deskthority

So XArmor's website has been offline for weeks and they aren't responding to my emails. If they don't reply to my last email by the end of the month I'm going to assume they've gone belly up (or that the brand/division has been disbanded), which frees me to do what I want with this:




An early prototype of the iOne XArmor U9W/U27 (I'll refer to it as the U9W from here on). This was given to me for product testing purposes in October 2010, and has seen moderate use on and off since then.

Info:
- Wireless (2.4GHz)
- Cherry MX Blue switches
- Steel plate construction
- Can use standard miniUSB cable if you prefer wired
- Accepts AA batteries

Since this is a prototype it's a little rough around the edges. This early version does not feature an on/off switch, which is its biggest con (this feature was added to the design after I commented on it). The top half of the case is from an XArmor U9BL, and so has the rubber coating, but does not perfectly snap together on the right hand side. There is no battery cover. It is designed to work with XArmor's snap-on wrist rest, but one did not come with this sample.

Build quality is otherwise pretty decent, with the same basic plate mount construction as the U9BL and Razer Black Widow.

Useful range of wireless operation is about 5-10 meters from the receiver, works with glitches out to 15 meters, does not work at all past that. Using a typical 1100W microwave within 5 meters may reduce useful range temporarily.

Battery life probably varies based on battery quality. Cheap-ass Kodak ZnC batteries last about six to ten weeks of moderate usage. Alkaline or Li batteries probably last about two to three times as long.

Keycaps are lasered and infilled, not sure what type of plastic. Lettering can be felt.

Keyboard came with an iOne wireless optical mouse. The mouse isn't very good and I advised them to package a better one with the keyboard or none at all. Still, it's good enough for couch mousing and can track (however poorly) on a number of surfaces including wood, glossy paper, fake leather, and jeans.

The wireless "nanoreceiver" is, naturally, very small. It's been tested to work flawlessly on multiple PCs (Windows and Ubuntu, haven't tried Mac OSX) and on a Play Station 3. All systems detected the device and installed drivers automatically, first time install takes about 3-5 seconds, after that generally takes no more than one second. The keyboard has a little slot on the back that the nanoreceiver can slot into during transport.













If I do have to conclude that XArmor is dead (if they don't ever get back to me) then I'll be selling it since I don't have a pressing need for it. I'll contact iOne too.

Any appraisals?

i do want!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
my next keyboard shoulda been a blue, so why not
but it think i cant afford it...
200$+ for this?? it's wireless
but you need somebody who needs it bad, cuz nobody is going to pay 200$ for it..
they would've gone topre..

but if you want to dump it 100$+?

I never said I was going to sell it for $200... I mean, I'd love to, but no one's going to pay that.

I was just asking for appraisals.

Phaedrus2129 wrote:I never said I was going to sell it for $200... I mean, I'd love to, but no one's going to pay that.

I was just asking for appraisals.

yeah thats what i said..
and also if you just normally want to sell it it would be around 100$

you sure xarmor site is offline??
its up but it says this : Our website is currently closed for maintenance.

It's been like that for going on a month now.

Phaedrus2129 wrote:It's been like that for going on a month now.

oh ok.. >_>
if you want it drastically to sell it pm me we can work out a price..
mx brown is not clicky enough for me >_>

Going out of business huh... if the BlackWidow rumors are true too I guess the "mechanical summer" did not last that long after all

Still waiting to confirm, awaiting contact from XArmor and iOne.

sixty wrote:Going out of business huh... if the BlackWidow rumors are true too I guess the "mechanical summer" did not last that long after all

Black widow rumors?

Some people were discussing that it might be taken from the market soon. I did not actually fully read the thread though. I believe it was on OCN, too. :rolleyes:

OCN. Always a reliable source of info.
http://www.overclock.net/10999433-post8948.html

How do I embed links here?

I told you before already:

aka the same as on any other forum that uses BB code.

Ah, no quotation marks. Damn German BBs.

Ah, found it. Above the 2. That's weird.

Would you rather be Rollen Druck? Or Rollen Strg?

When can we expect your first book with German poetry?

I asked the same question to the Koreans buying German keysets, but to my disappointment no one so far has produced any worthwhile German poetry.

Unsere Wünsche sind Vorgefühle der Fähigkeiten, die in uns liegen, Vorboten desjenigen, was wir zu leisten imstande sein werden.

Trying to write poetry in German is rather like trying to make music with a tin can and a Cherry blue.

...

tink click tink click click click tink

Now that they are alive again, did they sue you yet for breaking the NDA?

i don't call a site with only a support e-mail "UP"
lol

runeazn wrote:i don't call a site with only a support e-mail "UP"
rofl

Does "rofl" = "."? Must be a punctuation I'm not familiar with.

He says rofl a LOT.

Hard to take someone seriously who's constantly rolling on the floor laughing.

keyboardlover wrote:He says rofl a LOT.

Hard to take someone seriously who's constantly rolling on the floor laughing.

Sure I do.

Ror

Man, first Legos with cleavage now a nude samurai (or a sumo wrestler I guess). Lego got quite badass over the years. Back then all I had was a race driver and a pirate, those were the most fancy ones they had.

Hey Ripster, are your Legos pad printed, dyesub, or double shot?

I have at least 1 double shot Lego piece. Rest appear to be pad printed.

sixty wrote:Man, first Legos with cleavage now a nude samurai (or a sumo wrestler I guess). Lego got quite badass over the years. Back then all I had was a race driver and a pirate, those were the most fancy ones they had.