Category: Reviews

  • 1UP Keyboards HHKB (kit) Review

    1UP Keyboards HHKB (kit) Review

    1Up Keyboards HHKB Kit

    After using the Tokyo 60 and Tofu for a few months, I realized that they’re not as portable as I’d like them to be. Even though they’re not heavy like a full-sized keyboard, you start to feel the difference in your backpack – I could tell whether I had one of them inside by the weight of my bag alone. While I have a regular HHKB, its lack of customization (without a Hasu controller) annoys me sometimes, especially because I love using mouse keys when working on my laptop.

    I’ve been keeping my eye out for a lightweight HHKB custom keyboard, and when 1Up Keyboard’s Hotswap HHKB Kit flew into my radar, I knew it was what I wanted. Here’s what I ordered: clear plastic case, carbon fiber plate, hotswap Tsangan PCB, and stabilizers. I got my switches and keycaps elsewhere.

    Side profile

    Firstly, I want to shout out about the purchasing experience on the 1Up Keyboards site. It’s been the best purchasing experience I’ve ever had on any keyboard shopping website. It was so easy to make sure I got everything I needed for the keyboard. There are easy-to-use drop down menus to select what you want, with prices listed clearly and total price updating live. All the options are selectable on a single page, and they make sure you can only choose compatible parts. Even though I didn’t need it, I can see how easy it would be to recommend to people who are building their first keyboard.

    Back to the keyboard. It arrived undamaged, in no frills packaging that was sufficient to keep it protected. No complaints there, I also received a whole bunch of stickers to use. I assembled the board with no issues. I have never used a carbon fiber plate prior to this, so I expected it to be extremely flimsy – I was so wrong. Switches snapped in nice and snug. It worked just like a normal plate that was very light.

    I put on Box Navy switches with Maxkey SA keycaps on this and was surprised to feel that it was even lighter than my HHKB (I don’t have a scale that’s accurate enough to measure the difference – my test was holding one keyboard in each hand, so I could be wrong). I was very impressed by how light it is. I suspect it would be even lighter with different (shorter) profile keycaps on. Regardless, it met my requirements of a lightweight, programmable MX-style HHKB.

    Exposed carbon fiber plate

    First thing I noticed about the typing experience was the flex. While it didn’t feel like I was bending the PCB, my keystrokes felt more cushioned compared to typing on a metal plate. Then again, it could have been the effect of a tray mount vs. integrated plate (which the Tokyo60 and Tofu HHKB use). I would probably need to use more plates and mounting styles to come to a conclusion. In my opinion, the switches and keycaps that you use will probably have a more noticeable effect than the type of plate but this is coming from someone who’s relatively new to the hobby. More experienced people would probably tell you otherwise. As to whether this feels better or worse – I’m indifferent. Flex vs no flex is a personal preference, and I don’t have a preference for either.

    Typing on SA keycaps on Box Navy is a pretty enjoyable experience. The thick clicks are definitely amplified and people know when you’re hard at work, or gaming. I’ll be trying out different switches in the future (the positives of having a hotswap board) to see if they work better with the flexible plate.

    The underglow is BRIGHT

    The underglow lights on this thing is bright – especially when paired with a clear case, you can easily illuminate the surface around the keyboard. Fortunately, you can easily disable them if you find it distracting (I only turn on the underglow for photographs as I rarely use it when I’m working). You get the standard RGB modes and colors you can access through QMK, nothing out of the ordinary here.

    Programming the PCB was easy – just like any other QMK PCB. However, I’ve been seeing an issue with the board pop up a couple of times on the 1Up Keyboards Discord: my PCB arrived unflashed. This meant, I couldn’t input any keystrokes on the keyboard when it was first assembled. I had to use the physical reset button (fn+b wasn’t working for me) to get it into bootloader mode before flashing my keymap. This isn’t a big deal for most people, but some sort of default layout would have been helpful for those who decide to screw the board into their case before flashing it (you can’t access the reset button without removing the PCB from the case). I’m not sure if it’s an issue for all of the PCBs they sell, or me and the people who complained were only the minority.

    Issues: I won’t lie – the silver carbon fiber plate is hideous. I should have gone with black or red, though I can’t expect it will look much better. I’m not sure if it’s possible, but a texture-less version of the carbon fiber plate would have been more up my alley. This is my biggest problem with the keyboard. Yes, you read that right. I love everything else about it.

