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idiotsavant posted:I got a Keychron Q1 QMK v2 a while back on the advice of the thread, and I really like it; it's almost exactly what I'd hoped for (quality mechanical keyboard in a smaller form factor). There's one thing - afaik it's backlit from the bottom of the switch, which means that I guess it doesn't really work with most shine-through (ie - translucent lettering) keycaps? I like the feel of the current ones but wish they had transparent lettering, and I'm not clear which specific keycap style would work with this board. Any syggestions? That's the way MX switches are supposed to be oriented, flipping them around so the LED is at the top can cause compatibility issues with the Cherry profile keycaps that enthusiasts tend to use If you get switches with transparent top housings it diffuses the light enough for shine-through to work, though it won't be as bright as having the LED right under the legend
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Nov 28, 2022 22:02
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What would be the best manufacturer to take advantage of from https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/promotions.php? Ducky's good but their coupon is relatively low, while the bigger coupons look like they're for lower quality brands. Is there a better deal:quality option there than just getting a Ducky?
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Nov 29, 2022 00:29
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In the interest of not getting any actual work done on this post holiday monday, I removed the anodizing and polished the aluminum on my k8.
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Nov 29, 2022 03:41
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Woolie Wool posted:Was doing some more research on Alps boards and, man, have Alps fans been completely screwed by the industry over and over. Are there any projects out there to recreate complicated Alps? I'm not sure about recreating them but there's definitely some odd switches that have similar design. Like these: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brCQ1saxd6o
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Nov 29, 2022 04:21
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Withnail posted:In the interest of not getting any actual work done on this post holiday monday, I removed the anodizing and polished the aluminum on my k8. This is some incredibly hot modding
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Nov 29, 2022 10:43
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Heck Yes! Loam! posted:Is it just a south facing LED ? If that's the case you need a south facing switch that will line up with the led and let the light through. The cap probably isn't the issue, unless I'm an idiot and am misunderstanding something. repiv posted:That's the way MX switches are supposed to be oriented, flipping them around so the LED is at the top can cause compatibility issues with the Cherry profile keycaps that enthusiasts tend to use Yeah, the LED aligns with the bottom of the switch and yeah, I know that they're directional - are there any shine-through keycaps that work with this setup?
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Nov 29, 2022 23:48
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If you don't want to change your switches I think your options are "Pudding" style keycaps where the keycap is half-translucent, so it diffuses the light by itself e.g. https://www.gloriousgaming.com/products/glorious-aura-keycaps-v2-black or alternatively keycaps where the legend is on the front side, close to the LED e.g. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002527043393.html
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Nov 30, 2022 00:37
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Rexxed posted:I'm not sure about recreating them but there's definitely some odd switches that have similar design. Like these: Interesting, I wonder how those compare to the thick click Kaillh switches. I'll have to keep them in mind next year when I go keyboard shopping, though I've also thought of selling my IBM Model M13 that I rarely use and using the money from it to play the OmniKey/white Alps lottery. e: holy gently caress they're over a dollar a switch 
Woolie Wool fucked around with this message at 05:17 on Nov 30, 2022 |
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Nov 30, 2022 04:57
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Mr. Mercury posted:How you liking the manuform? I came very close to making one before getting boards for sofle way back when LochNessMonster posted:I’m going to finish my sofle over the holidays (for real, I swear!) and then see if I can build a manuform. Going to reply to both of you since my answer is related! I have been using a Kinesis Advantage 2 on-and-off for a couple years so I was already used to the columnar/concave layout, but it does take some adjusting. Thankfully it takes no effort after that adjustment period to switch back and forth between normal staggered flat keyboards and these... creatures. As for the Sofle's relation: I actually started soldering again after like 8 years with a Sofle kit, because I 1) didn't want to reintroduce soldering on a Dactyl Manuform and 2) was settling for what I thought was cheaper but was not significantly so. And, I did not finish the Sofle kit. I got the left side built and working relatively well, but, to be honest, the way it's designed kinda blows in my experience, the stand off screws are just, too few and it's so easy to push the pcb off the switches in the "plate" and fixing it is annoying. I also couldn't get the right side to work with serial, but I think it's cause I did something wrong as gently caress. The dactyl was overall MUCH more enjoyable to work on (even though it took like 30 hours of wiring + soldering and another 12 hours of chasing down a firmware issue (I can elaborate on this too if you run into anything weird, and what ended up getting me to the finish line was flashing the sofle on just to test the controller and keystrokes and then cloning it's config.h file) Otherwise "It Just Worked" (I thankfully ONLY Had firmware issues, not anything physically related to the build went wrong). I got mine from diykeyboards.com, which sells a case+bottom plate + hardware kit for like 180 bucks if you forgo switches and keycaps and supply your own. There are also already-printed cases that are on sale rn I think? I grabbed a 4x6 for 30 bucks with no hardware. If I do another 5x6 one day I'll probably try to shove a trackball onto it.
