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geekhack Marketplace => Group Buys and Preorders => Topic started by: MelonBred on Wed, 07 April 2021, 01:40:09

Title: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | Extras 11/19
Post by: MelonBred on Wed, 07 April 2021, 01:40:09
Welcome to the group buy for the MB-44!

(https://imgur.com/Ff1shF3.jpg)(https://imgur.com/FezXZjj.jpg)
(https://imgur.com/TX6s0kX.jpg)(https://imgur.com/hC4m4XY.jpg)

Photo Album: https://imgur.com/a/hjTMvT4

Typing test and build stream: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/975409245?t=01h51m38s


Timeline
Starts at 11am CDT on Friday, April 9th.
First come first serve.
Closes on April 30th or until 200 units are sold.
Expecting 3 months turnaround from close of group buy.


Color Options and Details:
• Blue-Grey
• Purple
• Green
• Black

• 40% keyboard with 65%-esque blocker
• 7 degree typing angle
• ESD protection
• Optional rotary encoder support
• Powered by QMK

Layout
(https://imgur.com/sECiIHR.jpg)


Vendor: Aeternus (https://store.aeternus.co/collections/group-buys/products/gb-mb-44)

The base kit will be $250 USD plus applicable taxes and shipping and will include:
• Anodized aluminum case in blue-grey, green, purple or black
• FR4 switch plate
• PCB mainboard and daughterboard
• Hardware, bumpons, JST cable.


The following add-ons will be available for purchase through Aeternus:
• Plate foam ($10 USD)
• Polycarbonate plate ($25 USD)
• Extra mainboard PCB ($35 USD)
• EC11 rotary encoder ($3 USD)


For other plate materials, P3D will be offering MB-44 plates in POM and PETG! These will be available for purchase on https://p3dstore.com/

If those materials don't quite tickle your fancy, the plate file will be made available after the close of group buy.


Thank you for looking!
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | April 9th - April 30th
Post by: MelonBred on Wed, 07 April 2021, 02:01:04
Updates:
06/09/2021 - Everything is paid for and currently in production.

08/01/2021 - Everything has arrived and sorting has begun. Also, lilac cases are available for preorder and will ship at the same time as group buy orders
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=112170.msg3072234#msg3072234
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | April 9th - April 30th
Post by: adobau on Wed, 07 April 2021, 11:44:16
HYPPPPEEEDDDD! Can't wait!!! 💖
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | April 9th - April 30th
Post by: s8erdude on Wed, 07 April 2021, 11:45:28
gib
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | April 9th - April 30th
Post by: Kokaloo on Wed, 07 April 2021, 11:45:54
oh boy oh boy oh boy
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | April 9th - April 30th
Post by: matthewdias on Wed, 07 April 2021, 11:48:14
(https://media4.giphy.com/media/yUI3a7RwLhOFy/200.gif)
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | April 9th - April 30th
Post by: bigern302 on Wed, 07 April 2021, 11:48:46
Way to go, MB.  We’re finally here!   
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | April 9th - April 30th
Post by: paperassgasket on Wed, 07 April 2021, 11:58:54
Alright let's go!
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | April 9th - April 30th
Post by: densus designs on Wed, 07 April 2021, 22:30:34
very compact
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | April 9th - April 30th
Post by: joedinkle on Fri, 09 April 2021, 01:03:05
GLWGB!
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | April 9th - April 30th
Post by: ZyBeR on Fri, 09 April 2021, 01:35:12
Do you ship from US or EU?
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | April 9th - April 30th
Post by: PabloSummer on Fri, 09 April 2021, 05:31:28
Hahaha... it is April 9th and 12:30 central european time and it is sold out.....  :eek:  never stood a chance at geting it.....  :(
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | April 9th - April 30th
Post by: Jo_hannes on Fri, 09 April 2021, 06:59:57
Quote from: PabloSummer on Fri, 09 April 2021, 05:31:28
Hahaha... it is April 9th and 12:30 central european time and it is sold out.....  :eek:  never stood a chance at geting it.....  :(

Sheesh, Pablo, get with the program. I am kidding, of course, but it clearly says 11am CDT, and just typing that into Google tells me that's 6pm CEST. Now, it's 2pm. Also, 200 units of a 40s board will likely not sell out in seconds. Unless they call it Iron140 or something. /Johannes
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | April 9th - April 30th
Post by: Ztox on Fri, 09 April 2021, 10:04:49
Quote from: PabloSummer on Fri, 09 April 2021, 05:31:28
Hahaha... it is April 9th and 12:30 central european time and it is sold out.....  :eek:  never stood a chance at geting it.....  :(

It says CDT not CET :)
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | April 9th - April 30th
Post by: MelonBred on Fri, 09 April 2021, 12:18:32
Quote from: ZyBeR on Fri, 09 April 2021, 01:35:12
Do you ship from US or EU?

