This keyboard is my daily driver on my PC, I think you’re right if you approach it as a PC keyboard it’s brill. I’m interested to see how it works on an Amiga when the alternative cable comes out for it
I have been using it today on my PC, and the only thing that takes getting used to is the small "shift" key on the left! I keep hitting the darn backslash next to it. Must be a British thing?
@@10MARC Yep, our keyboards tend to have little left shifts. I think it's something about allowing space for European keyboards to have extra keys for accents and other additional symbols.
I bought this keyboard last year and after 8 months of waiting it arrived. I wanted this for my 2000. Try finding those original keyboards now for a price less than this one. I connected it to the SUM, USB Keyboard adapter and plugged it in to my 2000. Works great. Excellent quality product and it feels, types and looks great.
I use this as my main keyboard. I really love it. looks great next to the checkmate 1500 plus case. Great video :) For sure the best system known to humanity! So they did a good choice.
Hi Doug, Now there is the "USB to Classic Amiga conversion kit for Amiga Mechanical Keyboards" from Simulant. That should solve the problems you encountered. I already ordered mine.
Yep. I looked at that and it seems to make a fairly permanent change for it to be used on an Amiga. Mine is now my daily driver on my PC, and I suppose I will keep it like that
Kudos on the Amiga license, the design, however I wish these would genuinely be a classic Amiga keyboard, compatible with the A2000/3000/4000 style keyboard connector. I get it though, it's much tougher to engineer something like that, than opt for standard USB.
Hehe, diggin' the I Love Lucy-style heart wipe there at the end! It's like this was edited on a Toaster! Also, regardless of what's being typed, it's always great to see Final Writer '97, which I feel was one of the Amiga's greatest software packages.
I really like Final Writer 97. I wish it handled choosing fonts a bit differently, but that is a minor complaint. The print quality I can get out of it is incredible.
I loved Final Writer back in the day, but coming back to it now and the on screen font rendering is dreadful. I thought it was just me, but at a recent SWAG event I spoke to a couple of other attendees and they all agreed that the fonts look awful. Wordworth 7 displays fonts really nicely.
One of our NAG members brought one of these keyboards to the group last month. I think he was an early backer? We tried it on my Checkmate A1200, it has a USB sum adapter which goes over the keyboard chip. It worked, but had most of the problems that you did with your A4000. But it looked cool with the Checkmate case 😊. Unfortunately I didn't take any video footage.
Oh? Even the same issues with the SUM adapter? Please let the guys at Simulant know this! That's not good... The SUM is compatible with most keyboards!
Thanks for the review. It is not for me as I prefer the USA layout with large Return key and this looks more like the International layout. That said I dig they are trying to produce a quality keyoard. To those that are saying it's just a $20 PC keyboard with custom key caps then you have never bought a mechanical keyboard. They are expensive for a reason. On Amazon you can buy an actual Cherry brand mechanical keyboard for $100. If you wanted custom key caps it would be at least another $50 for you to get them made. This keyboard uses actual Cherry keyswitches and they are not cheap. I still wouldn't buy it but don't dismiss it based on the cost. Well if you are in the USA then it is going to cost quite a bit more because of exchange rates and shipping. If this was produced and sold in the USA I am sure it would be cheaper in the end.
I think if the folks saying it is just a rebranded PC keyboard did a quick Google search, they would confirm that these things are not cheap. Nobody who has dabbled with keyboard replacements has made a bunch of cash for sure. It's neat having it, but I honestly would not have dropped $200 on it if I was not going to review it.
I appreciate what they tried to do here and the review you did Doug. I just can't help feeling like this is a decent quality PC keyboard with an weak Amiga skin applied. The gray color is too dark. It lacks legends for "Help" and perhaps other helpful keys to remember when in an Amiga emulation on the keys they are mapped to. (Front of the key legends for Help, UAE menu on F12, etc.) Then there is the wrong Fkey size and spacing; I'd splurge for a quality keyboard that replicated the placement of all the Amiga classic keys and then tastefully added the necessary PC standard keys too... a proper hybrid. This isn't Amiga "Classic" at all, it belongs on a OS4.1 machine.