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Dec 1, 2022 13:36
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So I've been trying to doing some homework on a 100% mechanical DIY kit and am running into a small roadblock. I've gone through and grabbed a tester kit for Cherry switches, as well as a batch of Outemu switches for comparison, and found that either the peach silent or lime silent outemus felt best for me. I think got a line on some switches and keycaps, but am at a loss for a solid 100% barebones to tack onto the thing. Switches: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803869934497.html Keycaps: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804692052697.html (Both have been semi-stolen from Echophonic's build Question 1: Am I out of my damned mind anywhere in this proposed set of items? Any input would be very welcome, even if it's "just get a keychron K2 with gateron browns or reds and swap out keycaps" (although I'd love to find a base that's white) Question 2: If I'm not insane, do folks have a recommendation for a 100% barebones hot-swappable base to work with? I'd ideally love a wireless option, but am fine with wired. Alucard fucked around with this message at 03:40 on Dec 3, 2022 |
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Dec 3, 2022 03:31
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ziasquinn posted:Going to reply to both of you since my answer is related! Oh weird, sucks that the sofle was a lemon, I like mine for the knobs and don't think I could go without! Y'know, unless I could make a slider deck or something. Cool beans on the manuform! I may build one still but I'll just print the case (much cheaper) It is a shame that hotswap in those would be such a pain, but c'est la vie
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Dec 3, 2022 03:52
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Alucard posted:So I've been trying to doing some homework on a 100% mechanical DIY kit and am running into a small roadblock. I've gone through and grabbed a tester kit for Cherry switches, as well as a batch of Outemu switches for comparison, and found that either the peach silent or lime silent outemus felt best for me. Some of the best value keyboards right now seem to be the new Keychron V series. The V6 is the 100% version. No wireless, though. The K10 has wireless but is overall not quite as nice, and doesn't come barebones so you'd need to remove the stock switches and caps. They are currently also improving the K series with the K Pro series, so you could instead wait for the probable wireless K10 Pro if you want. Wireless 100% is pretty niche, but I'm sure there are also some non-Keychron options out there. I think Akko has some for example, just not really familiar with them. edit: Having looked at your links, note that your backlit caps won't get that much light through your opaque switches, and on a south-facing board like the V6 I don't think they'd get any light at all. runawayturtles fucked around with this message at 19:07 on Dec 3, 2022 |
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Dec 3, 2022 18:48
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Thanks for the suggestions! I might swap out for the outemu crystals since they have a similar profile to the peaches if that's the case. I'll take a closer look at the keychron options. No wireless isn't a deal breaker, but it would be nice to have a white base to accompany the caps.
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Dec 3, 2022 19:27
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Alucard posted:Thanks for the suggestions! I might swap out for the outemu crystals since they have a similar profile to the peaches if that's the case. Check out Royal Kludge, I think they'll have everything you're looking for.
