My coverage of Computex 2019 is sponsored by Tecware.
Providing quality computer and gaming products.
Now onto Mistel.
They were together with Vortex, as they are in the same group, and these guys are known
for their split keyboards, with the original Barocco MD600 being quite popular.
So that’s the split 60% with full sized Cherry MX keyswitches, and a plastic enclosure.
The split nature of these keyboards is mainly about ergonomics.
So naturally our arms, wrists, and hands kind of angle inwards, and they aren’t supposed
to be so cramped together, and having the split, allows you to shape it to how you want.
Which in turn creates a more comfortable and healthy experience.
The MD650L is another one that has been around for a while, and this is a 65% split.
So we get the dedicated arrow keys that a lot of people love, including myself, and
a few nav keys on the right hand side as well.
The case on these are made from aluminium, so the build is a bit nicer than the original
MD600.
This however uses the Cherry ML keyswitches, which are low profile switches, and have a
small tactile bump, kind of like MX Browns, but shallower.
It’s good that they made some really nice keycaps for this board because there’s like
no chance of finding another keyset to replace this, because of the different stems, and
of course layout.
They’re kind of like shorter DSA profile caps, and they fit the look perfectly.
It would have been nice to get a standard switch version of the split 65%, but they
did do that on their new 75% split, the MD770.
This is much like the MD600 in how it looks, and it’s sporting a similar plastic enclosure.
This isn’t the final design, and is just a sample, so things are subject to change.
So on one of these, there were no feet to angle the keyboard.
And on the other one, there were some feet that weren’t flip up like what’s on the
MD600.
The cylindrical feet should provide a more sturdy experience if you’re going for the
tenting approach.
On the little info card thing, it says it comes with doubleshot PBT keycaps, which are
probably backlit as it has RGB backlighting, so I think these are just display caps, as
it’s just DSA Pulse.
75% adds the top function row, for people who may need that extra primary functionality.
It also mentions Bluetooth, so that’s cool as well.
But yeh, really nice, hopefully I can get my hands on one of these in the future.
Mistel also have their more traditional mechs.
So the Sleeker has also been out for a while as well, and is just a solid aluminium TKL,
with a brushed finish.
I haven’t really seen this around and about, and I often see the iKBC MF87 instead.
The Hacker MD800 BT is their full sized Bluetooth keyboard, and this really is just a simple
mech, with a plastic enclosure, but with Bluetooth.
But the keycaps look really nice on these.
They’re doubleshot PBT, in either Black on White, or White on Black, which are super
clean.
And if they were in a Cherry profile rather than OEM, they’d be worth quite a bit more.
Overall, they showed off an impressive lineup that was quite different to what everyone
else was showing, and deservedly got some attention.
Again, Mistel is part of that Vortex group, together with iKBC, so it’s interesting
to see them continuing to have different brand names, with Mistel primarily taking care of
the split keyboard line.
The new split 75% is impressive.
And it’s cool to see them add a larger split to their lineup.
These keyboards can be quite pricey, and they’re only available with Cherry MX keyswitches,
however they do provide a unique product, and have chucked in RGB backlighting and Bluetooth
as well.
The TKL and full sized were pretty standard, and to be honest, seems pretty similar to
the iKBC stuff, so that bit of crossover is a bit weird.
But yeh, I’m excited to see how they can keep it fresh next year.
Maybe we’ll even see a split full sized or something.
Big thanks again to Tecware for supporting my coverage of Computex 2019.
More stuff to come, so stay tuned.