Cooler Master Keyboard Q

[Kurtis]

Cooler Master broke away from the cooling world and made a keyboard, check it out:

http://www.thetechlounge.com/review.php?REVIEWDIR=keyboard_q

[deftno9]

nice review. yea im with u I need something to push down on when I type and that squeaking seems like a potential problem, mainly for my sanity. looks aside it doesnt look like something I would use on my main system. Hopefully this will be 1 of many progressively better "modded" keyboards to come out.

[Brian]

Please remember that the key only squeaks because he typed violently on it. I tested the keyboard too, and I liked it.

[Kurtis]

yeah its a good keyboard, considering it was their first shot at making a keyboard it is a great first step. I would have kept using the keyboard for myself had that D key not started to squeak. And I don't think it would squeak for the average person, its just that part of my quality testing was banging very hard on it :)

[EmoMakesMeCry]

looks like a pretty snazzy keyboard...i need one with quieter keys...when im up at 4 in the morning gaming, i swear my parents downstairs on the other side of the house would be able to hear the keys tapping, this logitech is a freakin' typewriter im tellin ya...

[Kurtis]

the q has quiet keys, just dont violently tap and u will never have the squeaky problem i dont think. overall it is a good keyboard.

[Guest]

I purchased the Cooler Master Keyboard about 2 weeks ago and was very pleased with the over-all appearance of the board. However, the reason I found this page is because I was looking for a way to get a few of the keys to stop squeaking. After long periods of use, a few of the keys start squeaking beginning with the'e' key and then adding the spacebar and backspace key to the mix. I have also taken the board apart trying to figure out what is causing the aggervating squeak but came up empty. I have found that after a night of rest for the board, the keys stop squeaking for a short period of time. I give this board a 6 out of 10 mainly because of the aggervation of having to listen to the squeak ever second or so. Other than that I'm pretty pleased with it. But the squeaky key mystery is still UNsolved.

[Shamrock]

Anyone know how to program the hot keys please?

[Guest]

What hot keys? I don't think this keyboard has any.

[z5300]

I just recently bought this keyboard, and after general (non-agressive) use after a couple hours of Wolf ET, I was extremely pissed to find that the D key on my keyboard also started to squeak.

For anyone else lured into buying this keyboard, there is hope! After stuffing around for about an hour, trying all manner of testing to determine the cause, I believe I have found the cause/solution.

The sound seems to be caused by friction of the scissor mechanism (see below), though I have no idea why this only seems to affect the D key...go figure. In any case, what I did was to apply oil to the hinge and at least for now, this seems to have fixed the problem - abosultely no squeak from the key while I type this!

Step by step guide:

1) remove the key cap - this can be done by grasping the top and bottom of the key and pulling. Quite a bit of force is required, though be careful as the mechanism looks quite weak. The key is held by 4 clips, 2 at the top (latches), and 2 at the bottom (peg clips). The top ones are easier to unlatch first, so apply more pulling force to the top of the key. After the top 2 hinges are free, it should be easier to free the bottom two clips.

2) Once the keycap is off, you should see whitish plastic brackets and a black rubber cap in the middle. Remove the black rubber cap (it is not attached to anything). The white brackets are a scissor hinge mechanism, and it is the crossover joint between the two brackets that is causing the squeak. This is the bit that has to be lubricated.

3) To apply oil, I used a toothpick with one end dipped soaked in oil. The area where you should apply the oil is middle section where the two brackets are linked together. The easy way to identify this spot, is by push downwards (along the face of the keyboard) on the top of the top white bracket. This will cause the brackets to slide out like they do when the keycap is attached. Only a very small amount of oil is required - not even a drop. Once applied to this area, try to exercise the mechanism a bit so the oil is spread a bit.

4) Replace the rubber cap and then reattach the key cap (just press down until you hear the latches catch.

Hopefully this should fix the problem - congratulations on one non-squeaky key.

Merry Chrismas everyone!

[Guest]

Hi, here is my opinion about my cm keyboard, ..however i dont think is working so well with me... my keys hang nonstop, and got really weird hot keys feautures.. really annoying.. i cant explain this also..and the keys are not so responsive dont always work..
Try this: click on 4 keys at the same time to see what happens.. My they keyboard freezes, wont respond and worst of all, it keep on beeping the pc speaker non stop!.. another cons that wasnt stated here is: the very hugly CM logo and very hugly type font... it was the first thing i did was to take it out with a special product... very bad taste move, that logo!.. destroy the good intenion of a nice design..

regards.

[Heiko]

I bought the keyboard in 2003. Since then i use it without any flaws. It's a high quality keyboard and i love the flat keys. Btw: I am a Gentoo Linux user avoiding the use of a mouse as good as i can. You can imagine what high stress this means for a keyboard ;-)

I am thinking of buying another one just to keep it as spare in case it won't be sold anymore.

[Kurtis]

Is that keyboard even still for sale -now-?

[Max Slowik]

Heiko, you know about Hit-a-Hint? Mozless? You a Vim or an Emacs guy?

I have a ton of collected links for mouselessness. (Which is why I hated that the damn sex keyboard didn't have a menu key.)

Also, I pretty much have never successfully compiled Gentoo. Got any guides/advice?