Hi all. I'm still waiting for moderator approval of the GB thread, but in the meantime I'll be happy to answer questions here.
I'm still exploring the proxy thing right now. EU people who prefer to use a proxy can sign up on
this one-off email list and I'll let you know when I've made a final decision either way. Do you guys have any experience with MyKeyboard.eu? Those are the folks to whom I'm speaking. Several folks had good things to say earlier in the thread.
Oh my, got the email. It looks sublime. I've got some final questions.
1. Roughly how heavy is the case?
2. Its a 2 piece case? Top and bottom piece, easy assembly just like the Novatouch?
3. Are we going with the Chinese factory then?
Hype! Can't wait, 6months ......
1. I'm currently away from my office, but the weight is similar to the Novatouch case I made, which was around 4 pounds. In short, your final assembled keyboard will be HEAVY.
2. Two piece case except that it's seamless this time, with the back plate hidden underneath the housing. Very easy assembly, no soldering. Plug and unplug two cables and then screw in some fasteners.
3. Yes, absolutely—in Shenzhen. I keep trying to source cases in the US so I can do on-site inspection, but American shops just can't get their **** together when it comes to consumer-grade finishes. I can't tell you how much money I've wasted fruitlessly trying to get stuff like this made here; it's a nice idea but simply not practicable. It includes many extra logistical annoyances for me to be working overseas, so honestly I'd prefer to work with someone local, but the shops in Shenzhen (contrary to the somewhat-outdated cliches about Chinese manufacturing) simply do better work.
Re the lead time: TBH I've somewhat over-estimated the timelines given me by vendors to give some wiggle room when things go wrong (as they inevitably do!), so there is a fair chance these will ship well ahead of schedule. I've just learned from hard-won experience never to trust vendor promises when it comes to timelines. Also, I wanted to leave the GB open for a longer period this time since people a) inevitably miss out when I do short GBs and then sadly email me when it's too late b) will be distracted by the holidays.