Redragon K580 VATA RGB LED Backlit Mechanical Gaming...

Most Helpful Review

"The good:1. Optical keys are very responsive and the anti-ghosting actually works really well in this keyboard.2. The volume control and dedicated media keys are nice, but redundant since the FN + F1 to F8 basically have the exact same function. The brightness/volume button is an interesting thing. I do use the macro buttons, but not in games, because they are too far to reach. They are great for productivity and CAD apps.3. The build quality is very good although everything is entirely plastic. The top metal plate is somewhat expected in the price range. The rigidity of the keyboard is fine, but not entirely solid.4. The RBG lighting control from the keyboard is ok, actually better than some, but it has some flaws and limitations that requires the installation of the software to overcome. The software worked fine for me (make sure to install the correct version for this specific keyboard, or it will give you grief). I would have preferred the controls from the keyboard itself were tweaked a bit (so one would never need the software), but since the software worked really well for me, this is just fine.Some Flaws:1. The Optical switches are too sensitive, or sensor mounted slightly too high on the PCB: Under each key are surface mount IR emitter and what looks like a photo diode. These are mounted on top of the keyboard around the hole where the stem from the mechanical keys poke out. The issue is with this built even when the tip of the switch stem comes slightly out the sensor is tripped (key-press is registered). This happens even before the key is actually pressed down to its "actuation" point, so if you rest you hand on a key or hit the key beside it and touch the side wall of the keycap, the keypress is potentially registered. I think this can be fixed. One solution is to slightly sand off the key stem to make it shorter. I may do this for the "R" key for example, I keep hitting R in the game when I'm trying to hit "F" and it ruins my day (I reload instead of using the ability, and regularly get killed in the game because of this).2. the surface mount IR-emitter and photo-diode means that if these go bad, you do have not an easy way of repairing this. These are "active" components on the keyboard. I expect these to have a very long life, but make sure you keep dust and liquids away from this keyboard. The repair is not as simple as cleaning the PCB with alcohol and replacing some bad mechanical switches. It remains to be seen what dust and debris can do to this design in long-term.3. Inconsistent brown switch quality: I have several keys on my keyboard that feel different from the rest. For example the "A" button does not have a bump, (feels more like a red switch). There are several other keys that I immediately noticed that sound or feel different right out of the box. The good news is that these keys are not going to stop working, because the switches are just dead plastic and metal and don't actually have any electrical connections in them (optical sensors are on the PCB itself). I can just swap these keys, but I only have two spare Browns and have to buy more. This speaks to the low quality control and inconsistent manufacturing of whoever makes the switches. I makes me glad that I didn't buy the regular mechanical switches, because most certainly with this inconsistent quality there is more chance that they mess up the switch itself.4. Standoff legs: These have rubberized edges on them, and if you push the keyboard away from yourself they just snap close from the friction with the surface of the desk. I think the only way for Redragon to fix this is to either make the hinges open wider angel (longer standoffs) or rotate them 90 degrees. This is a design flaw and an oversight. It is not a deal breaker for me personally, but I bet some people will find this extremely annoying.The BAD:1. RBG Lighting, The colour fringing and inaccurate colour issue: The surface mount RGB LED Redragon has installed in this keyboard PCB is larger than normal (but not brighter, I wonder if they cut corner here to reduce cost). The result is that the RED LED is shining straight into the clear body of the switch instead of shining through the window at the top (like it was designed to work). The result is over-saturated RED colour where combination of Red+other colour LED is needed. For example white is PINK, and yellow is actually Orange, with no way to compensate for this physical flow in the software or hardware. If you don't care about white, and yellow and anything in between, then you will be fine. If you carte about colors then you will find this really disappointing.2. RBG produces RAINBOW effect due to low PWM frequency. I have other RBG keyboards that do not suffer from this, or the effect is not as noticeable as this keyboard. I am the kind of person who notices the rainbow effect on DLP projectors though, so maybe you are not so prone to this. I am and in a dark room I find this annoying. My solution is to tu"