You are not wrong. This in many ways feels like a really nice PC keyboard with some neat Amiga keys on it. IMHO it should have been 100% tested and working on a real Amiga with a USB interface. I am a bit shocked it won't work right on my A4000 - just about every USB keyboard I try on it works just fine except this one.
@@10MARC I think you missed my point I do not think the amiga would hve the power all the mx switched as it was more or work 2-3 activity lights not a 1.5 not the 3.5-5 volts dc a led backlighted keyboard likely needs to functionally power the keyboard.. Like I said I think this keyboard is likely meant to work on amiga usb clone consoles.. I doubt coiled cat-4 cable would have enough power I would love to get into an amiga today what stops me at present no future proofing meaning that pci/isa based stuff can exist in pci-e 1-8x whilst it is great to live on hardware of the past would it also be nice to have options on interface on modern pc hardware.. My point originally was this I do not think this was meant for amiga or commodore hardware, I believe this was made to work with the modern usb based clones and and usb wasn't applicable in the a500/a1000/a2000/a3000 and a4000
Well... you can check on the keyboards available from "Amiga on the Lake" here in the USA. And once in a while you find a nice used one on eBay. I got one for $60 a few years back.
As a keyboard gal, this is an absolute ripoff. You can get a better keyboard, with better switches than MX, for a quarter the price. MX switches are extremely cheap as mechanical switches go.
I don't know if your information is really accurate. Please tell me which keyboard is superior to Cherry MX switch keyboards for under $40.00 - all those keyboards are honestly garbage with Keycaps that rub off in a year. All the quality keyboards I see sell for $75 on the low end, and go up to about $125 to $150 for a really nice one. And custom keycaps are always extra.
@@davethorne3925 yeah I agree that an Amiga keyboard that doesn’t work on an Amiga is pretty dumb. They are sending these keyboards out to content creators and they want to help out the Amiga Addict magazine people I won’t be buying one either
@@10MARC Alinea in Germany recently got the SUM USB for Amiga 1200 back in stock. I placed an order, waiting for it to arrive. Maybe it is worth asking them if they can get hold of SUM USB for other Amiga's too? 🙂They have a few for Amiga 1200 left after what I can see on their website.
If it worked on an Amiga with a USB interface then it may be useful and I'd consider it, otherwise its rather pointless. I got a very nice PC keyboard with switches at half the price.
Good keyboards of this quality using Cherry MX run about $75 to $125 on Amazon, but the cheap ones are quite generic. The premium for the Amiga branding and keys is about $40.00, which is not outrageous considering how much custom Keycaps cost to print
Seems like a better option is one of the many cherry mx based mechanical keyboards out there. I bought a compact designed one for my 3d printed 1000/500/pistorm setup that has been perfect. And it was only ~$50. Yes it doesn't have the licensing/logo. But I could slap one of those decals on it. I commend them for the idea. The design looks good. But the price and the fact it doesn't work out of the box with an amiga, I'll pass. Cheaper options out there.
There is a big misunderstanding that these are "Stickers" on the keyboard. They certainly are not. The logos and Keycaps designs are impregnated into the plastic, just like back in the day.
@@10MARC I realize that. I didn't imply this keyboard has stickers. I was saying I could easily slap stickers on a mechanical USB keyboard with Cherry MX keys for less.
I was fairly pleased with the case color compared to my A4000 keyboard, but the function keys are several shades to dark. Is it my faulty memory or did some A1200's have almost white keys? I would have preferred some more accurate colors.
Well, it really is a keyboard designed for your PC meant to tickle your Amiga Nostalgia Bone. Being able to connect to a real Amiga is a secondary goal apparently.
that dont work on an amiga lol . i could buy a cheap usb keyboard modify it add some led's and put an amiga sticker on it for less than £20 and it would say amiga have lights work on a pc but still not on an amiga .
Not really. These are custom Keycaps, and those are not cheap. It's a bit more than a rebadged PC keyboard. It is at least equal to any really good quality keyboard.
Someone somewhere may find this worth the money, but I have to call is as I see it. Move along, nothing to see here. Sorry, but slapping Amiga logo and a couple Amiga labeled keys on essentially a chunky unattractive PC keyboard completely missed the target audience. I saw this before Doug's review and just seeing the a photo of it left me with the questions. Why? and For Who?
