Ducky Shine 3 (YOTS) vs WASD V2?

[geogga]

hi guys, so i was recently looking for mec keyboards and really like the Ducky Shine 3 YOTS . A double bonus is the nice look of the alluminum from the YOTS, which provides rigidity and heaviness along with White LEDs, i hate red/blue/green LEDs. however I love WASD's customization and I think that the backlight options from the Ducky shine is a bit toooooo overkill for me and that I just love blank keyboards. BTW both keyboards in blue switches if asking.

1. Now do all mechanical keyboards feel the same with I.E a blue switch?

2. Or does one have like different key sizes/height and covering of the key caps? 

3. Is paying $150 for all blank mech keyboard too much?

4. Does the WASD V2's plasic casing make it feel cheap?

5. Are they more/less reliable than Ducky's?     just recently read a thread on Oct 9 about someone having repeated typing and problems with registering the actual key press. Searched for Ducky problems, none.

 

 

For keycaps, does anyone know where I can get key caps like these but with less guns? I play BF4 and really the only ones I want are the normal m16 rifle KC, Pistol KC, Knife KC, and grenade KC.

Checked Max keyboards

I know this is a lot, because I overthink stuff, hate returning, and want my best buy. Thanks.

[abusedduck]

To answer your questions in short:

 

Yes/no. The keyswitches are the same; so in theory, the typing experience should be the same. But the stabilizers on the longer keys (shift, space, etc), may differ.

Exact keyboard layouts differ from brand to brand. Things like key spacing, height, indention, etc., can all be different.

Nope.

ABS plastic is the "cheaper" feeling plastic. PBT keycaps definitely feel more premium.

I don't have experience with WASD keyboards, so I can't comment; I've just felt they were a more "modders" keyboard.

 

Edit: My Ducky YotS w/ MX blues will be here tomorrow. I'll report back here with my findings.

[geogga]

thank you for the easy and simple answers+fast response

 

So the ducky uses ABS, WASD full set key caps(104) is $40 and is PST. So in case I don't like the feel(which I probably will not care about), ill probably get that or maybe buy just 1 key and test it out. 

If I were, I have a bad feeling some keys wouldn't fit and I would have to return it all the way to taiwan(damn international shipping).

Other positivethought was that I want to see how a blank key would look under the 100% Full LED light up mode, which could look quite stunning if bright enough (heard that Duckys were already too bright)

P.S did you get it from mechanical keyboards or tiger direct? BC i live in NY, and b4 I found the two websites I was thinking about getting a UK Shine 3 YOTS but not anymore!

Everyday I'm checking the stock to make sure I will be able to get it by my birthday ( December)

 

PSS DONT FORGET TO UPDATE ME!

[Zeal]

Ducky uses Cherry stabilizers while WASD uses Costar ones.

Each have their own individual feel. Many say that the cherry ones are a bit "mushy" as they never completely bottom out, but at the same time, Costar stabilizers sometimes ping when there's insufficient lube.

 

Both have their Pros and Cons, such as Cherry stabilizers being easier to swap longer keycaps (since you just pop it off) while with Costar stabs, you'll have to be careful not to bend the metal bar when removing shift/spacebar etc.

[geogga]

Ducky uses Cherry stabilizers while WASD uses Costar ones.

Each have their own individual feel. Many say that the cherry ones are a bit "mushy" as they never completely bottom out, but at the same time, Costar stabilizers sometimes ping when there's insufficient lube.

Both have their Pros and Cons, such as Cherry stabilizers being easier to swap longer keycaps (since you just pop it off) while with Costar stabs, you'll have to be careful not to bend the metal bar when removing shift/spacebar etc.

The only experience I have with mech keyboards is with my cousin's Razer blackwidow ultimate(2013)with blue switches. Is the stabilizer in that keyboard Costar or Cherry?

Edit: I was researching and it seems that on the longer keycaps, Razer uses costar, for a more uniform press(probably because your pinkie is weaker lol?)

So does that mean all the other normal keys are cherry stabilizers? If so, then I think I'll still get the Ducky because I loved how the Black Widow feltI'll also wait for abusedduck for his update.

[TheMuskr]

Ducky uses Cherry stabilizers while WASD uses Costar ones.

Each have their own individual feel. Many say that the cherry ones are a bit "mushy" as they never completely bottom out, but at the same time, Costar stabilizers sometimes ping when there's insufficient lube.

 

Both have their Pros and Cons, such as Cherry stabilizers being easier to swap longer keycaps (since you just pop it off) while with Costar stabs, you'll have to be careful not to bend the metal bar when removing shift/spacebar etci 

I have a shine three and a quick fire rapid, so I have used both costar and cherry stabilizers. The cherry stabilizers are different and take some getting used to coming from costar, but it isn't different in a bad way. There also is a mod that you can do to to make the cherry's bottom out. 

 

%100 get the YOTS

[geogga]

Yea, I read that that mod requires some soldering, which I don't want to perform.

