Mechanical Love - Hardware talk

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stephant
Members
I sell the the Poker II brown.
LazarusIV
Members
Ducky Shine Zero with Brown Cherry MX Switches... once you go brown (switches) you never go back. I love the feel of them, typing on it is magical. I code, type, and game on it and love it for all use-cases!
stephant
Members

The brown not the best switch for me, light because I want try something harder, maybe clear or blue/green.
gnmn
Members
Have anyone ordered one of these https://www.crowdsupply.com/ugl/ultimate...g-keyboard ? I'm very interested in a dark red one with linux penguin super keys and clear switches. It's also pure* open source if i read it correctly, both hardware and software, which makes me want it even more. But the price is not what I'd usually pay for a keyboard to put it lightly, and they haven't even begun shipping them yet.


*As pure you can get with todays microcontrollers (-_-) https://github.com/UltimateHackingKeyboard
Tmplt
Long time nixers
I've been using a WASD tenkeyless board (V2) for quite some time now. While I enjoy the blues, the board feels really plastic and cheap, especially when compared to my friend's Ducky with the same switches. I had the thought to buy something better when this one breaks, but that's quite far off (unless I spill something on it).
jkl
Long time nixers
I've been using the QPAD MK-50 for a couple of years now, finally having replaced my old cheap bubblegum-keys Logitech Wireless Keyboard. However, I aim at buying a Ducky some time this year. The QPAD USB adapter is just plain cheap.

--
<mort> choosing a terrible license just to be spiteful towards others is possibly the most tux0r thing I've ever seen
hades
Long time nixers
I love my HHKB. I'll post a pic of my battlestation when i get home today. Just got a new desk a while back.
mrtn
Members
I have a Das Keyboard Professional v2 with MX Browns, a 60% KBP with Gateron Reds and a Magicforce 68 with MX Blues. Also I'm waiting for my Ergodox Kit with MX Greens... So far, i LOVE the blues. I might put in some O-Rings to make it a bit more silent, because my colleagues are getting annoyed when I'm typing too much too fast :D
xero
Long time nixers
(07-01-2017, 02:45 PM)gnmn Wrote: Have anyone ordered one of these https://www.crowdsupply.com/ugl/ultimate...g-keyboard ? I'm very interested in a dark red one with linux penguin super keys and clear switches. It's also pure* open source if i read it correctly, both hardware and software, which makes me want it even more. But the price is not what I'd usually pay for a keyboard to put it lightly, and they haven't even begun shipping them yet.


*As pure you can get with todays microcontrollers (-_-) https://github.com/UltimateHackingKeyboard

as a split keyboard enthusiast i have considered this board many times. but i've yet to talk to a person who has actually used one to tell me their feelings about build quality.
0wl3x
Members
I was just using a Kinesis Ergonomic keyboard but I switched back to my corsair k70. I didn't like the differences between the MX reds and the MX browns, and I found the placement of a lot of keys on the Kinesis to be pretty annoying.
mrtn
Members
My ErgoDox has arrived and is assembled. After trying them, I decided I store the Greens for now and built it with MX Browns. I'm really curious, how I'll find that layout in the next few weeks. If I somehow find it not as good as i hope, I might sell it and go with a Mistel Barocco or a VEA split.
wsaile
Members
I recently built a 60%. I really like the Gateron Yellows. The PCB is a FaceW, and the plate and case came from a Norwegian company called Mekanisk.
Pieces Of Quiet
Members
I used to have like 8 different boards, sold most of them now. Currently have an HHKB JP and a Diverge TM 2 with Gateron Clears.
Tmplt
Long time nixers
I recently bought a Happy Hacking Keyboard Professional 2. I planned to replace my two-year old WASDkeyboard v2 with it, but I greatly prefer blue switches when it comes to playing FPS games. So I now have a dedicated keyboard for my gaming VM, lovely! No more messing with synergy and the like.

I do really enjoy writing and programming on this board, though. It sounds much better than blue switches.
Mafia
Long time nixers
My AEKII is a dream(White Alps), currently looking for an original AEK to make into a 60% at sometime in the future. Also have my eye on a few vintage mechs at college I might be able to snag. Not really a fan of any newer boards, although HHKBs are pretty kewl.
mrtn
Members
One day, I'll buy a hhkb - but the fact that no one i know has one and i'd have to buy it untested makes me anxious.
apk
Long time nixers
what do you mean buy it untested?
mrtn
Members
I've yet to have one in hand. No one here has one. The brick and mortar stores don't have hhkb's in stock - so i would basically buy it without laying a hand on one.
Mafia
Long time nixers
(10-06-2017, 02:33 PM)mrtn Wrote: I've yet to have one in hand. No one here has one. The brick and mortar stores don't have hhkb's in stock - so i would basically buy it without laying a hand on one.