I hear what you are saying. I have never spent anything close to this for a PC keyboard. I usually use one in the $50 - $75 range. It honestly is more than slapping on logos. The logos and keys use the impregnated ink method so it won't ever come off. It's decent quality.
![ลองสุ่มไอโฟน 990 โกงมั้ย? [ โกงมั้ยครับ ep.101 ] | DOM](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/bfsWe0j492k/mqdefault.jpg)
This keyboard is my daily driver on my PC, I think you’re right if you approach it as a PC keyboard it’s brill. I’m interested to see how it works on an Amiga when the alternative cable comes out for it
I have been using it today on my PC, and the only thing that takes getting used to is the small "shift" key on the left! I keep hitting the darn backslash next to it. Must be a British thing?
@@10MARC Yep, our keyboards tend to have little left shifts. I think it's something about allowing space for European keyboards to have extra keys for accents and other additional symbols.
I bought this keyboard last year and after 8 months of waiting it arrived.
I wanted this for my 2000. Try finding those original keyboards now for a price less than this one.
I connected it to the SUM, USB Keyboard adapter and plugged it in to my 2000.
Works great.
Excellent quality product and it feels, types and looks great.
Love to have an SUM adapter, just cannot find one anywhere! I waited a few months for mine, too
I use this as my main keyboard. I really love it. looks great next to the checkmate 1500 plus case. Great video :) For sure the best system known to humanity! So they did a good choice.
Glad you like it! You're right. It would look good along with the Checkmate case
right now, Pi4 for PiMiga or checkmate cases sure. but if it wont work on my real one, I will wait. thats one expensive keyboard....
It would match nice with a Pi 4/PiMiga for sure! I am quite disappointed it acts so dumb on my A4000.
Hi Doug,
Now there is the "USB to Classic Amiga conversion kit for Amiga Mechanical Keyboards" from Simulant.
That should solve the problems you encountered.
I already ordered mine.
Yep. I looked at that and it seems to make a fairly permanent change for it to be used on an Amiga. Mine is now my daily driver on my PC, and I suppose I will keep it like that
Thanks as always to Doug for his reviews of new retro stuff.
My pleasure!
This looks like a great AMIGA emulation keyboard for like AMIGA Forever
I look forward to my new Tank Mouse coming in to match with my new keyboard.
Kudos on the Amiga license, the design, however I wish these would genuinely be a classic Amiga keyboard, compatible with the A2000/3000/4000 style keyboard connector. I get it though, it's much tougher to engineer something like that, than opt for standard USB.
But if we can get an adapter that plugs into any of those ports... Mmmmmm.... That would be nice!
Hehe, diggin' the I Love Lucy-style heart wipe there at the end! It's like this was edited on a Toaster!
Also, regardless of what's being typed, it's always great to see Final Writer '97, which I feel was one of the Amiga's greatest software packages.
I really like Final Writer 97. I wish it handled choosing fonts a bit differently, but that is a minor complaint. The print quality I can get out of it is incredible.
I loved Final Writer back in the day, but coming back to it now and the on screen font rendering is dreadful. I thought it was just me, but at a recent SWAG event I spoke to a couple of other attendees and they all agreed that the fonts look awful. Wordworth 7 displays fonts really nicely.
@@roberthazelby4424 Was Wordworth 7 the last version they made?
Thank you Doug
Very welcome
One of our NAG members brought one of these keyboards to the group last month. I think he was an early backer? We tried it on my Checkmate A1200, it has a USB sum adapter which goes over the keyboard chip.
It worked, but had most of the problems that you did with your A4000. But it looked cool with the Checkmate case 😊. Unfortunately I didn't take any video footage.
Oh? Even the same issues with the SUM adapter? Please let the guys at Simulant know this! That's not good... The SUM is compatible with most keyboards!
@@10MARC I'll have a word with them next month at the OLL23 Games Convention at Norwich UK. As I know they will be there🙂
Seems like a standard PC keyboard with just a few custom keycaps and an Amiga badge slapped on it.
Nope. Take a look and dona search on "Cherry MX" keyboards. Anything affordable is just generic black, and anything with any personality is expensive
Thanks for the review. It is not for me as I prefer the USA layout with large Return key and this looks more like the International layout. That said I dig they are trying to produce a quality keyoard. To those that are saying it's just a $20 PC keyboard with custom key caps then you have never bought a mechanical keyboard. They are expensive for a reason. On Amazon you can buy an actual Cherry brand mechanical keyboard for $100. If you wanted custom key caps it would be at least another $50 for you to get them made. This keyboard uses actual Cherry keyswitches and they are not cheap.
