Deck keyboards

P

peacetilence

2[H]4U
Joined
Sep 23, 2004
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Does anyone here have any experience with Deck keyboard? I guess what I should ask is does this forum have any satisfied Deck keyboard owners?

I just spent what equates to a small fortune for one of their 82 key keyboards and I'm not happy with the build quality at all. 2 of the LED lights are out and when I change the brightness setting some LED lights remain really bright while others are dim or barely show at all.

For $120 (+$14 Shipping) I would have expected better

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Yeah, well I've gone through 4 of the regular mini (no numpad) keyboards in the last 3 months so I was looking for something that would last.
 
ive been looking at buying one of the bigger versions. From what i understand if you not happy they will give you your money back without a problem. Or fix it for you.

What do you think of how the keys feel?
 
I dunno, I haven't really tested it out since it was clusterfucked. I'm reluctant to try for a replacement though.
 
k1pp3r said:
$120 for that, wow. . . thats all i can say.
Click to expand...

It *supposedly* last 20 years, so doing the maths:
$50 keyboard that lasts 5 years = $10/year
$120 keyboard that lasts 20 years = $6/year

But, I just ordered mine, it should be here Monday. I got the green one. I will let you know my opinions. Also, they offer a 30-day money back guarantee as long as you don't play around with it, so if it's really bad, just ask for a refund. Why are you reluctant to try to get it replaced?
 
I'm worried that it will also have QC issues and I will have to eat shipping costs again. I'm not sure how many of these things they sell, but it really can't be all that much, and for me to receive a damaged one I have to wonder how many of their keyboards are in such poor conditions.
 
Deck offers 30 day money back guarentee.
Let them know that you got a bad keyboard.
 
ive seen a few happy (atleast i assume so :p ) deck users on the forum. i believe revenant has one... and i saw a post today with a deck in red in it IIRC

just tell em its got some dead LED's, send pics, and you probably won't even have to eat shipping.
 
sap said:
It *supposedly* last 20 years, so doing the maths:
$50 keyboard that lasts 5 years = $10/year
$120 keyboard that lasts 20 years = $6/year

But, I just ordered mine, it should be here Monday. I got the green one. I will let you know my opinions. Also, they offer a 30-day money back guarantee as long as you don't play around with it, so if it's really bad, just ask for a refund. Why are you reluctant to try to get it replaced?
Click to expand...

I'm sure my logitech keyboard would last that long, i have had it for 5 already still going strong. Only problem is they are not making vista drivers for it
 
I was considering one of these keyboards since you can get the apple key caps, Let us know how your experience turns out.
 
k1pp3r said:
I'm sure my logitech keyboard would last that long, i have had it for 5 already still going strong. Only problem is they are not making vista drivers for it
Click to expand...

I've had my Logitech Elite for a little over 4 years now, and it is still going strong.
 
k1pp3r said:
I'm sure my logitech keyboard would last that long, i have had it for 5 already still going strong. Only problem is they are not making vista drivers for it
Click to expand...

YMMV, I had a Logitech keyboard that didn't even last three years, but I called them up and being Logitech, they just replaced it.
 
o0akoni0o said:
$120 + shipping :eek:

(stares down at $15 dell usb keyboard)
Click to expand...

Me too dude lol. I just bought a couple of the Dell USB keyboards for $13.50 each. They're compact and are fairly decent. I can use it for a few months and then throw it away and pull out a brand new one. To me buying an expensive mouse is the only thing that matters. I also hate large keyboards like the Logitech G15. It takes up half a desk so I can have some extra "features" I won't use.
 
I got a robotic response from their tech support. I sent them an email immediately after I plugged it in for the first time. And they said.

According to our records, your purchase is within 30 days so you are welcome to return it for a refund (less S/H). Also because it is within one year from purchase you are eligible to return it for repairs at no cost other than shipping it to us.

Records, yeah, hah, I'm probably one of the only people dumb enough to buy from them in years. It's not like they're a huge corporation shipping out 1000's of these things a day and don't have the time to answer my specific questions. They just give me a copy pasted response and won't even pay for return shipping even though I paid $14 to have it shipped ground to me (it weighs less than 2 pounds). And $120 for this defective piece of crap.
 
