Akatsuki Story Chapter Ninety-Five: For only 350 yuan, novices can also customize a handy 100-array mechanical keyboard

Hello everyone, I am Xiaofeiying!

As a digital enthusiast, I also like to explore and explore in many parallel fields to make life a little more fun.

It is said that the mechanical keyboard is a big pit, and customization requires thousands of yuan as the minimum unit. However, as a keyboard that almost everyone will come into contact with, everyone is eager to have a mechanical keyboard that is handy. The sense of ritual, the pleasure of typing! Can novices enjoy the fun of customization at low cost? The answer is yes. Kit DIY may be familiar to those who play with mechanical keyboards. My plan is as simple as possible. It does not require any complicated operations or disassembly of board parts. Any novice can try it.

First of all, you must have a mechanical keyboard. When 618 was warming up last year, the RK100 keyboard was very popular. The price was less than 200 yuan. It supports wired, Bluetooth, and wireless 2.4G connections, and it supports all keycaps and switches. Hot-swappable, 100 configurations are neatly stuffed in, the appearance is not bad, it supports white backlight, plus the battery life is very long, USB-C port charging, this configuration at this price reminds me The 1999 yuan Xiaomi mobile phone was really capable of playing. Thinking that I might DIY it in the future, I bought it without hesitation.

However, the shortcomings of this keyboard are also obvious. The ABS keycaps are easy to oil, and the red switch is not clear which one it is.

A week later, I bought a set of Mario PBT keycaps for 60 yuan and replaced them. It was a bit retro, but it is true that the keycaps are almost rotten on the street, and everyone has them. However, there is actually no difference in the feel, and the shaft body has not been changed. The price of this DIY is not included in the content to be expressed in this article. The real change will be a year later.

This RK100 keyboard has been used for a long time, and there are almost no problems. It may be due to aesthetic fatigue. I suddenly found this Akko MDA keycap on the Internet. The pre-sale price of 227 pieces is 99 yuan.

If you just change the keycap once, I feel sorry for the switch body, but I don’t want to invest too much. After searching, I found a new switch body just released, LEOBOG gray wood switch V3, 68 yuan 100 pieces, in PDD I searched for a coupon of 53 yuan to start with. This cost is estimated to be a big improvement, so after a few days, I will replace it together and try it out.

This gray wood switch can be seen from the name as the third edition. I saw many people on the Internet saying that they bought the gray wood switch V2 and were backstabbed before it was opened. If you want to buy it now, only V3 is recommended, because it is out of the factory. It comes with a lubricating oil version, and the official said it is thick and moist.

The so-called lubricating shaft means that after disassembling the shaft body, take the shaft body lubricant by yourself, and use a brush to brush both ends of the shrapnel and spring, which can eliminate a lot of noise and improve the feel. Purchasing is more troublesome. That's why I said that after the gray wood shaft V3 is thickened, it should save a lot of worry, and the price is still the same.

First of all, the first step must be to count the number, right? The seller is really honest. If you buy 100 pieces, you will only send 100 pieces. After reading the comments, some people even sent 3 more pieces...

The name of the shaft body is usually colored. The base of the gray wooden shaft is also gray, with a little light transmission. The cross part has a fence structure, which is estimated to be a little more stable.

Interestingly, everyone said that Akko’s keyboard may not be good, but the keycaps are very well made, which can be regarded as a curve to save the country, and everyone said that the height of MDA is very good and ergonomic, so you must try it try it.

Compared with the plastic bucket packaging with ash wood shaft, Akko's packaging is gorgeous, with plastic cover, sponge pad, and film covering protection.

A total of three layers of keyboards are placed in the small box, as well as a key puller. I chose the Olivia color scheme. In fact, the panda color is also good, but this light pink always seems to be secretly attracting strong men. This classic color scheme should not be overturned.

Akko's keycaps have many interesting patterns, basically on the pink keycaps. You can see that the heights vary, corresponding to different rows of the keyboard, and the edges have a little curvature, so it looks like a spherical keycap.

The serious symbols are basically on the white keycaps, which are also the letter area, and the black is responsible for the function key area.

Turn over the back and look at the bottom of the three colors. The bottom of the pink and white is black, and the font corresponding to the front is black. The bottom of the black keycap is pink, and the font is also pink. It looks better than black and white. Black Pink you ~ Deng Ziqi must like this color.

The shaft and keycaps are almost out of the box. The sum of the two is only 150 yuan. Including the previous 200 yuan RK100 mechanical keyboard, the total is only 350 yuan. It feels that there is a certain pursuit. The most common mechanical keyboard Alright, pose for a photo.

