The Keychron looks interesting, but it got me wondering about ergo keyboards. Are the split ones any good? They lose the num pad and usually the volume knob...but then I can just put one in the gap. Aaaand Im quickly giving up on my budget.
When it comes to Alice style boards like that, I can't tell you if you'll like them, because I am not you. Very individual taste, and because of that I would get the cheapest kit you can just to try, before going all in.
I'll say this, even if it might be super obvious, but those split Alice style keeb are not for people who can't touch type.
Another option would be something like a Feker Alice barebone for around $100 https://www.amazon.com/EPOMAKER-Swappable-Bluetooth-Wireless-Backlight/dp/B0BBF7WDQB, add your choice of switches, and then keycaps. You should easily be able to keep things in the $200-300 range depending on the switches and keycap set. A wrist wrest will be another $30-50 and are on Amazon, Etsy, and Aliexpress if you need/want one.
I was thinking more like the ErgoDox or the Moonlander, I think there's a potential for space saving especially if I get used to not having a volume knob and dedicated numpad. The Alice layout is probably an easier transition, but it kind of seems like a half step. It seems interesting, and I could probably run the same layer/fake numpad setup, but for some reason mentally it seems easier to go with a true split board than a semi one if I have to deal with cons like no numpad.
For what its worth my use case is mostly emails and excel so numpad is pretty important. Im also kind of tight on space so the possibility of handwriting notes between my keyboard sounds pretty nice, I currently either have to use my leg as a table or find space between the clusterfuck that is my mouse/cup/phone zone.
Writing this out I think I've basically talked myself into either the Ergo or the Moonlander and basically just need you guys to tell me if I'm being dumb (and if you have an opinion, which is better, there's like a $11 difference. I'm leaning Moonlander).
I was thinking more like the ErgoDox or the Moonlander, I think there's a potential for space saving especially if I get used to not having a volume knob and dedicated numpad. The Alice layout is probably an easier transition, but it kind of seems like a half step. It seems interesting, and I could probably run the same layer/fake numpad setup, but for some reason mentally it seems easier to go with a true split board than a semi one if I have to deal with cons like no numpad.
For what its worth my use case is mostly emails and excel so numpad is pretty important. Im also kind of tight on space so the possibility of handwriting notes between my keyboard sounds pretty nice, I currently either have to use my leg as a table or find space between the clusterfuck that is my mouse/cup/phone zone.
Writing this out I think I've basically talked myself into either the Ergo or the Moonlander and basically just need you guys to tell me if I'm being dumb (and if you have an opinion, which is better, there's like a $11 difference. I'm leaning Moonlander).
I was thinking more like the ErgoDox or the Moonlander, I think there's a potential for space saving especially if I get used to not having a volume knob and dedicated numpad. The Alice layout is probably an easier transition, but it kind of seems like a half step. It seems interesting, and I could probably run the same layer/fake numpad setup, but for some reason mentally it seems easier to go with a true split board than a semi one if I have to deal with cons like no numpad.
For what its worth my use case is mostly emails and excel so numpad is pretty important. Im also kind of tight on space so the possibility of handwriting notes between my keyboard sounds pretty nice, I currently either have to use my leg as a table or find space between the clusterfuck that is my mouse/cup/phone zone.
Writing this out I think I've basically talked myself into either the Ergo or the Moonlander and basically just need you guys to tell me if I'm being dumb (and if you have an opinion, which is better, there's like a $11 difference. I'm leaning Moonlander).
https://dygma.com/pages/defy looks like another very nice split ergo and it's wireless. It's still in the pre-order phase but says it's out in November/December.
I'm not in the marker for that kind of keyboard but to me, a must be wireless or I'm not even considering it, a great option.
https://dygma.com/pages/defy looks like another very nice split ergo and it's wireless. It's still in the pre-order phase but says it's out in November/December.
I'm not in the marker for that kind of keyboard but to me, a must be wireless or I'm not even considering it, a great option.
That thing is both awesome looking and if I paid that much for it would probably be used by my wife to bludgeon me to death.
GMMK Pro: I'm really enjoying it but the larger keys tend to rattle. Can I mod the stabs or do I need to buy all new ones? I don't have experience with this type of mod so I don't know what works best.
If buying new stabs, I'd like to keep the price under $40 if possible. This is my workhorse board for the office, so I'm willing to spend a little more if it'll be worthwhile
GMMK Pro: I'm really enjoying it but the larger keys tend to rattle. Can I mod the stabs or do I need to buy all new ones? I don't have experience with this type of mod so I don't know what works best.
If buying new stabs, I'd like to keep the price under $40 if possible. This is my workhorse board for the office, so I'm willing to spend a little more if it'll be worthwhile
How hard are the stabs to take apart? Do they lube them or not?
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syndalisGetting ClassyOn the WallRegistered User, Loves Apple Productsregular
https://dygma.com/pages/defy looks like another very nice split ergo and it's wireless. It's still in the pre-order phase but says it's out in November/December.