This will ship from the US.
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | April 9th - April 30th
Post by: MelonBred on Fri, 09 April 2021, 12:19:24
Meant to reply earlier, but group buy is live! Please let me know if there are any questions c:
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | April 9th - April 30th
Post by: MelonBred on Mon, 26 April 2021, 12:55:19
Last week to join the group buy! Group buy will close on Friday, April 30th.

Thanks to everyone that has joined so far! I really appreciate your support for the project!
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | April 9th - April 30th
Post by: icornish on Tue, 27 April 2021, 09:46:02
Is this hotswappable?
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | April 9th - April 30th
Post by: Cubic // esc lab on Tue, 27 April 2021, 14:43:43
Mannnn I am interested but the price for a 40% is a bit high. Gonna mull it over this week. I love the design though
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | April 9th - April 30th
Post by: dingusxmcgee on Tue, 27 April 2021, 20:14:27
Quote from: loop | esc lab on Tue, 27 April 2021, 14:43:43
Mannnn I am interested but the price for a 40% is a bit high. Gonna mull it over this week. I love the design though
Price is actually pretty good for 2 piece case, pcb, hardware.
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | April 9th - April 30th
Post by: nbc on Wed, 28 April 2021, 13:09:57
Newbie here, could somone ID those blue/teal cat keycaps for me?
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | April 9th - April 30th
Post by: ggggggg on Wed, 28 April 2021, 13:37:56
That's KAT Kitty.
Title: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | April 9th - April 30th
Post by: Cubic // esc lab on Wed, 28 April 2021, 16:19:53
Quote from: dingusxmcgee on Tue, 27 April 2021, 20:14:27
Quote from: loop | esc lab on Tue, 27 April 2021, 14:43:43
Mannnn I am interested but the price for a 40% is a bit high. Gonna mull it over this week. I love the design though
Price is actually pretty good for 2 piece case, pcb, hardware.


F*** it. I'm in. Was gonna go for Whimsy as my first 40% but looks like that one is gonna be indefinitely "2 weeks away".


Got the green one.


GLWGB OP! Excited for this  :thumb:

PS is there a Discord for updates?
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | April 9th - April 30th
Post by: MelonBred on Fri, 30 April 2021, 11:12:30
Quote from: loop | esc lab on Wed, 28 April 2021, 16:19:53
Quote from: dingusxmcgee on Tue, 27 April 2021, 20:14:27
Quote from: loop | esc lab on Tue, 27 April 2021, 14:43:43
Mannnn I am interested but the price for a 40% is a bit high. Gonna mull it over this week. I love the design though
Price is actually pretty good for 2 piece case, pcb, hardware.


F*** it. I'm in. Was gonna go for Whimsy as my first 40% but looks like that one is gonna be indefinitely "2 weeks away".


Got the green one.


GLWGB OP! Excited for this  :thumb:

PS is there a Discord for updates?

Hey thanks for buying in! Yeah we have a channel for this board in the 40% server. Please feel free to join in and send ?rank mb44 in #join-ic-roles-here if you want pings for any updates. The #mb44 channel is currently under GB, but it'll move into Post-GB section after today.
https://discord.com/invite/40percent
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | April 9th - April 30th
Post by: MelonBred on Fri, 30 April 2021, 11:13:45
Just a friendly reminder that today is the last day to join the group buy! Thanks to everyone that has purchased so far. Really appreciate all the interest and love shown for the project.
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | CLOSED
Post by: MelonBred on Mon, 02 August 2021, 23:24:39
Quick update:

All components for the MB-44 group buy have arrived at Aeternus and sorting is starting this week. Shipping to follow shortly after, of course. Additionally, we had a happy accident with our manu and have actual lilac cases open for preorder!

(https://i.imgur.com/SZhfE8x.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/h2NuEc3.jpg)

https://store.aeternus.co/collections/mb-44/products/mb-44-extras

Please read the following for info from Aeternus on how this came to be:

Due to some miscommunications with the factory the anodizing color of the purple units was different from what we had originally requested. I won't go into details as to how this happened as it's not entirely important, and will be avoidable in future GBs. We felt that delivering cases that were a drastically different color from the initial prototype photos would be dishonest. Rather than re-anodizing, which can cause problems with fitment/finish, we decided to order a new set of cases in the advertised purple color. Since we ordered new cases, we now have a surplus of a very nice (albeit wrong) lilac color! Because these cases are not part of the GB orders, we will be opening up pre-orders in order to help offset the cost of purchasing the new cases. The lilac cases will include the same hardware as the GB units, and during pre-order they will be the same price as GB.

Please note that because we ordered a specific number of cases, we cannot exchange your group buy order with the lilac cases. Your best bet is to try to find someone to trade, or wait until you receive your GB boards and selling aftermarket.

All group buy orders and lilacs will ship at the same time.

Extras of all colors will be made available after all group buy orders have shipped. If you're interested in any of the other colors but were not able to join during group buy, fear not! We will post an update to when extras will be available for purchase.
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | CLOSED
Post by: pneruda on Sat, 16 October 2021, 20:08:07
Is there a problem with this group buy?