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Dec 3, 2022 21:27
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mariooncrack posted:Check out Royal Kludge, I think they'll have everything you're looking for. Thanks for the suggestion, they even had some stuff on sale right now! I'll let folks know how things go. Will roll with the gateron reds that come with it for the time being before I go full hotswap, but I might get the new keycaps sometime soon (in aliexpress terms that is)
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Dec 3, 2022 21:59
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Asked for recommendations in here a bit ago and ended up going with the Durgod Taurus with Cherry MX browns which finally arrived today. Feels pretty solid, I like the color scheme, and the detachable cable is nicer than the Rosewill Cherry MX boards I used to run since it's shaped to physically support the usb connector and has a cable channel so you can run it whichever way you like. Only gripe is I'm not 100% in love with the typing feel immediately since the included keycaps have a little bit sharper edges to them and the home-row indicators are a little lower profile than the WSAD keyboards keycaps I'm used to but I could swap back to those easily enough. Might just be placebo but in the league of legends practice tool it felt like I could do my combos easier which makes me wonder if I was running into rollover issues on the cheapo logitech K120 I've been on for a while now.
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Dec 5, 2022 07:31
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ziasquinn posted:
Sounds like an awesome project, I really need to make time for this…
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Dec 5, 2022 15:54
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A couple of days in with the Royal Kludge rec from before (100 key BT/GHz wireless + wired connection, gateron reds) and definitely enjoying it. Awaiting my aliexpress keycaps and outemu crystal switches, although I may hold on the switch swapping to see how things look and feel with the new keycaps first. The one big thing I noticed is that this motherfucker is heavy! Alucard fucked around with this message at 03:28 on Dec 7, 2022 |
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Dec 7, 2022 03:26
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My last mechanical keyboard purchase was in 2012, back when the cheapest thing out there was an $80 Rosewill with a tenkey. That finally bit the dust (cheap USB port) so I figured it was time for a new one and I was shocked at the amount of quality keyboards out there for like $50. Ended up going with the Royal Kludge RK-H81 and I love it. Amazon had it for like $65 on black friday. It's so much nicer than my old Rosewill, though switching to linear switches is kind of a shock. The sound is much quieter than my old one, which must be down to modern dampening features because it's not like browns should be that much louder than linear switches.
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Dec 7, 2022 15:24
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I got a Kono 84 during their Black Friday sale for around $33. Their shipping is expensive but that and a Kono 67 (which comes with switches and caps) was about $100 total. The 84 doesn't have switches or caps so I put in some Kailh box pale blue I've had for a while and some kbdfans pudding style caps. I don't have the ones to match some of the weird sizes like the shift key or the bottom row 1u alt/fn/ctl but it's fine. I do wish it had more RGB presets, since they're all kind of crap. It does do this with the keycaps, though, which is fun for a while: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbD2FOfYBKw
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Dec 7, 2022 15:41
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I've been itching to move on from my old tkl cherry brown Corsair kb and I think I've landed on a build. It's my first time doing this so is there anything stupid with what I've picked out? I settled on this board because my speakers are out of reach and I'm tired of using awkward keyboard shortcuts to change the volume U4T switches White key caps Keyboard Do I need stabilizers or is that something optional I can add on later if my spacebar rattles or something?
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Dec 8, 2022 00:40
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Horn posted:I've been itching to move on from my old tkl cherry brown Corsair kb and I think I've landed on a build. It's my first time doing this so is there anything stupid with what I've picked out? I settled on this board because my speakers are out of reach and I'm tired of using awkward keyboard shortcuts to change the volume You need stabilizers otherwise your spacebar will act like a seesaw.
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Dec 8, 2022 02:18
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It looks like that keyboard comes with stabs though, maybe not great ones but they'd do to start with However the keyboard is only compatible with 3pin switches, so to install 5pin ones like the gazzews you would have to mod them by clipping off the legs
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Dec 8, 2022 02:23
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 totally missed the mismatched pin count. I was going to go cherry clears but these u4ts sounded a bit more like what I was looking for so I added them to my cart at the last minute. Thanks, really appreciate the proof reading.
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Dec 8, 2022 03:55
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repiv posted:If you don't want to change your switches I think your options are rad, thanks!
