March 13, 2019 — Comments are off for this post.

AUKEY Mechanical Keyboard UPDATE

Revisiting the AUKEY KM-G9 keyboard - now with KBDFans Rainbow dye-subbed keycaps for the ultimate eye-catching keyboard for your Mac.

Last month I reviewed two AUKEY mechanical keyboards. I recommended both keyboards because of their build quality and low cost. I had one gripe:

As an Apple person the keyboard comes out of the box with windows in mind. Why no extra ⌘, option, control keys for Apple folks? It would be great if they shipped extra caps for Mac users . . . A link to an approved cap vendor would be helpful too.

I recently upgraded the keycaps on the 87-key KM-G9. Here is the result.

The AUKEY KM-G9 with KBDFans Rainbow Caps

The caps I used came from KBDfans with specializes in custom made quality keycaps. These rainbow keycaps are made from polybutylene terephthalate (PBT). PBT caps are thicker, higher quality, and will resist shining for much longer than caps made from ABS plastic. (AUKEY ships this keyboard with double-shot-molded ABS keycaps.)

The caps are also dye sublimated. Dye-Sublimation is a labor intensive process that results in a long lasting and visually appealing product. There is a good deal of manual labor involved in this process so the cost is a bit higher than keycaps that use more automated methods.

Now, not only does my keyboard look cool (subjective I know) but these caps paired with the Outemu blue switches make it a very satisfying keyboard to type on. This keyboard now looks and feels great.

So if you’re a Mac user and looking to dip your toe in the mechanical keyboard scene I would recommend you take a look at one of these AUKEY boards with replacement keys. You don't need to go full rainbow - here's a more laid back set - but you gotta admit it looks a bit different from the rest of the pack!

I'm really liking these KBDFans keys. At $33 these Rainbow dye-subbed keycaps are about the same price as the keyboard but they really improve the look of the KM-G9. And if you later decide that you want to upgrade to a fancier mechanical board with Cherry MX red/brown/white switches for example, you can take your keys with you.

Of course if you just want to change the modifier keys . . . here's an unobtrusive way to do that as well. 😉

Published by Jeremy Burnich in Product Reviews

Tags: AUKEY, Keyboard, Product Reviews

December 18, 2018 — Comments are off for this post.

REVIEW: AUKEY 10-Watt Wireless Charger

AUKEY Model: LC-C6 Wireless Charging Pad

Did you just get a new phone for Christmas? Does it support wireless charging? If so, read on!

I just received a new wireless charger courtesy of AUKEY. This product segment is pretty crowded and it’s hard to really differentiate one product from another; about the only major differentiator is price. I do think it's possible for even humble products in humble segments to set themselves apart though.

Look at the placement of the LED indicator. Image/ AUKEY

Does this little wireless charger stand out? Yes and no.

You can’t beat the price. Well, you can with some other AUKEY chargers like this one for $12.99 with free Prime shipping (AUKEY appears to sell their goods exclusively on Amazon). It’s also a nice size, astonishingly light, and definitely works as a wireless phone charger. Luckily I have another charger that I can compare it to.

Anker on left. AUKEY on right. They both charge phones well.

Earlier this year I purchased a similar product from Anker - again on Amazon but their products are available in all the stores you’d expect to find electronic devices. I spent eight more dollars for the “Power Port Wireless 5” as well. The job it has is simple: charge my phone when I’m at my desk.

If I had to choose between the two, is the Anker product worth an extra hour of minimum wage work?

Yes, and here’s why.

Notice the convex shape of the AUKEY charger. When it initially put your phone on the charger, it wobbles. Image/ AUKEY

1 - It’s flat. The AUKEY product has a convex shape. When you placed on the device your phone moves on it like a teeter-totter. It’s not the end of the world and maybe it’s just a personal preference, but it annoys me.

Having a flat surface is better.

See the LED? It's on the side. Perfect placement to keep an eye on if it is charging (if you are right handed).

2 - The LED on the Anker product is on the side. So if you have this charging pad on your right the indicator is visible so you can see if it’s working. The AUKEY charger has the indicator on the front, which is covered by the phone (if you place your phone on the charger in portrait mode - which is how I expect the vast majority of people set their phone on a charger). Thus, the phone covers the indicator. Again, not the end of the world and you can tap your phone to see if it’s charging but this is annoys me too.

(In my opinion the best solution to this first-world problem is to have an indicator ring that goes around the edge of the charger. That way the placement of the phone doesn't matter.)

See the LED hiding under the phone? Image/ AUKEY

CONCLUSION

For me personally, I would not buy this AUKEY product as my primary wireless charger BUT, I would definitely buy it as my secondary charger, for say a nightstand. If you want your phone on your nightstand (which is a mixed blessing) portrait mode is sideways so the LED placement on this charger works great. The wobble issue is no longer an issue because once the phone has stopped moving, it’s not going to be touched until the morning - hopefully.

LC-C6 on nightstand. Image/ J. Burnich.

I think that AUKEY would be wise to include two cords, a long one and a short one (or maybe even a USB extender) depending on placement. A long cord is nice to have for nightstand duty because of the likelihood you’ll have a longer run to an outlet - whereas if it’s by your computer a short cord usually suffices. (NOTE: the cord AUKEY shipped their charger is longer than the one Anker shipped with theirs.) The additional cord probably won’t affect their bottom line much and it would be a nice and inexpensive way to add real value.

So, should you buy it? Definitely . . . if you need a second charger (Or don't mind not seeing the charge indicator).

Published by Jeremy Burnich in Product Reviews

Tags: Product Reviews, wireless charging

November 12, 2018 — Comments are off for this post.

Interesting computer input devices.

: Interesting Computer Input Devices

: My favorite, the Novint Falcon 5

I haven’t used every single one and probably never will, but weird, new, or particularly clever ways of interacting with a computer always spark my interest. It’s probably because growing up on the NES, I would get game magazines that had articles describing all the cool stuff they had in Japan and had advertisements for new Nintendo controllers that nearly always looked way better than they worked.

<Digression> In my opinion there were only two good controllers available for the system: the one that came with it and the NES Max. The one it shipped with could take a beating and still work. The NES max was shaped perfectly and made control much more precise. And my Dad, who has the use of only one hand, was able to use it to play video games with me. It’s the only controller that worked for him. Always wanted to get him one of these.< /Digression>

Today, I’m getting a mouse that’s shaped like a pen. I have no idea if it’s going to be any good but lately I’ve just wanted a mouse with a pen form factor. Here’s why. I don’t like working on a graphics tablet for the majority of my designs. I like using a mouse (I have an Evoluent wired vertical mouse the I’ve been using for years and has been a lovely piece of kit). For some things I use an Intuos (an older model). But for Illustrator and Rhino, I wanted something that was in-between the two and thought a mouse you held like a pen would be the way to go.

So I did a google search for “mouse pen” and “pen mouse” and there isn’t much to choose from. There’s the low end of the spectrum - which is what I purchased - and then there’s the high end of the spectrum - which isn’t that high but still high enough where if you got a dud product and couldn’t return it, you’d be sort of pissed. The reviews were actually better for the cheap one too. I think the reviews on both though might be marred because the right people might not be using the products, e.g. - people trying to use it just like a mouse or just like a graphics tablet stylus, i.e - the wrong customers; so I don’t put much faith in the good or bad reviews. QED.

After a couple of weeks playing around with the thing, I’ll let you know how it goes. It might be that I’ll just end up having to design one of these things myself.

Published by Jeremy Burnich in Investigations, Uncategorized

Tags: Product Reviews, UI/UX