Is there a date for this GB yet? Got into the hobby too late to get either of the previous rounds and super excited to be a part of R3!
I also cast a vote for a hotswap pcb as it’s just much more practical for me due to having very little time to do things like soldering a board (any solderable boards I have remain unbuilt for that main reason).
soldering takes like 2s per switch and you dont have time for that? Better dont join GBs then
Edit.
meant 2s per switch pin
I don't understand your attempt at shaming those who don't want to wield a soldering iron like a trained Jedi with a light saber. The hobby is about keyboards, not a soldering club. Pick your flavor of pcb and let others do the same. Let's enjoy the keyboard, not the headache inducing smell of lead in the air yeah?
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you will never get my "attempt" to shame him for going the hs route, since it never was my intention to do so and soldering doesnt need some jedi like power to do so.
building a solder board only takes like 20-30 minutes more compared to hs.
Since he said that he has a lot of solder boards laying around unbuild, I assumed that he is a very imaptient person, which lead to me telling him not to join GB's since they always tend to take longer than what the manufacturer/brand estimates.
I assumed stuff based on his information and tried to prevent him from getting stressed/annoyed by delays which comes with GB's.
I admit that I should have chosen my words better to prevent confusion and maybe explained why I said what I said.
I never expected sharing my desire to buy a hotswap board to become such a topic of discussion. Haha!
So I just got into the custom keyboard hobby this past summer, & some of the boards I really wanted (& bought) are solder-only, so I opted to buy them knowing that. To date, I have never soldered anything, though I’m confident that I can & will learn to be proficient at it once I get started, as I understand it’s not particularly difficult once you get the hang of it. I even bought a couple cheap macro pads to use as practice for soldering, but it’s been something I’ve been putting off doing since I don’t often have the time to spend doing it. I have 2 kids (7 & 10), a dog that needs to get walked, a couple large aquariums, many hobbies that I don’t always have time for, & most importantly I’m the founder of an online business & a full time content creator that’s loosely associated with my business (plus needing to make time to workout daily). So time is often a rare commodity for me, but when I am able to make the time to build a keyboard, it’s something I greatly enjoy and find very relaxing (and I am a very patient person, as this hobby certainly requires that on many levels).
I didn’t expect to have to explain the reasons behind why I personally don’t have the desire (or time) to solder pcb’s right now, but I hope that will change sometime soon since it’s a skill I want to learn & think I may actually come to enjoy doing it once I get started. But until then, if buying a hotswap board is an option, I greatly prefer to go that route since it’s just faster and easier for me, and allows me to change out the switches down the road as I see fit.
One of the great things about this hobby is how much it’s based around personal preference, and this is simply my preference at this point in time for reasons that are meaningful & valid to me. If I was proficient at soldering (which I currently am not), saving that 30-40 minutes by having a hotswap board would still make a difference for me right now, as I work 12+ hours a day as a small business owner & father. I don’t expect others to understand or appreciate that point if they’re not in a similar situation, but at least respect that others have different situations & preferences than you do as we are all different, which is part of what makes the world & this hobby more interesting.
Either way, thanks for sharing your perspective here & I wish you all the best, & hope you’re enjoying the keyboard hobby as much as I am!