They banned me from their forums as well after I made a (polite) post asking about the non-functioning LEDS! I think I might have to call my CC company. Don't know if I can't trust these people to actually give me a refund.
 
Wow, this just keeps getting better.

I emailed them back with this reply

I'm sorry, but I was told that I would be issued a UPS return label
for shipping. As for being unhappy with my purchase, it goes a bit
beyond that considering I was sent a defective item and sent you this
email within 2 minutes of plugging it in for the first time. I have to
wonder how many of these defective products you send out and force
people to pay expensive shipping fees for, only to be given the
response you've given me when they complain. I've shown the courtesy
of deleting the images of the keyboard and my dissatisfaction with
your product off your company forum. The least you could do would be
to provide a return shipping label for the defective product you've
sent me.

This is the response they gave me

As you can see by our return policy we will not pay for return shipping. We sell a quality product and that is why it costs more. You can purchase other keyboards and will not find the quality of the Deck product. Every single product is quality tested during manufacturing and again before it goes out the door. These keyboards are modifiable and that is why we do not pay for return shipping. You could just imagine what some of these returns look like when we get them. Again as I stated previously we would be happy to evaluate your keyboard return and determine if it is repairable or returnable for a full refund under those conditions. Please read our warranty and return policy carefully.


So now they're saying that they need to evaluate the defective keyboard they sent me to see if it's eligible for return. How do I know they didn't just send me some junker somebody else tried to modify?



I sent them this in response

The keyboard arrived to me defective. Are you saying that you're going
to inspect it to see whether or not it's returnable or suggesting I've
even modified it? (As I've already specified I want a full refund) How
do I know that you aren't just trying to rip me off by sending me a
damaged keyboard in which you would deem to be unfit for
return/repair? I see that you've also deleted my account on your
forums without any provocation. I'm fully prepared to contact my
credit card company and report you for fraud. I would suggest that you
really shouldn't take for granted the affect one negative experience
from a customer could have for your company.


I don't know what to do here. These people seem like major frauds.
 
This is how the keyboard arrived to me out of box and you can see how I've been treated so far by customer service. The keyboard hasn't been modified by me in any shape or form. For $133 I would expect the product and service to be at a lever higher than a road side vendor in a shady neighborhood. I was sold a total lemon here, white van speakers, you name it. This is about as bad as it gets. They banned me from their forum for politely pointing out that the LED lights were defective on the product they sold me as well.



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They shouldn't have messed around with a guy who makes a nice wad of change off online PR and marketing

Suffice to say I would not recommend this product to anyone
 
My Legend 105 key is arriving today. After reading this thread I'm getting a bit of buyer's remorse.. I hope mine isn't defective. :rolleyes:
 
I bought DSI keyboard to replace this thing BTW. Its a way cheaper compact mechanical keyboard and the key layout looks more practical. Deck didn't even respond to my last email either.
 
Xeth said:
My Legend 105 key is arriving today. After reading this thread I'm getting a bit of buyer's remorse.. I hope mine isn't defective. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

If it is defective don't go posting about it in their forum. They will ban you immediately and delete your thread.

They deleted my account entirely for saying.

"I received a new ICE 82 key keyboard today and the Q and F2 LEDs are both dead."

This is what infuriates me the most. I get these vague cryptic robotic emails from their tech support and see that they just ban me from their forums without any warning. What a bunch of boneheads.

They should be more concerned with cust support. You never know if one of your customers could be a rather successful virile (maybe I meant viral :cool:) marketing guru with a lot of free time on their hands.
 
Man, you'd expect, with what's supposed to be a quality company, a good product and good customer service; when, in fact, you get neither. This is a joke, they way they've treated you. What've you done with your Deck keyboard now, then? What was that other keyboard pictured in those photographs above?
 
Ok, just got the 105-key Blue LED Legend, and I am very disappointed.

1. The keyboard came almost naked in a regular cardboard case with no padding, no instructions or anything else, not even a packing slip/invoice. It's as if someone handed this to me from the back of a van.

