My sister wanted to get a mechanical keyboard. I bought her the cheapest from aliexpress, a “Philips” one with “blue” switches.
After 6 months she comes again, “you need to buy me a new one, the numpad is weird”
When pressing 9, it types “9+”, press 6, and it types “6+”, press 0 and it types “0.”
I take apart the keyboard, i test the solder points under the switch and i see that somehow there’s a short on + when i press 9
Switches are soldered, can’t be easily swapped, i order another keyboard (different brand, with “brown” switches, still ultracheap nobrand).
After six months, the same, when pressing “right arrow” it types “right arrow 0”
Is that possible? Coincidence that is always in the same spot? Those are so shitty that break so easily? I noticed that my sister always has a water bottle nearby the numpad, might it be that she’s accidentally pouring water and then blame “low quality” for this?
Also: I saw the the RGB LED under the faulty switches are dead or dimmed. It might cause the issue?
If you want cheap just get a Royal Kludge. Buying random brand creates random results.
ah, that’s a known brand? By pure chance, for myself i got a royal kludge RK932 (still from aliexpress, paid just a little over the other keyboards) and it looks fine, except the battery died after a few months of use and now lasts only 2-3 hours on wireless (using it wired and i’m ok with that)
That sounds about right. You can get a lot of bang for your buck, including swappable switches. But the battery is meh.