I'm not in the marker for that kind of keyboard but to me, a must be wireless or I'm not even considering it, a great option.
That thing is both awesome looking and if I paid that much for it would probably be used by my wife to bludgeon me to death.
I specc'd out the one I would like and it was 625 dollars.
Yikes.
SW-4158-3990-6116
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
GMMK Pro: I'm really enjoying it but the larger keys tend to rattle. Can I mod the stabs or do I need to buy all new ones? I don't have experience with this type of mod so I don't know what works best.
If buying new stabs, I'd like to keep the price under $40 if possible. This is my workhorse board for the office, so I'm willing to spend a little more if it'll be worthwhile
How hard are the stabs to take apart? Do they lube them or not?
Not too difficult but you have to pull off all the keys and switches. I looked up the Holee mod so I may do that as well (basically the band aid mod)
Dang are you sure it's all of them? I have some boards where the remove a stabilizer you just need to remove that one switch (and sometimes one or two neighbors).
I broke down and bought the Moonlander, apparently it'll ship in two weeks so maybe I'll have it by Thanksgiving. Pretty pumped and I cant wait to get away from this old membrane board.
GMMK Pro: I'm really enjoying it but the larger keys tend to rattle. Can I mod the stabs or do I need to buy all new ones? I don't have experience with this type of mod so I don't know what works best.
If buying new stabs, I'd like to keep the price under $40 if possible. This is my workhorse board for the office, so I'm willing to spend a little more if it'll be worthwhile
They are screw in so you should be able to swap them out, but it will be a small project to take it apart. If there is some rattle you may just need to straighten the stab bar, you can do this with a tweezers and a flat surface (I think they sell tools too, I forget what they are called for) Wildcat shows you how to fix it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvH1gGQgZuc
If you want to upgrade to better stabs you should be able to get Durock v2 screw ins for like $20
I *do* have Durock v2 stabs on the way. I tried to mess around with this yesterday and I couldn't get to the screws on the stabs without separating the board from the plate; unless I'm doing something wrong. I'll check that vid
I cleaned and bandaid modded the stabs. Had to take the entire board apart to do it. Much less rattle now. And of course the Durock stabs showed up in the mail as I was reinstalling keycaps.
Ok here's a kinda fun project I'd like some help with.
My good friend from college works from home for a bank so he's starting to look for a new/better keyboard. I've pseudo convinced him to get a mechanical but:
* He's cheap about computer gear
* He needs a full sized board (I don't know enough about his workflow whether he'd use a separate Numpad so stick with full size)
* He wants a board that's quiet on Zoom
I found a Havit board for like $50 but I don't think it's hot swappable. I'm willing to do any work on stabs and foam for the board myself.
No commitments on any brands or models yet so I'm open to suggestions. Let's say the full build needs to be under $75. He hasn't given me a budget so who knows.
I was thinking of checking Epomaker/Akko boards. As I said, Havit has decent boards on sale on Amazon.
Moonlander arrived this week, way earlier than I expected, and I just went through the initial setup. Initial impressions I like it but its definitely going to be an adjustment. Some keystrokes I normally make with the wrong hand (primarily Y which I usually hit with my left index finger, and B which I usually hit with my right) I could configure to make work but I think Im going to try to retrain myself. The split design is a great improvement over my old board, having the keys shoulder width apart is really nice.
Ok here's a kinda fun project I'd like some help with.
My good friend from college works from home for a bank so he's starting to look for a new/better keyboard. I've pseudo convinced him to get a mechanical but:
* He's cheap about computer gear
* He needs a full sized board (I don't know enough about his workflow whether he'd use a separate Numpad so stick with full size)
* He wants a board that's quiet on Zoom
I found a Havit board for like $50 but I don't think it's hot swappable. I'm willing to do any work on stabs and foam for the board myself.
No commitments on any brands or models yet so I'm open to suggestions. Let's say the full build needs to be under $75. He hasn't given me a budget so who knows.
I was thinking of checking Epomaker/Akko boards. As I said, Havit has decent boards on sale on Amazon.
Will he want to assemble it or will he employ you to do it? You can o-ring mostly anything if he doesn't care about mush. Most boards, from my experience are quiet on zoom if you don't use tactile or clicky switches.
I don't think you can do a full build of a 108 board for that much unless you already have the switches, board or keycaps.
Cheapest taihao set of keycaps are 22.50 before shipping.
cheapest switches I could find are some gaterons on clearance for 1.25 per 10, (which works out to like 15 bucks before shipping), more realistically this is going to be 25-35 bucks (minimum) for switches.
That leaves you with $25-30 bucks for everything else.
If he's looking for a really cheap deal, a clearance prebuilt keyboard is the only way you hit that budget.
My personal experience is that building is more expensive than buying.
If the budget could be raised to $100-125 then you'd actually a lot of good options. The Budget Keebs Reddit would be a good resource for affordably priced and actually good stuff.
Ok here's a kinda fun project I'd like some help with.
