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geekhack Marketplace => Interest Checks => Topic started by: VTX_ENGINE on Mon, 21 October 2024, 05:54:45

Title: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: VTX_ENGINE on Mon, 21 October 2024, 05:54:45
DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE


(https://imgur.com/v0Y6Txh.png)



INTRO

VTX Engine have different departments, the ones you already know like TKD and VERTEX, but there are more coming soon, which are known as INTRO and VTX/SEL (Vertex selection) INTRO is going to bring more niche layouts at a budget price with VTX quality (100%, AT and 40%), aswell as other stuff that you will like for sure (DCS, switches...)

This time, we are going to show you our first keycap project, DCS INTRO,where we seek to get the best possible DCS prices in order to allow as many people as possible to try this wonderful key profile.

We will start with DCS INTRO BEIGE and DCS INTRO WOB

GB DATE AND PRICING

1 Nov-15 Nov

Price:69$

Price may vary depending on region

SPECIFICATIONS

Manufacturer: Signature Plastics
Material: Doubleshot ABS
Profile: DCS
Legends: Gorton
Number of kits: 2

KITTING

Renders made by MiKeyDigit

(https://imgur.com/rHKCrUr.png)

(https://imgur.com/1rAKHh9.png)


KEYBOARD RENDERS

Pangea Mini - Bowl

(https://imgur.com/v0Y6Txh.png)

(https://imgur.com/KrmLqxD.png)

(https://imgur.com/TGi5Sir.png)

(https://imgur.com/yOsT53Q.png)

Intro AT- VTX Engine

(https://imgur.com/vfy1Hwd.png)

(https://imgur.com/HP0gFOu.png)

(https://imgur.com/CLmcO25.png)



VENDORS

United States: Bowl
Europe: DeltaKeyCo
China: NEXT
United Kingdom: Prototypist
South East Asia: Pantheonkeys
Korea: Swagkeys
Oceania: Keebz&Cables
Vietnam: Soigear
Canada: Minokeys

If you are an interested vendor, contact our international manager via discord: manukbs



Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: DivinaPapaya on Mon, 21 October 2024, 05:57:15
Certified banger. Pole
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: Jurapikahhh on Mon, 21 October 2024, 05:58:44
Been waiting for this. Count me in.
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: ggggggg on Mon, 21 October 2024, 05:59:24
Do this but add decent 40s kits alongside and I'll never have to buy another keycap set again.

Unrelated, but petition to replace the uggo win key with an os-agnostic text mod.
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: VTX_ENGINE on Mon, 21 October 2024, 06:01:18
Do this but add decent 40s kits alongside and I'll never have to buy another keycap set again.

Unrelated, but petition to replace the uggo win key with an os-agnostic text mod.

This is a test to check the true interest of DCS if it's priced pretty cheap, if we recived a good feedback from the community, we will repeat this method with more colors and kittings.
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: scorcher36 on Mon, 21 October 2024, 06:01:33
Yes, we want good quality caps to be affordable. Definitely in for both kits. I hope GMK and KKB will be able to follow the same footsteps. Geon made some kiting that are affordable, but this is the best kit I have seen for the value.  :thumb:
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: DirtyGingy on Mon, 21 October 2024, 06:12:19
Praise be to gorton
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: marcowhatever on Mon, 21 October 2024, 06:14:44
It would be nice to see front print nav, window keys and r3 control
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: mul7i on Mon, 21 October 2024, 06:20:36
dcs so goated, gorton so goated, maybe consider addon kits (extra support in general, windowed keys, 6u spacebar) after this run?
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: MartinThePolarBear on Mon, 21 October 2024, 06:43:49
You can count me in for both. This is a no-brainer for the price


Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: mr_foggy on Mon, 21 October 2024, 07:46:09
imagine skipping this
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: mcmcmc on Mon, 21 October 2024, 07:47:57
v good price  :thumb:

i think you missed mod pipe in beige kit.
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: VTX_ENGINE on Mon, 21 October 2024, 08:02:47
v good price  :thumb:

i think you missed mod pipe in beige kit.

Yes we will add it soon and update the image!
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: ggggggg on Mon, 21 October 2024, 08:18:08
Do this but add decent 40s kits alongside and I'll never have to buy another keycap set again.

Unrelated, but petition to replace the uggo win key with an os-agnostic text mod.