I still wouldn't buy it but don't dismiss it based on the cost. Well if you are in the USA then it is going to cost quite a bit more because of exchange rates and shipping. If this was produced and sold in the USA I am sure it would be cheaper in the end.
I think if the folks saying it is just a rebranded PC keyboard did a quick Google search, they would confirm that these things are not cheap. Nobody who has dabbled with keyboard replacements has made a bunch of cash for sure.
It's neat having it, but I honestly would not have dropped $200 on it if I was not going to review it.
Thanks for the video Doug. Too bad it isn’t quite ready for prime time on the Amiga yet.
It just needs to work right on a USB Amiga like every other $20 USB keyboard I own does. There is really no excuse
I appreciate what they tried to do here and the review you did Doug. I just can't help feeling like this is a decent quality PC keyboard with an weak Amiga skin applied. The gray color is too dark. It lacks legends for "Help" and perhaps other helpful keys to remember when in an Amiga emulation on the keys they are mapped to. (Front of the key legends for Help, UAE menu on F12, etc.) Then there is the wrong Fkey size and spacing; I'd splurge for a quality keyboard that replicated the placement of all the Amiga classic keys and then tastefully added the necessary PC standard keys too... a proper hybrid. This isn't Amiga "Classic" at all, it belongs on a OS4.1 machine.
You are not wrong. This in many ways feels like a really nice PC keyboard with some neat Amiga keys on it. IMHO it should have been 100% tested and working on a real Amiga with a USB interface. I am a bit shocked it won't work right on my A4000 - just about every USB keyboard I try on it works just fine except this one.
I think this keyboard iis meant for a clone system as to put it on an amiga you wold likely have to produce a driver for it the entire keys light up
Hopefully the new adapter for Amiga's will work well. We shall see.
@@10MARC I think you missed my point I do not think the amiga would hve the power all the mx switched
as it was more or work 2-3 activity lights not a 1.5 not the 3.5-5 volts dc a led backlighted keyboard likely needs to functionally power the keyboard..
Like I said I think this keyboard is likely meant to work on amiga usb clone consoles..
I doubt coiled cat-4 cable would have enough power
I would love to get into an amiga today what stops me at present no future proofing meaning that pci/isa based stuff can exist in pci-e 1-8x
whilst it is great to live on hardware of the past would it also be nice to have options on interface on modern pc hardware..
My point originally was this I do not think this was meant for amiga or commodore hardware, I believe this was made to work with the modern usb based clones and and usb wasn't applicable in the a500/a1000/a2000/a3000 and a4000
I'd love a new keyboard for my A500.....exactly like the one it came with. I might pay a ridiculous price for that.
Well... you can check on the keyboards available from
"Amiga on the Lake" here in the USA. And once in a while you find a nice used one on eBay. I got one for $60 a few years back.
As a keyboard gal, this is an absolute ripoff. You can get a better keyboard, with better switches than MX, for a quarter the price. MX switches are extremely cheap as mechanical switches go.
I don't know if your information is really accurate. Please tell me which keyboard is superior to Cherry MX switch keyboards for under $40.00 - all those keyboards are honestly garbage with Keycaps that rub off in a year. All the quality keyboards I see sell for $75 on the low end, and go up to about $125 to $150 for a really nice one. And custom keycaps are always extra.
wow £140 no thanks
It is expensive, and certainly not for everyone. All the keyboard projects I have seen have been so expensive!
@@10MARC yes they might be expensive but they do actually work on an amiga lol . unlike this item HaHaHa .
Yeah the clicky keyboards ain’t cheap. My Keychron K8 was €170.00
This is pretty average price for a mechanical keyboard
@@davethorne3925 yeah I agree that an Amiga keyboard that doesn’t work on an Amiga is pretty dumb.
They are sending these keyboards out to content creators and they want to help out the Amiga Addict magazine people
I won’t be buying one either
@@imalebowski Yeah that's what I said?
It might work fin with a Sum keyboard adapter; I have one, and even Apple keyboards work fine with it.
