Varmilo VA68M Now on Massdrop

[cryptokey]

Link here:  https://www.massdrop.com/buy/varmilo-va68m-mechanical-keyboard

[user 18]

Moved this topic to great finds from keyboards, as the content is better suited for the great finds section of the forum.

[whmeltonjr]

I was interested when I first saw the teaser for this board. Didn't really expect that price tag, but I guess it's not bad considering it has an aluminum case. At least I have 11 days to think about it.

[Lepidus]

I was interested when I first saw the teaser for this board. Didn't really expect that price tag, but I guess it's not bad considering it has an aluminum case. At least I have 11 days to think about it.

$169 on the lowest drop, when Leopold FC660M usually sells for ~$120-130

I dont think its expensive, considering the aluminum case and backlight options.

[whmeltonjr]

I was interested when I first saw the teaser for this board. Didn't really expect that price tag, but I guess it's not bad considering it has an aluminum case. At least I have 11 days to think about it.

$169 on the lowest drop, when Leopold FC660M usually sells for ~$120-130

I dont think its expensive, considering the aluminum case and backlight options.

Yeah, the more I think about it the more I'm okay with the price. Gonna wait and see what I think of the HHKB I have on the way and then buy this if I don't like it.

[njbair]

I'm still not sure what to think of Varmilo. I have the VA87M and it's a nice little board, but it's a Windows-only one from the first drop and I'm afraid to buy another one and have the same issues with it.

[kakakowie]

I'm curious about OSX compatibility too. When I ran a Google search it came up with it being used with a Macbook.

I'm more concerned about programmability and the function layer.

Still sucks that they chose Insert/Delete keys rather than Home/End

[cryptokey]

I'm waiting on the VA87MR so I can try it out and see if it works on linux yet

[whmeltonjr]

I'm curious about OSX compatibility too. When I ran a Google search it came up with it being used with a Macbook.

I'm more concerned about programmability and the function layer.

Still sucks that they chose Insert/Delete keys rather than Home/End

I would rather than Insert/Delete than Page Up/Down personally, and Home/End over Up/Down as well. Definitely want to know about the FN layer and programmability before I buy.

[njbair]

I'm curious about OSX compatibility too. When I ran a Google search it came up with it being used with a Macbook.

I'm more concerned about programmability and the function layer.

Still sucks that they chose Insert/Delete keys rather than Home/End

I suppose you could ask in the Massdrop discussion tab but I wouldn't expect a decent answer. More like, "yes it's got a function layer."

[da5id]

This one is back on Massdrop and I have been lurking on geekhack for a while but I'm finally driven to post. I have read all of the threads that come up in a google search of geekhack and massdrop but haven't really found answers, also I posted these questions on massdrop but haven't really recieved much in the way of definitive answers.

Is the keyboard itself programmable at all (layers?) or are the FN combos set in stone? I don't mind remapping via registry or an application but programming would make it much more portable.

I have never used a board smaller than 75% so as interested as I am in smaller boards I was hoping to learn a bit more about how to get full functionality. Since this board does not seem to have a fully programmable Fn layer, does anyone here own the board that could answer a couple of questions for me?

The layout is very attractive to me but since I work in IT I use keyboard shortcuts many times every day. Can anyone who uses this keyboard tell me if these shortcuts work?

CTRL+Shift+Esc Should bring up Windows Task Manager but since Shift+Esc on this KB does ~ not sure if it will work.

Multiple function clashes? (These might be fine as long as I use the left CTRL but I am curious about using the right one for one handed operations)
CTRL+Home or CTRL+End since Home and End are Fn+, or Fn+. and Fn+Ctrl brings up the right click menu not sure if they will clash.
Same clash question But different scenaro:
CTRL+Pause/Break since Pause/Break is Fn+L and Fn+Ctrl brings up the right click menu
CTRL+F5 for full page refresh in most browsers and Fn+5 for F5 and Fn+Ctrl brings up the right click menu (I heard that you can toggle the top row from # to F with the Fn+PgUp and Fn+PgDn or use Fn+5+CTRL so this one might not be an issue)

Thanks,