This is a test to check the true interest of DCS if it's priced pretty cheap, if we recived a good feedback from the community, we will repeat this method with more colors and kittings.

To play the devil's advocate:
I'm not sure if the install base of the 2022 WoB run is big enough to boost an extension kit run. Either way, my 2 cents.
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: dskeeb on Mon, 21 October 2024, 08:24:03
In my view, testing for monetary value and popularity of DCS, as a profile, on a limited base kit would yield incorrect data.

For a SP offering, inherently being expensive, the offered kits are very reasonable value indeed but the base kit is somewhat limiting even for ANSI users alone. So, a true monetary value cannot be tested against only a limited portion of the market that you are trying to test.

Popularity means when the majority agree. To properly test if DCS is a popular profile or not then either the base kit must be larger or supplementary kits should be privided at the same reasonable price. For instance, having the missing five keys for ISO UK layout support included to the base kit would have added far more participants to the experiment.

While I really appreciate the effort, I, and others like me, cannot make a purchase so the experiment yield a precise data that SP is after.

I have never heard anything negative about DCS Profile for typing on but heard so many times how expensive DCS kits are, hence unreachable to own a set or two. No experiment is needed, just drop the price and provide descent colorways in the kits people want and we would purchase them.
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: VTX_ENGINE on Mon, 21 October 2024, 08:44:51
Do this but add decent 40s kits alongside and I'll never have to buy another keycap set again.

Unrelated, but petition to replace the uggo win key with an os-agnostic text mod.

This is a test to check the true interest of DCS if it's priced pretty cheap, if we recived a good feedback from the community, we will repeat this method with more colors and kittings.

To play the devil's advocate:
  • if you ran this Intro kit as is, and then decide to run, say, a 40s extension kit down the line you limit your pool of potential buyers to those that got in on the original buy.
  • if you ran this Intro kit concurrently with extension kits you would be able to get more people on board from the get-go. This comes at the cost of complicating fulfiment of course.
I'm not sure if the install base of the 2022 WoB run is big enough to boost an extension kit run. Either way, my 2 cents.

I totally understand your point but we are willing to reduce (even more) our profit for next runs if that means to have those covered, but right now with the high MoQ that we are doing, we prefer to keep it that way for the first attempt
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: VTX_ENGINE on Mon, 21 October 2024, 08:47:45
In my view, testing for monetary value and popularity of DCS, as a profile, on a limited base kit would yield incorrect data.

For a SP offering, inherently being expensive, the offered kits are very reasonable value indeed but the base kit is somewhat limiting even for ANSI users alone. So, a true monetary value cannot be tested against only a limited portion of the market that you are trying to test.

Popularity means when the majority agree. To properly test if DCS is a popular profile or not then either the base kit must be larger or supplementary kits should be privided at the same reasonable price. For instance, having the missing five keys for ISO UK layout support included to the base kit would have added far more participants to the experiment.

While I really appreciate the effort, I, and others like me, cannot make a purchase so the experiment yield a precise data that SP is after.

I have never heard anything negative about DCS Profile for typing on but heard so many times how expensive DCS kits are, hence unreachable to own a set or two. No experiment is needed, just drop the price and provide descent colorways in the kits people want and we would purchase them.

Forgot to mention above, all the orders from Prototypist will include a ISO-UK kit for free, thanks as always to the goat Jae
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: chimichanguh on Mon, 21 October 2024, 09:27:29
Sounds like playing it safe since this is the first time I have heard of VTX Engine doing IC for a DCS set which is understandable.
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: dskeeb on Mon, 21 October 2024, 09:41:37
In my view, testing for monetary value and popularity of DCS, as a profile, on a limited base kit would yield incorrect data.

For a SP offering, inherently being expensive, the offered kits are very reasonable value indeed but the base kit is somewhat limiting even for ANSI users alone. So, a true monetary value cannot be tested against only a limited portion of the market that you are trying to test.

Popularity means when the majority agree. To properly test if DCS is a popular profile or not then either the base kit must be larger or supplementary kits should be privided at the same reasonable price. For instance, having the missing five keys for ISO UK layout support included to the base kit would have added far more participants to the experiment.

While I really appreciate the effort, I, and others like me, cannot make a purchase so the experiment yield a precise data that SP is after.

I have never heard anything negative about DCS Profile for typing on but heard so many times how expensive DCS kits are, hence unreachable to own a set or two. No experiment is needed, just drop the price and provide descent colorways in the kits people want and we would purchase them.

