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sarcastx posted:Thanks for the suggestions all; will have a play around with VIA to see what all I can do with it. The venn diagram of the mechanical keyboard, audio, and coffee hobbies is nearly a perfect circle.
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# ? Apr 25, 2024 17:46 |
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# ? Jun 3, 2024 23:35 |
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Here's a pic of my previously mentioned "lap plank". As promised, it looks like poo poo, but it works perfectly, and is a lot cheaper than anything I saw on the market. I like the looks of my HHKB, especially as I have 2 sets of caps so I can mix n match, but I've not really warmed to it otherwise. Gonna sell it soon and get, idk, something else. YerDa Zabam fucked around with this message at 18:13 on Apr 25, 2024 |
# ? Apr 25, 2024 18:10 |
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Gearman posted:The venn diagram of the mechanical keyboard, audio, and coffee hobbies is nearly a perfect circle. It's uncanny really lol (Although I've been dabbling in Chinese tea lately, more so than coffee. It's a fun hobby tangent when I want something other than coffee.)
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# ? Apr 25, 2024 19:57 |
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Tbf the sort of person that fusses over key presses is also perfect for fussing over their delicately flavored water. I like my finger presses tactile and my hotwater smokey.
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# ? Apr 25, 2024 20:08 |
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I like my keyboards loud and my coffee so thick with sugar you can eat it with a fork.
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# ? Apr 25, 2024 20:22 |
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sarcastx posted:Thanks for the suggestions all; will have a play around with VIA to see what all I can do with it. Doing some reading around, I've seen the suggestion of throwing the spring from a ballpoint pen into a switch. Most of the heavier replacement springs you can find for keyswitches are in the 100-150g range. A ballpoint pen spring is 1kg equivalent. That would ensure you never press that key unless you absolutely loving meant to. Hell, I might do this for my capslock since stepped capslock keycaps are an endangered species these days and accidentally pressing that key is annoying as hell.
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# ? Apr 25, 2024 20:43 |
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Rebind capslock to control or an fn key please I beg you. It's in too good of a spot to waste.
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# ? Apr 25, 2024 20:44 |
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Zonekeeper posted:Hell, I might do this for my capslock since stepped capslock keycaps are an endangered species these days and accidentally pressing that key is annoying as hell. Configure CapsLock to work as a Ctrl. This has the added benefit that Ctrl isn't as far away anymore.
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# ? Apr 25, 2024 20:48 |
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The issue isn't the function of the key, it's that every single keyboard I've used prior to getting my Ducky has had a little nub missing from that key to create extra space between it and A, and most mechanicals have decided that's not a cool thing to have.
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# ? Apr 25, 2024 20:52 |
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sarcastx posted:I figured I'd order a Gateron switch tester, find which of the switches is the most miserable to press, and then do the ol' pop & swap. your best bet would be the aliaz 70, they feel awful. via is a better option tho
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# ? Apr 25, 2024 21:56 |
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gnatalie posted:your best bet would be the aliaz 70, they feel awful. I guess - noob mech keyboard question - can you use like, any brand switches? I just assumed since my Keychron V5 Max came with Gateron I was like, locked into that ecosystem...
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# ? Apr 25, 2024 21:58 |
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sarcastx posted:I guess - noob mech keyboard question - can you use like, any brand switches? Presuming your board is hotswappable switches, they need to be 3pin vs 5pin. 5pin is for soldered switches. Some switches I've found are only available in one or the other. But otherwise any brand you want as long as the keycaps match the stem (usually cherry mx or the little cross). If for whatever reason your ideal switch has five pins you can trim the two plastic ones. Other than that consideration, any brand is fine.
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# ? Apr 25, 2024 22:02 |
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sarcastx posted:I guess - noob mech keyboard question - can you use like, any brand switches? effectively yes, any brand will be fine as long as they're "cherry/mx compatible", which is the overwhelming majority of switches. the aliaz are in the gateron v2 switch tester, which i highly recommend. it has a wide variety of tactile and linear (gently caress clicky) switches for a relatively cheap price. your board supports both 3 and 5 pin, so there's no need to worry about pin count
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# ? Apr 25, 2024 22:14 |
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Zonekeeper posted:The issue isn't the function of the key, it's that every single keyboard I've used prior to getting my Ducky has had a little nub missing from that key to create extra space between it and A, and most mechanicals have decided that's not a cool thing to have. Stepped Caps are alive and well in the custom keycap space, but unfortunately they're almost always part of a large base kit that runs $80+. I hear you, though. I use stepped caps on all my boards, though on most of them I've got it set to Winkey instead.
