Hi everyone, I would like to make some huge update regarding the current situation of this GB
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First thing first, we should clarify who E-Team are. Basically jhoang, me and exclusive (know as exc) for short. We are not really a 3-man-show but 3 different entities coming together through QQ chat and such. E8 was originally designed and manufactured by exc. I and jhoang were like the first two participant and felt that the board was outstanding, why not going for a GB. The E-Team and E8-V1 name were jhoang’s idea. The whole operation of GB, from opening google form, collecting money and ordering are just between jhoang and exec, I was totally not involved. I’m only in charge of assembling E8-V1 for the price I have always been offering others. I consider myself as an outsource service provider. Also, I take care of the logistic from exc to jhoang.
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Why E8-V1 GB was delayed? This is the first GB ever for the team so there were a lot of unforeseen circumstances. First of all, the money was held by Paypal. The manufacturing process was delayed for 2 months due to the lack of fund. Then, jhoang had to use his own money to pay exc so the boards could go into production.
- Then, there was a flaw in plate design. Compare with the prototype, the final version got a lot of revisions by exc, one of them led to the position of the stabilisers to be a bit off. It made the metal stick touches the plate, causing unwanted sound as well as affecting the typing experience. Moreover, as exc already mentioned, due to the packaging, the name plates were scratched. The time to fix the plate and re-anodise the name plate took longer than expected as well. The plan was 2-3 weeks but ended up taking 2 months.
- After receiving the plates, I also realised that there was a little problem with the PCB causing the left Windows to malfunction. This one can be easily fixed but takes up a lot of time since each and every PCB has to be thoroughly checked.
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The status of the GB: all the parts of E8-V1 are readily at my warehouse and can be considered ready for shipment. The most tedious and time-consuming part now is engraving the name plate as ordered. I will sort the orders out as per the original list of participants (
link), which is always published. I also had the list of those that need to be assembled (
link). For Vietnamese orders, I have already sorted them out because there are not many and all of them will be free shipped. The sorting for international orders will be done accordingly but the shipping will be on hold until jhoang provide me with the new list. The assembly, after getting confirmation from jhoang will take 2 days for a non-tuned board and 5 days for those that need tuning. The order will be according to the position of your order.
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Main problem: I do not have the list of people who are still keen to stick with our GB and those who have already backed out through Paypal dispute. I also don’t know who paid jhoang for assembly service and who did not. And above all, I don’t have the money to assemble as well as send out your boards. I have yet to receive a single penny from jhoang.
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About jhoang: I still haven’t been able to get in touch with him to get the necessary information as well as money (as if he wants me to take care of the rest of the GB). The last thing I know, and for sure is that there is around $18,000 held up by Paypal in jhoang’s account (before the E6-V2 GB took place). Even now, I don’t think Paypal has released the money so I believe that jhoang will have to use his own money to pay up for the upcoming costs of this GB.
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So why E8-V1 GB is struggling? As I once posted and you all know, jhoang has not been communicating, making things even worse. There are even more problems as follow:
- There are too many options for just one keyboard, leading to a lot more questions than expected.
- Plate problem was not of a big deal but the time to fix it was. I do know some GB where the plates had more problems than this but the GB organiser ignored them and send out anyway, keeping it in the dark from participants.
- From the perspective of some people that I discussed it with, the PCB problem was not a big deal neither. Anyone who could assemble a board by himself can fix it, but I personally don’t believe so.
- The lack of faith from GB participants – this could be answered by yourselves.
P/S: The statements above doesn’t mean that I will be officially step up and take over this GB. What I am doing is just to help my friend, jhoang as well as all those who still have faith in our E8-V1 GB or moreover, all the keyboard lovers. My English is not good, I don’t have much time to log in GH regularly and I really can’t get familiar with the PM system of this forum so if you have any question, feel free to post a reply here. If you want to ask something more familiar, just drop me an email at eteam@kuang2.net
P/S 2: I do believe that those who backed out from the E8-V1 GB please spare jhoang and those who are still keep the faith some breathing room. The less of your pitchforks, Paypal dispute and such, the quicker E8-V1 arrive at your mailbox.
P/S 3: About E6-V2, I will give exc all my design, and ask jhoang to give him all information and money for making it faster.