Now I'm about to make a strange comparison right now. I've noticed traits of this keyboard that seem to be shared with that of a pistol. That being the "Highpoint 45." pistol. The Perixx PX-1900 is basically the HIghpoint 45. of the (scissor switch) keyboard world. Its super thick for its respective class/type, built almost too well for what they are meant to do, and pretty much all of the people who criticize them tended to have never actually used one to begin with. Much like Krabby Patties.
As for that thickness, the scissor switches are a obscenely thick 3.8 mm. Which in the context of scissor switches, is hilariously thick! The keycaps aren't chicklets/island/chocolate/flat keycaps either!
Side rant: Chicklets and scissor switches are NOT interchangeable terms. Its like membranes and rubber domes. Both are independent factors that just simply tend to end up together. Saying its a chicklet switch keyboard is like saying a Red Dragon is a PBT switch keyboard, or like saying "that keyboard has Cherry MX Red keycaps".
With that rant out of the way, here's what the plastic switch plate looks like:
https://imgur.com/ivJBMWE
https://imgur.com/S6RonMD
Now notice the keycaps. They are actually slightly contoured/curved, plus a good amount of space in between the keys. So touch typing doesn't feel like you're tapping a piece of paper with legends written on it, and you can actually feel what you're doing.
While we're on the topic of the parts of the keyboard, here's the insides/tear down. (This voids the warranty btw. Don't do this)
The rubber dome mat and the first membrane layer (note that they're attached to one another, so they're the "same layer"):
https://imgur.com/wn9o2bS
https://imgur.com/PnirURO
https://imgur.com/UA88fAs
Underneath the rubber-dome-mat/first-membrane-layer is the other membrane layer(s):
https://imgur.com/lgS3iwz
https://imgur.com/74zOxLO
https://imgur.com/8BnUL2u
https://imgur.com/xPdvEbF
https://imgur.com/Bl7aT9O
https://imgur.com/w5pgKP5
Underneath the other membrane layer(s):
https://imgur.com/NPnnmJT
oh look a metal plate!
https://imgur.com/TRLN7jA
Due to the metal plate, the keyboard doesn't flex a lot, and the keyboard feels very solid in use. Speaking of the feel, the scissor switches go down smoothly and lightly. But you still will get fatigued. "Wait what?" Now, while the downstroke is effortless and bottoming out isn't as violent as one would imagine, the upstroke/rebound is hilariously violent. It will smack your finger tips into the new year. This keyboard has the strange quirk that, if you happen to type too slowly, the switches "feel" very heavy. But if you peck at the keyboard fast (like a piano), it feels noticeably "lighter". It's a strange feeling to say the least. Another thing to note is that, you can press the top of the keys anywhere you'd like. No binding here. It also feels very consistent. For my abusive use in Typeracer and osu!, I really like it! It is by all means reliable.
It has a standard full sized ANSI layout, and the keys are not floating.
However two keys were replaced with two function keys. The keys replaced, are the "right windows key", and the "context menu key" to the right of the spacebar. They were replaced by the "Gear" function key, and the "FN" function key respectively. The Gear function key changes the backlighting color. These are the 7* colors you can use:
* Red
* Blue
* Green
* Pink
* Sky Blue
* Yellow
* Almost Actually White (; if you don't stare super hard, it's White)
Please note that the Num lock and the other lock light indicators are always red.
The legends themselves ARE backlit as well. All of the backlighting is very even with very little to no light bleeding onto the desk.
The FN function key managed the media keys on the F(insert # here) keys. Please note that this has limited compatibility with Mac. The volume media keys work, but everything else is a bit awkward and would advise against using the other ones on Mac.
Holding down the FN key then pressing the Gear key, and vice versa, will cause the keyboard cycle between the 7 colors in a breathing effect. You cannot change the brightness of this effect. You can change the brightness in the solid colors mode for the mentioned prior 7 colors. If I recall, it should be 100%, 75%, and 50% brightness respectively. It's 50% is my Bloody B975 keyboard's 100% brightness. For what that comparison is worth. So needless to say at 100%, even in the middle of the day, you can very well see the backlighting. Fun fact, the legends are actually readable even without the backlighting on! They basically just look like white legends on black keycaps when the backlighting is off. So if you don't need the backlighting on, don't worry, you can still see what'cha doing!
Aesthetically it is in between a office keyboard and a obscene gaming keyboard. They legends and the red trim on the sides scream "gaming". But not obnoxiously so. If the red trim wasn't there, I'd reckon it would just look like a regular office keyboard but with bold legends. The legends looks like what happens when you turn on "bold face" in a text editor. So unlike other gaming keyboards that have those weird "cut off letterings", the PX-1900 has actually completed legends that are readable. You know, what text is supposed to be.
The USB cable is standard. Not braided, not too thin, not too thick. Just a regular cable.
It weights about 2(ish) pounds; about (a) 0.91(ish) kilo.
Sound wise, it has the heat beat sound that scissor switch keyboards are known for. However, the "plastic sound" that you'd normally here in other scissor switch keyboards are not present here. Just the sound of the rubber dome thumping against the membrane over metal plate. Except the space bar. It sounds a little hollow. Still quiet, but might be annoying to certain people.
The flip out feet are rubber tipped:
https://imgur.com/yaGUQ4I
and the keyboard's bottom has rubber dots. Due to that metal plate and all of the rubber dots/tips, it doesn't move a whole lot unless you're really going green eggs and ham while gaming (or typing, or both).
I was going to have a section about cons, but due to how well executed this keyboard is, I legitimately can't even find much to nitpick about except for only one nitpick. The spacebar is hollow sounding. Its still quiet, but it is something to note. Overall the keyboard is pretty quiet though. As for any other "cons", pretty much everything boils down to personal preference.
All and all,
if you're in the market for a scissor switch keyboard that is reliable, extremely well built, backlit, anti-ghosting for days, and sub-$50 (USD), but doesn't use flat keycaps, this is for you! Oh, and its rated for about 30 million key strokes/presses. And no I wasn't paid to do this. I'm just slightly annoyed that this keyboard phantoms out if you try to look for scissor switch (gaming) keyboards, everything else shows up BUT this keyboard. Odds are if you found a post about it, its probably from me. I was going to do this in a video format but I do not have the hard drive storage space, or the money to get more storage space. That and I don't have the time to edit a full scale review. So for now, hopefully this gets the message out to those people who really loves their scissor switches but couldn't find a decent one.
As for alternatives, the "Cougar Vantar" is about $10 (USD) cheaper than the PX-1900, but so is it's quality. The "BFKB113PBK" is high quality, but the price is equally as high at a over $100+ (USD) tag. The BFKB113PBK is from a Japanese company. Japan and their expensive rubber dome keyboards! Any other "gaming scissor switch" keyboards on the market don't really hold a candle to these three. For general use I recommend the PX-1900 due to it's combination of a stellar built quality and it won't murder your wallet/bank-account/funds. (Logickeyboard and Logitech I'm looking at you!)
Before anyone asks, yes you can use it to play Taiko!
Should you get a defective keyboard, remember that they have warranties! Anyway, have a good one, and I'm off to sleep because it is 12 AM where I'm at! (Accidentally middle clicked this tab before I saved a draft, so I had to retype all of what I could remember, WHOOPSY
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