Best option for getting Amiga style Cherry MX compatible keycaps?

[nraymond]

I'm thinking of getting the A500 Mini, but the lack of a real keyboard is holding me back. I'm in the US, and while there are some options from the UK, once I factor in shipping they are rather expensive. Checkmate sells this keycap set:

https://www.checkmate1500plus.com/Products.aspx?id=371

With shipping to me it comes to £66.25 ($79.80). No mention of whether they are ABS, PBT, dye sub, double shot, etc. either.

There is also this full USB keyboard with Amiga branding:

https://www.simulant.uk/shop/amiga-classic-mechanical-keyboard

Configured with US key layout, with tracked shipping to me it comes to £167.67 ($201.92). Cherry MX Brown, PBT, dye sub. Basically a good standard PC USB keyboard from what I can tell with three (or four, if they have a 'Help' key on hand and you ask for it) custom keycaps with Amiga branding.

I'm thinking if I can find an affordable PC USB keyboard with Cherry MX Brown keyswitches, and then order a few custom keycaps to match and swap them, I should be able to put something together well under that. Anyone have any suggestions for keyboards and the best place to get custom keycaps made? Also any recommended sources for the keycap graphics?

I could possibly add an Amiga logo to the keyboard if it has enough space as well:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/184534089426
https://www.ebay.com/itm/184487042249
https://www.ebay.com/itm/255401407570

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Findecanor]

https://www.checkmate1500plus.com/Products.aspx?id=371

With shipping to me it comes to £66.25 ($79.80). No mention of whether they are ABS, PBT, dye sub, double shot, etc. either.

The owner of Checkmate has said in a video on Youtube that they were ABS, not double-shot.

[nraymond]

https://www.checkmate1500plus.com/Products.aspx?id=371

With shipping to me it comes to £66.25 ($79.80). No mention of whether they are ABS, PBT, dye sub, double shot, etc. either.

The owner of Checkmate has said in a video on Youtube that they were ABS, not double-shot.

Thanks for the info. In looking closely at the Simulant keyboard and comparing it to actual Amiga keyboards, I'm surprised they went with a PC layout where Alt straddles both sides of the space bar and not the Amiga "A" key. The Amiga layout was more like Apple keyboards, with the two "A" keys on either side of the keyboard, and "Alt" on the outside (and Control up next to Caps Lock). Kind of a hybrid Apple II/Mac keyboard layout (Apple's Extended and Extended II keyboards moved Control down and on either side of the Option keys, putting three modifiers on either side of the space bar). Having "A" between Ctrl and Alt doesn't seem right. I think if I were to track down a USB keyboard with a Mac layout (Command on either side of the space bar) and then have some custom keycaps made, it would actually be a more accurate Amiga keyboard than the Simulant one. Reading up on the Amiga, I see that like the Apple II the closed-A and open-A keys were distinct and functioned in unique ways in the OS. Sometimes modern keyboards don't distinguish between Command/Windows key left and right in the keymap - is that still an issue? Does anyone know of an MX-keycap compatible keyboard with a Mac style layout that distinguishes between left Command and right Command?

[Findecanor]

All USB keyboards distinguish between left and right Command, because it is part of the USB standard to do so. Some keyboards have a setting (via DIP-switch or other) to set the Alt and Command keys in Mac or PC configuration: that changes which USB-specific codes are sent.
The rest is up to software on the host.

What matters is what keyboard mapping the A500 Mini uses. I hope it is configurable.

The classic UAE program (for emulating an Amiga on a PC) have some mappings that aren't straightforward. \| is on Insert, Help is on End, not on the key on the bottom row where Checkmate has that text.

BTW, WASD Keyboards offers custom printed keys, on their OEM-profile thin ABS.
I dunno about quality, and I have not ordered anything from them myself for many years now.

[nraymond]

All USB keyboards distinguish between left and right Command, because it is part of the USB standard to do so. Some keyboards have a setting (via DIP-switch or other) to set the Alt and Command keys in Mac or PC configuration: that changes which USB-specific codes are sent.
The rest is up to software on the host.

What matters is what keyboard mapping the A500 Mini uses. I hope it is configurable.

The classic UAE program (for emulating an Amiga on a PC) have some mappings that aren't straightforward. \| is on Insert, Help is on End, not on the key on the bottom row where Checkmate has that text.

BTW, WASD Keyboards offers custom printed keys, on their OEM-profile thin ABS.
I dunno about quality, and I have not ordered anything from them myself for many years now.

Thanks! Looks like I'll need to do some research on the A500 Mini and keymapping.

I was thinking about WASD Keyboards, years ago I custom ordered a tenkeyless with Mac keycap printing on it, and I've had it boxed up for some time. MAX Keyboard also offers a similar service, both for full keyboards as well as individual keys:

https://www.maxkeyboard.com/max-nighthawk-z-104-key-custom-mechanical-keyboard-top-print.html

https://www.maxkeyboard.com/custom-art-icon-or-text-cherry-mx-keycaps.html

Any other options I'm missing?