The Mechanical Keyboards Club

[Kaz]

I once used a keyboard with a small backspace.  Never again....

I can compromise on the size of the shift, but that backspace is invaluable. 

[tictoc]

I have a modified HHKB layout on the f77, so backspace is directly above the enter key, and the "PANIC" key is escape with backslash to the left of escape.

[Supercrumpet]

10 hours ago, tictoc said:

F77 is now complete.  I decided to go with the compact case instead of the original style case.  Two big QOL changes from my last few daily drivers are USB instead of PS/2 and the fully programmable firmware.  Those two things make it super simple to swap the board over to different systems.

 

 

Looks good, what caps? Great shade of orange. I can update the sheet with that info and pic.

[tictoc]

1 hour ago, Supercrumpet said:

 

Looks good, what caps? Great shade of orange. I can update the sheet with that info and pic.

 

Thanks, the orange is a great shade.  It actually looks better in person, than the pic I took.

 

The blank blacks are PBT from Model F Labs, and the oranges are two piece PBT from Unicomp.

Edited May 3 by tictoc
typo

[Supercrumpet]

On 03/05/2024 at 19:53, tictoc said:

 

Thanks, the orange is a great shade.  It actually looks better in person, than the pic I took.

 

The blank blacks are PBT from Model F Labs, and the oranges are two piece PBT from Unicomp.

 

Thanks, updated!

[bridgypoo]

posting my keyboards~ KB brand, switches, keycaps, and orings

 

Epomaker Mini Cat 64    Kailh Box Pink    Epomaker MIA   
    Black O-rings

        Yunzii YZ21    Kailh Box White    Macaron PBT

Yunzii/Keynovo IF98    Kailh Box Pale Blue    Popkeey Cinnamoroll    

    ThreeBulls Red O-Rings

GMMK V2 Fullsize    Kailh Box Navy    XVX Great Wave Off Kanagawa    

WASD Blue O-Rings

[Fluxmaven]

I'm continuing my trend of budget boards with nice keycaps lol

 

RAMA KAT Explosion artisan. Was supposedly "in stock" but I ordered May 7th and it showed up today. 

 

The rest of the keycaps are Infinikey Cabernet. 

 

I'll take some nice pictures of the whole board at some point but it's just a cheap beater. Epomaker EK68 VIA Kit that I got for practically nothing open box. Wired and Bluetooth work but the 2.4g wireless adapter seems bad. I use it wired so it doesn't bother me. Tossed a mix of switches I had laying around. Redragon pandas for the Alphas and Cherry MX Clear modifiers. 

 

 

[Supercrumpet]

On 26/06/2024 at 18:19, bridgypoo said:

posting my keyboards~ KB brand, switches, keycaps, and orings

 

Epomaker Mini Cat 64    Kailh Box Pink    Epomaker MIA   
    Black O-rings

        Yunzii YZ21    Kailh Box White    Macaron PBT

Yunzii/Keynovo IF98    Kailh Box Pale Blue    Popkeey Cinnamoroll    

    ThreeBulls Red O-Rings

GMMK V2 Fullsize    Kailh Box Navy    XVX Great Wave Off Kanagawa    

WASD Blue O-Rings

 

Added under your name!

 

On 27/06/2024 at 20:20, Fluxmaven said:

I'm continuing my trend of budget boards with nice keycaps lol

 

RAMA KAT Explosion artisan. Was supposedly "in stock" but I ordered May 7th and it showed up today. 

 

The rest of the keycaps are Infinikey Cabernet. 

 

I'll take some nice pictures of the whole board at some point but it's just a cheap beater. Epomaker EK68 VIA Kit that I got for practically nothing open box. Wired and Bluetooth work but the 2.4g wireless adapter seems bad. I use it wired so it doesn't bother me. Tossed a mix of switches I had laying around. Redragon pandas for the Alphas and Cherry MX Clear modifiers. 

 

 

 

Added! That's a cool artisan, subtle but really nice. Does it "shimmer" at different lighting angles?

[bridgypoo]

2 hours ago, Supercrumpet said:

 

Added under your name!

thank you go team clicky!

[tictoc]

F77 #2 incoming.  After using this board daily for the last 6+ weeks, I pulled the trigger on another one for the office.  

 

[neurotix]

Got a Kailh switch tester. The Box Summer are really nice. Kind of like a modified Box Jade.

 

 

Here's the guide:

 

Edited July 14 by neurotix

[Supercrumpet]

On 11/07/2024 at 16:06, neurotix said:

Got a Kailh switch tester. The Box Summer are really nice. Kind of like a modified Box Jade.

 

 

Here's the guide:

 

 

Very cool! Definitely a few switches in there I've never even heard of. Any others in particular stand out?

