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Mechanical Keyboards |OT| Once More, With Feeling
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I use this simple Bluetooth numpad from Magicforce: https://smile.amazon.com/Mechanical...cforce+numpad+bluetooth&qid=1623864830&sr=8-4
This one has Cherry Blue, but there's also ones that use Red, and Browns, as well as some Gateron switches. I wanted something very, very simple and cheap, and that's what this is.
If you are fine with spending quite a bit more, there's this one that's currently in stock: https://epomaker.com/products/epomaker-gk21s-kit
Hotswappable and supports both wired and wireless mode. Arguably the best you can do, I think.
My Sailor Moon Akko 3108v2 came in and I'm instantly in love. Everything about the keyboard is beautiful, and the Akko Orange switches are really nice IMO. I like this more than my older keyboard that died a year or two back that had kailh browns. I think it's also slightly quieter, though I still bottom out pretty hard. Going to take a little while to get used to a mech keyboard again. My hands are a little more tired typing than I'm used to with the flimsy membrane keyboards, but not so much so that they are genuinely uncomfortable.
Mech keyboard adjacent:
Sooo, if you like fighting games but don't want to use a controller or arcade stick, and you like using a keyboard but feel you hit the wrong key too often, there's something called the fight board.
thnikk.moe
There's a low profile model which uses Kailh Choc switches (these seem to be sold out), and a standard Cherry MX model.
Sooo, if you like fighting games but don't want to use a controller or arcade stick, and you like using a keyboard but feel you hit the wrong key too often, there's something called the fight board.
thnikk
thnikk.moe
There's a low profile model which uses Kailh Choc switches (these seem to be sold out), and a standard Cherry MX model.
Yeah didn't take as long as I thought it would to adjust. Already hitting 88WPM adjusted, was 75 adjusted just a couple hours ago. Very nice.
Not too familiar with mechanical keyboards but I would appreciate some help.
Went back into the office for the first time in 15 months last week and I can't go back to the awful $10 Logitech rubber membrane Staples special but I don't want anything flashy or too expensive. It's an open office so it needs to be silent or as quiet as a standard rubber membrane keyboard and I actively don't want any RGB. Needs to be full size, including the Home, Pause/Break key and PrtSc + Num Pad because I mostly use an ancient terminal program that uses those keys specifically.
Found the Keychron C2 on Amazon for $48 which seems adequate.
I just need to replace the Red switches with something more quiet.
Would these Kailh box silent pink switches be recommended/compatible with the hot swap mechanism on that board?
(Is there any other recommended vendor for these aside from Amazon that has these in-stock? Their official AliExpress store is somehow more expensive than Amazon and most others I found were OOS.)
I use Cherry red switches at home but those would be way too loud to use in the office, so I'm OK with some degree of mushiness in comparison as long as they're super quiet.
Thanks for any feedback.
Went back into the office for the first time in 15 months last week and I can't go back to the awful $10 Logitech rubber membrane Staples special but I don't want anything flashy or too expensive. It's an open office so it needs to be silent or as quiet as a standard rubber membrane keyboard and I actively don't want any RGB. Needs to be full size, including the Home, Pause/Break key and PrtSc + Num Pad because I mostly use an ancient terminal program that uses those keys specifically.
Found the Keychron C2 on Amazon for $48 which seems adequate.
I just need to replace the Red switches with something more quiet.
Would these Kailh box silent pink switches be recommended/compatible with the hot swap mechanism on that board?
(Is there any other recommended vendor for these aside from Amazon that has these in-stock? Their official AliExpress store is somehow more expensive than Amazon and most others I found were OOS.)
I use Cherry red switches at home but those would be way too loud to use in the office, so I'm OK with some degree of mushiness in comparison as long as they're super quiet.
Thanks for any feedback.
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I personally use Gazzew Bobagum silent linears and they are quieter than regular rubber dome switches.
They should be compatible with that keyboard since it supports 5 pin switches. The problem could be the price.
$0.60 per switch you would have to spend around $66 for a full size keyboard.
You can also get some rubber o-rings to further reduce the noise of the reds.
I would think the majority of sound from a linear switch would be from the key caps bottoming out. I don't know enough about mechs in general though...
Yeah i was going to guess this would be the solution for that.
Im looking at upgrading my Keychron K6's keys to backlit PBT keys. Where is the best place to buy these?
Thanks for the suggestions, I will look up some Youtube videos and have these in consideration.
Forgot about o-rings. I have those on my current Cherry reds and they do help a little so I'll try those too.
Also, has anyone seen any keycaps that emulate the font on the 90s Apple keyboards?
I've seen two, one set is very expensive on AliExpress and have a non-standard bulbous profile and the other ones are the Keychron retro set but I don't care for the "cute" specialty keys for Enter and Backspace and such.
