The Cheat & DK Saver

[mass]

Just finished building the board.
Cherry MX Black 55g with full mount.
Not bad at all.

Also SoWaRe Keycaps on DK Saver with Cherry MX Clear 55g.
I guess SoWaRe set is much suited with Silver DK rather than The Cheat.

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[webwit]

The silver DK looks great!

[mtl]

Yeah, those look really nice. Thanks for the pic!

[calavera]

Now sell it to me.

[sixty]

I see you are also using the 356 Logo keycap for the F13 key... same here. Btw, where did you get those orange cable ties? I'm growing tired of my Filco branded ones.

[LaCap]

Like webwit.
The silver looks amazing.

[itlnstln]

Want.

Americans are lame. We need 'boards like this.

[keyboardlover]

I was actually going to say, they look just like what they are. $300-$400 Leopolds with aluminum cases.

I am disappoint.

[itlnstln]

That's true. Bugattis, Audis and Porsches are just expensive Volkswagens in fancy cases.

[keyboardlover]

I meant literally. If you still browsed GeekHack, you might have seen that Hamblet posted in excruciating detail why they are exactly the same. Same PCB, controller, etc. He even posted pics to prove it. He also insulted nearly everybody in the post, as well as the owners of kbdmania. Hamblet is WIN.

Meanwhile at DeskThority, the mods are still concerned that there's no WMDs in Iraq...

[sixty]

I meant literally. If you still browsed GeekHack, you might have seen that Hamblet posted in excruciating detail why they are exactly the same. Same PCB, controller, etc. He even posted pics to prove it. He also insulted nearly everybody in the post, as well as the owners of kbdmania. Hamblet is WIN.

Meanwhile at DeskThority, the mods are still concerned that there's no WMDs in Iraq...

I think you are confused here. These boards are fully custom made, from scratch. Full custom PCB design, custom programmable controller. Custom aluminium case. Exception would be the DK saver (silver one in the picture) which uses a Cherry G80-3000 controller.

The one you and Hambled are talking about is this one. This indeed is a Leopold in an aluminium case. However, this board was made 6 years after the DK Saver and all the other custom boards first came out. As you can see it looks quite a bit like the older original custom boards, such as the DK shown here. A commercial attempt to bring the "custom feeling" to the masses. So if you put this information together you can maybe guess why the "CMA: The Cheat" is actually called "copy my ass".

[keyboardlover]

Ahh ok, thanks for clearing that up. Hamblet's ranting posts WERE a little confusing.

I remembered the parts about guruishy handjobs, asshats and 50,000 hitmen pretty clearly though.

[sixty]

Everything Hamblet said was extremely confusing but also very amusing. I actually miss him!

[webwit]

Meanwhile at DeskThority, the mods are still concerned that there's no WMDs in Iraq...

Actually I was concerned about the fact you were lied to before, nothing was done about it, and you continue to put complete trust in what your government says. To which you had no answer, yet you molested the quote and somehow attributed it to an entire board administration. While rolling eyes, because with your fallacies you have the upper hand, right? Keep classy.

[keyboardlover]

Is that what happened?

[itlnstln]

I meant literally. If you still browsed GeekHack, you might have seen that Hamblet posted in excruciating detail why they are exactly the same. Same PCB, controller, etc. He even posted pics to prove it. He also insulted nearly everybody in the post, as well as the owners of kbdmania. Hamblet is WIN.

Point taken. There probably isn't much in the way of "guts" that can be improved unless someone were to make a custom switch. That said, there is a lot of room for improvement in case and key cap construction. These custom keyboards like the Cheat and DK Saver do a great job in taking some of the external refinements to the next level. The one place where I think they fall short is the key caps (IIRC, most of these custom 'boards do not include caps or switches, so the point might be moot anyway). Cases, I would imagine, are fairly easy to construct compared to key caps, thus cases are "low(er)-hanging fruit" in terms of opportunities for mods/customizations. Key caps would be more restrictive seeing as different materials can change the overall typing experience. Caps also see the most physical contact so material choice might also be limited by wear characteristics and body-chemistry interactivity.

Mechanical keyboards on the market today remind me of a guy I knew in highschool. He had a Ford Pinto with a 450 in it. It was fast as hell, but looked like total dog shit. I don't think there is a whole lot of room for improvement regarding the internals, but for the most part, high end keyboards are not very attractive. I, for one, would love a keyboard that was more like a piece of furniture on my desk than a plasticky computer peripheral.

[sixty]

The one place where I think they fall short is the key caps (IIRC, most of these custom 'boards do not include caps or switches, so the point might be moot anyway).