Forgot to mention above, all the orders from Prototypist will include a ISO-UK kit for free, thanks as always to the goat Jae

Thank you for the imperative info. Pleased to report DCS Beige Intro will be ordered, from ProtoTypist, as my first ever DCS profile set.

How thick the keycaps will be please?
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: anson42 on Mon, 21 October 2024, 09:48:44
Unrelated, but petition to replace the uggo win key with an os-agnostic text mod.

Alas, even with the great pricing I'm not willing to put Win keys on my keyboard. These two sets are instant cop if those 4 keys were OS agnostic. Code, Super, Sys, anything but Windows-themed legends. There aren't enough keys in the kitting to make for suitable replacements.

Granted, I could install the sets onto one or two WKL boards that I have...
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: Jampot_298 on Mon, 21 October 2024, 09:50:05
any other kits? extension? uk iso? xt? maybe icon mods?
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: LavenderB on Mon, 21 October 2024, 11:35:21
Very nice :thumb:
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: scorcher36 on Mon, 21 October 2024, 11:49:23
Okay I cannot unsee the off-center windows key. Pls do something about it or remove it completely.
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: LMarci on Mon, 21 October 2024, 12:03:22
Classic dcs colorways at a great price. All it takes to make me happy :thumb:
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: dskeeb on Mon, 21 October 2024, 12:14:36
any other kits? extension? uk iso? xt? maybe icon mods?

If you place your order with ProtoTypist, you will get ISO UK keys (kit) for free. A practice ProtoTypist has done in the past for the community.
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: HubertThemad on Mon, 21 October 2024, 12:38:52
Beigeeeeeeee (and WoB)  :thumb: Good pricing! GLWIC
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: quaks on Mon, 21 October 2024, 14:28:31
Okay I cannot unsee the off-center windows key. Pls do something about it or remove it completely.

oh god, why have you done this to me?
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: Kokaloo on Mon, 21 October 2024, 14:40:47
who the **** is bowl
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: Jurapikahhh on Mon, 21 October 2024, 14:45:14
Okay I cannot unsee the off-center windows key. Pls do something about it or remove it completely.

I respectfully disagree. The alignment is consistent, and to suggest it is a glaring issue wholly inaccurate.
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: NoWrinkles on Mon, 21 October 2024, 18:13:58
Love it, Beige and WoB are staples and price is good. Count me in.

Looking forward to what else INTRO has to offer down the road.

GLWIC!
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: bowlkeyboards on Mon, 21 October 2024, 18:22:13
who the **** is bowl

Hello I am bowl
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: zhol on Mon, 21 October 2024, 22:37:22
hey are these guys on mktrust.org i hear that's a great place to vet my vendors
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: Damage on Mon, 21 October 2024, 23:05:29
Interesting. Please consider adding Alice/split support in the base kit (a second B plus short bars.) Thanks!
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: Dingo_Seven on Mon, 21 October 2024, 23:15:03
I'm looking forward to this, happy that it can do most conventional boards of 60s and above. Hoping that there are some extension kits that can be considered for some of the folks who make other layouts their home.
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: Faraday on Mon, 21 October 2024, 23:25:14
Very stoked to see more DCS, especially at this price. Wanna echo concerns about US vendor though.
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: Cringelord on Tue, 22 October 2024, 01:46:16
I buy both.
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: mul7i on Tue, 22 October 2024, 02:10:46
i said it in discord and i'll say it again here, please dont take away the icon winkeys, its one of the defining keys that got me wanting this set
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: mul7i on Tue, 22 October 2024, 02:15:27
Interesting. Please consider adding Alice/split support in the base kit (a second B plus short bars.) Thanks!

DCS mini bars are blank shift keys, better off getting color matched mini bars from other manufacturers
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: Gemmmmmmmmmmmmmy on Tue, 22 October 2024, 03:01:33
who the **** is bowl

Hello I am bowl

Hi bowl  :)
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: Jurapikahhh on Tue, 22 October 2024, 05:37:44
i said it in discord and i'll say it again here, please dont take away the icon winkeys, its one of the defining keys that got me wanting this set

I second this.
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: Jubileus on Tue, 22 October 2024, 07:11:26
To all winkey haters, join the discord and vote.
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: bowlkeyboards on Tue, 22 October 2024, 07:46:01
who the **** is bowl

who the **** is bowl

hey are these guys on mktrust.org i hear that's a great place to vet my vendors

Very stoked to see more DCS, especially at this price. Wanna echo concerns about US vendor though.

