Wow, been reading about this new model but your review sure shows the LED options in a new light
 
Thanks for posting this. Nice shot of the Iron Man key - I've seen the skulls and candy-corn layered keycaps before among others, but not that one!

You mean above the 0 key?, there is no 10 key unless you mean F10.
 
So are you talking F5-F8 or F9-F12

Phero

The 10-key is the number pad I guess, the keys above /,* and - are what I'm wondering about.

 
Ah... those are your media keys.
Calculator, My Computer, Outlook, and Home(Loads your default browser.... If your in the browser it loads your homepage)
 
All shortcut keys. Don't even need to press FN, Ctrl or anything. Don't know if these keys are changeable to different shortcuts. I don't believe these are changeable since the memory is already attached to your different profiles on the keyboard and there is no software for the keyboard.

Phero

Do they actually work? I've had keyboards with similar keys that must not know or use the correct directories and just end up not doing anything. Also I haven't had to use Outlook in such a long time...

 
Yea they worked, just clicked all of them again. Only useless one I find is the outlook. Maybe that can be an upgrade the the Shine III when they decide to make it, customizable shortcut keys. Would be nice if they allowed the email shortcut key to lets say open up gmail.com, yahoo.com, hotmail.com depending on what you use. The other three though are pretty good and I find myself using it every so often when needed.
 
 
Just in case you want to know to know. All Media keys, Volume up, down, mute, reverse, forward, play/pause  are all working.
 
Telling ya, they don't skimp on this keyboard. Everything is done right... well except the windows outlook lol.

Phero

Sounds good then. I was looking into Ducky Shine keyboards for awhile as my next one, I didn't even know that they had the Shine IIs out.

 
 
Yea certain keys like the blue and brown get sold out fast. Specially since a common combo people are interested in is
Blue LED, Blue MX keys
White LED Blue MX Keys
Blue LED, Brown MX keys
White LED, Brown MX Keys
 
MechanicalKeyboards.com
Tigerimports.com
These retailers are all sold out. If you do find them online, there in stock via Australia sites but they don't ship to the USA or other countries... only within AUS. When they do get restocked, there shipment is usually sold out so fast that a lot of people are out of luck. They don't buy  300+ keyboards at a time... they do like 20-30 at a time.
 
So I did some serious searching and found Qtan on ebay and his website. His prices on the website are 20$ cheaper then on ebvay.  It seems he probably has a direct connection to the manufacturer since he does NOT run out of any type of keyboard you ask for. Which is good in my book.
Ebay  - 189.99?
Website - 169.99
The website link can be located on the first post.
 
So of course that was a no brain-er. He packaged them with bubble wrap all over. Some dents on the corners but I can't expect a perfect shipment especially since it's coming from China and then has to go through customs.
All in all, I am extremely happy with my purchase. This keyboard rocks.

Whats the cost? Sorry if i missed it.

willem445

Whats the cost? Sorry if i missed it.

They run about $150. It is my next and last keyboard. Typing on a CM Storm Quick Fire and I also have a DAS. But I want a red LED backlit Cherry Blue Switch keyboard and only Ducky makes one.

 
 Awesome review. Great job.     

HAZMAN_THE_GREAT

Hey does this keyboard also come with other color switches? I hate the stupid sound that mechanical keyboards make. It reminds me of some one smacking their gum when they chew it. I usually use the best membrane keyboard which is the Alienware TactX in the picture below. I was really thinking about getting your keyboard before my Alienware one. Its because I just love how bright it is as well as how it has the pulse effect. Boy if I was at a LAN party with that ducky keyboard I would show it off. NICE REVIEW!

 
Well it's all dependent on the keys. Each key is different and the sound that comes out is different.
Cherry MX Blue keys are the most prominent and loudest click out of all the keys. I actually enjoy those keys cause it sounds nice and works great.
 
Here is a good explanation of keyboards and keys.
http://www.daskeyboard.com/blog/?page_id=1458
 
  YouTube video of the different Cherry MX key sounds:

 
 
Cherry MX Black - No Tactile Sound
Cherry MX Red - Similar to Blacks
Cherry MX Brown - Semi Tactile Sound
Cherry MX Clear - Little more prominent then Browns
  Cherry MX Blue -  The highest prominent sound of all the keys.
 
 
So for your needs since Blue makes to much of a sound for your liking. I'd say go with the Browns. Watch the video and make your own decision. I do recommend changing from your membrane to a mechanical though. The great thing about Ducky's you create it how you want it. You get to choose the LED color and the MX keys associated with it.

HAZMAN_THE_GREAT

Man that guy has some chubby hands lol. I would rather have the black switches because you say they make the least amount noise. But in the video the brown switches seemed to be a bit more quieter than the black switches. I have used a mechanical keyboard before. People claim that they type faster with a mechanical keyboard. Well I put myself to the test between a mechanical and a non mechanical keyboard. What was funny is I actually typed the same amount of words per minute with both keyboards. I can type 73 words per minute. That's pretty slow for a person who is a computer enthusiast like me as well as being on the computer all the time.

 
Well you need to have the keyboard for awhile. Your ears and fingers reach to the clicking sound the keyboard makes. So your release of the key is faster and heading to the next key. So the time put in to using mechanical keyboards allow for faster typing.

Wishing the Price of the Ducky Shine 2 was a lot smaller, but you get what you pay for. I had my eye on that keyboard since the day the rumors started about it being made. Instead I went with a CM Storm Quickfire, which I picked up for $35, and have been loving it since I got it(today :P).
 
I'll probably end up getting the Ducky Shine 2, White LED, Cherry Blues around Christmas time.

pauldofish

IIRC, the original Ducky Shine had a flaw where the keyboard would reset the backlight settings back to it's default mode (no backlighting) whenever you restarted your computer (or in general, the keyboard losing power and powering up again). I found that to be a little annoying and I held off purchasing one of those keyboards...

Does the Shine II still do that?

 
Didn't own the original Ducky Shine but I can confirm in the Shine II that problem does not exist.

pauldofish

Cloudz00x

pauldofish

IIRC, the original Ducky Shine had a flaw where the keyboard would reset the backlight settings back to it's default mode (no backlighting) whenever you restarted your computer (or in general, the keyboard losing power and powering up again). I found that to be a little annoying and I held off purchasing one of those keyboards...

Does the Shine II still do that?

Didn't own the original Ducky Shine but I can confirm in the Shine II that problem does not exist.

wow awesome! now if only someone had them in stock....

 
Click the link on the top of my review. He has them in stock.