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Dec 8, 2022 06:51
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Horn posted:
The U4Ts are absolutely what you want. This message was typed on them, and they're very good. You could mod the switches by clipping the extra "pins" (they're really just plastic stands for extra stability), or find a five-pin keyboard.
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Dec 8, 2022 06:59
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idiotsavant posted:rad, thanks! Whoops, that second set won't fit your Q1 because it's missing the non standard keys like the small right shift The Glorious pudding set would fit though
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Dec 8, 2022 11:55
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Wizard of the Deep posted:The U4Ts are absolutely what you want. This message was typed on them, and they're very good. I like the idea of extra stability so I'd love to find a 5 pin replacement but is there something that has a volume knob/rocker a standard layout? The I use the home/end/page up/down keys all the time so the GMMK Pro would likely drive me nuts and the Q3 squishes the function keys together which also seems bad.
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Dec 8, 2022 14:28
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Horn posted:I've been itching to move on from my old tkl cherry brown Corsair kb and I think I've landed on a build. It's my first time doing this so is there anything stupid with what I've picked out? I settled on this board because my speakers are out of reach and I'm tired of using awkward keyboard shortcuts to change the volume I think it would be better to spend more to get a better keyboard than some random one on aliexpress. Are you set on TKL? There's this for a similar price: https://thekey.company/collections/portico-keyboard It's 75% though, similar to a laptop keyboard. I think keychron has some fully customizable options too.
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Dec 8, 2022 14:39
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Maybe the Keychron V3 if it needs to be a standard TKL layout There's a version with a knob
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Dec 8, 2022 14:42
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Horn posted:I like the idea of extra stability so I'd love to find a 5 pin replacement but is there something that has a volume knob/rocker a standard layout? The I use the home/end/page up/down keys all the time so the GMMK Pro would likely drive me nuts and the Q3 squishes the function keys together which also seems bad. Not that I want you to buy an AlieExpress keyboard but 5-pins make more of a difference with PCB-mounted switches, with a plate mount it really doesn't make that much of a difference in my experience. With that said, I second the Keychron V3 (or Q3 if you want to spend twice as much).
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Dec 8, 2022 14:56
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I wish there was an easier way to browse the handwired category in QMK, especially since a lot of them don't have pictures (or only do on github itself) and I just want to work on another one 
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Dec 8, 2022 15:30
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CordlessPen posted:Not that I want you to buy an AlieExpress keyboard but 5-pins make more of a difference with PCB-mounted switches, with a plate mount it really doesn't make that much of a difference in my experience. Just ordered a V3 and pile of U4T's. Thanks again to everyone who chimed in!
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Dec 8, 2022 16:47
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Horn posted:Just ordered a V3 and pile of U4T's. Thanks again to everyone who chimed in! That's a good selection. Just be aware that your switches will be south-facing in that board, so unlike the pudding photos the backlight will be brighter on the lower half of each cap. The switches are transparent so you should still get a decent enough amount of light on the top half.
