Custom mechanical keyboard

[Teo]

Hello everyone ,

I would like to pass to a mechanical keyboard with switch cherry MX brown, but looking at the various brands of the mechanical keyboard, I noticed very few mechanical keyboards have multimedia keys.

I saw the custom WASD Keyboards but is really too expensive, could you tell me where to buy keyboards complete without the keys ?

Alternatively I had thought about buying an old DELL AT101W keyboard and to change only the keys, you think you can do ?

Thank you very much

[Hypersphere]

WASD offers "barebones" keyboards without keycaps. They also use Costar-type stabilizers, which some people prefer because they feel less mushy than Cherry stabilizers. It is possible to do a "clip" mod on Cherry stabilizers, but this requires desoldering.

[Muirium]

Many mechs have media keys, they're just hidden away on a layer. You press Fn and another key to do volume and playback controls. The NovaTouch does it that way:

http://deskthority.net/review-f45/a-tal ... t8968.html

Meanwhile any old (pre-USB) mechanical keyboard can be remapped very powerfully with a little thing called Soarer's Converter. I use 30 year old keyboards that way, complete with media keys wherever I like!

[Teo]

Many mechs have media keys, they're just hidden away on a layer. You press Fn and another key to do volume and playback controls. The NovaTouch does it that way:

http://deskthority.net/review-f45/a-tal ... t8968.html

Meanwhile any old (pre-USB) mechanical keyboard can be remapped very powerfully with a little thing called Soarer's Converter. I use 30 year old keyboards that way, complete with media keys wherever I like!

I know that the media keys are hidden, but using like a desktop keyboard but I prefer to have the media keys in plain view.

I'm reading your review, but your CM Novatouch can also have it with ISO Loyout ?

[Muirium]

Yeah, I've got one of each.



Dedicated media keys are a bit of a rarity on mechanicals. Unless you want to turn the function key row over to them.

[Teo]

Yeah, I've got one of each.

Dedicated media keys are a bit of a rarity on mechanicals. Unless you want to turn the function key row over to them.

If I buy such a basic CM STORM mechanical keyboard and I remap the keys through the program SharpKeys so as to have, for example, on a key directly to the calculator ?

[Muirium]

Software remaps along the F-row should do you fine for that. I've no experience with that program though, so do check for yourself!

[Teo]

Ok thank you for your help, I'm reading your review, but where did you get all different kinds of keys ?

You know if there is any old keyboard that assembles the Cherry switch ?

[Muirium]

Media keys are a little unusual. I got mine here, when the group buy was still active:

http://www.pimpmykeyboard.com/deals/gra ... media-kit/

Caps are a whole world of their own. Beware! Be very beware! 7bit will have every penny you possess in the blink of an eye…

As for old keyboards with Cherry MX switches, sure there's plenty of them. I'm not big on MX, myself, but there's a lot of knowledge about it on the forum if you figure out what layout you're after.

[Findecanor]

Many mechs have media keys, they're just hidden away on a layer. You press Fn and another key to do volume and playback controls.

Unfortunately, there isn't any standard for which keys they are on, except on Macintosh:
http://deskthority.net/wiki/Media_key#F ... y_mappings

[Teo]

Media keys are a little unusual. I got mine here, when the group buy was still active:

http://www.pimpmykeyboard.com/deals/gra ... media-kit/

Caps are a whole world of their own. Beware! Be very beware! 7bit will have every penny you possess in the blink of an eye…

As for old keyboards with Cherry MX switches, sure there's plenty of them. I'm not big on MX, myself, but there's a lot of knowledge about it on the forum if you figure out what layout you're after.

And what kind of switch do you prefer ?

Talking about old-style mechanical keyboards, you can advise me on some model where is possbile change relatively easily the keys ?

[Muirium]

Topre. (Expensive.) And classic Model F style IBM. (Not manufactured any more.) Not nearly as easy to come by as MX!

Mechanical boards are all pretty easy when it comes to taking off caps and popping them back on again. The tricky part is sourcing new caps. MX has the best selection by far (which is why the NovaTouch is interesting) while IBMs can have custom caps printed by Unicomp.

[Teo]

Topre. (Expensive.) And classic Model F style IBM. (Not manufactured any more.) Not nearly as easy to come by as MX!

Mechanical boards are all pretty easy when it comes to taking off caps and popping them back on again. The tricky part is sourcing new caps. MX has the best selection by far (which is why the NovaTouch is interesting) while IBMs can have custom caps printed by Unicomp.

In fact, I was watching you now to change the keys cap, and there is plenty of choice for MX !

I hope to find a keyboard with ISO layout...

[Hypersphere]

WASD Keyboards have plenty of customization options. You can get keyboards with customized ABS keycaps or without keycaps. They also have ANSI or ISO layouts.

Many people prefer PBT keycaps over ABS, although ABS double-shot keycaps can be quite nice.

There is currently a good set of PBT keycaps available from Leopold that are sold on eBay.