So does the black widow have Costars only on the long keys and cherry on the short ones? Can anyone confirm that?

Edit: wow! Forgot to check the polls, and 10 people voted for the the ducky shine! So I'm looking more inclined to get it. I wonder how it would look with blanks and maxed out brightness settings.

[Zeal]

Yea, I read that that mod requires some soldering, which I don't want to perform.

So does the black widow have Costars only on the long keys and cherry on the short ones? Can anyone confirm that?

Edit: wow! Forgot to check the polls, and 10 people voted for the the ducky shine! So I'm looking more inclined to get it. I wonder how it would look with blanks and maxed out brightness settings.

Hi, sorry for the late response.

 

Each 1x1 (regular keys) just use a single cherry switch. Stabilizers are only used for longer keys such as: Left shift, Space bar, Right shift, Enter, Backspace, Numpad Enter, Numpad Plus and Numpad 0.

 

The type of keycaps (and colour) you swap out will also affect the look of the blanks. If you opt for thick PBT, you'll just be able to see a slight white hue around the keys. If you get regular thin PBT from Ducky, the LED will light up a small circle in the key depending on how bright you set it to. If you go with ABS, you'll see a brighter, little circle around the LED that will shine through your keycap.

 

One other thing to note: Most Every single aftermarket thick PBT replacement keycaps only come in 104 set. You'll have to source 4 extra R4 keys for your multimedia keys at the top right of your YOTS.

[geogga]

Ahhhh awesome clarification! So I think I will go with the ducky, as those stabilizers are not a deal breaker? the only main long buttons I will use is shift and jump. Soooo as long as everything feels like an upgrade from my crappy hp keyboard I'm fine.

P.s. I just discovered Clack's cool skull keycaps, and now I want novelty key caps. Do you know websites other than Qwerkeys, max keyboards, wasd keyboards, keycaps direct and pimp my keyboard?

[Zeal]

Ahhhh awesome clarification! So I think I will go with the ducky, as those stabilizers are not a deal breaker? the only main long buttons I will use is shift and jump. Soooo as long as everything feels like an upgrade from my crappy hp keyboard I'm fine.

P.s. I just discovered Clack's cool skull keycaps, and now I want novelty key caps. Do you know websites other than Qwerkeys, max keyboards, wasd keyboards, keycaps direct and pimp my keyboard?

Just edited my post above with some more details.

 

Good luck getting Clack's skull keycaps. In order to purchase one off of him for $20-30, you'll have to enter a draw for a chance to buy it. Each one is handmade, and he only makes an unknown limited amount so they don't lose the "novelty" value. Most people that win on Geekhack either keep it or trade it for another colour one. The most recent Night Owl clack had numerous buyers willing to pay $150+ for it, 1 day after the confirmation e-mails were sent out to the winners.

 

There was even a guy that offered $350-400 for a topre clack.

[abusedduck]

YotS is here! And an amazing keyboard to type on, at that. Typical Ducky quality all housed in a fantastic aluminum chassis.

 

Go with the Ducky.

 

Edit: For the special keycaps, https://www.facebook.com/SomefengGeeky

Edit2: Pictures! 

http://i.imgur.com/PsEt0EC.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/MkoybYx.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/okR9ebY.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/7XRpo7l.jpg

[geogga]

Just edited my post above with some more details.

 

Good luck getting Clack's skull keycaps. In order to purchase one off of him for $20-30, you'll have to enter a draw for a chance to buy it. Each one is handmade, and he only makes an unknown limited amount so they don't lose the "novelty" value. Most people that win on Geekhack either keep it or trade it for another colour one. The most recent Night Owl clack had numerous buyers willing to pay $150+ for it, 1 day after the confirmation e-mails were sent out to the winners.

 

There was even a guy that offered $350-400 for a topre clack.

 

I was reading on geekhack, and people were blowing $200!!!!! on one skull. gosh I wish I got into PCs years ago

 

 

YotS is here! And an amazing keyboard to type on, at that. Typical Ducky quality all housed in a fantastic aluminum chassis.

 

Go with the Ducky.

 

Edit: For the special keycaps, https://www.facebook.com/SomefengGeeky

Edit2: Pictures! 

http://i.imgur.com/PsEt0EC.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/MkoybYx.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/okR9ebY.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/7XRpo7l.jpg

 Beautiful. and 500/999 is quite the nice number imo.

Have you tried replacing a normal letter key with a blank and seeing the lighting effects on max? Because I might do that for all the keys that I don't use during gaming. If you don't have spare blank keys that's fine.

Also, do you like that space bar? I'm thinking about switching it with the other one they include, but afraid i might screw up the stabilizer or something.

[Zeal]

I swapped out my YOTS with a nice, smooth black annodized aluminum space bar. Have a look!

 

Cherry profile spacebar, so that's why it's a bit lower than the regular OEM sized ones. But lots of people love how a reversed cherry profile space bar feels when typing and gaming, and I'll have to agree with them

 

Going to swap out all my YOTS keys with red on white thick PBT though. So I'll probably use that aluminum space bar at home on my other Ducky.