2. The LEDs on the board are not uniform. The Q key has a greenish tinge to it and the backspace key has a purplish tinge. Not what I expected out of a $160 keyboard.

3. (And the main reason I'm returning this tomorrow) There is ZERO tactile feedback. The only feedback you get is if when you press the key all the way down and get a *thud*. With the way they advertised the mechanical keyswitches I expected something on par with an IBM Model M. I guess this is personal preference but if I wanted a keyboard with little tactile feedback I'd get an Eclipse.

The only good thing about this keyboard is that it looks sexy as hell, but I can get a sexy keyboard with no substance for much less.

I thought that this keyboard would be like a Model M or Dell AT101 in black with backlighting and a USB interface. Obviously I was very wrong.
 
Well, my full sized Legend Ice was delivered yesterday. Boy, I was really expecting something else. I too had thought the board would have better tactile feedback. To me it feels very 'mushy' and I just can't stand that. I was really disappointed.

The positives are that the board really does have great backlighting. Very, very nice. Also, if you like a softer feel on a keyboard and reliability is important to you, then this is probably really good. Personally I don't think its worth the price but to each his/her own.

I don't personally take issue with how they shipped it as it seemed to be adequate protection to me. The box wasn't crunched or anything. Additional padding certainly wouldn't hurt. I guess I thought that for about $175, I'd be getting a keyboard that was built like a tank and instill confidence. It really doesn't weigh that much and comes across to me as a bit 'chincy'. The plastic 'feet' seem cheaply made to me as well. This may come accross as nit-picking but when you pay that much for a keyboard, it better be pretty damn special. The only thing that is special about it to me is the individual keys lighting up.

I'm just adding my experience here to re-iterate what Xeth already said...realize that there is no real tactile feedback from it at all. I consider it much more like a laptop keyboard as far as how it feels when typing. I also expected it to be bigger. It is smaller than my old faithful Logitech MX700 Duo. The keys also seem a bit cramped to me. I've just used it a little so far so I'm going to mess with it some more before deciding what to do but I'm definitely leaning towards returning it.

I should have done more research on keyboards before deciding that this would be the one for me. Had I done so, I'd have found that the buckling spring type of keyboard is probably what I'm looking for.
 
peacetilence said:
If it is defective don't go posting about it in their forum. They will ban you immediately and delete your thread.

They deleted my account entirely for saying.

"I received a new ICE 82 key keyboard today and the Q and F2 LEDs are both dead."

This is what infuriates me the most. I get these vague cryptic robotic emails from their tech support and see that they just ban me from their forums without any warning. What a bunch of boneheads.

They should be more concerned with cust support. You never know if one of your customers could be a rather successful virile (maybe I meant viral :cool:) marketing guru with a lot of free time on their hands.
Click to expand...

i was also banned immediately from the deck forums, after writing about my keyboards issues, the crappy packaging and the rude customer service.

this company is simply taking advantage of people.

I'm not going to stand for it.
 
Well, I never did come back here to share what I decided on.

This Customizer keyboard was EXACTLY what I wanted! Absolutely 110% satisfied with my Unicomp keyboard. As a side bonus, it was cheaper than the Deck too.
 
This is Adam from Deck Keyboards. I wanted first to apologize to anyone who has had a less than perfect experience with our products and to clear up some of the issues presented here:

