[Preface]

In order to have a deeper understanding of this keyboard, I specifically learned about this brand: Ikbc is a brand owned by Taiwan Waters VortexGear, and also a famous brand in China with fever keyboard. It mainly customizes different special products for different users. IKBC has rich experience and strong creativity in the field of mechanical keyboards. Both keyboards and keycaps bring users a new experience. Ikbc has fully invested in the production and research and development of PBT keycaps since the beginning, and insists on using pure PBT raw materials to make keycaps comfortable and harmless. In 2013 and 2014, the company launched two color PBT keycaps and two color transparent PBT keycaps, making the dreams of countless keyboard players come true. The products launched by iKBC so far, such as Poker, Poker II (Poker Generation 2), Poker III (Poker Generation 3), F-104, C-104, G-104, C-87, G-87 and other mechanical keyboards, are all very breakthrough. Open the official website of ikbc（

In recent years, the mechanical keyboard has gradually begun to recover its former glory, especially the rapid rise of the domestic shaft body, allowing more users to use high-quality and inexpensive mechanical keyboard. However, there are many brands and prices of mechanical keyboards, which makes it more difficult for users to choose. This evaluation brings you IKBC c104 with high cost performance!

Once again, thank Aunt Zhang for this opportunity, Now officially enter the evaluation:

Regarding transport and protection:

As the transportation of the keyboard, of course, it is necessary to protect it. Someone said in my evaluation plan that I don't want to explain more about the evaluation of unpacking and protection. Please look directly at the following figure. The following figure shows the two couriers, the microcomputer and the shoes I received half a month ago. That's it.

The speed of this express delivery is very powerful Excited, he ran to the concierge and picked it up. He was very heavy, waiting for work, and finally went home. Aunt Zhang is very considerate. In addition to the original three-layer corrugated kraft box packaging, the outer layer uses polyethylene composite bubble pad, which effectively avoids the impact and oppression in the transportation process. It is basically no problem to resist the destruction of violent express delivery.

Open the bubble paper to take out the keyboard packaging inside. It is environmentally-friendly and three-layer corrugated paper packaging, which is different from the color shell packaging of the same brand ikbc G-104. There is no other content on the front and back of the carton except the manufacturer and model. The stickers showing the specific color, axis and barcode are on the right side of both ends of the carton. Here I received the evaluation keyboard is green axis. As it happens, I like the feel and sound of Green Axes best. My other keyboards are also Green Axes (Cherry and Kaihua). Here is just a more objective comparison.

The main performance indicators and programming command shortcut keys of this keyboard are printed on the back of the box. The details are as follows:

Opening the corrugated paper outer package is a keyboard with a plastic protective cover, and the accessories are hidden in the cassette on the upper side of the keyboard.

positive

The overall appearance of accessories and keyboard is shown as follows:

The keyboard is a standard US 104 key position, and the carriage return is a 2.25X single row narrow key cap, which is very adaptable. Most personalized key caps bought online can be adapted.

The content includes: 104 key PBT material, 1 cherry green shaft keyboard, 1 manual, 1 non engraved R4 height red and blue keycaps, 4 non engraved R1 height red and blue keycaps, and 1 metal key puller

What needs to be added is that there are mainly two heights of key caps for CherryMX and other domestic shaft mechanical keyboards, one is the original height and the other is the OEM height. Each row is stepped from top to bottom with different heights. The additional 10 key caps are used to replace the ESC key and the direction key. LZ has chosen the color matching of its favorite ancestor - red, blue and white, with good visual effect.

back

In terms of appearance, Can't see the brand and its unique marks When the keyboard is turned upside down, a sticker printed LOGO, model and serial number information is pasted in the middle (different from the metal nameplate of ikbc G-104 of the same brand) - this kind of non logo shell has two advantages for friends who love transformation:

1 is spraying

Don't worry about the lifting of paint and foreskin;

2. You can stick your favorite "faith" metal sticker at will

The most intimate design on the back of this keyboard is the three-stage height of the foot pad adjustment

The three-stage height is convenient for users to adjust to their favorite height, which is very user-friendly. Lz likes to adjust directly to the highest  

details

This keyboard does not use the design of separating keys and wires (it can be simply modified after disassembly later). It has its own shielding magnetic ring and cable tie. The USB male head is gold plated, and the metal composition is unknown, but the color is either copper plated or gold plated. Durability and rust resistance should not be a problem.

The keyboard's multimedia and office shortcut functions are general, only those shown in the upper package, without such functions as play, pause, fast forward, home page and email.

The key cap is made of PBT, and the white color is very positive, without color deviation. However, although it will not be oiled, it will still be dirty. It seems that daily maintenance is indispensable - friends who care about this can choose black or dark gray key caps. The font is laser engraved and has a slight sense of friction. No matter how hard you use it, the printed font will not fade. If you use it properly, it should not be replaced within the life cycle of the product.

It can be seen on the back that this key cap is not a color permeable key cap, nor is it a two-color injection molding process - the G104 is a two-color process. But after all, G104 mainly focuses on lighting, with different positioning.

The overall key cap has a good color display. The material has no peculiar smell and is even in thickness. It feels thick and heavy. It is essentially different from the ordinary key cap made of ABS material.

As can be seen from the detail drawing, the material thickness is uniform, but the nozzle treatment is slightly careless, and some key cap gaps are slightly larger. However, because they are directly below the key cap, 100% of the nozzle can not be seen in daily use.

The axis is CherryMX green axis with obvious logo. There is no official light, and the lights need DIY. The upper part of the shaft body is reserved with LED light, and the distance between the led pins is 3mm.

Disassembly

The main feature of ikbc is the DIY spirit, which has left a lot of intimate details for players to transform. The following is an introduction to the disassembly content.

First, remove the shaft.