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# ? Apr 25, 2024 22:20 |
The key cap sets I have that came with a stepped caps keycap never had it fit on a standard layout, they always seem to want the caps key switch to be like a half or quarter unit further left.
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# ? Apr 25, 2024 22:34 |
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Gearman posted:Stepped Caps are alive and well in the custom keycap space, but unfortunately they're almost always part of a large base kit that runs $80+. I hear you, though. I use stepped caps on all my boards, though on most of them I've got it set to Winkey instead. I got a replacement keycap set, and guess what? The stepped keycap requires the Capslock switch to be mounted in an offset position to be used, so that "option" doesn't exist for most keyboards I see for sale. I possess a stepped keycap and I cannot use it. There is exactly one place on the internet that sells center-stem stepped capslock keycaps, and they only come in non-translucent white letters on black plastic. so I either have to specifically get a keycap set that matches it, deal with my capslock key being a different color from every single other key, or just deal with my non-stepped key.
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# ? Apr 25, 2024 22:38 |
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nielsm posted:The key cap sets I have that came with a stepped caps keycap never had it fit on a standard layout, they always seem to want the caps key switch to be like a half or quarter unit further left.
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# ? Apr 25, 2024 22:40 |
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Llamadeus posted:It does need a board that supports stepped caps lock, some custom boards have the option of both stepped and standard on the same PCB Every hot-swappable board I've ever seen has the switch in the standard position, so if you want that feature and stepped capslock you're out of luck. That's why putting an incredibly stiff spring into the switch sounds reasonable to me. It's one of the few solutions available that is universal and doesn't ruin the aesthetics of the board.
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# ? Apr 25, 2024 22:48 |
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it used to be that stepped caps was only really an option on soldered boards but at some point designers realised you can squeeze both caps types into a hotswap board if one of them has the switch flipped upside down
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# ? Apr 25, 2024 22:49 |
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I have a neo80 and it supports a stepped caps lock. Looks like the neo65 does as well.
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# ? Apr 25, 2024 23:08 |
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Yiggy posted:Tbf the sort of person that fusses over key presses is also perfect for fussing over their delicately flavored water. Ever try Lapsang Souchong? :O Got my knob module from Meletrix. After I ordered the Strawberry Icecream one since they did not have a Plum one (after 3 days of no loving answer in their customer service chat), they responded and said that they had a Plum one and changed my order to match that. I just opened the box and it's... Strawberry Icecream. Gotta love customer service.
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# ? Apr 26, 2024 00:01 |
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sarcastx posted:Getting my first mech keyboard today - a Keychron v5 Max on Gateron Jupiter Reds. Pretty stoked to give it a crack and am already planning a modification that I thought I'd ask y'all about : Switching the spring to something stiffer is pretty common, and many people even do that just for their spacebars to compensate for the larger key size. You're not going to find something appreciably stiff in a switch tester. Also switch testers are literally just "here's a rectangle with some switch-sized holes cut in it that you can press switches in to". Switches pop out of them EZ PZ. For my keyboards (and even my fightsticks that take MX compatible switches), I always have some keys that I don't want to easily/accidentally press (typically they key I have remapped to Caps Lock, as my "normal" caps lock key is remapped to a function key for layer activation. My go-to is using a spring from a Cherry MX MX1A-1GCX switch, which is 350cN activation. I'm not sure if you can get those anymore (they were kind of a meme switch being sold by a site that tends to specialize in meme keycaps and switches), but you could always get some fuckoff heavy springs from Mechbox or something. I always put those springs in something like a Kailh Speed Navy clicky switch, so not only was it a stiff switch to press, it was loud so you know if you actually pressed it. There are some 150g MX springs on Amazon you can try, but IMO I don't think those are heavy enough to prevent accidental activation (although to be fair, I used to daily a keyboard that was all MX clears with 150g springs, so my sense of what's heavy is a little skewed). You can try those and see how it feels, or maybe even double up on them. I have some really cursed keyboards I've modded that I should take pictures of some day. CRAYON posted:Rebind capslock to control or an fn key please I beg you. It's in too good of a spot to waste. Yeah this rules. Using ESDF for arrow keys is great when the Fn layer key is a single finger reach away. HamburgerTownUSA fucked around with this message at 00:49 on Apr 26, 2024 |
# ? Apr 26, 2024 00:02 |
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Framboise posted:Ever try Lapsang Souchong? :O Dear Lord. Meletrix customer service trying to take crown from Keychron I guess.
