don't achieve feature equality. As an example the first keyboard listed is the only backlit keyboard on the list. It has a bunch of extra "gaming" keys, has an identical list price of $150, and has a 70mb driver download. For the rest of the list the only thing they have in common with the CODE keyboard is mechanical switches. Sure Atwood didn't invent a new kind of keyboard, he just put one out with a certain set of features that he hadn't seen in an existing keyboard, which certainly wasn't contradicted by the linked article.

busterarm 13y ago

As a bit of a keyboard collector, I think the price for Atwood's keyboard is incredibly fair. It's actually priced pretty similarly to keyboards offering the same features and has some things that are really hard to get in an off-the-shelf keyboard (Cherry Clears). The partnership with WASD Keyboards actually makes this board cheaper than it would have been otherwise.

pdubs 13y ago

>no better than existing models He didn't really go into that though. He looked at features, not materials or build quality, which are both major factors in mechanical keyboards. I can tell you first-hand that the materials that Logitech, Cooler Master, and Corsair use on those particular keyboards don't compare to anything that WASD uses; the K60 isn't even completely mechanical! Those are all "budget" mechanical keyboards. The Filco is more comparable, but at the same price and without backlighting or MX Clears.

MoosePlissken 13y ago
From what I've read, Cooler Master and Filco use the same OEM (Costar) so there's almost no difference in quality between the two.
- busterarm 13y ago
  The CM Pro isn't Costar, but the linked one in the post is. They keys are a bit nicer on the Filco and there are also more mods and replacement parts available for it (yay, aluminum bodies). The Filco PCBs are a bit better: "the through-holes for the switch pins has pads only on the top surface for CM, while Filco has pads that are on the top surface and goes all the way inside the holes. The trace/pads are less prone to being ripped out, but of course this probably only affects desoldering." On top of that, Diatec (Filco) has great customer support and has been known to send their customers replacement parts long out of warranty.
- pdubs 13y ago
  I've heard that argument too, but so does Rosewill and there are definitely some quality issues there; that's certainly up for debate though. Some might also call Filco overpriced, but I've certainly never heard that about a WASD board.
  - busterarm 13y ago
    Anyone who thinks a Filco is overpriced should just buy a Leopold. Other than the stabilizer, they're almost the same keyboard by the same designer. :B

stonemetal 13y ago

Most of the keyboards he links to don't achieve feature equality. As an example the first keyboard listed is the only backlit keyboard on the list. It has a bunch of extra "gaming" keys, has an identical list price of $150, and has a 70mb driver download. For the rest of the list the only thing they have in common with the CODE keyboard is mechanical switches. Sure Atwood didn't invent a new kind of keyboard, he just put one out with a certain set of features that he hadn't seen in an existing keyboard, which certainly wasn't contradicted by the linked article.