Although the free metal shaft puller has a good appearance and B grid, its efficiency is not as good as the other two plastic shaft pullers shown above. The H-shaped axis puller is included in the Archiss keyboard, with a slightly larger spacing on it. You can directly pull 1.5x wide axes such as crtl and alt. Facts have proved that the speed of using plastic key pullers is three times that of metal key pullers, which means that the latter has already completed three of the former.

The removed shaft shall be coded according to the position code, which is convenient for later recovery.

It's easy to open the keyboard. A plastic crowbar for the model can do it. The Yousuda brand selected in the figure sells for 3-5 yuan on tb. Those who like models or DIY should always have it.

The plastic shell can be easily separated after a circle along the seam. It is made of ABS and can be colored. It is rumored that this shell is a public mold, which can be interchanged with some other brands - because LZ has no other 104 keyboard on hand, this rumor needs to be confirmed by everyone.

The key wire separation transformation mentioned above. Here, the official left a lossless transformation interface. As long as the screw is unscrewed, the wire can be transformed, which is very considerate.

There is a steel plate installed on the front, which feels thick, and there is no deformation when pressing hard (taught by a Volkswagen veteran).

A closer look shows that this keyboard adopts a satellite axis design. The PCB board should also be of public design. There are still four empty axes left on the small number area. The axis welded on should be able to change into a 108 key keyboard.

The circuit board on the back is printed in red, matching the white on the front, which is very eye-catching. PCB printing is clear, there is no residue in the plate washing, the solder joints are full, and the placement of SMD components is impartial.

The chip in the figure is the AMR32-bit processor introduced on the official website. This chip completes the expansion functions and light control.

In the side view of PCB and steel plate, there is no vernier caliper, and the size is poor. However, it can be seen from the appearance that it belongs to the type of durable operation.

Renovation

Although the LED was not installed in the original factory, the modified interface was left.

The two holes on the black spindle that are square and round and have been soldered are lamp holes, which are suitable for 3mm boundless LED。 Led (light emitting diode) has a variety of colors and types (always bright, flashing) to choose from, here lz selects white led, that is, no preset light color. The advantage of this is that with the following lampshade, the color of the lamp tube can be easily changed, which is simpler than the transformation of "hot plug".

But! But! This lampshade Original keycaps that are not suitable for this keyboard Because ikbc's conscience PBT key cap is Thickened ， meeting

Card key , want to install Must be replaced Slightly thinner key cap!

1. The test bulb can emit light and color after playing well. After all, it is very troublesome to weld all the bulbs and then change them. It is convenient to do the work in the future;

2 is to remove the soldering tin at the lamp hole on the PCB;

As shown in the figure, melt the solder, and then suck the melted solder with the solder sucker.

After completing the above two things, insert the led lamp beads, and pay attention to the corresponding positive and negative polarity. Especially, the keys in the keypad area are vertical. Note:

■ is positive, corresponding to the long Pin

● is negative, corresponding to the short Pin

Weld all LEDs, remember to check carefully for missing and faulty soldering, and cut off the long leg after inspection

Plug in the USB and check again. After checking, start to assemble the keyboard.

After assembly, plug in the power and have a look:

Light test

This keyboard supports multiple light adjustment, and Fn+1~0 has different functions

You can light a line individually

Several lines can be lit

You can also turn on a certain president and a certain line of breathing lights

All on/breathing light

Hands on test:

According to the introduction of the keyboard, this keyboard is a non impact keyboard, and the default is six key non impact keyboard.

After switching, there is no impact on the whole keyboard.

Here, the dark keys are not fully covered because lz can no longer free up his fingers to press keys while taking a screenshot

Insert the keyboard separately,

When the lamp is not turned on, the current is almost impossible to measure

The lights are always on, and the current is 0.25A=250mA, which is a little power consumption. It is recommended not to turn on the lights when the notebook battery is in the state.

Comparison:

From top to bottom:

Ikbc c-104 white CherryMX green axis DIY plus light (this public test keyboard)

Archiss I-T Touch AS-KB87T CherryMX Green Axis Mechanical Keyboard (same as Leopold FC200R)

ViewSonic Youpai KU520 alloy version 87 key Kaihua green shaft factory lamp

Self made satan version GH60 CherryMX green axis black axis hybrid keyboard DIY with lights

Skua 87 Kaihua Green Axis Keyboard (wrapped with carbon fiber stickers for office lighting)

In terms of material, ikbc C104 is the thickest 。 The market price of 399 provides the interface between CherryMX original shaft and lamp, and the thickened PBT key cap, which is far more generous than other original shaft keyboards, and also more stylish than the domestic keyboards priced around 200.

In terms of hand feel, the Archiss of Leopold's family is the most crisp. Although both are CherryMX green axes, Leopold's feel is better than that of ikbc's, with a clearer voice and faster bounce - after all, Leopold's feel is recognized. I guess the reason is that the ikbc keycaps are thicker, because after the keycaps are interchanged, the feel of ikbc is also equal.

ViewSonic provides the most original shortcut keys in terms of functions. The functions provided on the ViewSonic Ku520 are complete, from player opening to volume adjustment, from fast forward pause stop to email, home page calculator, etc. It is very convenient to access the Internet and work. In this regard, the function keys provided by ikbc are relatively few. I hope they can be supplemented in the firmware.

In terms of light control, the ikbc C104 is invincible. Compared with the control of ViewSonic and GH60 all on and all off, it is very cool and fun to light up a single line separately. With RGB lampshade, a variety of light effects can be combined.

Finally, it is suggested that the mechanical keyboard is a huge pit. Be careful before entering the pit, and cover your wallet after entering the pit.  

The above is the whole content of this ikbc c104 keyboard evaluation. I hope you can leave more messages and communicate with me.