Hello everyone, your skepticism is totally fair, I just wanted to come here and say that I know quite a lot of people don't know who I am, but I've been around the hobby a lot for the past few years running my own designs and designing keyboards for other people/vendors and branching out to vendoring other projects in addition to my own is the direction I want to head to bring more projects to the community. To be fully transparent, VTX Engine and I have an excellent working relationship as I went to visit their studio in China this past august and we discussed working together in the future so me vendoring these keycaps is a product of that working relationship. I've previously fulfilled 5 public keyboard GBs and I think anyone that has ordered a keyboard fulfilled by me can vouch for the communication and transparency throughout the GB, but if you still aren't comfortable feel free to wait for extras to purchase it Instock. I'm not doing fulfillment alone and have ample space for storage/fulfillment as well so larger projects like this are not overwhelming  :D If you have any questions feel free to discuss them with me on discord or in email!  :thumb:

who the **** is bowl

Hello I am bowl

Hi bowl  :)

 ;D HI

Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: linearscringe on Tue, 22 October 2024, 08:06:21
tbh while i understand the goal of this set and the effort put into keeping costs low, I'm not willing to pay for it without concrete plans to extend the kitting. Maybe if you coordinated with Carter or someone to promote a child kits gb along side this. But I'm not going to sit around for 6 years waiting for a couple 1.5u super keys planned to run soon(tm)
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: scorcher36 on Tue, 22 October 2024, 15:06:17
Okay I cannot unsee the off-center windows key. Pls do something about it or remove it completely.

I respectfully disagree. The alignment is consistent, and to suggest it is a glaring issue wholly inaccurate.

I wasn't specific so it's on me. Yes all the alignment are consistent but winkey seems to stand out like a sore thumb. The kit will look clean with super and people are neutral about super. This is suppose to be low price high moq to satisfy as many users as possible. Thus it feels forced. Either a bigger base kit or push it to the novelties or super is what I would like to see. There is a reason why every beige kit I have seen recently don't do this and for a good reason. Winkey support down the line is more reasonable ask then a super kit. Asking winkey for a kit like this feels selfish. Again whatever the outcome. For the price is a great set.
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: Rob27shred on Tue, 22 October 2024, 16:40:12
Make DCS great again! :p Awesome work on getting the price down, at this price point I'll be grabbing both sets for sure. The only thing beyond the current kitting I'd like to see is a small child kit offering an extra B & mini space bars for Alice layout.
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: Rico on Tue, 22 October 2024, 16:57:03
The pricing is unreal  :eek:
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: dsanda52 on Wed, 23 October 2024, 00:22:27
next intro,wyse pce tsangan :llama:
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: KenGuru on Wed, 23 October 2024, 06:09:30
Love this, great job! Even though I don’t love the winkey personally, I think the kitting is pretty good and the price is amazing. Definitely picking this up!
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: Nuap on Wed, 23 October 2024, 06:24:36
Excellent price and I am really happy you're making an entry into DCS attainable for every hobbyist - with that in mind I support the set and think it's an excellent idea.


I would however encourage you to run some child kits with lower MOQ (and make it clear that MOQ is required for the kit to be produced). It'd be great if I could buy a few sets of each to cover a few of my boards but without at least an R3 control I just can't use this. People who have boards that aren't strictly ANSI TKL or 100% are used to paying at least $120 USD if not more for a double shot ABS base kit from GMK or SP, so if you can offer a $70 base kit, why not offer a child kit for $30-$50 that covers significantly more layouts?
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: TyPo.mk on Wed, 23 October 2024, 08:23:21
Great price, will allow a lot of people to try dcs and learn cherry is superior
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: tactilesbad on Wed, 23 October 2024, 10:11:32
people asking for child kits have no clue about SP pricing/moq

Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: dskeeb on Wed, 23 October 2024, 16:29:54

I've previously fulfilled 5 public keyboard GBs and I think anyone that has ordered a keyboard fulfilled by me can vouch for the communication and transparency throughout the GB,

I've just noticed my local vendor, without providing any notes on notion, moved Compact Ergo's (your keyboard) shipment date from Q4 2024 to Q1 2025. Considering the long Chinese New Year, the earliest in Q1 2025 would be sometime in February. Compact Ergo was limited to only 200 max. Compact Ergo's GB closing date was 30 June 2024, it means, it would take 8 months (or more) to make 200 keyboards. Based on this information, I must disagree with your statement, on your current record.

