Could buy quite a lot of boards for 4k or 2 highly premium boards for 4k.
Well I fell down the custom keyboard world.
- Thread starter davetherave2
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Selling the sim stuff is a bit awkward, as the rig etc is very bulky so needs collection. Will see, it won't hold me back, will get involved in the keyboards anyway!
Looks like our merry crew is growing then
Soldato
I want to dip my toe into the world of custom keyboards. Not so much a s a hobby, but to just build a nice single board.
Looking this thread I might be out of my depth regarding budget! Some of your builds are insanely expensive!
What manufactures should I being searching for, for the lower end of the pricing market?
Can anyone point me to where I could buy a second hand board / bits? Not seen much at all in the MM and don't fancy chancing eBay.
Looking this thread I might be out of my depth regarding budget! Some of your builds are insanely expensive!
What manufactures should I being searching for, for the lower end of the pricing market?
Can anyone point me to where I could buy a second hand board / bits? Not seen much at all in the MM and don't fancy chancing eBay.
There's mainstreams manu's like Glorious and Drop who mass produce boards which are readily available but are more entry level imo. Still very customisable and good value and can even be better than some of the custom boards you find in GB (Group Buys).
GMMK Pro boards are a good entry to mid level if you want to dip your toe in. Nice budget board that most people start off with is probably KBDFans KBD67lite (65% type keyboard made from ABS plastic) or a bit more money could get you a Tiger80 (80% keyboard Mix of plastic and aluminium with a weight).
Caporegime
That was my thinking too when i dipped my toes, in. I didn't and still stay away from Group Buys. For me, if I am starting out, I want it now, I don't want to buy it for it to arrive 2 years later. I want to get into the hobby now, not 2 years later.
So I went for a Keychron after some research, picked a size that i like (Q1) and bought one, watched some videos about modding, did them, put in keys and caps that i like.
Is it the same quality as the £1k board? no. But it weights a ton, has all the features of the expensive boards at 1/3rd the price. People call it entry level and i know it is, but after caps and switches, it still came to nearly £400.
Can't go wrong with Keychron but be prepared to add and tweak it over time (as you will with any board, to be fair).
GMMK and Drop are similar alternatives in terms of price depending what you're looking for. AKKO could also be one to look at.
If you want out of the box with modding options and room to grow, then Keychron (I have a Q3 as my daily driver) and GMMK (OC sell these) will be bang for buck and readily available.
Some of this is size dependent, as there are some fantastically priced keyboards for the quality (Zoom65) but they're usually part of Group Buys (GB) and have finite supply with lead times. So I'd say settle on a size you're interested in for your needs and go from there.
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Caporegime
I might get another Keychron Q1, but in ANSI this time, keep hitting the / key instead of Enter at home.
I use ANSI at work and don't have this problem....then put Milky Yellow Pros in it (like it a lot) then think about the keycaps.
I use ANSI at work and don't have this problem....then put Milky Yellow Pros in it (like it a lot) then think about the keycaps.
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I mean it depends on your budget really. If you are looking for a nice looking and feature packed board then you could look at the Zoom TKL or Zoom 65 these are designed as well specc'd and premium grade entry level boards but more budget conscious. If you want everything then you could get the Assembled Version of the Zoom TKL that has been recently announced.
But as others have said you could look at the Drops, Keychron and GMMK's of the world as well.
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So the finished product:
So happy with how this turned out.
So happy with how this turned out.
I keep pouring over Keycaps trying to look for something that really grabs me but it's rare and even then they're the wrong profile.
I'd really like Infinikey Aether to be re-released, or DreamEater/Vilebloom released in Cherry. Big fan of the fade style.
GMMK released some rip offs of those sets but even OC don't sell them in ISO layout.
So the finished product:
So happy with how this turned out.
Are they the Hoshizora switches? How are they?
Caporegime
I want to try GMMK but they are expensive, and also ABS And not PBT. I bought some NovelKeys kast time and I really really like the texture on them so i want to stick with them again. The problem with that is that choices to stick with 1 brand limits the sets even further.
There is only 1 other sets that they make which i want to try. I think it's call Notion?
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Yes they are. They feel better after a little bit of lube on them. They feel really nice and have a lovely sound to them in this board. I got them mainly because they were sparkly more than anything but they turned out better than I could have expected.
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Associate
Lovely.So the finished product:
So happy with how this turned out.
Regards earlier posts about Keychron, this could be worth a look as a starter if you don't want to commit too much cash to start with. Really good value.
Keychron V5 QMK Custom Mechanical Keyboard
The fully assembled version includes: ABS plastic housing The keyboard PCB, screw-in stabs, and the steel plate Double-shot OSA PBT keycaps (including Mac & Windows keycaps) Keychron K Pro switches The barebone version does not include the keycaps and switches.No discount codes can be used for...
www.keychron.com
Think i saw your board on Discord, looks nice all finished up!So the finished product:
So happy with how this turned out.
The board i really want Saevus Cor65xt might not meet MOQ, so gutted! I spoke to Jae from Prototypist having visited there last weekend and he said it's not selling too well right now. Then Streamline on discord (the GB starter) clarified it as well, it's still very far off from 200, only around 60 so far....
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I remember seeing this on a BlackSimon Stream and I know he had some concerns about the overall design but I think it was more the high price for this which I think may have turned a lot of people off.
Personally something just doesn't sit right with the layout but then again I still consider myself finding my feet still in the hobby and finding what works for me.
The bottom certainly is nice looking but I just don't like that exploded look I guess from my limited 65% experience.
Thanks for the kind words on my board. Really happy with how it turned out and shared a lot more images in the PT sub channel of the build before showing the final ones that I shared. I even tried it with Pink on Navy and also loved that look as well.
But as my second solder build I am really happy with how this feels and sounds, also really happy with my improved soldering skills (pays to get the right sized solder wire lol)
Now to wait for the next round of boards to arrive and it is now going to be a toss up between either my CruelWorld or MatrixLabs boards arriving next. November/December is going to be a busy couple of months building boards.
As well as building a Freebird TKL for a friend.
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