This AWFUL Typewriter Keyboard Raised $350K
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2019-05-06
·
1,797 words · ~8 min read
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So, it used to be that if you wanted a retrostyled like uh typewritery
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keyboard, the only real options were to
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convert an old typewriter, which we have
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done, or buy custom key caps and replace
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all the ones on your current keyboard. But now, there are actually a fair
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number of offtheshelf options for these typewritery keyboards. So, let's try
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some of them out today, shall we?
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So, we actually don't quite have as many options today as it might at first
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appear because some of them are just different variants of the retro classic
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from Azio. So, they've got the Artisan,
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the Posh, the Onyx, and the Lwood. And
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the first thing that comes to mind for me looking at this is, are there really
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so many people out there that are looking for these style of keyboards
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that they need four different colors? So, let's go ahead and get these
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unpacked. Cable feels nice. So, they Ooh, how to impress Lionus. That is a
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type-C connector, which I actually found out recently is only a cost difference
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of about 15 over a highquality microB
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connector, but for some reason, many new products still haven't switched over to
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it. Couple other things back here. So, there's Bluetooth mode, there's USB
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mode, and you can switch between Mac and PC. All right. Well, part of the video
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today is definitely going to be rolling
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through all the different color options here because if you're the kind of
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person who buys a stylish keyboard, then
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surely you do care about the color scheme a fair whack. So, not only can
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you switch between Apple and Windows
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mode, they've actually included a bunch of
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additional key caps. This must be the Mac version of the F keys. All right,
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now let's have a look at what the Artisan has to show for itself. This is actually
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a perfect example of a company leveraging what little tooling work
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they've done to uh turn that into as
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many models as possible. So, you can actually see here that the Artisan is
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just a cross between the Onyx and the Posh. So, it's got exactly the same kind
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of rose gold metal accents and then it's
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just using the uh faux leather backing
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and then the matte black uh infill for the key caps. Bringing us finally to the
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Lwood, which is different from every other
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model that we have in pretty much every way actually. So, for one, this thing h
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this has what appears to be a genuine
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wood backing. Is it really? No way.
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Feels like it. Hey, James.
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James. I think he's out for lunch. That's okay.
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There's another finishing touch on this one, though. That's pretty cool. So, you
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actually have the ability if you want to
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replace the plate here. So, you can undo
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the screws. And I wonder if you could flip it around and engrave it yourself.
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Either way, they sent a custom one with their impressive established 2009 retro
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classic. And check that out. They silk
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screen line as media on there. That's That's cute. I I mean, my last name's
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Sebastian, not media, but you know, hey, A+ forever.
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All right, these are really freaking heavy
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keyboards. How much are these things? These are not cheap. I think they're
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going to have to do a lot more than look cool, but let's get to that in a minute.
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First, let's have a look at the
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Challenger. This is the No.
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So, is that like the opposite of okay? Like
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the This is the No K Rych with blue
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switch, gorgeous light effect, retro style, and Bluetooth/wire
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dual mode. Now, the packaging isn't as good. I don't know what the deal is with
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this like gradient brown. Whenever I
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find tape on packaging, I have to know what's under it. Oh well, that's fine.
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If Cher's OEMing your keyboard, that's not embarrassing.
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Maybe some of our clever Chinese viewers can give me some idea of what that's
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about. Without the tape on it, I actually would have had a lot more
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confidence going into Okay, this is
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looking not too bad to start. So, they've got a little aluminum
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something. They've got a little other
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more different aluminum. Oh, this is like your uh like your stopper thing for
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the Yeah. Okay. That's not going to have much of a function on a keyboard, but
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might look kind of neat. And then we've got the keyboard itself.
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I will say this, the uh
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the the feel of the plastics here
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doesn't hold a candle to the retro classic.
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Oh, I was going to say though, what's good is that they've got these
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reinforcing ridges here so that when you slide them into the slot, you can't put
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strain on the can. And they don't do anything.
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They just borrowed someone else's tooling for the USB connector. Wait,
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there's two. Why does it have two?
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So, this seems to go in here.