The customization is officially started now. In order to improve efficiency, the keycaps to be replaced are generally arranged according to the original arrangement and faked. Because there is no recommendation on the official website, only the default black and white area, I want to add some pink buttons. With the suggestion of the company designer, I DIY the color combination above. It looks quite pleasing to the eye, pink cartoon There are mostly patterns, so only put them on the keys that can be operated blindly, and only do a little embellishment to avoid too much pink from looking too girly.

Then I started to use a key puller to pull out the keycaps. A lot of dirt has accumulated over the year, and I will clean it up with a lens brush later. You can see that the original red switch of the RK100 does not have a fence structure.

At the beginning, I only removed a small part of the red switch, and I plan to replace half of the new switch body and new keycaps, so that the difference in feel will be more obvious when tested with both hands.

Compared with the removed red switch and the gray wooden switch, I will not disassemble the structure inside. It can be seen from the surface that the gray wooden switch has a fence to fix the keycap so that it does not shake, and the workmanship is better than the red switch, but the red switch seems to be more transparent. One point, both are triangular structures.

The replacement of the shaft body of RK100 is also relatively simple. Note that when you buy the ash wood shaft V3, you will get a shaft puller as a gift. Needles and five-pin pins.

The ash wood switch V3 can be pushed up directly by hand. Although it is boring to pull out the switch, it is really a pleasure to press the switch up. The faster you press, the faster you feel.

Then press the Akko MDA keycaps onto the ash wood switch V3 one by one, and the damping is just right.

At this time, you can see that there is still a big difference in the keycaps at the border. Let alone the color preference, the overall workmanship of the Akko MDA PBT keycaps is indeed much better than that of Mario keycaps. You can see the first The rows are almost the same, with a radian in the middle, and they are all shorter than the latter.

And at this time, when I shake the keycap, I can find the obvious difference. The red switch has no fence, and the Mario keycap is actually relatively loose, so the keys will have noise, which is a bit awkward. The fence structure of the gray wood switch V3 can firmly fix the MDA keycaps, and it is easier to press down. I tried it for a colleague, typing with both hands together, and I can feel the obvious difference at once. The red switch is a little quieter and softer. The gray wood switch V3 is matched with the MDA keycap. The rebound is very handy, and there is a crisp mahjong sound, and After moistening the shaft, the noise has indeed become smaller.

I didn't let him play for a while, I immediately snatched it back, and quickly replaced the remaining shafts and keycaps.

When I removed the switch, I thought it was a bit stained. If you look carefully, the satellite switch of RK100 actually has a smooth switch. I feel that the keyboard of RK100 is quite conscientious.

Installed the rest of the ash wood switch V3 at one time, and it was very cool to press, and I recalled the feeling of fighting Gundam again, and my thumb didn't hurt.

Install all the Akko MDA PBT keycaps in one go, just like the golden cicada shelling, the Mario keycaps were neatly replaced.

In fact, the color and design of the Mario keycaps are also very good-looking, but after looking at them for a long time, I feel that the new unique Olivia color is more attractive and more advanced.

There is no place to put the Mario keycaps, just sleep in the same room as the Akko MDA PBT keycaps.

Looking back and continuing to admire the newly installed keyboard, ESC chose the bullish one.

The arrow keys can be operated blindly, four cute little animal icons, and an owl is also selected for the Enter number key.

After searching for the delete key for a long time, there is no animal pattern, so I can only choose English honestly.

Just before dismantling, I took a picture of the side, and compared the curvature of the Mario keycap with the curvature of the MDA keycap. It can be clearly seen that the Mario keycap also has an ergonomic design, but there is a difference in height, while the MDA keycap’s Spherical design, the surface of the entire key is as complete as an arc, making typing for a long time very comfortable.

It feels like I have changed to a new keyboard, the appearance is very high, and it is completely new from the inside to the outside. In fact, this RK100 can also remove the PCB bottom plate and add mute cotton, but it is not a gasekt structure, and it is not realistic to pursue the ultimate silence, and the cost is a bit uneconomical. And to be friendly to novices, it will become troublesome to think about removing the board and changing the cotton by yourself.

This time, only by changing the keycap and the switch body, the cost of 150 yuan was exchanged for a qualitative improvement. The ash wood switch V3 has a slight mahjong sound when typing, and 0.55 yuan/piece is definitely not comparable to 3-4 yuan/piece. Compared with the static shaft and the like, it is absolutely worthwhile at this price point. The Akko MDA keycap feels much more comfortable than before, and the hand is not tired. It is a kind of enjoyment to code for a long time. The RK100 keyboard, which cost less than 200 yuan a year ago, provided a very good foundation.

Friends who are still watching mechanical keyboards, if you don’t want to spend too much money and want to have a good feel experience, you can try my combination.