Completely New to Mechs. Oh God Why?!?

[PhoenixUNI]

Hey everyone. PhoenixUNI here.

Just now getting into the mech hobby. I saw the Nautilus keycap set months and months ago, and decided that when it finally dropped on Massdrop, that I would get into the hobby. Now here I am, caps ordered, anxiously awaiting the Pok3rs to get back into stock so I can order them.

Popped on here to mostly browse the classifieds, but figured I'd stop in here first and say hello!

[FloFoer94]

Welcome and say goodbye to your wallet ;)
Nautilus is a good reason to start with this hobby. It really does look absolutely amazing :)
It's real sad that it's too expensive for my taste, especially as european. I already know i will some day regret not buying it regardless.
I'm fairly new here to and one of the first things i learned in this hobby: if you're not able to control yourself you will be poor in no time, especially if you discover that you like some artisans :D

[PhoenixUNI]

I've heard a lot of people mention that this drop seems extra expensive than normal. I figured that was just because of the Ergodox kit, but is there more to it than that?

Also, getting married was literally the best thing that ever happened to my wallet. 

[FloFoer94]

I've heard a lot of people mention that this drop seems extra expensive than normal. I figured that was just because of the Ergodox kit, but is there more to it than that?

Also, getting married was literally the best thing that ever happened to my wallet. 

I don't know if it's more expensive than usual, don't have the experience. But i'm from germany, so shipping cost is high and i have to pay import tax. Plus if i would want to use german iso i would have to buy additional kits.
It would cost me more than 200$ in either case. That i belief is totally insane as a normal student. I settled for Tai-Hao PBT keycaps for now. Admittedly i really like them, maybe because i don't know how good GMK ones would be in comparison and they're definitely better than the stock ones...

[Auk]

Hi, re Nautilus keyset - it's certainly not 'cheap' but it is arguably one of the most accessible GMK sets so far. The exception is the mentioned Ergodox kit, but many of those keys with legends are being offered for the first time, so there is an extra cost vs previous Ergodox sets that were with blank keys only.

[dodgeyhack]

I would say run now, but it's too late obviously.
My suggestion is to skip the Pok3r and just order a PCB and start building something or hand wire your own, because you know you're going to end up going down that path eventually. You may as well save the cash and do it straight away.
I got into this hobby a few months ago, I have a pok3r in a wooden case, a Matias V60 on order that I don't think I want anymore, a set of PCBs to build a Let's Split, a banana split pcb on order, two sets of keycaps that I'm waiting for (and another 2-3 GBs that I'm going to jump in on) and now I'm thinking of hand wiring some sort of ergo board of my own concoction. Seriously, I am finding new stuff and planning a new 'end game' board before the last order has arrived. It's crazy, but fun though =D

[clappingcactus]

My opinion is to also skip the Pok3r. 60% is useful if you know a couple of very specific things about yourself:
a) You don't like distractions.
b) You do a lot of writing. Not even coding, but straight up prose.

The limitations of a 60% turn to advantages in that case. They're fashionable, but there are too few keys to actually be real world comfortable with everything you'd want to normally do with a keyboard. Add to that that the Pok3r is barely programmable. Even if you do know 60% is what you want, you should at least try to find something that's QMK compatible. That is unless you know you're going to have many keyboards over the years. Try to go as quickly as possible to something that's sufficient, IMO.

[FloFoer94]

My opinion is to also skip the Pok3r. 60% is useful if you know a couple of very specific things about yourself:
a) You don't like distractions.
b) You do a lot of writing. Not even coding, but straight up prose.

The limitations of a 60% turn to advantages in that case. They're fashionable, but there are too few keys to actually be real world comfortable with everything you'd want to normally do with a keyboard. Add to that that the Pok3r is barely programmable. Even if you do know 60% is what you want, you should at least try to find something that's QMK compatible. That is unless you know you're going to have many keyboards over the years. Try to go as quickly as possible to something that's sufficient, IMO.

Just curious, never used one, but why should a 60% be bad for coding? I would understand it immediately with a 40%, but 60%? What is missing there that is so important.

[dodgeyhack]

My opinion is to also skip the Pok3r. 60% is useful if you know a couple of very specific things about yourself:
a) You don't like distractions.
b) You do a lot of writing. Not even coding, but straight up prose.

The limitations of a 60% turn to advantages in that case. They're fashionable, but there are too few keys to actually be real world comfortable with everything you'd want to normally do with a keyboard. Add to that that the Pok3r is barely programmable. Even if you do know 60% is what you want, you should at least try to find something that's QMK compatible. That is unless you know you're going to have many keyboards over the years. Try to go as quickly as possible to something that's sufficient, IMO.

Just curious, never used one, but why should a 60% be bad for coding? I would understand it immediately with a 40%, but 60%? What is missing there that is so important.

