Comes with Cherry MX Blue switches. Other switches and colours are more expensive. Cheaper than buying directly from drop
CamelCamelCamel.
Any recommendations for someone building their first kb after owning 1 mech?
really comes down to what you're into - i've personally found too much customizability ruins the experience for me. I just want something that works. Best keyboard I had was a Vortex Race 3… until it had some hardware fault which i have been unable to fix ugh. I'm gonna buy a new one (I got my first from Massdrop before they became "drop")
I have been dailydriving a OLKB Preonic for the past 3 years and whilst it's super cool and efficient, it makes using a normal keyboard hard. So i'm going back to vanilla because everything custom is just a little bit annoying. YMMV of course!
I think for custom custom, just look at what you can get from kbdfans - they have a slew of pcbs cases and pretty much everything you'll need. I've found my favourite switches, with the desire to only try one other (currently C3 Kiwi switches, want to try the Boba's)
Just realising i've been rambling, hoping i said something of use in there, if not, thankyou for coming to my TEDTalk 😅
Your rambling was appreciated!
As someone who is finding off the shelf keyboard options not quite meeting my needs I am going to wade in a custom MK but am a bit overwhelmed by the range of choices.
@VVamo: Oh! so one thing I'm really glad about is having gone with a hotswap pcb. I've tried a good few set of switches and settled on the ones I like. In the future I'll solder for two reasons:
they're typically a little cheaper (sometimes significant, often not)
I've had an issue with corrosion occurring on the legs of my switches sometimes. I don't live in a particularly coastal area nor do I eat at my desk, so I find this kinda unusual and a bit annoying. But a nice and clean contact with some solder will do the trick I'm sure 😉
i always enjoy mech kb rambles. there's always something you never knew you needed in your life
Boba UT4s were my favourite switch until recently, although I did quite like the Feker Pandas I got from Aliexpress as well. Good sound and I liked the feel of them. But apparently I seem to like linear more as I'm using Gateron Oil Kings now. And they got better once lubed as well. The heavier spring in them doesn't seem to make them that far off a tactile feel anyway.
I never bothered lubing the UT4s as they seemed to work fine as was, the Fekers definitely needed lubing though. So yeah, try the Bobas… :D
As dandoon said, if you can narrow down what you like we're happy to give some ideas.
Layout: Decide which keys you need to be accessible on the main layer (without Fn+). Keyboards with good drivers should be rebindable, so it's more about having enough keys. The Drop Alt in the deal is 65% layout, which is usually the minimum for arrows and Del/Home/End/PgUp/Dn etc. 60%, 80% (TKL) and 100% are the ones that use the completely standard layout, making keycaps easy to sort.
Gasket or Tray mount: gasket sandwiches the plate and PCB on a spongey material, making them softer to bottom out and generally quieter (esp lows). Tray screws the plate directly to the bottom case and has no flex. Most regular mechs are tray mount, but most enthusiasts want gasket.
Then the other features. Wireless/bluetooth? RGB? Are there specific keycaps you really want to use (affects layout and switch-facing choice).
If you want to order stuff that's reasonably priced and in stock, Keychron is really popular (although their regular K boards have weak drivers, their KPro, V and Q lines have fantastic drivers). Akko is good value and easy to find. They've been improving their drivers lately too.
The GMK67 on Aliexpress is the super-budget king at the moment. Budget is a very strange word in this community, as some people will call a <$400 build budget because there are $700 barebones kits and $250 keycap sets.
Once you decide what they're going in, we can talk switches, keycaps and stabilisers.
I have a fairly simple dream "spec" I am looking for that doesnt seem to be met by anything off the shelf.
So I'd appreciate any suggestions you might have.
A wired keyboard.
Full size with numpad but no extra macro keys or large extra spaces around the keys.
Backlit and backlit keycaps. Dont care about what colour or RBG or flashing patterns etc
Works default in windows with no drivers or apps or installs or anything.
Media Volume dial.
No screens or displays or that type of thing.
Fully changeable switches supporting a range of high quality switches.
