geekhack Community > Keyboards
What keyboard do I want? I'm about a decade behind.
N8N:
You are right about that! I pulled the trigger fast on the Keychron when it was available because any hotswap C2 has been out of stock as long as I've been looking. Had I not been in such a hurry, I might have noticed the different keys. (I'm not saying it's not a great product mind you)
Now I really want a GMMK and I'm wondering if it's just worth it to pay the premium to get the loaded one off Amazon even though I'm not going to use either the brown switches or the keycaps (and the worst part is I already have browns on the Keychron...) I guess I could drop them a line and see when they will have the full size boards available again.
N8N:
So I got an almost immediate reply from Glorious, the GMMK should be in stock "early to mid April" so that's not too bad.
that opens up a whole world of switches and keycaps though. I might end up buying a couple different ones to play with, which I guess is the whole point of a hotswap board.
Leslieann:
--- Quote from: N8N on Thu, 11 March 2021, 11:02:28 ---So I got an almost immediate reply from Glorious, the GMMK should be in stock "early to mid April" so that's not too bad.
that opens up a whole world of switches and keycaps though. I might end up buying a couple different ones to play with, which I guess is the whole point of a hotswap board.
--- End quote ---
Keep in mind they have a limited lifespan and if pushed in wrong, which is REALLY, REALLY easy to do, you can tear the hotswap right off the PCB (this causes massive trauma to the pcb). Not sure about GMMK and others, but Novelkeys recommends taking the keyboard apart to insert switches while holding the socket to the PCB. You will also want to make certain the pins are perfectly straight.
Hot swap is nice but be gentle with it and don't expect it to last forever, if you consider them disposable it makes it a lot easier to judge how much you should be willing to spend on them.
Maledicted:
--- Quote from: Leslieann on Thu, 11 March 2021, 22:21:36 ---
--- Quote from: N8N on Thu, 11 March 2021, 11:02:28 ---So I got an almost immediate reply from Glorious, the GMMK should be in stock "early to mid April" so that's not too bad.
that opens up a whole world of switches and keycaps though. I might end up buying a couple different ones to play with, which I guess is the whole point of a hotswap board.
--- End quote ---
Keep in mind they have a limited lifespan and if pushed in wrong, which is REALLY, REALLY easy to do, you can tear the hotswap right off the PCB (this causes massive trauma to the pcb). Not sure about GMMK and others, but Novelkeys recommends taking the keyboard apart to insert switches while holding the socket to the PCB. You will also want to make certain the pins are perfectly straight.
Hot swap is nice but be gentle with it and don't expect it to last forever, if you consider them disposable it makes it a lot easier to judge how much you should be willing to spend on them.
--- End quote ---
Now that I actually own a hotswap board, I should try taking the thing apart and reinforcing every single hotswap socket with some high temperature hot glue to increase the surface area of its contact with the PCB. I already knew that this stuff is practically as universally utilitarian/useful as duct tape (in liquid form) but I have even used the stuff to literally replace every single failed cheap plastic wall meant to hold threaded brass inserts (that hold a laptop hinge together) that's blown out. There are Chromebooks here that have had hinges held together by nothing more than high temperature hot glue for years now, and it has held up to abuse by the same user far better than the original design ... not that Dell's consumer-grade (I include their "education" crap in that category) laptops are known for their stellar engineering.
funkmon:
--- Quote from: N8N on Sun, 07 March 2021, 10:24:09 ---You just proved I have a lot of research to do. I haven't heard of ANY of those switches... Last time I paid attention your options were various flavors of Cherry MX, Alps, and the occasional weirdo who liked Topres. I think Gateron switches were around but MX was "the" switch.
As for the sound, it's not so much me but it's my coworkers. Everyone's more or less OK with the clears, and I am too, just the availability (ish) of hotswappable boards means that experimenting with different key switches today is much easier than it was before and I haven't bought a new board in ages...
Edit: it appears that the heaviest Zilents and Boba U4s are sold out, much like the GMMK full size... I'm striking out all over the place aren't I?
--- End quote ---
You're basically still correct. The only major developments in switches are the optical ones, the hall effect ones, and the Kailh clickbar ones. Almost all the others are just variations on the MX design.
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