I mean hhkb's speak for themselves, there is a reason why they are so popular. You'd be pretty screwed buying nice boards if you won't buy one unless you can use it in person.
mrtn
Members
But at least i know the switches feel.. I couldn't care less about the layout, the keycap-material and design - but i need to type on topre stems to know what i'd buy

> there is a reason why they are so popular.

Sometimes trends carry themselves... Like beats headphones for example. they sound totally shit and still a loot of people buy them because they are trend.
Mafia
Long time nixers
(10-06-2017, 04:15 PM)mrtn Wrote: But at least i know the switches feel.. I couldn't care less about the layout, the keycap-material and design - but i need to type on topre stems to know what i'd buy

> there is a reason why they are so popular.

Sometimes trends carry themselves... Like beats headphones for example. they sound totally shit and still a loot of people buy them because they are trend.
Comparing Beats headphones to an HHKB is just retarded.
mrtn
Members
don't know. maybe they are great - maybe they are crap...
z3bra
Grey Hair Nixers
I wanted an HHKB as well. I must admit the design is really cool (minimalist amd sharp), and it seems solid and reliable. Yet I fail to understand how keyboard constructors can advertise their keyboards as "comfortable", while keeping the shitty asymetric layout inherited from the old typing machines.
The last keyboard I bough was the TMX 2030, for around 80 bucks. It was a revolution to me! I love this keyboard's layout, and would love to find.a mechanical one with a similar layout.

I can understand that most kb manufacturers won't move the enter/backspace in the middle, but damn, the straigh columns are way more comfortable than what most keyboards have! That is the only reason why I don't have a mechanical keyboard. I've yet to find one that is as cool and compact as the HHKB and as comfortable as the Typematrix... If you guys know one, please link it!
mrtn
Members
Have you checked out the lets split, zebra? Or the planck?
z3bra
Grey Hair Nixers
Nope. Do you have links for those?
mrtn
Members
https://olkb.com/planck/
olkb has some more ortholienar boards that might suit your need. Otherwise: The Ergodox is pretty nice. I've not yet made my mind if i keep one, but for sure it's really relaxing to type on.

https://www.reddit.com/r/mechmarket/comm...plit_kits/
Here's an older buy-thread for a let's split...

https://gist.github.com/nicinabox/3582fc...94f12fabfb
And here's a guide on github on how to build one.



Guess a planck is my next project, too. Gotta decide on a set of keycaps and case first...
z3bra
Grey Hair Nixers
Thanks for those. They look really nice! You have to build them yourself though. Also, the numeric row is missing (which adds to the sickness of their look, I must admit), but being french, I use a shitons of special characters on this row on an azerty keyboard, so I'm not sure how I'd manage to go without it...

Lots of pros, but as many cons I'd say... No idea what to do! Thanks for sharing though!
venam
Administrators
(11-06-2017, 02:12 PM)z3bra Wrote: Also, the numeric row is missing (which adds to the sickness of their look, I must admit), but being french, I use a shitons of special characters on this row on an azerty keyboard, so I'm not sure how I'd manage to go without it...
Ever heard of something called a compose key or altgr. I write frequently in French and those are pretty handy.
z3bra
Grey Hair Nixers
Well, I write in french a lot as well :) ("{" and "}" are only accesible with altgr), but if you remove 60% of the azerty layout, you'll need a lot of modifiers!

I checked the website a bit amd it seems the planck have "layers", and you navigate these layers with to keys: lower and raise. This sounds like an interesting concept. Pretty much like phone keyboards that have one page for letters, one for numbers and one for symbols.
z3bra
Grey Hair Nixers
After a more in-depth review, the planck seems like a great keyboard. One that you'll have to learn/tweak, but a great one!
The firmware seems pretty easy to change, to make your own layouts, and I could find many cool ideas on /r/olkb. Like using the enter key as shift when held for more than 200ms, and so on. Now I'm curious, and even tempted!