  • Banning from the forum: Once upon a time we had an issue with spambots thanks to our lovely old version of phpBB. I have since upgraded the version but may have accidentally deleted users thinking they were spambots. I checked the best I could but we were being flooded with porn links so I had to remove them and the posts quickly. I am sorry if I deleted you on accident. If you made a legitimate post and I locked a topic it was probably due to violating our forum rules, however I do not ban entire accounts for posting like this just lock the topic (or delete it depending on the content of the post but that is in more flagrant situations). I do not delete accounts that I know are legitimate even if I don't like what is being posted. 100% of the time you can resolve issues with anything related to Deck by emailing me at technicalsupport@deckkeyboards.com .
  • Packaging: we have used this packaging for the past 4 years and have had only 1 or 2 shipping related damages, even with the rough way that UPS handles things. I agree that it is less bulky/rugged than the packaging other companies or resellers may ship in but this is for a few reasons: 1. reduces packaging costs to pass savings on to the customer, 2. reduces waste, and 3. keeps shipping costs as low as possible for the customer.
  • Price: I do not have the exact figure on what the LEDs cost in the quantities we purchase them in but at one time they were as high as $0.50 each meaning that the raw cost for the LEDs in a Deck board may have been as much as $52.50 for the 105 key Legend. Couple that with the cost of other manufactured products and you can begin to see that we are not making much money on our products. For the price we charge you do receive an LED backlit keyboard with lighting effects that are second to none, keycaps that are virtually indestructable with letters that won't wear off, US based email and phone support, and more. They are not for everyone and we understand that which is why we have our 30 day money back guarantee.
  • Robotic email responses: I am sorry if I sound like a robot sometimes, I assure you I am not. It is generally easier to send a pre-formatted response to a question that has been asked many times before. It is also less offending to most people if I sound like a robot compared to talk1ng 1n 1337 sp33k d00d. (On a side note it would be kinda sweet to be a robot though wouldn't it? I'm thinking Bender from Futurama robot-ish...think about it)
  • Damaged/defective products: I apologize if you receive damaged or defective products. We thoroughly test our products before shipping them but sometimes things fail. On a historical timeline back to the start of Deck I would say less than 1% of our products have experienced any difficulties and I am sorry if you received one of the ones that did. Many of our internal repair/replacement policies have changed lately and I do not like seeing dissatisfied customers - email me if you are still unhappy with something and I will see what I can do. If there is a policy you feel is unfair let me know via email and we will review it here at Deck.

Sorry for being so long winded and sorry if I missed anything. If you have any other questions/concerns email me and I will do my best to help.
 
Thanks for addressing those concerns Adam. I'm sure others will see your response as a solid commitment to your existing/potential/future customers. I certainly do. My main complaint is the feel of the keyboard. Believe me, I really wanted to love the thing but couldn't due to the feel of the keys. I really wish you all made a 'clicky' type board...I would so buy one of those. The backlight on the keys is truly awesome.

About your packaging explanation: I understand that you are attempting to save customers money on shipping. However, how much extra is it really going to add to put it in a slightly larger box with some bubble wrap around the main keyboard box? I doubt that customers willing to pay for your keyboards are going to balk at a couple of dollars more for better packaging. Its good that you've had very few shipping damage claims. However, that’s not the whole picture from some of your customer’s view. The psychological effect that better packaging brings plays a part. If I pay a lot of money for something, I want it to be very well protected even if it doesn't really *need* to be. It makes me feel more 'confident' with my purchase decision.
 
Duly noted InTheFlow, I will see what I can do. I know we are considering releasing some new products in the near future including tactile switch versions and possibly other colors. Might be able to upgrade the packaging as well, will pass it on to the head Deck honcho.
 
Sounds good Adam. If any of the above does actually happen, make sure you post here so that those who are interested will find out.

EDIT: I wonder if you guys could work out something with Unicomp for the clicky type board. Perhaps making a modification to their keyboard design is all you'd need. Probably a LOT cheaper than re-designing yours from the ground up. For me, that keyboard is 'perfect' except that it doesn't have Deck LED backlighting. It has the right weight/heaftyness/size and great tactile feedback! ;)
 
I've had a Deck 82 key blue for about 2 weeks and really like it. The only thing i miss is the ability to skip songs in itunes while in a game, other than that love it. I can definitely type faster than my old hp keyboard which would sometimes miss strokes if you typed too fast. Also the key response is very good for typing fast.

Gaming, yes there is some space between when the key moves and the stroke is registering. It just takes a smidge to get use to, but it just reminds me of the older ibm clicky keyboards with a smoother touch.

Best part, since i have my computer on the floor to the side of my desk and didn't like the lighted usb plug, i was able to plug in a 12 foot usb cable I had around to have the perfect length for a keyboard. No tugging when i want to move things around now.

I recommend their keyboards!
 
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