[4:20 Reviews] The Cheat



I’ve had the Cheat for a few months now and it’s holding up like a champ. I don’t use it on the regular, but I definitely take it out for a spin every once in a while. It’s got this elegant feel to it that makes you think you’re drinking a nice glass of Dom at a classy party.

For those of you who don’t like reading (like me), I’ve conveniently listed some basic information below:

Case Type : 3 piece aluminum case with an aluminum plate.

3 piece aluminum case with an aluminum plate. Keycaps : Red Alert (original OTD GB) with tsangan add-on kit. Also a Protoss aluminum keycap in the Esc slot (by feng on GH)

: Red Alert (original OTD GB) with tsangan add-on kit. Also a Protoss aluminum keycap in the Esc slot (by feng on GH) Cabling/Wiring : Custom trace wires were run to illuminate LEDs on F5-F8 and both 1x Windows keys. Also a custom USB cable was soldered onto the PCB’s controller (by MiMiC aka mistakemistake on GH)

Custom trace wires were run to illuminate LEDs on F5-F8 and both 1x Windows keys. Also a custom USB cable was soldered onto the PCB’s controller (by MiMiC aka mistakemistake on GH) Other Aesthetics : Cherry logo sticker by KBD/OTD buy

Cherry logo sticker by KBD/OTD buy Switch and Modification : Cherry MX Blacks with custom 62g springs. Each individual switch is modified with lubricant on the friction points (slider, spring) and stickers applied between the housing.

Now onto the review….

The Cheat was a custom community project from the Korean forums and uses a pretty standard (nothing fancy) PCB. By default, there are only 2 LEDs (Caps and Scroll Lock) and everything else is normal. Mine was sold to me with custom trace wiring to illuminate the F5-F8 and 1x Windows keys in red. The neat thing about this layout is that it uses a 7-unit spacebar, 1.5-unit Ctrl/Alt, 1-unit Windows keys and an off-centered/stepped Caps Lock. The purpose of this is to mimic older generation Cherry keyboards. I mean it looks pretty sick too, right?

I bought this Cheat from a member on GH for an amazing price of $330 shipped. On the Korean Domestic Market (KDM!), this keyboard originally sold for right around $300. Consider shipping to the US, fully assembled, this is a great deal. Unfortunately, when I first received it, it looked like this…

I mean it’s not terrible by any means, just not my style! Later, I decided to get it re-anodized by a local shop here in Chicago. $40 and 1-hour later, the top and bottom pieces of the case were finished in the silver I always dreamed of!

Now as far as feel goes, the aluminum is very good quality and lighter than my other custom Korean keyboards. It has a sandblasted feel/look to it and is very sturdy. It’s not moving anywhere, anytime soon 🙂

The keyboard is fitted with Cherry MX Blacks that have been heavily modified. The original springs have been replaced with custom 62g springs. Lubricant has been applied to the friction points of the switch which include portions of the slider and springs to give the linear switch a smooth and frictionless feel. As a result of applying lubricant, the sound decibels have also dramatically decreased when bottoming out. This is the kind of keyboard you would want to use to play games. The force is light enough to play high APM games without fatigue and is also linear to allow “riding the actuation point” for FPS games.

For more information on switch modifications, be sure to check out MMB’s Lube Guide

Mostly what I use my Cheat for is taking pictures, putting new keycaps on it and giving readers ideas on what they can do with their own keyboards. I don’t use this keyboard much at all because my KMAC is just too awesome. But the Cheat does have a special place in my Korean Keyboard heart. I mean, just look at how awesome my Protoss keycap and Cherry sticker look on it!

Now lastly, I did want to give an honorable mention to mistakemistake aka MiMiC on GH. He created this awesome cable for me and the only direction I gave him was a picture of my Cheat =) He is the epitome of a good businessman. Always catering to the needs of his customers, and treats them all like friends. Good consultation, product, and post-product discussions. I know that if there wasn’t something I liked about my cable, he’d make me a brand new one just so he could get it right and I really appreciate good business ethics like that. And who could be angry about a gold tip USB!?

Well, what are you waiting for? Visit MiMiC’s shop!

Until next time, I bid you adieu! But here’s a little taste of what’s to come…