The price of the Asus ROG Azorth is RM1070.

I do. I have 2 at my workplace.
Why you ask? Planning in using at your workplace or currently using?

Mechanical keyboard typically do not need any additional compared to a membrane keyboard. It is some are into the hobby and likes tinkering with it to get that feel or sound.

What keyboard size you are looking at and what is the budget?

You can look at Tecware or the royal kludge keyboards which are quite good for the price.
I concur that you go and type on some physical keyboards around your place to get a feel of the keys.

Which Keychron did you picked up?

I just replaced my switches from the Vertex V1 to the Gazzew U4 silent. My colleague asked me, are you typing or not? lolx

Without any tuning, it is already very quite and it is totally silent against the background noise at my workplace.
Those typing habits will change over time I guess. Currently I'm typing quite hard.

BTW, my GMK 80082 and JTK 9009 keycaps has arrived from zfrontier. Looking forward to test it out in one of my boards later.
The finishing is just different comparing the GMK, JTK and Keykobo WOB that I got previously.

Now I'm still waiting for the Frog TKL from Geon to clear custom. The shipment is currently on-hold and customs is doing a physical inspection. Hope they don't damage the board(pray hard).
Will try out the trimmer to see how it works.

My Gazzew U4 silent I got it from taobao. But I consider them to be more expensive compared to other silent switches that are recommended by members here.
I just liked the feel of it and bought it during the taobao sales.

I guess it all depends on how much time and effort you are able to put into it at a certain moment. Like currently I'm playing around lubing the leafs of the JWK T1 and it really eliminated the leaf ping while keeping a significant portion of the tactility. I did not need to lube the legs on the stems to achieve it.
2 item that I would like to ask based on your experience:

1. Do you lube the pole of the stem? It seems some are suggesting that we lube the stems lightly, and others are saying to totally avoid lubing those as it would create something like a vacuum effect with the hole on the bottom housing.
2. I'm lubing the springs individually, is it fine to lube only the end that is contacting the bottom housing with 205g0?

Did you do the o-ring mod? If you are comfortable with the current linears, it is totally fine to keep it this way.

Gazzew U4 series are also manufactured by outemu

lol. those macbook keyboards must be suit to your typing style? lol
Do you like the O-ring typing feel?

I have to agree on the GMK.
I compare it to the JTK and the YMDK keycap. I installed it to my Emogogo tactiles switches and the GMK is nice and tight across all the keys.
But for the JTK, there are some keys that are slightly loose and slightly tight. Like for the enter key, I had to change to a diff color to make it fit nicely, the green color was too loose and needed to get the grey one to use. Using the JTK 9009 set. Think I will skip JTK in the future.
For YMDK is was very tight and I had to use the trimmer to trim down the keycap stem hole to make it fit nicely. lolx

This post has been edited by zzzz52: Jul 10 2023, 01:37 PM

I have just installed the keykobo Keycaps and the consistency is better vs JTK. Below is just some photos showing the keycaps tested on the Frog TKL:
1. GMK
2. JTK
3. Keykobo

I'm not sure how to describe it.
The M3 is finicky as no matter how I tune the stabs, it somehow will have some issue such as slight ticking, stuck when returning. I just think that the PCB + plate combo when it is secure into the case, there is a slight warping.
Maybe I just received a lemon.

Comparing both, without any foam build, the Frog sound is just "tight" compared to the M3. There are also chamfered edges of the Frog that made holding or picking it up more comfortable.

I think the word can be used is refined. The Frog just seems to be more refined, from the fittings, sound, finishing, machining.

But as the Frog is like 3 to 4 times more expensive vs the M3, it is just not a fair comparison. lolx.

Is this typical how the comparison is between a "premium" vs a "more budget" board, even though both are of metal casing?


On a side note, the hype for mechanical keyboards seems to have waned somewhat recently. It maybe a good thing as we do not need to rush to buy it.

This post has been edited by zzzz52: Jul 11 2023, 04:25 PM

Very true that during covid, it was a mess with overprice sets that was scalped.
But currently, the situation is different. There are a lot of in stock parts around and there are discount as well from vendors.

Shenpo that I used was good. the fitting did not have any issue for me.

What 60% or 65% case option that you are using or recommend?

I also had the Tecware Phantom full size KB with Outemo compatible hotswap. It was the first KB that I removed the brown switches and learn how to lube it together with stabs tuning and EVA foam mods.
I still use it but had to replace the keycaps initially as it as broken at the stem. I also cut the USB cord and installed a USB C connector to the board to enable me to easily switch keyboards on my computer.

Separately, recently I was looking at desoldering tool and was recommended to check out the Japan made Engineer SS02. But it cost >RM100 each. After looking around, I purchase the China clone = Frogbro DP-SS02 at ~RM22 on Lazada.
After some trial and error, it was a easy process using it as the soft silicone tip made a big difference compared to other hard plastic tip type.
My process:
1. Add little leaded solder to the existing solder on the hole
2. Heat the hole for a few seconds and hold the solder tip at the hole
3. cover the hole with the pump while the solder tip remains in contact at the hole and suck up the solder

Typically in one go, I was able to clear the hole. for those rare stubborn hole, I just add back some solder into the hoel and do the process again.

I managed to desolder my RK61 switches in about 1 hour in my first go.
Now to change those RK brown( which are so so wobbling that each press just have switch rattle sound) with my left over Akko Jelly purple and tune those stabs.

-/-

This post has been edited by zzzz52: Jul 13 2023, 06:51 PM