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Oops. Okay. Does this come off? It's like a
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little handle here, but it doesn't seem to come off. And don't even get after me
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about Padk because there's no manual. Does it go in this way?
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And it what? It just sits there.
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No,
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that's it. That's the whole mechanism. Why do they even have these holes on it?
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Okay.
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That too. It doesn't secure in any way. It just sits there.
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Oh, Indiegogo. Did they Did this thing Is this thing even Holy crap. This thing
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raised $360,000.
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What the It's almost $200. This costs
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almost as much as the Azio one. You retro keyboard people. Not only are
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there more of you than I thought, you guys are You guys are nuts. How many
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switches are these? They're covered by the back plane here. I can't tell what
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they are. Also, these lighting effects are really annoying. There we go. Now
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they're breathing. Now they're just scattered around. Now they're breathing.
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Well, they're not cherry. You know how I know that? You hear how different the
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sound is between those two?
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Okay. So, what the big Oh, you have got
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to be kidding me.
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So, there's a pad. Look. So, there's a
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little rubberized pad here presumably to keep whatever you put on there safe,
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but it doesn't touch it.
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It just sits on.
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Okay, I guess we'll use a phone. So, I guess this is part of its jam is you can
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be sitting at your computer and you can
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have your phone.
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I mean, it says it has Bluetooth, but how do you even
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You know what? Forget it for now. How great it's Bluetooth is is not important
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unless it's actually decent for typing. So, let's find ourselves a typing test.
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Holy crap, that does not bode well. Look
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at the wobble on these key caps. I'm barely touching them.
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You know what? Let's start with a baseline. So, this is a Razer Black
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Widow something or other with uh their orange switches, which are
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basically Chinese clones of Cherry MX Browns.
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Okay. 73 adjusted words per minute. Now, it
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should be borne in mind that these ones get every advantage now because I'm more
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familiar with the text.
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Oh boy. Ah, I can't get momentum.
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Is that the same score? Yeah.
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Dang. I'm consistent. Let's try one more
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time.
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Okay, this one is more representative of probably what I can do, but we're going
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to go back to the razor in a moment. Critiques of this guy. These key caps
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are wobbly. The shape of them is absolutely
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awful. Pardon my French, because it's very easy to accidentally mash two keys
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at a time. This one, on the other hand, actually not a terrible amount of
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wobble. a little bit more than I'd like, but the spacing between the keys means I
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wasn't accidentally hitting multiple keys at once. But I did have a hard time
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registering keystrokes from time to time because the switches they're using,
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which I'm actually not sure what they are. Uh, we'll have to find that out.
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But the switches they're using are a little bit on the heavy side for me.
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Okay, so they're kale, some kind of kale blues. Let's go back to the first
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keyboard.
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All right, 97. Actually, let's try out
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the Bluetooth functionality first. So, I just flipped this over to Bluetooth
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mode, and what I'm hoping is it's going to be significantly simpler to pair.
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Okay, I'm holding function, and it starts flashing. That's weird. There we
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go. That's intuitive. So, function and the Bluetooth key.
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Has it come up?
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Okay. It's kind of a drag though that uh the
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switch is located in such an inconvenient spot. What's cool though is
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apparently it has a 6,000 mAh battery,
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so you can continue to use it in Bluetooth mode
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even when it's not plugged in.
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So, it's wireless, too.
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and back lit. Not bad. That helps a lot
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with the cost. Now, this guy, on the other hand,
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not impressed. So, I wouldn't go as far as to say that either of these is a
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replacement for a more standard keyboard for me. But I was surprised and
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impressed by how close I was able to get on the Azio Retro Classic, especially in
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light of how apparently
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desperate the keyboard community is to
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get their hands on some kind of retrostyled keyboard because this is how
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much this product managed to raise on
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Indiegogo. So, I'm not strongly recommending
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either, but I will say that if you need to buy one, I would definitely go with
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this one. So, thanks for watching, guys. If you
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disliked this video, then uh maybe you work for uh what's their company called
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again. Maybe you work for UK. But if you uh did like this video, oh, right, you
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