Well I fell down the custom keyboard world.

[V_R]

Thank you! I had a good read last night to try and get myself back up to speed and see if there would be anything else out there that might appeal. I do love the reds and like the idea of the silent ones.

My Shine 3 is still perfect, no worn caps or dodgy LED's, I just wouldn't mind something new!

I'll have another look around tonight.

 

[BuffetSlayer]

Thank you! I had a good read last night to try and get myself back up to speed and see if there would be anything else out there that might appeal. I do love the reds and like the idea of the silent ones.

My Shine 3 is still perfect, no worn caps or dodgy LED's, I just wouldn't mind something new!

I'll have another look around tonight.

I think I must have got a bad one. In truth, stripping it down and re-soldering is only relevant if ot is out of your warranty/return period.

I also bought a high spec Keychron Q6 Max and had issues with it, and have recently returned it for a refund. That was a £240 keyboard!

Maybe I'm just unlucky with keyboards!

So high price for me hasn't resulted in a hassle free experience. I've got a Monsgeek M1 V5 on the way with a few sets of different switches and I've ordered a couple of sets of different keycaps too.

I think the Ducky Shine 3 uses OEM profile keycaps. A lot of boards now use Cherry profile, so again this is something for you to consider.

As with many things, personal preference is at the forefront. A silent linear switch might be your go to for typing but others may prefer the tactile or clicky feedback of a different type of switch.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Still not had a chance to build the Alice Duo, just got back from Japan on Sunday, this weekend I am busy and next 2 weekends i am going to Hong Kong.

 

[Glanza]

Been eyeing up a Rainy 75 to try out and with the BF price drop ordered one earlier, be interesting to see how it compares to my current keyboard

 

[GregI]

Any good BF deals on a HE board? I see the Keychron K2 HE for £111.99

 

[Noxia]

Any good BF deals on a HE board? I see the Keychron K2 HE for £111.99

Looking myself as I returned mine due to how close BF was. Wanted a Q3 but only available in ANSI which I'm not opposed to, thought about the Q6HE (100%) but think a Q3 + numpad will be a better compromise for my use.

I didn't realise K series so much cheaper, a K8 looks like a Q3 but like £100 less, is the only real difference you can't use them with mac??
Edit: oh I see, total build material difference too, and you can use with mac, and you don't have to have the wooden looking one.. still confused, and that's before the Lemokey P1 HE. Help! I need an adult

 

[BuffetSlayer]

Well my Monsgeek M1 V5 turned up today. Good solid feeling keyboard and I'm finding it much easier to type on than my Air V3.

Spacebar sound like a bag of spanners, but I can live with that for now!

However I seem unable to figure out how to set per key RGB in VIA. So for those of you using this keyboard in VIA, I'd be grateful for some guidance on how to enable / set up per key RGB.

The JSON file off the website for this keyboard only allows whole board effects and no options that I can see for setting each key individually

 

[Jenz]

I’ve not found per key RGB either!

 

[BuffetSlayer]

So couple of issues with the M1 V5 that I'm really disappointed with.

1. No per key RGB support in VIA. No problem I thought. I'll download the windows drivers and sort it that way. Which leads me on to....

2. None (and I mean none) of the available drivers on the Akko or Monsgeek website support this keyboard. All versions tried - none recognised the keyboard via wired connection. So seemingly no custom per key RGB possible on ISO boards at all other than if you know how to code and can code a custom VIA profile. Please someone tell me I'm wrong??

3. When set to wired mode the FN key remains lit green no matter what RGB colour profile is set. I thought it might be FN lock. Nope. Reading around the only way to fix this is some dodgy firmware hex file or disconnect the internal battery. Really? What a **** take!

Love the typing experience and the switches but I feel like I have paid for a keyboard and I'm only getting half the features.

Really disappointed with this. Not the fault of the keyboard but the manufacturer for not providing full functionality for their product!!

Oh well. My run of bad luck with keyboards continues...........

 

[Noxia]

I'm going to get spat on here but I actually ended up getting the Razer Huntsman V3 Pro TKL. I didn't realise it also had analogue keys, albeit not the same as the Keychron I was looking at. However, the price, convenience (using a dongle for current razer kb + mouse) and the fact I could use my voucher for the retailer made it quite an easy choice.
I highly suspect I'll end up with more than one though, it's just a shame I couldn't get the Q3 in ISO layout.


edit: analogue keys are pointless, the games I tried in can't make use of them without cancelling the mouse working because they can't handle dual inputs simultaneously. Now I'm really glad I didn't waste my money on a more expensive keyboard.

