IKBC C104: Short Review

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Just bought a mechanical keyboard, after a few years of yearning. Actually, I wanted to buy a product from Ducky, but after a few glances from a few forums, I decided to buy from IKBC. Then, after some considerations, I chose IKBC C104 with blue switches. Another product which I considered to buy was C87, but the distributor said they have no such thing in their stock or something, so yeah, C104 it is.

My Considerations

Here are my considerations when I decided to buy this keyboard:

• Availability in Indonesia. I don't want to wait for a few weeks when I can get it in a few days (or even in the same day)
• Price. It's my first mech. keyboard. I don't want to waste a lot of money in case of I don't really like this kind of keyboard.
• Switch. Based on a week or so research, I felt that Cherry MX Blue is the right choice for me. Even I considered to look for the green ones because I think a 50 grams of force won't feel anything for me.

What I receive

Because I bought the thing at Saturday, I received it today, Monday. When I received it, it was pretty heavy for a keyboard. What I get:

• The keyboard, of course.

  And a cig packet for the scale.

• 4 red keycaps.

• 4 blue keycaps.

• Keycaps puller. What do you call it, by the way?

• Cover.

Keyboard

Let's start the review:

Chord

As seen in the online reviews, the chord isn't detachable. I, personally, am not bothered by it. And the chord itself is pretty thick for me. So, I don't pay it too much attention.

Form and Build

It is heavy keyboard, if I may say, approximately 1.5 kilograms. I can surely say that I feel safe when I sleep near this keyboard. I'm sure that the majority population won't leave unschated when I head their head with this sturdy keyboard. You know, better safe than be sorry, right? Not to mention that this keyboard stays where it is when my hand suddenly become uncontrollable and move it a bit rough.

Keycaps

I don't know, man. I feel the keycaps don't rest firmly on their switches. When I touch them and then move them left and right, I can feel that the keycaps also move. What I had expected when I did that was, the keycaps shouldn't move. And to be quite honest, I feel a bit disappointed by it. Another thing, the keycaps themselves have different slope level. I mean, QWERTY row is steeper than ASDF. It means I couldn't rearrange they keycaps into Dvorak layout while maintaining their uniformity.

Also, I can certainly feel that the space bar a bit unbalanced. Because of my habbit, I press them a bit on the right side.

Switches

It's blue switch, and actually I expected them to be more "tactile". Based on the internet forums, I read that the switch needs a bit force to be actuated. That made my expectations a bit high.

I can certainly feel that there are a few keys that don't have the same actuation force. Or perhaps I don't press them correctly, I don't know.

There are a few keys that don't feel so good. Example given, the tilde key ~, BKSPACE, , CAPSLOCK, ;, and w in QWERTY layout. Especially CAPSLOCK key, because of I use ESC frequently, I swapped ESC with CAPSLOCK. And the result is pretty disappointing.

Other Things

• LED. Oh goose. It's so bright. I decided to cover them with paper with black marker.
• Linux Support. I use linux for my daily computation and the kernel recognise it without any problem. Great!
• Sound. Decided to test it in my office. I regreted the decision. It was too loud and I was afraid that my co-workers would be annoyed by the sound of it.

Opinions

Good

• Nice build.

Bad

• LED. Too bright.

Ugly

• Weird switches and keys placement. I know, it's my first keyboard. But I can say surely that the keys aren't that placed really well.

Temporary Conclusions

• It is a sturdy and heavy keyboard.
• It is a loud keyboard.
• I'm not really used to it yet. Especially about actuating and pressing the keys.

Do I happy with this keyboard? I can't say that I'm not happy. But I can't really say that I'm really happy with it. Do I happy with this purchase? Well, what's done is done. Do I happy with my life? Do I need happiness?

Anyway, I will update this review in a few months. Perhaps in this article or perhaps write a new one.

Update on 2018-06-30

My right Ctrl key is malfunctioning. Unlike the rest of the keys, whenever I press that button, it won't click. I can't really explain it but one thing for sure, that button sucks.

The rest of the experience? Shit is really good, man! And whenever I use keyboard on the server, which is a normal rubberdome, I don't exactly feel comfortable. Especially the I don't have the tactile response from the keyboard. Just a minor complaint, the tactile response from this keyboard is not "strong" enough for me. All in all, it's really nice.

That's it! I am planning to buy another mech. keyboard. Preferably the one with green switch!