Keychron OEM Profile PBT Retro Keycap Set
The Keychron K2 and K6 PBT Retro Mac Keycap Set is crafted to honor to the spirit that Apple bring us. Inspired by the best keyboard Apple ever made (Apple Extended Keyboard), this dye-sub PBT Keycap Set is set to reminiscent the good old days and stands out from the crowd in a unique way.
www.keychron.com
I am currently in the market for my first mechanical keyboard and have been looking at some youtube reviews, reddit, user reviews and general availability in Europe and I'm simply too overwhelmed. Perhaps you guys can nudge me in the right direction?
Ideally I would like to be set for € 200 or less. I'm currently using a Logitech K800 wireless which I've been using since forever. It's a full size keyboard and ideally I'd like to scale down to 65 or 75%. I don't ever use the numpad and I can deal with the F keys being on function keys, but I do want to have the arrow keys in there. The reason for the upgrade is in part because of aesthetics, and in part because I'd like to have a better typing experience and more room for my mouse. Being able to customize the keyboard with custom keycaps is a must for me, but ideally the stock board comes with a good set of PBT keys. Wireless is a nice to have, but is not required. I would like to have RGB backlighting though. I have no prior experience with mechanical switches but I get the sense that tacticle brown switches are the way to go for me. I just want a good and tactile feel, but don't want to wake my girlfriend up while typing.
Thusfar I've looked at Keychron K2 (worried about the height of the board requiring a wristpad), Ducky One 2 SF (not a fan of the inefficient key layout on the right side) and the Durgod Hades 68 (for some reason more difficult to replace the keycaps I believe?). Would be really grateful for any recommendations!
Ideally I would like to be set for € 200 or less. I'm currently using a Logitech K800 wireless which I've been using since forever. It's a full size keyboard and ideally I'd like to scale down to 65 or 75%. I don't ever use the numpad and I can deal with the F keys being on function keys, but I do want to have the arrow keys in there. The reason for the upgrade is in part because of aesthetics, and in part because I'd like to have a better typing experience and more room for my mouse. Being able to customize the keyboard with custom keycaps is a must for me, but ideally the stock board comes with a good set of PBT keys. Wireless is a nice to have, but is not required. I would like to have RGB backlighting though. I have no prior experience with mechanical switches but I get the sense that tacticle brown switches are the way to go for me. I just want a good and tactile feel, but don't want to wake my girlfriend up while typing.
Thusfar I've looked at Keychron K2 (worried about the height of the board requiring a wristpad), Ducky One 2 SF (not a fan of the inefficient key layout on the right side) and the Durgod Hades 68 (for some reason more difficult to replace the keycaps I believe?). Would be really grateful for any recommendations!
Thanks. I ended up ordering the GMMK Pro in black despite it meaning that I'll go vastly over budget and will likely have to wait a bit for it to be delivered. I really like the design and the fact that the switches are hot swappable is a plus. Ordered the Gateron Brown keys alongside it and I am now looking for a nice set of keycaps and a coiled cable to finish it up.
I really underestimated how pricey custom keycaps are... I saw the Wasabi v2 keycap set up for pre-order on candykeys and it's a whopping € 145 for the base set and € 55 for a few alternate keys. And then you have to wait until end of 2021 / early 2022 to get them. Are these normal prices for GMK keys, cause man...
My future funk caps came in. Kinda unhappy with how the colors came out. The preview renders were more dark purple than this.
My future funk caps came in. Kinda unhappy with how the colors came out. The preview renders were more dark purple than this.
Numpad on the left is throwing me off! Also, there are two spacebars?
Wish Logitech hurried up and announced an improved revision or successor for their G915 keyboard.
Make ALL keys backlit and change the placement of the G-keys.
Make ALL keys backlit and change the placement of the G-keys.
Yeah it's split spacebars, 40% keyboards usually has them. Kinda wish I bought the spacebar set so I didn't have to use shift keycaps.
GMK caps are around that price (they're made in Germany) and for sets you can still order now, early 2022 is a really generous estimate. It can easily take up to more than a year for a more popular set with huge volume. GMK Apollo was running from Feb-March 2020 and expected to ship in late 2020 but got delayed until August this year (for now at least, they said May, then June before).
Part of the reason for delay is the color matching of the sample not matching what the desinger had in mind so there was some back and forth in the process, which is not uncommon. Many sets ran into this issue.
The big part of why it take so long for GMK caps is how popular this hobby has become so the demands are much greater than ever and there is not much choice in manufacturing these caps, especially high quality double-shot ABS ones (PBT caps are not as good when it comes to reproducing some of the colors) so everyone flock to GMK.
GMK sets are also usually come in a pretty big set that cover wide range of layout so the base price will be higher than others.
Try looking for ePBT sets, they are typically cheaper (with choices to get a smaller set with just the keys you need) and pretty high quality. Their selections are way more limited color-wise though. Even Tai-hao caps are pretty good compare to most stock caps on pre-built boards and they can be really cheap so they can be a good choice if you want something cheap and readily available.