[neurotix]

Box Polia are really nice and I made a video testing out all the Kailh tactile switches to help @Sir Beregond. I don't like tactiles personally but the feel on the Box Polia is really nice. I actually just bought some Box Summer to eventually go in probably another YUNZII/Keynovo IF98 because it's gasket mounted and got multiple foam dampening layers in it, but is significantly cheaper than most Keychron boards. Yes, it's a 96% layout but so is my current RF100 and I've adjusted to the shorter right shift and delete being in a weird place.

 

Anyway here's the video I made, see for yourself what stands out, but I only tested tactiles. I could make another one testing all the clicky switches if people like this video.

 

 

[neurotix]

So, I got Kailh Box Summer switches on the way and bought this board in white to put them in:

 

Just a moment...

T.LY

It's a Yunzii/Keynovo YZ98 98% board. White and I'm going to use it with its stock keycaps and no o-rings for a while, and eventually get a set of white shine-through PBT keycaps and probably blue O-Rings to put on it. Going to be waiting on that though.

[neurotix]

Got some videos for you guys! I'm a little camera shy and don't like making videos, but I really wanted to show off my new YUNZII YZ98 keyboard, so I made a YouTube video showcasing it.

 

 

 

- I said Yunzii milk keycap when I meant milk switch

- I neglected to mention it has configurable RGB lighting on the sides

- lighting was bad/shadows when I was showcasing the connectivity on the back

- I said it's padded with silicon when I meant silicone

- Keyboard was actually $61.94 because there's currently an Amazon $20 off deal (but I think it would still be worth it at $89)

 

Hope you guys like it..

 

Also have a typing test with the stock YUNZII milk switches:

 

 

Thanks everyone, enjoy

Edited July 23 by neurotix

[Supercrumpet]

On 23/07/2024 at 17:15, neurotix said:

Got some videos for you guys! I'm a little camera shy and don't like making videos, but I really wanted to show off my new YUNZII YZ98 keyboard, so I made a YouTube video showcasing it.

 

 

 

- I said Yunzii milk keycap when I meant milk switch

- I neglected to mention it has configurable RGB lighting on the sides

- lighting was bad/shadows when I was showcasing the connectivity on the back

- I said it's padded with silicon when I meant silicone

- Keyboard was actually $61.94 because there's currently an Amazon $20 off deal (but I think it would still be worth it at $89)

 

Hope you guys like it..

 

Also have a typing test with the stock YUNZII milk switches:

 

 

Thanks everyone, enjoy

 

Thanks for putting that together!

 

I'm still very interested in this board, but there's a minor thing that's now holding me back: I can't stand keyboards that don't have a print screen key lol. I love 1800/98% layouts, but I prefer them to fill that top right corner with some combination of Del + PrtSc + anything else they can fit. I also aesthetically prefer fully integrated arrow keys, but functionally, having that block a little spaced out would be good. Sometimes I hit Num 0 instead of the right arrow lol.

 

Still not wild about linears, but those sound so good, and hell, I'm open to trying new stuff.

 

I REALLY don't need another keyboard, but man that's a really good price for something fully put together.

[neurotix]

I am sure you can do PrtSc using the Function key and one of the other keys. Later, I'll look at the quickstart guide in the top of the board to check for you.

 

EDIT: actually no there doesn't seem to be a print screen macro. I read that Fn + Windows key + Space bar will do it, but I don't have the board hooked up currently to test (waiting on some clicky switches+ keycaps+o-rings). Otherwise, use snipping tool.

Edited July 25 by neurotix

[Sir Beregond]

12 hours ago, Supercrumpet said:

 

Thanks for putting that together!

 

I'm still very interested in this board, but there's a minor thing that's now holding me back: I can't stand keyboards that don't have a print screen key lol. I love 1800/98% layouts, but I prefer them to fill that top right corner with some combination of Del + PrtSc + anything else they can fit. I also aesthetically prefer fully integrated arrow keys, but functionally, having that block a little spaced out would be good. Sometimes I hit Num 0 instead of the right arrow lol.

 

Still not wild about linears, but those sound so good, and hell, I'm open to trying new stuff.

 

I REALLY don't need another keyboard, but man that's a really good price for something fully put together.

Yeah I put a DEL, PRT SCR, NUM Lock on my 75% board because all of those buttons ae useful. Some games for example use the num lock to toggle auto run for example, so its useful even though the board doesn't actually have a num pad.

[neurotix]

I just hauled the board out (it's in storage until I get switches, keycaps and o-rings) and rebooted to Windows and Fn + Windows+ Space does nothing. The user manual has no macro for it either. Think you'll just have to use snipping tool with it.

[pio]

So I have quite a few new mechanical boards.  I'm not really sure what the switches are on any of them though, most are cheap "junk" off Amazon that I'm scoring for reviews lol.