Speculations:

If you wish to claim you sold far more than you expected then customers were overcharged because your pricing was based on 200. If you wish to claim you changed the manufacturer in last minute, then you broke your quality promise to your customers. If you wish to blame the manufacturer for being too busy with other orders, then after 8 months of waiting, I have little to no interest or enthusiasm in receiving your keyboard anymore which it will put me off from participating in future GBs, including yours.

If the shipment date has not been changed from Q4 2024, then I humbly apologise to you.
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: bowlkeyboards on Wed, 23 October 2024, 16:44:23

I've previously fulfilled 5 public keyboard GBs and I think anyone that has ordered a keyboard fulfilled by me can vouch for the communication and transparency throughout the GB,

I've just noticed my local vendor, without providing any notes on notion, moved Compact Ergo's (your keyboard) shipment date from Q4 2024 to Q1 2025. Considering the long Chinese New Year, the earliest in Q1 2025 would be sometime in February. Compact Ergo was limited to only 200 max. Compact Ergo's GB closing date was 30 June 2024, it means, it would take 8 months (or more) to make 200 keyboards. Based on this information, I must disagree with your statement, on your current record.

Speculations:

If you wish to claim you sold far more than you expected then customers were overcharged because your pricing was based on 200. If you wish to claim you changed the manufacturer in last minute, then you broke your quality promise to your customers. If you wish to blame the manufacturer for being too busy with other orders, then after 8 months of waiting, I have little to no interest or enthusiasm in receiving your keyboard anymore which it will put me off from participating in future GBs, including yours.

If the shipment date has not been changed from Q4 2024, then I humbly apologise to you.

Hello and thanks for your comment, I assume you are refering to prototypist? I am not sure the reasoning behind them moving it, but I assume it's because of when they will be getting their next shipping container. Compact ergo is actually ahead of schedule and will be shipping to vendors right away at the start of November. Compact ergo did not sell 200 units, it was under. 200 units was the maximum to ensure our timeline of fulfillment in Q4. After GB closing payments to the manufacturer were paid in July and will complete production at the end of this month (4 months).

Speculation responses:
We sold under 200, the cap was there to ensure timely delivery. We are using the same manufacturer that produced the prototypes. The manufacturer has no issues with timelines.

Hope this helps! I'm happy to answer any other questions or respond to any speculation!

Edit* As the NA/Worldwide vendor I plan to have compact ergo fulfillment completed in mid December!
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: dskeeb on Wed, 23 October 2024, 18:09:25

I've previously fulfilled 5 public keyboard GBs and I think anyone that has ordered a keyboard fulfilled by me can vouch for the communication and transparency throughout the GB,

I've just noticed my local vendor, without providing any notes on notion, moved Compact Ergo's (your keyboard) shipment date from Q4 2024 to Q1 2025. Considering the long Chinese New Year, the earliest in Q1 2025 would be sometime in February. Compact Ergo was limited to only 200 max. Compact Ergo's GB closing date was 30 June 2024, it means, it would take 8 months (or more) to make 200 keyboards. Based on this information, I must disagree with your statement, on your current record.

Speculations:

If you wish to claim you sold far more than you expected then customers were overcharged because your pricing was based on 200. If you wish to claim you changed the manufacturer in last minute, then you broke your quality promise to your customers. If you wish to blame the manufacturer for being too busy with other orders, then after 8 months of waiting, I have little to no interest or enthusiasm in receiving your keyboard anymore which it will put me off from participating in future GBs, including yours.

If the shipment date has not been changed from Q4 2024, then I humbly apologise to you.

Hello and thanks for your comment, I assume you are refering to prototypist? I am not sure the reasoning behind them moving it, but I assume it's because of when they will be getting their next shipping container. Compact ergo is actually ahead of schedule and will be shipping to vendors right away at the start of November. Compact ergo did not sell 200 units, it was under. 200 units was the maximum to ensure our timeline of fulfillment in Q4. After GB closing payments to the manufacturer were paid in July and will complete production at the end of this month (4 months).

Speculation responses:
We sold under 200, the cap was there to ensure timely delivery. We are using the same manufacturer that produced the prototypes. The manufacturer has no issues with timelines.