Thank you for the lengthy explanation. I actually hadn't realized before that the GMK keycaps were ABS. For the time being I've purchased some cheap HK Gaming PBT pudding keycaps to tide me over until there is a group buy of either a GMK or ePBT design that really speaks to me. I
Took a stab at making my own cable. Didn't go horribly. I probably need to tighten the coil a bit and re-set it. Overall I'm pretty happy with it.
Yessss it's such a great collab! I love how the details are on the keycaps and the board itself.
I was able to get the ikki-dreamscape collab board! So happy! All the custom layout options will make a perfect last board.
https://novelkeys.xyz/products/aluvia-keycaps-gb
All CNC'd aluminium keycap set and it is Olivia at that.
$350 may seems absurd for just keycaps but considering the price of a single artisan aluminium cap, getting an entire set for $350 is not that bad. There's also the fact that Olivia sets used to go for around this price point in the aftermarket, and that's just a plastic set.
It's still fucking expensive for sure and having your entire board be aluminium is ridiculous (I really like the feel of touching some of my aluminium caps though) but damn, I'm so tempted to get one.
Luckily, I already have an Olivia set so I should be able to resist the temptation.
All CNC'd aluminium keycap set and it is Olivia at that.
$350 may seems absurd for just keycaps but considering the price of a single artisan aluminium cap, getting an entire set for $350 is not that bad. There's also the fact that Olivia sets used to go for around this price point in the aftermarket, and that's just a plastic set.
It's still fucking expensive for sure and having your entire board be aluminium is ridiculous (I really like the feel of touching some of my aluminium caps though) but damn, I'm so tempted to get one.
Luckily, I already have an Olivia set so I should be able to resist the temptation.
75%*. On a related note, the Keychron Q1 looks to be a competitor in that space and I hope it fares better than the GMMK Pro. $140 barebones or $170 assembled.
Looks like I can grab a cheap Corsair K70 (Aluminum/Silver). It's probably a bit old, but I gave it a go after cleaning it up - and really like the feel ll(cherry red switches).
Anyone have experience with this keyboard? Should I just pay for something new. I'm pretty new to mechanical keyboards so unsure if there are recent developments/switches or features that are worth paying for.
Anyone have experience with this keyboard? Should I just pay for something new. I'm pretty new to mechanical keyboards so unsure if there are recent developments/switches or features that are worth paying for.
You can get this right away https://thockeys.com/dcs-nightfall/?utm_source=thocstock&utm_medium=product_page
It's Teal on Dark Gray and DCS but it has full UK-ISO support. DCS is Cherry profile like GMK and comparable quality as long as you understand that the keycaps are thinner than GMK but still very good quality.
I knew I would regret not getting in on the GB.
Finally built my Murphpad from Mechwild.
Also I just finished building my kbd67 lite with some lubed holy pandas.
SO far I'm having to get used to the form factor as I've been using a 60% keyboard.
If anyone wants to try the Alice layout, but doesn't want to drop $100+ for it.
Orange Boy Ergo
They're also offering the Mercutio 40% DIY Kit
note: soldering required for both. THT(Through-hole) soldering.
Orange Boy Ergo
They're also offering the Mercutio 40% DIY Kit
note: soldering required for both. THT(Through-hole) soldering.
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The high pitch sound at either bottoming out or the very start of the upstroke is mostly muted/dampen when taped. Not sure if it's the springs that are causing it. Sounds good, if that's what you wanted
Cheers. Experimenting with the board and wasn't sure what to expect, but glad to get a bassier sound.
Looks like Rama Works has opened up another production run of the Kara:
ramaworks.store
I'd been interested in getting one after having missed the initial run, but I'm not really feeling any of the colors for round two. I wanted either Soya or Moon from the first run.
KARA SEQ2
The official RAMA WORKS® store – Boutique studio creating computer peripherals, tech gadgets, and household objects.
ramaworks.store
I'd been interested in getting one after having missed the initial run, but I'm not really feeling any of the colors for round two. I wanted either Soya or Moon from the first run.
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Looks like Rama Words has opened up another production run of the Kara:
KARA SEQ2
The official RAMA WORKS® store – Boutique studio creating computer peripherals, tech gadgets, and household objects.
I'd been interested in getting one after having missed the initial run, but I'm not really feeling any of the colors for round two.
I'm digging the orange, but just not a fan of the layout.
as a complete novice
what do you need of the optional parts? and then switches and keys on top?
You don't strictly need any of the optional parts—though yes, you do have to bring your own switches, stabilizers, and keycaps. (That's the norm for custom keyboard kits.)
You'd want the optional plate either for aesthetics, typing feel/rigidity, or maybe because you plan to convert the PCB to hotswap and need the extra surface for the switches to clip into and hold everything together. If you want the rotary knob, that's an optional extra.
The Millmax sockets are to convert the PCB to hotswap if you want, by soldering those sockets onto each individual switch pin contact hole in the PCB. Otherwise, you're just soldering the switches to the PCB as normal. (It's a soldering-heavy kit in general, depending on what you want to do with it, as you have to solder on all the LED diodes and whatnot yourself as well.)