 

[BuffetSlayer]

So couple of issues with the M1 V5 that I'm really disappointed with.

1. No per key RGB support in VIA. No problem I thought. I'll download the windows drivers and sort it that way. Which leads me on to....

2. None (and I mean none) of the available drivers on the Akko or Monsgeek website support this keyboard. All versions tried - none recognised the keyboard via wired connection. So seemingly no custom per key RGB possible on ISO boards at all other than if you know how to code and can code a custom VIA profile. Please someone tell me I'm wrong??

3. When set to wired mode the FN key remains lit green no matter what RGB colour profile is set. I thought it might be FN lock. Nope. Reading around the only way to fix this is some dodgy firmware hex file or disconnect the internal battery. Really? What a **** take!

Love the typing experience and the switches but I feel like I have paid for a keyboard and I'm only getting half the features.

Really disappointed with this. Not the fault of the keyboard but the manufacturer for not providing full functionality for their product!!

Oh well. My run of bad luck with keyboards continues...........

By way of an update......

I have now sorted the green FN key issue with a firmware update (yey).

But the rest remains unresolved. After several transactions of correspondence with the Akko customer services people they have essentially confirmed two things:

1. Their JSON file for this keyboard is "limited" by the rules of the VIA system. The response indicates this is a limitation around terms of use rather than what can be achieved with a more complex JSON file, but I could be wrong.

2. They have in a round about way confirmed that they have no windows driver support for ISO versions of the Monsgeek M1 V5 keyboard.

So it is limited VIA functionality or bust, sadly.

Perhaps inexperience on my part in the custom keyboard world, and perhaps not sufficiently drilling down into specifics. But in any case it leaves a sour taste that the keyboard does not work as advertised.

It is still a great keyboard, and I love the Cherry profile. It is great for typing! I'm just disappointed it's not got all the functionality I was expecting.

But you live and learn!

 

[rich_h]

By way of an update......

I have now sorted the green FN key issue with a firmware update (yey).

But the rest remains unresolved. After several transactions of correspondence with the Akko customer services people they have essentially confirmed two things:

1. Their JSON file for this keyboard is "limited" by the rules of the VIA system. The response indicates this is a limitation around terms of use rather than what can be achieved with a more complex JSON file, but I could be wrong.

2. They have in a round about way confirmed that they have no windows driver support for ISO versions of the Monsgeek M1 V5 keyboard.

So it is limited VIA functionality or bust, sadly.

Perhaps inexperience on my part in the custom keyboard world, and perhaps not sufficiently drilling down into specifics. But in any case it leaves a sour taste that the keyboard does not work as advertised.

It is still a great keyboard, and I love the Cherry profile. It is great for typing! I'm just disappointed it's not got all the functionality I was expecting.

But you live and learn!

I've got pretty much the same keyboard (albeit Akko branded) and it is a pretty good typing experience. I hope you have better fortune with the switches than I've had though. Several of them double type at times, sometimes they won't even register without a very firm press and I've had a couple of them seemingly die altogether as well. I've never spilled anything on the board and it's used for a combination of work and gaming, I'm very careful with my kit so it's definitely not down to misuse.

 

[BuffetSlayer]

I've got pretty much the same keyboard (albeit Akko branded) and it is a pretty good typing experience. I hope you have better fortune with the switches than I've had though. Several of them double type at times, sometimes they won't even register without a very firm press and I've had a couple of them seemingly die altogether as well. I've never spilled anything on the board and it's used for a combination of work and gaming, I'm very careful with my kit so it's definitely not down to misuse.

Yeah me too. I returned a Keychron Q6 Max due to double pressing issues after only a couple of months use.

That was due to an alleged manufacturing issue rather than switch issues directly though.

For this keyboard I ordered two sets of spare switches and the M1 V5 comes with several spare switches too.

I'll see how it goes. Other than the limited lighting it's a great keyboard - but reliability remains to be seen!

 

[InkZ]

Been looking at what keyboard to get as feel it’s time to upgrade my original Corsair K65. There’s so much to think about I may end up just sticking with it!

 

[bastic]

remember when I've almost lost my life when bought Rainy and wife wanted to kill me ?
had to change for silent switches et all...
not sure if intentionally or not, yesterday she said she likes my keyboard
I was like : what?? can you repeat ?