Hope this helps! I'm happy to answer any other questions or respond to any speculation!

Edit* As the NA/Worldwide vendor I plan to have compact ergo fulfillment completed in mid December!

Thank you for your response.

I was sorry to hear that less than 200 units were sold. While I've never used Alice style keyboards before, I could appreciate the 9.5° tilt of Compact Ergo that left larger gap between the left and right alpha clusters. This should provide more comfort than the traditional 12° tilt for instance. Having the function keys, arrow keys, almost all the mods, and the Num pad makes your design very practical for high intense productivity tasks indeed.

If I may, soldering requirement of the knob even for hotswap PCBs may have been a factor in sale performance plus the extra cost to purchase a plate other than the default alu. However, I'm truly eager to have it on my desk already, hence my dismay by Q1 2025 news.

I'm trying very hard to be understanding about the difficulties the recent ongoing events have introduced even though the promise date was given during these events anyway. I guess if in December my keyboard is not delivered then most likely it would be in the following February.
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: Gondolindrim on Wed, 23 October 2024, 20:40:27
If I may, soldering requirement of the knob even for hotswap PCBs may have been a factor in sale performance plus the extra cost to purchase a plate other than the default alu. However, I'm truly eager to have it on my desk already, hence my dismay by Q1 2025 news.

Compact Ergo PCB designer here. The issue is that at <200 PCB quantity, having THT components soldered by the fab is dangerous and expensive because they do it with... less-than-stellar techniques. There is also the problem of shipping PCBs with a huge encoder protruding out.

While we understand the issue, we had to make the decision. The alternative would be to offer no hotswap at all.
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: chimichanguh on Thu, 24 October 2024, 00:18:36
who the **** is bowl

wait who is this ******* Kokaloo guy?
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: dskeeb on Thu, 24 October 2024, 02:19:44
If I may, soldering requirement of the knob even for hotswap PCBs may have been a factor in sale performance plus the extra cost to purchase a plate other than the default alu. However, I'm truly eager to have it on my desk already, hence my dismay by Q1 2025 news.

Compact Ergo PCB designer here. The issue is that at <200 PCB quantity, having THT components soldered by the fab is dangerous and expensive because they do it with... less-than-stellar techniques. There is also the problem of shipping PCBs with a huge encoder protruding out.

While we understand the issue, we had to make the decision. The alternative would be to offer no hotswap at all.

Hi Gondo,

Please take the following as a feedback than anything else.

No, the alternative decision should had been a switch instead of a decoder, my two cent. That cluster would have these keys namely, Home, End, PgDn, and PgUp.
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: incrediblejr on Thu, 24 October 2024, 03:03:53

Compact Ergo PCB designer here. The issue is that at <200 PCB quantity, having THT components soldered by the fab is dangerous and expensive because they do it with... less-than-stellar techniques. There is also the problem of shipping PCBs with a huge encoder protruding out.

While we understand the issue, we had to make the decision. The alternative would be to offer no hotswap at all.
...
No, the alternative decision should had been a switch instead of a decoder, my two cent. That cluster would have these keys namely, Home, End, PgDn, and PgUp.

Gondo already addressed that here. (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=121947.msg3180466#msg3180466) If there is any more Compact Ergo feedback, please use appropriate thread(s).
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: dskeeb on Thu, 24 October 2024, 04:28:36

Compact Ergo PCB designer here. The issue is that at <200 PCB quantity, having THT components soldered by the fab is dangerous and expensive because they do it with... less-than-stellar techniques. There is also the problem of shipping PCBs with a huge encoder protruding out.

While we understand the issue, we had to make the decision. The alternative would be to offer no hotswap at all.
...
No, the alternative decision should had been a switch instead of a decoder, my two cent. That cluster would have these keys namely, Home, End, PgDn, and PgUp.

Gondo already addressed that here. (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=121947.msg3180466#msg3180466) If there is any more Compact Ergo feedback, please use appropriate thread(s).

I Love Beige.
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: tulaine on Thu, 24 October 2024, 10:47:09
great pricing very nice consider ccng colorway next :thumb:
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: offbrandbiscuit on Thu, 24 October 2024, 11:50:29
As a DCS fan, this is great. Old Windows logo ftw!!!
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: Kairo.works on Fri, 25 October 2024, 04:05:57
I'm a huge fan of having at least Beige and WoB available as in-stock on all profiles.
Preferrably with location and sub-60 childkits available.

