Poker 2 keyboardreview

Turkatron · February 1, 2015

Bought this keyboard recently through reddit for my laptop. I immediately fell in love with this keyboard. The switch type I went with is Brown. I love Browns the most.

Pros:

-Stock PBT keycaps (over ABS)

-Portability (I just love the size of the keyboard and the weight isn't too heavy at all)

-Neat blank colored modifier PBT keycaps

-Removeable USB cable

-Nice, sturdy construction

-dual-layer PCB

-plate mounted (meaning you can replace the case with something of much higher quality)

-Can come in Brown, Blue, Red, or Black switches

- Excellent function binds so you don't lose F1-F12, Arrow keys, ESC, INSERT, HOME, PG UP, PG DWN, DELETE, and END keys

-4 DIP switches underneath for interesting functionality

Cons:

-Somewhat hard to get (except for mass drop which just takes literally twelve years to wait)

-Can be expensive to customize (after market case, keycaps, USB cable)

-USB port does pose a risk at being damaged at some point and would need re soldering to fix

-Not a huge con to me but the price can be around $120 brand new IIRC, this may be expensive to some people for a small keyboard

-"Enjoy your feeling" text on keycap is kind of lame in my opinion. The Poker 3 is going to come with a blank space bar.

Images (imgur album): http://imgur.com/a/RMaHO

DIP 1 swaps Caps lock with Windows Key - DIP 2 swaps Right CTRL key with ' and tilde ~ - DIP 3 makes Left Windows key Left FN key (no Windows key, two function keys) - DIP 4 locks programming

PBT
PBT (short for "polybutylene terephthalate") is one of the hardest, most durable materials for keycaps. It is more resilient against heat and chemicals than ABS, but its properties also makes it more difficult to mould, which makes it more uncommon.

Legends on PBT keys are often laser-etched or dye-sublimated but only very rarely double shot moulded. Because of shrinkage during demoulding, PBT is also rarely used for the largest key, the space bar, with a notable exception beingCherry.

PBT does not turn yellow from exposure to ultraviolet light, like ABS does. The resilience against heat makes it a good candidate for dyeing in a hot dye bath.

Dimensions: 11.61 x 4.01 x 1.49 in. (29.5 x 10.2 x 3.8 cm.)

Note: I got the dimensions and The dip switch info from Rhinofeed, please check his review out and his youtube video. It is awesome and way better than my review.

Source: Rhino feed - https://rhinofeed.com/poker-ii-review/

Keycap info: http://deskthority.net/wiki/Keycap_construction

ADFX_Pixy · February 14, 2015

This is a nice and well written review. Except under the "cons" section you wrote, "Can be expensive to customize..." That shouldn't be a con for the Poker II specifically since you can do the same to the majority of other mechanical keyboards. Plus, that's what makes mechanical keyboards fun. The almost endless expandability of them.