Here's my current favorite keyboard.  Honestly I dislike linear switches, but this board almost feels like I'm typing on a rubber dome.  It's a really weird sensation coming from MX Blue and Kalith Blue switches.

ilovbee - 60% with Linear Aster Switches (did I say it right? LOL)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0D1XLXGBK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Edited July 25 by pio

[neurotix]

20 minutes ago, pio said:

So I have quite a few new mechanical boards.  I'm not really sure what the switches are on any of them though, most are cheap "junk" off Amazon that I'm scoring for reviews lol.

Here's my current favorite keyboard.  Honestly I dislike linear switches, but this board almost feels like I'm typing on a rubber dome.  It's a really weird sensation coming from MX Blue and Kalith Blue switches.

ilovbee - 60% with Linear Aster Switches (did I say it right? LOL)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0D1XLXGBK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Did you get the taupe or the red version? The taupe looks nice. Congrats!

 

Yeah, that one looks very good for the price. Hot-swappable too. RGB. TKL. Gasket mounted.

 

Any plans to change switches? I would recommend Kailh Box Jade if you decide to.

[Sir Beregond]

16 hours ago, pio said:

So I have quite a few new mechanical boards.  I'm not really sure what the switches are on any of them though, most are cheap "junk" off Amazon that I'm scoring for reviews lol.

Here's my current favorite keyboard.  Honestly I dislike linear switches, but this board almost feels like I'm typing on a rubber dome.  It's a really weird sensation coming from MX Blue and Kalith Blue switches.

ilovbee - 60% with Linear Aster Switches (did I say it right? LOL)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0D1XLXGBK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Looks like 45g actuation linear so probably similar to a Red. Though you say feels like a rubber dome? Wonder if it's a silent switch with dampening in the switch. I tried a couple silent switches at Micro Center and they felt like rubber domes when they bottomed out.

 

$60 keyboard that features hot swap is kinda cool. Looks like you can replace the switches if you wanted to.

Edited July 26 by Sir Beregond

[pio]

8 hours ago, Sir Beregond said:

Looks like 45g actuation linear so probably similar to a Red. Though you say feels like a rubber dome? Wonder if it's a silent switch with dampening in the switch. I tried a couple silent switches at Micro Center and they felt like rubber domes when they bottomed out.

 

$60 keyboard that features hot swap is kinda cool. Looks like you can replace the switches if you wanted to.

That was kind of my thinking with this board too.  I love the look of it too (I got the Taupe color).

So far, I've been pretty happy with the switches on this board.  It's a weird feeling coming from the super clicky boards that I normally love.  I might look at swapping the switches out on it later of course.  I have admittedly been accidentally typing some keys multiple times on accident due to the low actuation force needed on this board.  However, when I'm actually on my game for typing.....it seems like I can type twice as fast on this board for some reason over the clickier boards.  Idk, might just be in my head too lol.

[Sir Beregond]

15 hours ago, pio said:

That was kind of my thinking with this board too.  I love the look of it too (I got the Taupe color).

So far, I've been pretty happy with the switches on this board.  It's a weird feeling coming from the super clicky boards that I normally love.  I might look at swapping the switches out on it later of course.  I have admittedly been accidentally typing some keys multiple times on accident due to the low actuation force needed on this board.  However, when I'm actually on my game for typing.....it seems like I can type twice as fast on this board for some reason over the clickier boards.  Idk, might just be in my head too lol.

I don't know. I'm supposed to think linear are "garbage" by the mech keyboard folks, but I like them for reasons you described. I still think I want to find a tactile but I'm not worried about it right now until the car is fixed lol. Got a few to look into though.

 

As I am learning more about keyboards and switches, I realized I hated the Pandas because they felt great as a tactile, but they were so loud and clacky it was very annoying to my ears. Something more low pitched would be better for me.

 

So far linear are quieter than any of the tactile I've seen.

Edited July 27 by Sir Beregond

[neurotix]

Yeah Sir B I have some really nice linears I could send you for free, check your Discord DMs.

 

Nothing wrong with liking linears, they are not garbage, a MacBook keyboard is garbage, a Mac chiclet keyboard is garbage, and Dell rubber dome keyboards I see at the doctor's office are garbage.

 

Where @bridgypooworks they have a contract with Dell. So they only buy Dell garbage slow laptops that she has to work on, but she's got a USB dongle with a Razer something mouse and a full size GMMK with Box Navy. As well as a 3440x1440 Ultrawide. All connected and working on her crappy work laptop.

 

Tactiles may as well be linears to me as it's rare I even feel the tactile bump at all. So you might want to consider linears instead.

 

I prefer the click with the feel of it and the audio feedback. You don't just use your sense of touch using it but also get the sense of sound letting you know you hit the key.