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Dec 8, 2022 23:28
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Hi thread I'm a bozo that doesn't know anything about mechanical keyboards. I've been using a Microsoft Sidewinder X4 for almost a decade and its cable is being destroyed by my cat, so I figure it's time to upgrade. The MS has been cool I guess, zero issues with it besides cat damage. LEDs are fine but not essential. Cool looking keys would be nice but I'm not going to customize at all, it's gotta work out of the box. Looking for the following criteria: -$50-$100 price range -wireless -quiet keypresses (red switches right?) -full sized, with numpad and home keys etc -not incredibly stupid looking
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Dec 9, 2022 01:14
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beer gas canister posted:Hi thread I'm a bozo that doesn't know anything about mechanical keyboards. I've been using a Microsoft Sidewinder X4 for almost a decade and its cable is being destroyed by my cat, so I figure it's time to upgrade. The MS has been cool I guess, zero issues with it besides cat damage. LEDs are fine but not essential. Cool looking keys would be nice but I'm not going to customize at all, it's gotta work out of the box. Looking for the following criteria: There are a ton of keyboards that meet a lot of those specs, but Keychron isn't a bad choice for those criteria. They're bad with returns so get it on Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/K10-RGB-Backlight-Red-Switch/dp/B08MLG38PQ/ One advantage to their keyboards is that not only can you pick up new keycaps since they're using cherry MX compatible switches, but the switches themselves are hot-swappable so you could replace them with other ones without soldering if you felt the need in the future. edit: I just realized that model does wireless with Bluetooth only, if that's an issue you could go for something else. Corsair lacks the hotswap sockets and folks don't love their software but: https://smile.amazon.com/CORSAIR-K57-Wireless-Gaming-Keyboard/dp/B07TNRCM1Z/ Hexgears has some solid color backlights on this one: https://smile.amazon.com/Hexgears-Mechanical-Connection-Full-Size-Compatible/dp/B09WQXSQMB/ Logitech G613 has good wireless but uses their own switches so you have to use their keycaps. It's fairly cheap compared to the G915, though, which I have the TKL version of but has low profile switches: https://smile.amazon.com/Logitech-G613-Lightspeed-Mechanical-Multihost-Connectivity/dp/B07796MBJ7/ Rexxed fucked around with this message at 03:07 on Dec 9, 2022 |
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Dec 9, 2022 02:59
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Behold , the rotary numpad  https://www.tomshardware.com/news/vintage-rotary-phone-dial-attached-to-keyboard
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Dec 9, 2022 05:36
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That's fantastic, thanks! Went with the Logitech because I prefer AA batteries over USB rechargeable, and it has a bundle with a decent wireless mouse.
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Dec 9, 2022 05:59
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Wizard of the Deep posted:To expand a little more on the challenges of using a Model M in today's world: it isn't great. I picked up a couple in the early 2000s when they weren't very popular, and I've mostly relegated them to storage for the moment. As someone else mentioned, there's basically no customization for key caps. PS/2 is increasingly annoying to support, and for what I do, the lack of meta keys (like the Windows key) and macros is a detriment. The actual typing experience is bar-none fantastic, but everything else around using it is a series of compromises. I don't have a good recent photo since the pandemic moved us to work from home and it got stuffed in the closet since there wasn't enough room on my desk there, but for awhile I was using a 1982 Model F as my day to day keyboard:  It was dead simple to swap out the controller with an xwhatsit board & USB plug, and then use... I want to say IBM Capsense to custom map the keys. But like you said, hardest part is the lack of a windows key and a few other modern layout mismatches around the enter key, but I just shifted a few keys around and you get used to it pretty fast. I loved having 24 function keys and the whole left sidebar to macro stuff, that was great. They keycaps also decrustified pretty nicely with a soak in warm water and mild laundry detergent. I'm glad I stuffed it into the closet though... my cat recently broke into my office during the middle of the night, hopped up on my desk, and barfed all over my keyboard. I don't know what kind of gently caress you that particular message was, but his demands for more wet food were met shortly after that incident. I tried completely taking the keyboard apart and cleaning everything with rubbing alcohol and washing the keys, but a bunch of the switches are completely borked. I'll probably solder in some new switches at some point down the line, but in the meantime I'm curious what all is new since last time I peered down the rabbit hole. I'm already dangerously close to ordering those ceramic kickstarter keycaps, but I'm not sure whether I want to go with an ergo split keyboard again or what. Maybe I should frankenstein a keyboard with an old typewriter or something? Also leanings towards picking up parts for the Sofle split keyboard. E: Just stumbled across the github project and updates for Sofle and it's giving me the itch to dive into gerber files and getting pcbs printed. Assuming everyone else already knows about these, but also found a list of split keyboard projects as well as a redesigned Sofle 2.1 RGB that looks really interesting as well. vv Agreed, + cursors are awful, I just mapped the center key and bottom key to both be down arrows Catatron Prime fucked around with this message at 20:37 on Dec 10, 2022 |
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Dec 10, 2022 19:16
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the cursed + cursor config... CURSED I TELL YOU
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Dec 10, 2022 19:25
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