I'm a software engineer and I'm not sure. I love the 60% form factor. I'm also a vim user so that may be something to do with it. I'd be ok with a TKL, but I don't really know what I'd do with the extra buttons. Since getting the pok3r and using vim arrows with the Fn key I'm finding the arrow cluster on my keyboard at home to be annoying and too much of a reach. I find a full size keyboard really uncomfortable due to the reach to the mouse.

[FloFoer94]

My opinion is to also skip the Pok3r. 60% is useful if you know a couple of very specific things about yourself:
a) You don't like distractions.
b) You do a lot of writing. Not even coding, but straight up prose.

The limitations of a 60% turn to advantages in that case. They're fashionable, but there are too few keys to actually be real world comfortable with everything you'd want to normally do with a keyboard. Add to that that the Pok3r is barely programmable. Even if you do know 60% is what you want, you should at least try to find something that's QMK compatible. That is unless you know you're going to have many keyboards over the years. Try to go as quickly as possible to something that's sufficient, IMO.

Just curious, never used one, but why should a 60% be bad for coding? I would understand it immediately with a 40%, but 60%? What is missing there that is so important.

I'm a software engineer and I'm not sure. I love the 60% form factor. I'm also a vim user so that may be something to do with it. I'd be ok with a TKL, but I don't really know what I'd do with the extra buttons. Since getting the pok3r and using vim arrows with the Fn key I'm finding the arrow cluster on my keyboard at home to be annoying and too much of a reach. I find a full size keyboard really uncomfortable due to the reach to the mouse.

That's exactly what i thought. Anything bigger than TKL is annoying regarding the mouse. Unless the numpad would be on the left side. I don't understand who came up with the idea to put it to the right.
And the arrow keys in general are to far away. Since my current TKL at home is not programmable i'm using AutoHotKey to use ALT + hjkl instead. Way faster i believe.
I'm considering buying a 60% to carry it with me for university/work, so i was really curious why it should be bad for what i do for a living.

[ppp]

haha I just saw you post on /r/mm.

I would just go for the sets that you want in case you decide to upgrade your keyboard later, you'd probably want to make sure you have all the keys for it! Buying aftermarket singles is expensive...

I would also argue that it's not overly expensive. GMK Plum/Terminal were around the same prices? The base kit is definitely pretty cheap if that's all  you need.

As for the 60% board argument, I personally have used TKL, 75%, 40%, and 60% as a software developer. For me 75% makes the most sense because I don't use vim as much. We use an IDE so having arrow keys/Home/End keys really help. But in your case 60% sounds fine and dandy.

[PhoenixUNI]

I've been spending most of this time looking for a good 100% board to put these caps on. Currently use a Corsair K70 on my gaming PC. Nothing was really going to work, though, so I started looking at TKL, then even smaller than that.

The keyboard I'd be getting would be for work, where I use Macs, so I've gotta be able to switch the R4 keys into the correct order. I've still got a Ducky One on my wishlist, but honestly the Pok3r just seems like a really cool keyboard. I'm obviously open to more suggestions, since I don't know anything about this stuff. Looked at some KBParadise and Leopold boards as well.

[ppp]

Ooo I've always wanted to use an alps64 build for a mac (https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/5hpumn/photos_aekii_60_alps64/)

What do you mean by the difference in R4 though? They look the same to me.

In terms of 100% boards I just think they're super overrated with all the spacing and such. If you want functionality with space-saving you should look at 1800 boards (https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/5ju1m3/photos1800_layout_best_layout/)

[clappingcactus]

Just curious, never used one, but why should a 60% be bad for coding? I would understand it immediately with a 40%, but 60%? What is missing there that is so important.

I'm a software engineer and I'm not sure. I love the 60% form factor. I'm also a vim user so that may be something to do with it. I'd be ok with a TKL, but I don't really know what I'd do with the extra buttons. Since getting the pok3r and using vim arrows with the Fn key I'm finding the arrow cluster on my keyboard at home to be annoying and too much of a reach. I find a full size keyboard really uncomfortable due to the reach to the mouse.

I at least found that I ran out of serviceable layer space too quickly. Half my keyboard had gone off to buttons that I'd otherwise have in a TKL like Function keys and arrow keys. The other half wasn't enough for all the macros I'd like to have an shortcuts I maintain for graphic design/coding/data analysis.

Also, at least in my case, arrow keys are a must for gaming. I'd give up a wasd cluster before I give up ortho arrow keys.

[ɔiɈɘʜɈƨ∍∀]

hi

[kmba]

nautilus is inexpensive for a GMK set.. sub $100 for awesome compatibility?  That is, if you live in the states

Nothing wrong with a poker.. downsides compared to a full custom is it's not fully programmable, and the case is bland and low profile (well, maybe you like that look).  Personally, I'd go with a kdb75 or TINA or something from kbdfans since they offer assembly service as well and everything is reasonably priced.  https://kbdfans.myshopify.com/collections/keyboard

[Leska]

Welcome to the forum

Ive had mech keyboards for years, but its only in the last 2 years or so, i discovered geekhack and the world of custom keyboards. And it cant get addictive