My good friend from college works from home for a bank so he's starting to look for a new/better keyboard. I've pseudo convinced him to get a mechanical but:
* He's cheap about computer gear
* He needs a full sized board (I don't know enough about his workflow whether he'd use a separate Numpad so stick with full size)
* He wants a board that's quiet on Zoom
I found a Havit board for like $50 but I don't think it's hot swappable. I'm willing to do any work on stabs and foam for the board myself.
No commitments on any brands or models yet so I'm open to suggestions. Let's say the full build needs to be under $75. He hasn't given me a budget so who knows.
I was thinking of checking Epomaker/Akko boards. As I said, Havit has decent boards on sale on Amazon.
Will he want to assemble it or will he employ you to do it? You can o-ring mostly anything if he doesn't care about mush. Most boards, from my experience are quiet on zoom if you don't use tactile or clicky switches.
Fear my MX Green switches with NO RINGS and MT3 profile PBT keycaps. I make all the noise! Even that isn't that bad though.
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When it comes to Alice style boards like that, I can't tell you if you'll like them, because I am not you. Very individual taste, and because of that I would get the cheapest kit you can just to try, before going all in.
I'll say this, even if it might be super obvious, but those split Alice style keeb are not for people who can't touch type.
For what its worth my use case is mostly emails and excel so numpad is pretty important. Im also kind of tight on space so the possibility of handwriting notes between my keyboard sounds pretty nice, I currently either have to use my leg as a table or find space between the clusterfuck that is my mouse/cup/phone zone.
Writing this out I think I've basically talked myself into either the Ergo or the Moonlander and basically just need you guys to tell me if I'm being dumb (and if you have an opinion, which is better, there's like a $11 difference. I'm leaning Moonlander).
You could grab a keychron q10, which has a knob (or the q8 without the knob) and then just get a separate macropad - https://www.keychron.com/pages/keychron-q10-customizable-mechanical-keyboard
https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-q0-qmk-custom-number-pad
Could also look into Dygma.
https://dygma.com/pages/defy looks like another very nice split ergo and it's wireless. It's still in the pre-order phase but says it's out in November/December.
I'm not in the marker for that kind of keyboard but to me, a must be wireless or I'm not even considering it, a great option.
I am whistling innocently
dygma balls
That thing is both awesome looking and if I paid that much for it would probably be used by my wife to bludgeon me to death.
If buying new stabs, I'd like to keep the price under $40 if possible. This is my workhorse board for the office, so I'm willing to spend a little more if it'll be worthwhile
How hard are the stabs to take apart? Do they lube them or not?
I specc'd out the one I would like and it was 625 dollars.
Yikes.
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
Not too difficult but you have to pull off all the keys and switches. I looked up the Holee mod so I may do that as well (basically the band aid mod)
They are screw in so you should be able to swap them out, but it will be a small project to take it apart. If there is some rattle you may just need to straighten the stab bar, you can do this with a tweezers and a flat surface (I think they sell tools too, I forget what they are called for) Wildcat shows you how to fix it here:
If you want to upgrade to better stabs you should be able to get Durock v2 screw ins for like $20
edit: found this post from GMMK on how to do it too! https://www.gloriousgaming.com/blogs/secret-announcement/sticking-stabilizer-repair-guide
My good friend from college works from home for a bank so he's starting to look for a new/better keyboard. I've pseudo convinced him to get a mechanical but:
* He's cheap about computer gear
* He needs a full sized board (I don't know enough about his workflow whether he'd use a separate Numpad so stick with full size)
* He wants a board that's quiet on Zoom
I found a Havit board for like $50 but I don't think it's hot swappable. I'm willing to do any work on stabs and foam for the board myself.
No commitments on any brands or models yet so I'm open to suggestions. Let's say the full build needs to be under $75. He hasn't given me a budget so who knows.
I was thinking of checking Epomaker/Akko boards. As I said, Havit has decent boards on sale on Amazon.
It took me forever to type this though hahaha.
Will he want to assemble it or will he employ you to do it? You can o-ring mostly anything if he doesn't care about mush. Most boards, from my experience are quiet on zoom if you don't use tactile or clicky switches.
Cheapest taihao set of keycaps are 22.50 before shipping.
cheapest switches I could find are some gaterons on clearance for 1.25 per 10, (which works out to like 15 bucks before shipping), more realistically this is going to be 25-35 bucks (minimum) for switches.
That leaves you with $25-30 bucks for everything else.
If he's looking for a really cheap deal, a clearance prebuilt keyboard is the only way you hit that budget.
My personal experience is that building is more expensive than buying.
Fear my MX Green switches with NO RINGS and MT3 profile PBT keycaps. I make all the noise! Even that isn't that bad though.
Its for work. The keyboards there are crappy to the point that they're hurting my fingers.
You can usually turn the RGB off on mechanical keyboards. Would that be adequate?
I want a numpad.
https://www.logitech.com/en-us/products/keyboards/k845-mechanical-illuminated.920-009862.html
I use an older version of one of these at the office, it's pretty good while not being super blinged out.
Varmilo VA87 or VA108. Not sure if they're on sale though.