I also agree on the statement that offering childkits _maybe some time in the future_ is a big no-no for everyone that is mostly interested in those and skew the results of your "acceptance test".
40s discord has a lot of small GBs running for all sorts of SP profiles. The general interest about DCS is there.

I guess having some sort of potential kitting with potential pricerange would help getting those on board for a Basekit now. But buing a "useless" basekit with the _hope_ that i'll _maybe_ get the childkit later on sounds even more stupid than buying a keyset to be eligeble to enter a raffle for a keyboard
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: VTX_ENGINE on Thu, 31 October 2024, 14:49:45
GB Tomorrow!
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: Vaiur on Fri, 01 November 2024, 05:51:36
Any Canadian vendor?
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: aijames on Tue, 05 November 2024, 15:24:39
where can I see more about the Intro AT- VTX Engine board?
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: dvorcol on Tue, 05 November 2024, 15:41:09
Any Canadian vendor?

Check KeycapLendar for keycap GB info, including links to vendors - https://keycaplendar.firebaseapp.com/
KeycapLendar also has links to ICs and past GBs.

The Canadian vendor for this GB is Mino Keys - https://minokeys.com/products/dcs-intro-beige-and-wob

Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: Manukbs_ on Sat, 09 November 2024, 08:40:36
hey are these guys on mktrust.org i hear that's a great place to vet my vendors

Spacecables was an AA vendor
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: Joshua K. on Tue, 01 July 2025, 14:32:41
I've bought both sets, WOB and Beige. Unfortunately, I'm very disappointed with the quality. The legends are extremely wonky and have inconsistent line widths (see images). They look so bad that I'm going to return them. :( Is this expected with DCS keycaps? I have a set of DSS Dolch keycaps from Signature Plastics, which have very nice legends without such flaws.

Besides, the "beige" keycaps are actually off-white, not beige.

(https://i.ibb.co/dwnvsXhX/1.jpg) (https://ibb.co/dwnvsXhX) (https://i.ibb.co/kV7Zcz05/2.jpg) (https://ibb.co/kV7Zcz05) (https://i.ibb.co/2GD6SfZ/3.jpg) (https://ibb.co/2GD6SfZ) (https://i.ibb.co/SXD2JFG0/4.jpg) (https://ibb.co/SXD2JFG0) (https://i.ibb.co/v4czvm2R/5.jpg) (https://ibb.co/v4czvm2R)
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: mr_foggy on Tue, 01 July 2025, 14:48:47
I've bought both sets, WOB and Beige. Unfortunately, I'm very disappointed with the quality. The legends are extremely wonky and have inconsistent line widths (see images). They look so bad that I'm going to return them. :( Is this expected with DCS keycaps? I have a set of DSS Dolch keycaps from Signature Plastics, which have very nice legends without such flaws.

Besides, the "beige" keycaps are actually off-white, not beige.

this is DCS for you. not only to be expected but also widely known. DSS has its flaws too.
lol @ beige not beiging. mine is definitely beige.
Title: Re: [IC] DCS INTRO WOB AND BEIGE
Post by: VTX_ENGINE on Wed, 02 July 2025, 05:37:16
Show Image
Show Image
Show Image
Show Image
I've bought both sets, WOB and Beige. Unfortunately, I'm very disappointed with the quality. The legends are extremely wonky and have inconsistent line widths (see images). They look so bad that I'm going to return them. :( Is this expected with DCS keycaps? I have a set of DSS Dolch keycaps from Signature Plastics, which have very nice legends without such flaws.

Besides, the "beige" keycaps are actually off-white, not beige.

(https://i.ibb.co/dwnvsXhX/1.jpg) (https://ibb.co/dwnvsXhX)
(https://i.ibb.co/kV7Zcz05/2.jpg) (https://ibb.co/kV7Zcz05)
(https://i.ibb.co/2GD6SfZ/3.jpg) (https://ibb.co/2GD6SfZ)
(https://i.ibb.co/SXD2JFG0/4.jpg) (https://ibb.co/SXD2JFG0)
(https://i.ibb.co/v4czvm2R/5.jpg) (https://ibb.co/v4czvm2R)

We are currently in discussions with DCS to explore solutions to these issues. It is evident that many of the sets are exhibiting problems that should be considered unacceptable for a manufacturer as prominent and historic as SP