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Drop ALT Mechanical Keyboard

VSG

VSG

Editor, Reviews & News
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Jul 1, 2014
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Drop builds upon the strong feature set of its CTRL keyboard with the 65% form factor ALT keyboard. It is rich in hardware and software customization options and has improved side lighting and portability options for those looking for a premium small form factor keyboard.

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I don't like that exposed switch design but I'm happy to see they finally decided to drop the price.
 
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I have the higher profile version and it's a very nice keyboard. Replaced stabs and did the band-aid trick. Coupled with some u4's and the keyboard is a dream to those who like a silent experience.
 
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logicisntforyou said:
I have the higher profile version and it's a very nice keyboard. Replaced stabs and did the band-aid trick. Coupled with some u4's and the keyboard is a dream to those who like a silent experience.
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What stabilizers did you go with?
 
This was my first entry into the rabbit hole of mech keyboard. It needs new stabilizer since the one included is terrible. Also pcb foam is recommended to reduce the pingy hollowness that this board has.
 
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Drop's overall keyboard offerings were decent value when they started off, but I think their entire line is in need of a revamp, with their old fashioned low profile cases, north facing LEDs and really old PCB designs with no support for PCB-mount stabs. The low-mid end of the customs market is now full of decent options with a good amount of variety compared to Massdrop's, especially with the new wave of affordable hot-swap options from the likes of NovelKeys, Caps-unlocked, Idobao, TKC, KBDFans and others, it's getting harder and harder to see the value proposition from these. It's going to take more than just a few additional colours and fancy underglow RGB LEDs for them to remain competitive in my opinion.

I think Drop has been on somewhat of a downhill trajectory ever since they dropped (heh...) the majority of their communities and exclusively focus on keyboards/audio. The site lost a lot of what used to make it great. These days I just think of them as a place to get cheap(ish) Sennheiser headphones and MT3 keysets, and I'm really not certain how long they can stretch that business model.
 
Great speech and all but obtaining these other keyboards is next to impossible unless you happen to be on the website as they come back in stock. Last time novelkeys or kbdfans even had full kit keyboards in stock everything was sold out in a matter of hours beyond colors very few people want. Group buys are ridiculous if you're in need of replacing a keyboard in a reasonable time frame. The last one I got in didn't end up shipping for 7 months. I had forgotten I even ordered it by the time it arrived. Just look at ebay or the mechmarket and how insanely overpriced any keyboard is that allows a better experience than the gaming and office keyboards best buy offers.

I won't argue they're not worth the price and I would of never gotten mine had I not got it for a very steep discount. But it is a good keyboard, just not at the right price point. Some of your nitpicks are things even the high end boards don't even have regularly. Drop hasn't been good since they changed their name from massdrop. The majority of what they sell can be found elsewhere for cheaper and often times able to be shipped within a day instead of months.
 
I don't disagree with you, but I do know a lot of the vendors are steadily working towards continually stocked products (at least on the entry-level devices), and some have achieved that now. GMMK and IDOBAO now have constant availability of their GMMKP/ID80, both supporting QMK/VIA. KBDFans continually restocks their non-GB boards pretty frequently (KBD75/TOFU84 kits constantly available pretty much always for the last couple years, KBD67 and D65 are restocked and available to buy as of this moment, and I think the KBD67 Lite should also be restock at some point this year. I also know for a fact that Caps-Unlocked should be moving towards constant retail availability of their CU kits next year.

No matter which way you slice it, I still think my original points stands, Drop really needs to revamp and update their keyboard product stacks because they are outdated and not that compelling.
 
Both of you are agreeing with Drop needing to update its keyboard lineup, so I suppose that's a peaceful agreement?
 
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