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# ? Apr 26, 2024 00:55 |
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God I FINALLY got the stupid RGB backlight on my keyboard to display a respectable white light. The default "white" has a very blue cast to it so I had to hand adjust the color picker in Via for what felt like forever.
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# ? Apr 26, 2024 00:59 |
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wash bucket posted:God I FINALLY got the stupid RGB backlight on my keyboard to display a respectable white light. The default "white" has a very blue cast to it so I had to hand adjust the color picker in Via for what felt like forever. I didn't think this was even possible. Can you post what rgb value worked out for you?
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# ? Apr 26, 2024 01:13 |
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god please help me posted:I didn't think this was even possible. Can you post what rgb value worked out for you? R 255 G 192 B 180 # ffc0b4 Though I doubt it will work for other keyboards since it's compensating for the color cast in whatever LEDs are used in mine.
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# ? Apr 26, 2024 01:47 |
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Since I like to follow up after I ask for recommendations, I ended up getting a Keychron Q12. It was on sale for $165 at Microcenter so not too badly over my max budget. I also looked at the Q11 (the split version) but saw some concerns over the keycap durability and it seems like getting new ones will be a hassle due to the odd sizes. Again, I'm not looking to dive into the modding abyss but I do like the idea of something repairable/adjustable in a semi-BIFL sense. I also decided not to go with TKL or 75% because I do use a numpad often for work, and didn't want to deal with an extra thing on my desk in the form of a standalone numpad (or the extra cost to get a nice one). I'll see how the southpaw numpad agrees with me, but I like the idea of extra space on my right (dominant) side. I also got a Glorious sample pack of switches but I am intrigued by these and may give them a shot: Trapezium Dave posted:My current keyboard is a hybrid tactile/linear using Akko Fairy and Penguin silent switches and it's amazing how much quieter this is compared to standard switches. Just a gentle rustle and the clunk of the stabilisers. My wife heard me say "mechanical keyboard" and was like "oh god please no" so I will definitely have to see how quiet I can get it before the return window runs out. I think she remembers the cheap loud clacky one that I had and assumes they're all like that. I went a bit further back in this thread and found a few posts that I thought were really helpful and should basically be the new OP: Eric the Mauve posted:[updates to OP] LionArcher posted:Overall great updates, but [more updates] Also this struck a chord: Taima posted:I am honestly glad to get this done with, the keyboard space is incredibly confusing and I get the impression that it is more of a hobby than an actual product to perform tasks, for many people, which made the whole thing difficult to gauge because people are seemingly willing to spend almost infinite money on what are ultimately... more like bespoke hobby interests than "I need a keyboard for typing things good" if that makes any sense. From what I can gather, you are beginning to seriously grasp at straws past say, $250-300. Definitely curious if anyone disagrees on that though!
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# ? Apr 27, 2024 02:00 |
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wash bucket posted:R 255 Thanks, I appreciate it!
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# ? Apr 27, 2024 06:24 |
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The 8bitdo famicon themed keyboard is $70 on woot. They're owned by amazon so if you sign in with your amazon prime account there's free shipping. https://electronics.woot.com/offers/8bitdo-retro-mechanical-keyboard
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# ? Apr 27, 2024 12:59 |
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Discussion Quorum posted:I'll see how the southpaw numpad agrees with me, but I like the idea of extra space on my right (dominant) side. quote:I also got a Glorious sample pack of switches but I am intrigued by these and may give them a shot: the glorious sampler is fine, but fairly limited. the gateron switch tester v2 is awesome and gives you a really good variety of tactile and linear switches. for silent tactiles in particular, take a look at gazzew u4 and mode anthracite- they both have tactile bumps without any pre-travel
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# ? Apr 27, 2024 19:11 |
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Man I got a logitech low profile mechanical. I like it I guess but some of the switches are dying, and a couple are getting double presses. I've done the clean thing. This is the third I've bought from big companies (razer, corsair, logitech). Also my toddler randomly hits the macro record key and I don't notice, and if I hit a macro key it goes on to type 45 minutes of bullshit. Also she walked off with the numlock key and it's dumb hard to orrder a new one that fits this proprietary click in system. I just want a mechanical keyboard without any bullshit. And also hot swappable. Can I just grab one of the more expensive keychron and be ok? e: that orrder up there was a double press too. I need some new poo poo.