    So was the board everything I wanted? Yes. I set out to build a lightweight keyboard and I got exactly that. And to top it off, it’s affordable (your choice of switches or keycaps will affect the base price). It’s also an in-stock item that you can purchase any time from 1Up keyboards instead of having to wait for a group buy (unlike the Tokyo60). Oh, it also comes with USB C.

    Overall, I am extremely pleased with the 1Up Keyboards HHKB and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anybody looking for an easy to assemble, lightweight and affordable keyboard. It is also available in other styles (standard ANSI and Win key-less) if HHKB isn’t what you’re looking for.

    Here’s a sound test of the 1Up Keyboards HHKB:

  • Mini Movie Reviews

    Remember when this blog was all about Movie Reviews? I remember.

    Anyway, watched a few movies recently and thought I’d say my piece about them. There will probably be spoilers, so just skip this post if you haven’t seen A Quiet Place, Ready Player One, Pacific Rim: Uprising and Peter Rabbit.

    A Quiet Place

    It’s been a while since my last horror movie (I tend to avoid them like the plague) but this one was pretty good. The movie made great use of sound. It reminded me a lot of Dead Silence – the scenes which were the scariest were the quietest ones. Overall, it was an enjoyable movie even though there were moments I had to watch with fingers covering my ears (horror movies are so much more tolerable when they’re muted).

    I didn’t like the young girl as a character. She felt too obnoxious to me. Like Joffrey in Game of Thrones. It was hard to root for her. However, she wasn’t annoying enough to ruin the movie for me.

    The story was interesting, though I was constantly reminded of the Walking Dead during a lot of the shots. Also, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched if the monsters were replaced with zombies instead. I thought the movie ended well, and it was a good self-contained story (though I wouldn’t be bothered if it had an over-the-top exaggerated sequel – maybe something that bridged it with Edge of Tomorrow lol).

    Rating: 3/3 echolocating aliens

    Ready Player One

    As someone who was a big fan of the book and looking forward to the movie, it was kind of a let down. I mean, I understood why they had to cut out certain aspects of the book and change some challenges in order to make it fit into one movie – but that didn’t make it any less disappointing. The people I watched the film with didn’t read the book and enjoyed it way more than me, so I’d advise to skip the book until you’ve seen it. It’s definitely not a bad movie, the visuals were top-notch and pretty much how I imagined the world would look like but the were way too much for my liking. Would rewatch if I had a memory wipe and forgot how the book played out. Check out these articles if you’d like to know some of the changes that were made for the film.

    Rating: 3/6 challenges that were removed and replaced

    Pacific Rim: Uprising

    I went in the cinema expecting to be let down because of how much I disliked the first movie. It ended up being a lot better than I ever thought it could be. While my friends, who were fans of the first one, weren’t happy with this film, I thought it was one of the better sci-fi films I’ve seen recently (not sure because it was good or other movies have been terrible). The pacing of the movie was great – there were barely any lulls in the action and I enjoyed the acting of the characters (minus the chemistry between Boyega and Eastwood – that felt a little forced). They definitely could have picked a better character to be the villain in this movie, but I’m happy how the movie sets up for a Jaeger invasion if they ever make a sequel. Maybe it was my low expectations for the movie, but I’d easily recommend it over the original. Fun, brainless, robot vs. aliens action, with a crew that could fit in an Alien(R) High School sitcom (why isn’t this a thing yet?).

    Rating: 3/5 friends disappointed in the film

    Peter Rabbit

    This movie was a marketing dream come true: perfect release date around school holidays and Easter, its target audience, and tie-in with Harrod’s set it up to be one of the most successful movies this year. While the movie itself isn’t anything to shout about, I thought it was interesting that they aged up the main character to make it slightly edgier than the story books it was based on. The live-action and CGI mix was done pretty well though I’m pretty sure when we look back on the film in 10 years it’ll probably look outdated. I’m not anticipating a sequel but wouldn’t be opposed to it if there was another one in the future.

    Rating: 3/5 blackberries thrown onto the faces of offended critics

  • Movie Review: Spectre

    Movie Review: Spectre

    It’s been four years since I’ve done a movie review, but what the heck.


    spectre
    Image source

    Everyone is allowed to have their own opinion about the movie but I felt that the latest James Bond didn’t deserve all the panning it received. So after reading scathing reviews and general disappointment from people on my newsfeed about Spectre, I decided to write my own review of the movie.

    To set the tone for this review – I’m not a James Bond fan. I don’t hate the films or anything, I just don’t love them or follow them religiously. I’ve only seen a handful of Bond movies and I even missed Skyfall. I also didn’t have any set expectations to what the movie should be beyond it being an entertaining spy flick.

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