Mechanical Keyboards

Looking fwd to you youtube unboxing and smashing that like button.

There will not be videos like that but here's a few pics for you
🙂

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This looks great. Im quite torn between either buying one myself or getting a CU80 when the next groupbuy launches in a few days for £75 (minus keycaps and switches)

https://caps-unlocked.com/cu80-round-3/

As you can see it's the ISO-DE version.

Below is a pic with the mac keys. They look ok but not great (thinner letters compared to the rest, spelled out "alt option" instead of "⌥ option" and of course @ and € in the wong places etc. and the umlauts also look thinner ..considering this is quite an expensive keyboard it's a bit meh but I will probably forget about it in a week. First world poblems.
The PBT caps are absolutely lovely. Makes me wonder why a 3K MacBook Pro doesn't come with nice keycaps like that.
I opted for MX Speed Silvers and they feel great and sound great, in fact the online key that is really loud and thumpy is the space bar, if somebody can point me in the direction of some MX / spacebar specific dampening mods or something I'd appreciate it :-)
I never was a mechanical keaboard guru but indeed am patting myself on the back for not getting another chicklet but this insead. Feels a lot nicer and healthier indeed.

The Vortex TAB 75 is very nice overall - a massive upgrade to the old (rubber dome) Dell I had been using as an external keyboard the past week.
Plastic case but I like that. Think it's really ok for keyboards to not be metal. Plastic is warmer to the touch.
It' a nice "chunky" thing - and heavier than I'd have thought (820g with batteries!).
The colours look exactly like in the pictures.
Takes two AAA's for the Bluetooth. Setting this up took 30 seconds, works fine with a MacBook Pro alongside a magic trackpad.
The mac does check whether it's an ISO keyboad, and you then switch the board itself to apple-mode (Pn + W). This is a bit quirky though as it doesn't send actual F1-F12 commands (if somebody needs this I'll leave this reddit link here - Vortex Tab 75 setup for macos).
Without the mods from that link applied it sends the Fn-variants of the F-keys (without the need of a modifier), so you press F1 for brightness down, F2 for brightness up etc. - which is all I need so I'm happy.

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I opted for MX Speed Silvers and they feel great and sound great, in fact the online key that is loud and thumpy is the space bar, if somebody can't point me in the direction of some MX / Spacebar specific dampening mods or something I'd appreciate it :-)

Some o-rings on the space bar switches should help dampen the sound.

Googling "cherry mx o-rings" gives loads of links, I have no specific one to recommend.

Cheers man.

Having spent the best part of a year with only enough space for my laptop & a number pad on the side, I've finally moved and got enough space for a full size keyboard again.

Couldn't find the Leopold I wanted in stock anywhere so just went for the full-size Filco as I thought thier number pad worked well - it's so good on a full size! Feels great to type on, everything is where you remember so less having to look down. Might actually respond to some people's emails now!

"alt option" instead of "⌥ option"

My MacBook Pro keyboard says "alt option"

I got some '0 rings' for my dragon thru Bezos World...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08LH8RLPS?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

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The new ones don't spell it out.
It's nicer with just the symbols in my opinion; sandwiched between "⌃ control" and "⌘ command"

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That (Pentel?) pen is really nice, I love those.

Keyboard is cool as well!
👍

Cheers.

Think I'm going to wait for that ultra thin one you mentioned.

How are you finding the thickness of this?

Agree on the metal Vs plastic. Just depends on the quality and density of the plastic.

Hah. Yep. There are perks to employment! Ta ;oP

How are you finding the thickness of this?

As mentioned I did (almost exclusively) use laptop keyboards for a very long time now, so this is sort-of a step up (hehe) - though I gotta say sitting at a proper height meanwhile, and having an external keyboard that I can position freely under my hands (it's much closer to the edge of the table now compared to when I was using the laptop's keyboard) makes it really easy to hover-type all of a sudden, and even if I don't I'm finding the Tab 75 comfortable.
There's a slight slant and that apparently fits me just nicely (there are no foldable feet by the way). See the picture below, the front edge of the board is 19mm above the desktop.

Agree on the metal Vs plastic. Just depends on the quality and density of the plastic.
Think I'm going to wait for that ultra thin one you mentioned.

Yea it's gonna be a while until they have the internationanl ISO versions available apparently.
Also quality of plastic was one reason that put me off the Keychron actually.
They look cool in the product shots / brand new, but found them more dull in user's videos and photos and thought they will not look nice when they get shiney like those ABS caps tend to get with my hands.

Also I did want to have a keyboard with a "frame" around the outer keys - both because I think it looks nicer and I think it's comfortable to be able to rest the little fingers on it when you take a break from typing sometimes.

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Do Keychron keyboards usually sell out immediately?

Had a notification for K3 Ultra-slim Wireless Mechanical Keyboard, and when I go on the site it says sold out.

yeah they're pretty in demand now people have started to be told they'll be working from home very often even when the pandemic fucks off.

try the facebook keychron user group. The owner Nick Xu is on there often too.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/keychron

Cheers.

The email came in yesterday, I guess I just didn't expect them to go so swiftly. Re-added myself and will try and be faster off the mark.

I've also ordered one of these Low Profile Keychron Optical testers that I'm happy to forum-share @postage once I'm done.

Dibs on the tester, please.

Will offer the same pay-it-forward deal to the next forummer

Does anyone have any reccomendations for a wireless mechanical with numpad, I like the look of the keychron K4, but it is out of stock and no idea when it will be back in stock...

Oh Windows, UK layout as well.

Edit: Doesn't have to be compact, but would like to keep it below £100...

I'm waiting for a version of the Keychron K4 in UK layout too.

I was using the Logitech MX keys keyboard for a while, but I'm back now on the Filco Ninja Majestouch Brown wired because I missed the key feel. Also because my computer was randomly disconnecting with it.

Ah! I guess I better get in the queue then... Currently using a Corsair K68, which is fine, but I don't really like the backlights on it, and also would like to go wireless again.

I think what I really want is the K10 which is still in development, apparently due mid year at some point.

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Cool. Will do.

Was also wondering about adding a "£1 forum tip" to the idea. Not a great deal, but I'm sure in the end 5 or 10 people would use it.

There’s an unused V2 on eBay as we speak, it’s already at £100 (mostly thanks to me).

Does anyone actually have one of these things - are they worth the hype? Am quite keen on it and wireless, dual devices and a number pad ticks all my boxes. Spending over £100 on a keyboard however, doesn’t.

The game is on. Ducky One 2 SF with MX reds. Thanks for the keycaps @Soul x

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Dang. Those pastel shades make my primary colours look positively medieval.

DeadMau5 would be double rainbow jel. Is it edible?