I have just upgraded from a Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 to my first mechanical keyboard a few days ago and thought I would share my experience as this is not a well known model. I had it brought over from China where it was purchased for £40. First impression is that I'm really impressed from the packaging to the feel. Packaging The packaging was good for this keyboard. It was ordered on line and taken on some flights before I received it. It comes in a plain brown box. Opening it up it has a clear plastic cover and a plastic bag. It was housed secularly in the packaging so that it didn't move around. Feel My first impression is that it is really heavy, especially on my lap, 1063g. It is nice to type on the I miss the extra keys more than I thought I would. I find that actually used the outside enter key often when not typing and the keypad to enter the pound sign £. The keys feel very responsive and are comfortable to type on. My fiancée complains that it is a lot louder than my previous keyboard. I went with the brown switches, or 'tea' as it is called in China. Backlight I really like the backlighting and it has far more options than I expected. I can set up a profile with each number key so that different keys are lit and switch between profiles. It seems to have 8 brightness settings which is more than enough, 9 if you include off. Again, I have nothing to compare it to. I would have liked RGB but it was not worth paying double for it. Maybe next time. I can set it to light the keys I press or due a snake pattern. Both are annoying. I can also set the keys to hold the light for a short timeor a wave with every press which gives me a headache. Cord After having to replace my previous keyboard due to a damaged cord I really wanted a model with a detachable cable. The ducky zero for this price would not have LED backlighting or a detachable cable. The cable has a nice feel to it. It can route out the back with the clear clip. This doesn't stay very secure on my lap but would work great on a desk. It can also be routed to the left or right and clips into the channel without the clear clip. Features I have not figured out all the features as the keyboard came with family that needs taking care of. As you can see it has a guide in Chinese and a brush. I could have ordered it with a key puller but didn't want to complicate things and end up with something wrong. The board has media keys and short cuts that my previous keyboard has. It also has N-key roll over, not sure why you would turn it off. I'm thinking 24 key over roll under USB and Full NKRO under PS2. Windows key turned off in game mode. Conclusion Overall I've very pleased with this keyboard. I'm especially pleased when I take the price into concideration. This is my first mech keyboard and my first review so let me know if I left anything out.
I've bound my most used special characters to other combinations using AutoHotkey (to alt+shift+numrow etc.). Maybe a bit of a workaround, but it works. If it's just the pound sign you want, isn't there an option in Windows to switch the dollar sign with £? I believe the US international keyboard layout setting also has the pound sign behind a few modifiers.
Do other Alt + options work without the number pad? If so Alt +156 will also get you the £ symbol - you might try that. Otherwise, I think you may need to change Windows to use UK language settings.
I use the dollar sign as much as i use the pound key so I really need easy access to both. I guess I will need to look into AutoHotkey. I didn't realise that a numpad was needed for this but I guess it's too late now.