[Teo]

WASD Keyboards have plenty of customization options. You can get keyboards with customized ABS keycaps or without keycaps. They also have ANSI or ISO layouts.

Many people prefer PBT keycaps over ABS, although ABS double-shot keycaps can be quite nice.

There is currently a good set of PBT keycaps available from Leopold that are sold on eBay.

Yes, I think that the best solution for me is to buy a wasd mechanical keyboard without keys, and then put the custom keys.

[Muirium]

Where are you? (I've never heard of an American who prefers ISO. Although a fair few of us over in the ISO world prefer ANSI, like me.) WASD are well priced in the US, but I think getting them in Europe involves costly importing. Here in Britain that can almost double the price.

My favourite MX boards are Ducky's, which come with very fancy stock caps if you pick a good one…

https://www.teraset.net/ducky.php#8

(Also available in other countries besides Finland, of course. I just have history with Ducky Nordic!)

[Teo]

Yes indeed, I'm not American. In fact, I was hoping to find some solution by ordering the necessary from England which is definitely more convenient.

Maybe it's habit, however, the shape of the L of Enter key, I am most familiar.

But where did you buy your CM STORM Novatouch ?

[Hypersphere]

In my case, I purchased a CM Novatouch directly from a CM representative in advance of the general release date. Now, they are available at reduced prices from Amazon.

I regret to say that I cannot wholeheartedly recommend the CM Novatouch. In my opinion, it has some problems and shortcomings that I hope will be addressed if CM decides to issue an updated version of this keyboard. Nevertheless, although it does not provide the best Topre experience, I like it better than any Cherry mx keyboard I have tried. Unfortunately, the hybrid key stems cannot be used with Topre keycaps, and they have a rather loose fit for some Cherry mx keycap sets -- for example, the thick PBT sets that have been available from Imsto. The fit is also somewhat uneven across the keyboard.

To me, the best Topre experience is provided by the Realforce 87u 55g keyboard. The best 60% keyboard that also happens to have 45g Topre switches is the HHKB Pro 2. And for those who like the layout, the Leopold FC660C with its 45g Topre switches is rather good.

[Muirium]

I got my NovaTouch straight from CM for free, as I was a tester for them while it was in development. (They heard a lot of feedback from Matteo and me during that process, which they couldn't do much about, as I wrote in my review.) Lastly, CM sent me a final version at the end.

I think it's a pretty good board. Unless you've tried a Realforce or any of the handful of other Topre-switch keyboards, it feels good indeed. More to my liking than any MX, although I like MX red in a solid board too. The NovaTouch has its flaws for sure. We've all got our eyes on them for better ones next.

[Teo]

Thanks @Hypersphere and @Muirium.

After a bit of research, I think the best mechanical keyboard for me is the Ducky Zero DK2108 beacuse makes perfect multimedia keys that I need, from UK I was able to find it at a reasonable price around 70 pounds and is also very customizable seen riding the Cherry switch.

[Muirium]

Cool. ANSI (as you pictured) should be compatible with every caps group buy out there. But ISO shouldn't be too mich worse. You just have to look out for ISO kits that way. The best GBs will have them.

Which flavour of MX switch are you going for?

[Teo]

Cool. ANSI (as you pictured) should be compatible with every caps group buy out there. But ISO shouldn't be too mich worse. You just have to look out for ISO kits that way. The best GBs will have them.

Which flavour of MX switch are you going for?

It in fact I decided to take it with ANSI, because as a model with ISO is available but it is virtually impossible to find. I think in the end the layout ANSI is not that bad .

You know where I can buy a keycaps set or custom keycaps from England ?

[Muirium]

The way I get all my caps is via group buys. 7bit here at DT is the world expert on making lust worthy caps, and making you wait incredible lengths of time to get them! (One year and counting now, for Round 5.) Alternatively, Signature Plastics has a GB system at pimpmykeyboard.com (sigh) that occasionally has nice stuff, though pricing is always a bit of a lottery. Ivan, here at DT again, does some nice stuff with GMK every once in a while too; which I must try as well someday.

Beware customs duty, though. They will sting you whenever they can. Only 7bit looks after that stuff for you.

But yeah, basically keep your eyes on the forum for the best stuff. And be patient. We've even discussed running an alerts system here for just this purpose!

[Teo]

Ok perfect, thanks a lot Muirium.

Also because when I saw this version of the Ducky mechanical keyboard I just want those:

Spoiler:

But I tried to look everywhere but always out of stock. So I thought I'd take the basic version and make it like I want it for example from Signature Plastics or DT Forum .

[CM Pim]

Hi,

If you're located in Europe, the CM Storm NovaTouch TKL is available at the moment in the CM EU Store: http://www.cmstore.eu/cm-storm/keyboards/novatouch-tkl/ (US Layout).

By the way; Muirium I enjoyed the review + additional pros + cons.

[Teo]

Thank you Cm Storm