As far as I can tell, the non-purple boards arrived 3 months ago, and the purples arrived a month after that. Looks like a couple have gone out but the majority are just sitting in a warehouse somewhere without being shipped.

The only communication has been multiple assurances that all the boards will be shipped out by "the end of the week", which as of yet hasn't happened.

Is there a QC issue? Are there unexpected issues with packaging / shipping? Did someone spill coffee over a stack of PCBs and you have to reorder them?

I absolutely understand that delays happen, but the communication so far has been really disappointing, and at 2 months it's starting to get beyond the limits of what's acceptable. There's no clear explanation of what the issue is, there's no clear indication that there's a plan to deal with it, and there's no clear information about when the remaining boards will actually ship.

Please:

1. What is the issue that is delaying shipping?

2. What are the GB runners doing to address the issue?

3. What is the revised timeline for shipping the remaining units?

I hope I haven't come off as being too demanding, but I'm unsure how else to communicate my frustration here. Every day more of my excitement for this board turns into stress / worry. All I want is some clear communication.
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | CLOSED
Post by: MelonBred on Tue, 19 October 2021, 00:04:06
Quote from: pneruda on Sat, 16 October 2021, 20:08:07
Is there a problem with this group buy?

As far as I can tell, the non-purple boards arrived 3 months ago, and the purples arrived a month after that. Looks like a couple have gone out but the majority are just sitting in a warehouse somewhere without being shipped.

The only communication has been multiple assurances that all the boards will be shipped out by "the end of the week", which as of yet hasn't happened.

Is there a QC issue? Are there unexpected issues with packaging / shipping? Did someone spill coffee over a stack of PCBs and you have to reorder them?

I absolutely understand that delays happen, but the communication so far has been really disappointing, and at 2 months it's starting to get beyond the limits of what's acceptable. There's no clear explanation of what the issue is, there's no clear indication that there's a plan to deal with it, and there's no clear information about when the remaining boards will actually ship.

Please:

1. What is the issue that is delaying shipping?

2. What are the GB runners doing to address the issue?

3. What is the revised timeline for shipping the remaining units?

I hope I haven't come off as being too demanding, but I'm unsure how else to communicate my frustration here. Every day more of my excitement for this board turns into stress / worry. All I want is some clear communication.

Hey there, pneruda. Thank you for your reply. I sincerely apologize for the lack of communication. I realize that I've repeated this sentiment several times without actually improving the line of communication, but I hope this reply will help ease the frustration of  yours and the others waiting for their MB-44.

I have discussed with Aeternus, and these are our answers to your questions:

1. What is the issue that is delaying shipping?
   Simply put: time. It has taken longer than expected to ship these orders out. I believe we were overly ambitious with our excitement upon finally receiving all of the parts to fulfill the group buy.
   
2. What are the GB runners doing to address the issue?
   Aeternus has been continuously shipping orders over the course the the past 6 weeks. Unfortunately, it has not been at the rate that we had hoped nor at the group buy participants' expected with the timeline we stated.
   
3. What is the revised timeline for shipping the remaining units?
   At this point, there are 15 units remaining to be shipped. Aeternus will have these shipped by end of day Wednesday, 10/20.
   
You certainly have not come off as too demanding, and I apologize that it has gotten to the point where you had to make this post. Aeternus and I sincerely appreciates everyone that has put their trust in this project. We are so close to the end of the ride, and I hope there is still some excitement left when you receive your MB-44.
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | CLOSED
Post by: MelonBred on Tue, 26 October 2021, 20:06:20
Hey everyone! All group buy orders have officially been shipped. Thank you to everyone that participated in the group buy!! We have a handful of extras in all colors that will be available on Aeternus around the 2nd week of November. We just want to be sure all group buy participants have received their orders. I'll post another update once we have a date for extras finalized.

Thanks again for being a part of the ride! Looking forward to seeing everyone's builds!
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | CLOSED
Post by: MelonBred on Wed, 17 November 2021, 12:04:19
Hey good folks!

Extras for the MB-44 will be on sale at Aeternus (https://store.aeternus.co/collections/mb-44/products/mb-44-extras) on Friday, 11/19, at 12pm CT. There are extras of all colors, including the last minute lilac, totaling 25 units in all.

Extras are categorized in varying qualities. Please check the Aeternus FAQs for more info here (https://store.aeternus.co/pages/frequently-asked-questions).

Pricing is as follows:

• A stock $250
• A- stock $240
• B stock $235


We've also compiled photos of MB-44 builds done by the community which can be found here (https://imgur.com/a/fWQOlQ8).

Aeternus and I are so grateful for the wonderful community that has backed this project! Thank you to everyone that has participated in the group buy and those who decide to get in on the extras!
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | CLOSED
Post by: Kokaloo on Wed, 17 November 2021, 13:02:01
This board is so good i love it very much

Sent from my MB44 using home pc web browser
Title: Re: [GB] MB-44 - 40% Keyboard | Extras 11/19
Post by: jvoros on Thu, 18 November 2021, 11:06:08
What keysets is everyone using for these gorgeous builds?