Author Topic: Any high-end, full-size, hotswappable boards for sale?  (Read 1797 times)

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Offline zslane

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 2302
  • Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Any high-end, full-size, hotswappable boards for sale?
« on: Wed, 23 September 2020, 11:56:31 »
Looking for recommendations for high-end, full-size (104 or 108 keys), hotswap keyboards.

(And by "high-end" I mean something more premium than the GMMK.)

Offline Krelbit

  • Posts: 488
  • Location: Minnesota
  • Switchmod.net
    • Switchmod
Re: Any high-end, full-size, hotswappable boards for sale?
« Reply #1 on: Wed, 23 September 2020, 12:33:31 »
High end fullsizes are already hard enough to find without hotswap.

Offline Leslieann

  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 4519
Re: Any high-end, full-size, hotswappable boards for sale?
« Reply #2 on: Wed, 23 September 2020, 21:27:58 »
And hot swap isn't very reliable.
Kailh hot swaps are rated for 100 insertions (on average), which may sound like a lot but many times just pulling a keycap will yank them out. If you play with switches much, you will go through a lot of those pretty fast, and yes, odds are you will at some point settle on a switch, but by then how many have you wasted? The Kailh are also extremely hard on the pcb, being bottom mounted and SMD*. Unless you view several hundred bucks as disposable I wouldn't get them on anything you plan on keeping long term.

*Note these issues mostly apply to Kailh and there are alternatives but those are the most common you will find on a pcb.
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Offline zslane

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 2302
  • Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Re: Any high-end, full-size, hotswappable boards for sale?
« Reply #3 on: Thu, 24 September 2020, 11:04:53 »
I hear you. I had such a keyboard (AoPo 108), and it worked for a while, but installing new switches caused several of the switch transistors to become detached from the PCB, rendering the board useless to me.

All I wanted was a full-size keyboard with Kailh Box silent brown switches, but since nobody sells a full-size with that switch as an option, I decided to try hotswap. I guess MX-compatible switches just aren't my destiny.

Offline Leslieann

  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 4519
Re: Any high-end, full-size, hotswappable boards for sale?
« Reply #4 on: Thu, 24 September 2020, 22:22:21 »
Like I usually recommend...
Get a full size GMMK. Look, it's not a $500 board, but throw good stabs on it, bandaid mod, lube, your switches and a magnetic cable and I guarantee you will be surprised at how good it actually is. And when the sockets screw up you will be able to replace it for $70, you can barely buy a good PCB for that. If you do find a good high end full size you're still out little more than a spare pcb.
Novelkeys NK65AE w/62g Zilents/39g springs
More
62g Zilents/lubed/Novelkeys 39g springs, HK Gaming Thick PBT caps, Netdot Gen10 magnetic cable, pic
| Filco MJ2 L.E. Vortex Case, Jailhouse Blues, heavily customized
More
Vortex case squared up/blasted finish removed/custom feet/paint/winkey blockoff plate, HID Liberator, stainless steel universal plate, 3d printed adapters, Type C, Netdot Gen10 magnetic cable, foam sound dampened, HK Gaming Thick PBT caps (o-ringed), Cherry Jailhouse Blues w/lubed/clipped Cherry light springs, 40g actuation
| GMMK TKL
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w/ Kailh Purple Pros/lubed/Novelkeys 39g springs, HK Gaming Thick PBT caps, Netdot Gen10 Magnetic cable
| PF65 3d printed 65% w/LCD and hot swap
More
Box Jades, Interchangeable trim, mini lcd, QMK, underglow, HK Gaming Thick PBT caps, O-rings, Netdot Gen10 magnetic cable, in progress link
| Magicforce 68
More
MF68 pcb, Outemu Blues, in progress
| YMDK75 Jail Housed Gateron Blues
More
J-spacers, YMDK Thick PBT, O-rings, SIP sockets
| KBT Race S L.E.
More
Ergo Clears, custom WASD caps
| Das Pro
More
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| GH60
More
Cherry Blacks, custom 3d printed case
| Logitech Illumininated | IBM Model M (x2)
Definitive Omron Guide. | 3d printed Keyboard FAQ/Discussion

Offline hvontres

  • Posts: 185
  • Location: Oceanside, CA
  • Buckling Spring Enthusiast - Full Size Evangelist
Re: Any high-end, full-size, hotswappable boards for sale?
« Reply #5 on: Thu, 24 September 2020, 22:40:45 »
+1 on the GMMK

I was going to go that route, but a $25 e-bay coupon led me astray and I picked up a open box Reddragon K556. I wrote a short review in this thread: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=108433.msg2955688#msg2955688

The short answer is, the Reddragon can be made to work, but the GMMK would have been easier.
Henry von Tresckow

               
1986 Model M 1390131, 1987 Model M 1391401 , 1993 Model M2 Modded Reddragon k556(Test Mule) Boston Prototype x2 (Daily Drivers :) )