Good value (I dont mean cheap I know that is not possible I just mean well priced for this feature list and not having expence extra unwanted features).
I have an Steelseries APEXM500 and I still love it but non replaceable switches and no volume knob has we wanting something slightly different.
@VVamo: Am in a very similar boat, keeping tabs on this to see if any options come through! Been watching videos and been digging those "creamy" and "thock" sounds, which is the only additional point I'd add to your list. Probably wishful thinking to find a prebuilt as @dandoon mentioned, going too custom will ruin it for me. Currently eyeing on the Yunzii boards which seem pretty cool, absolute noob here though.
@Dlinnz: I'll say that often for that ultra creamy/thocky sound you gotta get in there and disassemble your switches and lube them up which is honestly a painful experience 😅
not to mention that by opening the switches you often lose a little bit of the tightness-of-fit that they come with from factory so it's invariably a good idea to place a film in there too… keyboards is such a slippery slope 🤣 I love what I've learned but I've dug myself through the bottom and out to the other side so I'm happy to enjoy the variety from a far without having to invest haha
@VVamo: If you don't care about Gasket and want full size with a knob, maybe Keychron V6? Can be barebones or pre-built.
Uses VIA drivers which don't need to be installed. Can run portable (even from the website) and saves changes to the board.
https://keychron.com.au/products/keychron-v6-qmk-custom-mech…
Didn't buy it but thanks for reminding me to sell off my keyboards.
A person doesn't need multiple keyboards.
lies
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RzZAtrw_XDI
One for each hand. Not to mention one set for work and home.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RzZAtrw_XDI
One for each hand. Not to mention one set for work and home.
This is a good price for a mechanical keyboard, but it’s it’s not a board I’d recommend (yes, I do own one myself). If you can find a Keychron you like for a good price that’s probably a better deal.
Alts have a couple of pluses (a second USB-C port, pretty good heft) and a bunch of minuses (really awful plate-mount stabilisers, the RGB is nice and bright but it doesn’t remember what mode it was in if you power it off).
It was a great “entry level enthusiast” board when it first came out, but there are a lot of better options now.
I want to get a Keychron and I know what type of board I am after.
But I cant for the life of me workout what all the choice and spec boxes mean on the website and get it right.
I think you need to study for a few week before even trying to order a keychron !
If you're getting a Keychron be aware that south-facing switches are a pain in the neck if you like looking at RGB or shine-through keycaps. Also Keychron's naming system doesn't make a lot of sense.
I've got a K8 Pro and while it's a good keyboard I only use it during the day when I can see the lettering on the keycaps.
Despite being quite cheap the plate mounted stabs, north facing led, uneven edge lighting, 3 pin only, having to flash via yourself, lack of wireless (subjective) is a bit of a let down, although understandable given how old this board is.
I have this. It's ok for a starting board. I'd get a Gmmk over this any day or one of the epomakers. The plate is part of the aluminium frame. So this is one stiff board with zero flex. Pcb is only 3 pin not 5 pin so you are going to have to cut the nubs off all your switches if you want to try other switches. Sound is average. A bit better with stupid fish foams which cost a small fortune to ship to Aus. I've been trying to sell mine for ages. Had a normal profile which I was using and then a brand new high profile case. No one wanted it. Decided to try the high profile case just to display a keycap set. Sound was worse on the high profile.
I bought the Drop Alt high profile as my first non-cheapy mech keyboard. It was solid and the RGB was bright, but eventually I realised the QMK/VIA support wasn't what I thought it was going to be (the QMK repo dropped support for the microcontroller in the Alt and the Ctrl), and the Drop configurator couldn't even program macros in like was advertised on Amazon. So thankfully I returned (via Amazon) and got a full refund. Bought a Keychron V2 when it was on sale and have been extremely happy with it.
If you treat this as a barebones keyboard it's not a bad deal, considering it's VIA compatible and aluminium.
That said, there are lots of affordable gasket-mounted boards, where is this is tray-mounted and will be louder and firmer - if that bothers you.