I have been looking on and off for one of those for almost two years now. Nobody ever seems to have them in stock!
@@10MARC Alinea in Germany recently got the SUM USB for Amiga 1200 back in stock. I placed an order, waiting for it to arrive. Maybe it is worth asking them if they can get hold of SUM USB for other Amiga's too? 🙂They have a few for Amiga 1200 left after what I can see on their website.
It's a shame it's standard ANSI layout instead of the Amiga's unique Unix/ISO layout.
Very true.
If it worked on an Amiga with a USB interface then it may be useful and I'd consider it, otherwise its rather pointless. I got a very nice PC keyboard with switches at half the price.
Good keyboards of this quality using Cherry MX run about $75 to $125 on Amazon, but the cheap ones are quite generic. The premium for the Amiga branding and keys is about $40.00, which is not outrageous considering how much custom Keycaps cost to print
Can this be purchased with multi yellow coloured keys? Lol
That would be perfect, eh?
Seems like a better option is one of the many cherry mx based mechanical keyboards out there. I bought a compact designed one for my 3d printed 1000/500/pistorm setup that has been perfect. And it was only ~$50. Yes it doesn't have the licensing/logo. But I could slap one of those decals on it.
I commend them for the idea. The design looks good. But the price and the fact it doesn't work out of the box with an amiga, I'll pass. Cheaper options out there.
There is a big misunderstanding that these are "Stickers" on the keyboard. They certainly are not. The logos and Keycaps designs are impregnated into the plastic, just like back in the day.
@@10MARC I realize that. I didn't imply this keyboard has stickers. I was saying I could easily slap stickers on a mechanical USB keyboard with Cherry MX keys for less.
I ordered mine back in January 2023, and it still hasn't arrived.
About three months to get mine, and I had to email them and remind them
@@10MARC I just sent out a second reminder. Thanks for the heads up!
Shame they messed up on the colours, for that money it should be pretty much 100% accurate. The keys are too bright and the case is too dark.
I was fairly pleased with the case color compared to my A4000 keyboard, but the function keys are several shades to dark. Is it my faulty memory or did some A1200's have almost white keys? I would have preferred some more accurate colors.
@@10MARC all A1200s I have had have been an off-white colour rather than the cream/beige of the A500 which this keyboard seems to closer resemble
omg that price for a keyboard. better off just buying an Amiga LOL. looks nice though.
Very true. The market for this is limited, bit I am glad it exists.
140GBP for pc layout keyboard with "amiga" sign, naaaah...
Well it is a mechanical keyboard. Those are fairly pricey as is
pc keyboard with amiga sticker not for me I want it to be amiga keyboard layout
Well, it really is a keyboard designed for your PC meant to tickle your Amiga Nostalgia Bone. Being able to connect to a real Amiga is a secondary goal apparently.
Unfortunately, just a rebadged PC keyboard..
that dont work on an amiga lol . i could buy a cheap usb keyboard modify it add some led's and put an amiga sticker on it for less than £20 and it would say amiga have lights work on a pc but still not on an amiga .
Not really. These are custom Keycaps, and those are not cheap. It's a bit more than a rebadged PC keyboard. It is at least equal to any really good quality keyboard.
@@10MARC yes but is a really good quality pc keyboard £140 nowadays ....... no :)
WHERE IS MY BRAND NEW SUIPED UP AMIGA 1200 THAT IM WILLING TO PAY 1200 DOLLARS FOR????
Buy a Raspberry Pi 400 if you can find it. Those make a dandy Amiga 1200 replacement for under $200!
Someone somewhere may find this worth the money, but I have to call is as I see it. Move along, nothing to see here. Sorry, but slapping Amiga logo and a couple Amiga labeled keys on essentially a chunky unattractive PC keyboard completely missed the target audience. I saw this before Doug's review and just seeing the a photo of it left me with the questions. Why? and For Who?
I hear what you are saying. I have never spent anything close to this for a PC keyboard. I usually use one in the $50 - $75 range. It honestly is more than slapping on logos. The logos and keys use the impregnated ink method so it won't ever come off. It's decent quality.
What nonsense... This isn't an Amiga keyboard.
Well... It is a keyboard with the Amiga license. The market is bigger for a PC keyboard than an Amiga keyboard I suppose.