Right, most custom boards do not come with the keycaps or even switches. The problem with keycaps though is that there are only so few companies left making keycaps. Even the Signature Plastic double shot keycaps can not even get close to the quality of the old Cherry ones. Other than that, there are a few more companies producing keycaps of a little better quality, but do not offer the double shot or sublimation dye method anymore. So in the end there is only so much you can do about keycaps.

Unless you pull a ClickClack and start up your own keycap factory with your own molds from scratch. The cost and time involved in such a project is probably more than most can handle. Unless we get some Arabic Sheiks involved in custom keycaps I think we have to accept that quality keycaps are mostly a thing of the past.

[itlnstln]

It's really a shame, too, because that's a part of the keyboard that needs to be of the highest quality. It's still amazing that Diatec, Leopold, etc. don't use better caps when they try to make an impression of quality. At least Topre is making nice key caps.

[sixty]

It's really a shame, too, because that's a part of the keyboard that needs to be of the highest quality. It's still amazing that Diatec, Leopold, etc. don't use better caps when they try to make an impression of quality. At least Topre is making nice key caps.

I agree. But reduced production costs will always play a big role in selling a product. Even with products aimed at enthusiasts, like most mechanical keyboards on the mass market now. Speaking of Diatec - Did you see their solution for the fading letters on their keycaps?

http://www.diatec.co.jp/en/det.php?prod_c=775

[itlnstln]

I saw that. I like the design as a whole, but the whole "fading letters makes your keyboard look crummy" thing made me laugh. It was like the whole design idea was centered on working around quality issues than creating a unique look.

Then I cried.

[webwit]

I hope this doesn't draw Taiwan fanboys who will claim you can't handle the Internet and think something is wrong with everyone else in the world, and should look at yourself.

But I agree. All consumer products are like this. You could have an iPad 3 times as good, but it would be 5 times as expensive, and it wouldn't sell or be the best price point for profit maximization. So in general all our products and all the things we have are made not to be as good as they could be. At least they are affordable.

[mass]

I was actually going to say, they look just like what they are. $300-$400 Leopolds with aluminum cases.

I am disappoint.

Well, I am sorry to hear that.
It is even more shame that you've confused the look of the cheat with a TypeNow Solid.
But well, after all they all look pretty similar I guess.

I see you are also using the 356 Logo keycap for the F13 key... same here. Btw, where did you get those orange cable ties? I'm growing tired of my Filco branded ones.

They are just normal Velcro Wire Strap which you could get from any computer store I guess.
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Velcro ... 03&bih=604
I got mine from Korea, where probably paid less than 1 euro for 4.
http://www.compuzone.co.kr/product/prod ... DivNo=2553

[itlnstln]

Mass, do you have any more pics of the The Cheat? That's a pretty slick-looking 'board.

[woody]

Speaking of Diatec - Did you see their solution for the fading letters on their keycaps?

http://www.diatec.co.jp/en/det.php?prod_c=775

Do they really fade in general (excluding alien guys)?
I have a friend who seems to play aggressively and has calluses, so his WASD has the clear-coating partly worn, but the legends are still intact.

My Filco bought around September has just a wee bit of shine on the spacebar under 'N', and that's about it.

[mass]

Mass, do you have any more pics of the The Cheat? That's a pretty slick-looking 'board.

Here we go!

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You could go and view more pictures of the cheat at OTD
It's where all the inspiration started.

And...

Spoiler:

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[ripster]

These are awesome keyboards.

But when American Males see the name DKsaver they immediately cross their legs. I call it the "Bobbit" effect.

I guess Chinese men may react the same too.

On July 21, 2008, in Nanjing, China, it was reported that several wives cut off their husband's penis because they could not stand that their husbands were gambling or cheating on them. These are classified as a "crime of impulsion" by prosecutors in Nanjing, because the women go through an "emotional crisis". Most of these female criminals were younger than 35, most get only a suspended sentence or one below three years, and are sent back home.[44]

I'd give the Wikipedia link but trust me, the page is NSFW.

[itlnstln]

Awesome. Thanks, mass.

I wish these were available in the States...

Pre-assembled for my lazy ass.

[xbb]

you need black CTRL keys or you use Strg on purpose?
By the way I like the black one the most!

[mass]

you need black CTRL keys or you use Strg on purpose?
By the way I like the black one the most!

Yeap, need winkeyless black keycaps.. CTRLs and ALTs.
I was just able to get Strgs with Sixty's help.

[Brian8bit]

you might have seen that Hamblet posted

That guy is a gasbag guru.