Author Topic: Looking for a prebuilt 60%  (Read 1739 times)

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Offline Rafen

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Looking for a prebuilt 60%
« on: Sun, 05 April 2020, 14:51:09 »
As the title states I'm looking for a pre-built 60% keyboard. I've been out of touch with the mechanical keyboard scene for a while and I see a lot has changed. There are a lot more companies making boards and I'm not sure which one to choose. Basically, I'm looking for a 60% with Cherry MX Browns, PBT keycaps and possibly backlit. The Poker was big back in the day so I was leaning towards the Pok3r or Ducky mini. Are there better options? Thanks in advance.

Offline Nostril

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Re: Looking for a prebuilt 60%
« Reply #1 on: Sun, 05 April 2020, 20:39:09 »
Welcome back!

I haven't really gotten any prebuilts recently, so I can't really speak about my experiences about any of them, but here are some that I've heard discussed and what I've heard about them. I wouldn't consider myself the most in touch either, so I would do more research on these and take everything with a grain of salt.

Pok3r and Ducky Mini are still reasonable options for prebuilts. I think for the Pok3r, I've heard people complain that you can't remap the FN key placement, but not sure if that is actually correct or not.

Anne Pro 2 has PBT keycaps, programmability (not sure if the FN key is reassignable on this one either), backlighting, and can be used in Bluetooth mode.

Drop.com's ALT and ALT High Profile keyboards are 65% boards that are running QMK firmware, which is open-source firmware that is now used on many boards nowadays. They also have hotswap switch sockets (which has mixed reception among people in the community), an aluminum case, and individually addressable RGB backlighting.

You may also want to consider picking out parts individually from kbdfans.com and ordering their assembly service, and it will arrive prebuilt. In my opinion, they have some very nice options for the price (this is subjective of course), such as the Tofu case and the DZ60 PCB (again, runs QMK, and also VIA compatible). If you go with this, I would encourage you to also check out some other tactile switch options as well, as there is now a wider range of feel and sound besides MX browns.
« Last Edit: Sun, 05 April 2020, 20:40:53 by Nostril »

Offline Rafen

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Re: Looking for a prebuilt 60%
« Reply #2 on: Sun, 05 April 2020, 21:29:46 »
Thanks a lot for the reply. I will look into the kbdfans.com and see what I can find.

Offline nettoxx7

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Re: Looking for a prebuilt 60%
« Reply #3 on: Tue, 07 April 2020, 09:50:14 »
If you're into the custom keyboards, Id recommend looking into Reddit mech market, some would sell their pre-built, rather than disassembling everything.