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# ? Apr 29, 2024 03:36 |
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vaginite posted:Man I got a logitech low profile mechanical. I like it I guess but some of the switches are dying, and a couple are getting double presses. I've done the clean thing. This is the third I've bought from big companies (razer, corsair, logitech). Yeah keychrons are alright, we just always recommend getting them from amazon or another retailer that has a good return policy instead of keychron's website, since they aren't great to deal with directly.
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# ? Apr 29, 2024 11:55 |
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Rexxed posted:Yeah keychrons are alright, we just always recommend getting them from amazon or another retailer that has a good return policy instead of keychron's website, since they aren't great to deal with directly. That sounds good - that was the gist I got, their keyboards are good but their customer service sucks. I should just be able to order a base kit from Amazon then get some switches and caps and be good to assemble it right? I know I can get a prebuilt but I want to do it myeslf just to nerd out.
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# ? Apr 29, 2024 16:20 |
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Keychron is basically the only viable option on the market for the things their boards do at their price point, but their QC is practically nonexistent and a keyboard you buy from them has a pretty good chance of arriving with a major defect. If you bought it directly from them, you're SOL; they will tell you to get hosed. That's why you really want to buy any Keychron product from Amazon. If it arrives problematic, you just ship it back and get a replacement. Once you have a board that was actually built right, you're golden.
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# ? Apr 29, 2024 16:32 |
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Eric the Mauve posted:Keychron is basically the only viable option on the market for the things their boards do at their price point, but their QC is practically nonexistent and a keyboard you buy from them has a pretty good chance of arriving with a major defect. If you bought it directly from them, you're SOL; they will tell you to get hosed. What if I was willing to spend a little more? I don't mind if it's gonna be good for like 10 years. The gaming company boards I get basically only last 2-3 years with heavy use. Once a switch dies I just replace the whole keyboard because I don't want to mess with soldering, proprietary caps, etc.
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# ? Apr 29, 2024 16:36 |
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Well, hotswappability is one of the important things Keychron boards do. If that's not important to you, you can probably get a similar board at a reasonably similar price from a different brand yeah.
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# ? Apr 29, 2024 16:58 |
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What's your budget? I'd say for up to $100, there's a few glorious offerings that I'd say are comparable to Keychron's plastic offerings. They won't match up to Keychron's more premium offerings though. Hot swap sockets make it easier to repair and change things but the sockets themselves can still break.
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# ? Apr 29, 2024 17:02 |
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Eric the Mauve posted:Well, hotswappability is one of the important things Keychron boards do. If that's not important to you, you can probably get a similar board at a reasonably similar price from a different brand yeah. mariooncrack posted:What's your budget? I'd say for up to $100, there's a few glorious offerings that I'd say are comparable to Keychron's plastic offerings. They won't match up to Keychron's more premium offerings though. Hotswappable, standard keycaps are the main thing I'm looking for. Backlit is nice too (RGB isn't necessary but I do consider it a perk). Budget I'd say under $500. I'm down for keychron but if there's something more expensive (that's worth it) I'd go higher. I've been lurking this thread awhile and every time I go to replace my keyboard I get overwhelmed with the options and give up.
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# ? Apr 29, 2024 17:23 |
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After having done some homeworking recently, I’d say 500 will probably cover most any keyboard you’d consider absent some really high end bespoke stuff. Some manufacturer options you haven’t mentioned trying but that are considered “gaming” keyboards and that I keep running into generally positive reviews for are wooting and Asus. And while I’ve encountered positive reviews for asus boards the impression I get is that you can find comparable features and quality on a cheaper budget and that asus is extracting a gamer tax for the label. Their gaming boards both boast the use of special switches where you can set the action point and also the software will register partial presses/depresses as unique keystrokes which lets you really spam the key. Reviews gave me the impression that the large majority of gamers aren’t going to be getting too much out of this feature, but if you play a game that spams buttons or that would appreciate the sensitivity of registering only partial key presses, those boards have that. Alternatively ducky seems to have an array of suitable options and are positively reviewed as well.
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# ? Apr 29, 2024 20:55 |
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# ? Jun 3, 2024 23:35 |
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just get a ducky wth
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# ? Apr 29, 2024 22:34 |