 

My extra space bar got crushed in transit...getting a free replacement sent to me right now though!

 

And nice number @abusedduck! 500/999...Pretty lucky. I wanted either a 1-10, any double/triple numbers or 999

[geogga]

Very nice, but how does it look with a letter key cap switched with a blank one? That anodized space bar looks so smooth.

[Zeal]

Very nice, but how does it look with a letter key cap switched with a blank one? That anodized space bar looks so smooth.

Do you plan to go White or Black blanks? White will have a little circular glow while black will cover the glow completely and only show the bottom hue.

[geogga]

Do you plan to go White or Black blanks? White will have a little circular glow while black will cover the glow completely and only show the bottom hue.

Black blanks. I kinda want that background glow like what you described, and since I heard that ducky LEDs are already bright, that will help even more.

What do you mean circular glow?

Edit: Whoops! Idk how I missed that great description of the type of keycaps and the backlighting effect.

Edit 2: hmm it seems that there are no thick PBT blank black key sets... And the normal PBT blank black key set from ducky is sold out from tiger and mechanicalkeyboards

This is unfortunate. I'm looked over everywhere and every kind of black PBT blank keyset is sold out

[Zeal]

Black blanks. I kinda want that background glow like what you described, and since I heard that ducky LEDs are already bright, that will help even more.

What do you mean circular glow?

Stock THIN Ducky white PBT caps.:

Here's a Ducky Shine 2 with Rainbow Jelly POM keycaps:

IMSTO THICK PBT: No glow shows, only a hue around the keys.

http://geekhack.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=44203.0;attach=29836;image

Finally found a pic with black PBT.

Thin Ducky PBT:

[geogga]

Stock THIN Ducky white PBT caps.:Here's a Ducky Shine 2 with Rainbow Jelly POM keycaps:IMSTO THICK PBT: No glow shows, only a hue around the keys.http://geekhack.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=44203.0;attach=29836;imageFinally found a pic with black PBT.Thin Ducky PBT:

Wait holy fking smokes that last pic is exactly what I wanted. Do you know where I can get it?

*spazzing out rn*

[Zeal]

Any black keycap will do it.

Ducky used to sell those side printed caps, but I don't know if they still do. I think it was only sold as a 87-key set too.

I'd recommend you find a set of black thick POM / PBT caps though. The feel and quality outweighs ABS hands down. As for where you can find them, I'm not sure if there's many Black blank PBT. You can probably PM IMSTO at GH to see if he has a set. I know he's got White Cherry profile one. Or you can join that GB that's happening right now. It's a 104 set of thick POM caps.

[geogga]

I found the blank pbt ducky 104 keycap set, and well unfortunately its sold out everywhere. I will keep searching tho. thanks for everything fella, understand so much things for keyboads now

[Zeal]

I see you've updated your OP.

 

1. Now do all mechanical keyboards feel the same with I.E a blue switch?

A: No. Some Korean custom/Chinese mechanical keyboards use PCB mounted swithes, while other "off-the-shelf" brand ones you see in stores/online are usually plate mounted. PCB mounted ones are usually said to feel a tad mushier since there's no plate supported each switch. However, PCB mounted switches don't require the user to desolder switches to lube/sticker/customize the springs inside, making it easier to mod your keyboard.

2. Or does one have like different key sizes/height and covering of the key caps? 

A: Different plastics(ABS, POM, PBT)/Materials (Aluminum, Zinc, Titanium) and thickness make for a different typing experience. There's also Cherry, OEM, DCS etc profile keycaps that have different heights and shapes to the keycaps. Thinner plastics usually make a "clack" when bottoming out while thicker ones make a deeper sounding "cluck".

3. Is paying $150 for all blank mech keyboard too much?

A: Once you start modding your keyboard, you'll find yourself spending more than just the base price of your keyboard. You may even end up with many types of keyboards Thick Blank PBT caps can cost from $50~70 depending on time of purchase/Group buys/Directly from Ebay etc.

4. Does the WASD V2's plastic casing make it feel cheap?

A: Can't speak for WASD as I don't have one of their keyboards, but it seems like you've already decided on the YOTS.

5. Are they more/less reliable than Ducky's?     just recently read a thread on Oct 9 about someone having repeated typing and problems with registering the actual key press. Searched for Ducky problems, none.

A: Filco, Ducky, CM Quick Fire Rapid, all come to mind when searching for a well made keyboard. The thread you read about repeat delay problems is actually a feature on the DS3/YOTS boards. It's somewhat like a macro for games if you want to spam a single key multiple times to stutter step/spam a casting spell on CD. FN+F1-F4 sets the delay time before the key starts repeating, and FN+F5-F8 sets how fast you want it to repeat. Keep it at default settings when typing/gaming (FN+F1 &FN+F8) and you'll be fine.