Best modern keyboard or company

[Wodan]

Sponsored by:

Vote in the final round of this category to win an Excalibur SE Spectrum keyboard from Tesoro.

Nomination rules:
Please suggest nominees for the best modern keyboard or company active in 2016. You must provide a short explanation for each suggestion. You cannot nominate a company you are associated with or a keyboard you created.

EDIT: Since there has been some controversy about this, previous winners of this category cannot be nominated for the same reason they already won an award for. Please include a short explanation why a potential candidate has become eligible for the same award twice and I will review it with the other DTA mods.

Individually modified/customized keyboards (ex. "MadeUpDude's V60 with Blue Alps"), companies (ex. "Cherry"), and mass produced modern keyboards (ex. "The HHKB") are welcome in this category.

Current suggestions:

• HHKB Bluetooth by PFU for being the bluetooth version of one of the best keyboards out there
• ZealPC for "aggressively innovating in the Keyboard space, instead of just using what has gone before"
• Pok3r RGB by Vortex for being a great complete package and offering so many choices
• MiniVan by TheVan Keyboards for being the one 40% that nails it and made a pretty big splash
• VE.A by Oddforge for their pursuit of "a very high standard that many others do not even consider"
• Cherry - for being the reference
• XMIT Hall-effect keyboard by XMIT Keyboards for reviving a great technology and tuning it to enthusiasts' tastes
• Glorious Modular Keyboard by Glorious PC Gaming Race for allowing everyone to try different switches without any soldering
• Cooler Master for their active community involvment and a last chance to show appreciation for the Novatouch
• Leopold FC980 by Leopold for maybe currently being "the best mass-produced keyboards with MX-compatible switches"
• Falbatech for their service and commitment
• Leopold has for their really high standard and their collaboration with Archiss (JP)
• Varmillo for their history of great keyboards and selling directly on GH with customizations

The first round ends on Saturday November 26, 23:59:59 UTC.

[Belfong]

Best modern keyboard in 2016 has to be the HHKB Bluetooth. HHKB is considered one of the best keyboards out there, Topre feel is one of its kind and now there is a Bluetooth version! For your Mac and iPad, wirelessly. And it runs on 2 AA batteries! How wonderful is this.

[robotmaxtron]

Zeal60: 60% form factor, per switch (and stabilizer) RGB backlighting, fully programmable with TMK/QMK and compatible with standard Poker style cases.

[PollandAkuma]

I nominate Pok3r. It is the go-to board everyone suggests when a new user is looking for a quality board that would not be too expensive. The layout is classic and compatible with many keycap sets, there are wide choice of switches available, and it has leds on top of being a quality board. The board also comes with ISO too so you have a choice even if you are not an ANSI user. Being a 60% means you can swap the case out for better ones too. The personalisation choices are endless.

[chuckdee]

The MiniVan and EvanGS. Though JDCarpe was the pioneer in this space, and I love the JD40 and JD45, the MiniVan is the one that goes into my kit on the road.

[PollandAkuma]

Minivan is bae! I'd also like give a shoutout to the Atreus. The Atreus was what spurred my interest in mechs and a very good alternative for one whose hands are too small to use Ergodox but hates the standard staggered layout. Phil is very open obout his design, and this allows creations such as the Bluetooth Atreus and the 60% Atreus to exist. It feels good to know that the keyboard you want to make is not limited by the creator's imagination

[Hking0036]

I'm going to go with the Vortex Poker series as well, in my experience the board is well built and although the caps come with pad-printing they're thick solid PBT and you have a lot of options because it keeps the standard layout, and the cherry stabs make it super easy to work with when it comes to caps too. In addition, it's one of the champions of the 60% layout as a whole because it's one of the most readily available pre-built, when someone is interested in dropping the size the poker is the first recommendation.

[Meddle]

My vote is for the MiniVan as well! The tiny keyboard made a pretty big splash this year.

[E3E]

I'd like to nominate Zefyr and his team at Oddforge for their fantastic customer service in handling the VE.A ergonomic split Korean custom keyboard. They hold themselves to a very high standard that many others do not even consider.

[kbdfr]

I would like to nominate Cherry - for being the reference.

They're still dominating the switch world to such a point that virtually anything new takes them as a reference, and the design of their thousand-years-old 3000 model is again such a reference that they themselves still stick to it each time they develop an even crappier version of it - from G80 to G81, from G81 to G83.

[Wodan]

Zeal60: 60% form factor, per switch (and stabilizer) RGB backlighting, fully programmable with TMK/QMK and compatible with standard Poker style cases.

Can you please link to a presentation of a specific keyboard/project?

All I can find is a PCB for pre-order. This doesn't qualify as a keyboard. Added it to the nominations for now but need more input what is actually up for votes here.

[davkol]

I'd like to nominate XMIT and the respective Hall-effect keyboard for reviving the technology, tuning it to enthusiasts' tastes, and subsequently bringing it to the market.

[XMIT]

I may be a company soon! MrsXMIT and I are looking into some of the ramifications of an "XMIT Keyboards LLC". It would certainly make some things easier. Now we need to make sure it would not make other things harder.

[vivalarevolución]

This is going to be a boring nomination, but....I nominate Realforce because I have not come across a higher quality, mass-produced, stock keyboard.

[WASD_Greg]

I nominate Glorious PC Gaming Race (who thought a sentence would make a good name for a company?) for their Glorious Modular Keyboard, which allows everyone to try different switches without any soldering.

[OutragedPudding]

Cooler Master has my vote for how active and generous they have been in the Reddit community (specifically /r/mechanicalkeyboards). They have been listening to community feedback and have continuously filled a spot between gaming and enthusiast, now with standard bottom-row for a lot of their new keyboards. They also helped out with the Dutch Meetup

[DrOpBoX]

I go for Zeal60! My preferite form factor, programmable and wooow, I really want one! good job!

[davkol]

I guess Leopold FC980[MC] is worth nominating as well (so here you go). It's a well-built, mass-produced keyboard in a rather rare "90%" layout; unique features of all current Leopold keyboards include plate damping and high-quality keycaps out of the box. IMHO those might be currently the best mass-produced keyboards with MX-compatible switches.

[robotmaxtron]

Zeal60: 60% form factor, per switch (and stabilizer) RGB backlighting, fully programmable with TMK/QMK and compatible with standard Poker style cases.

Can you please link to a presentation of a specific keyboard/project?

All I can find is a PCB for pre-order. This doesn't qualify as a keyboard. Added it to the nominations for now but need more input what is actually up for votes here.

Round 1 of the Zeal60's should be in by the end of the month or so, it does still need switches and ideally transparent stabilizers and a case; Due to how easily and interchangeable those parts are, I didn't think they were needed. If a pcb and it's firmware isn't what ultimately defines a keyboard as a keyboard then please feel free to remove the nomination. For the record, the AR-15 'lower' is what's defined as a rifle, even without the other commonly understood (and required) components for operation.

[Wodan]

For the record, the AR-15 'lower' is what's defined as a rifle, even without the other commonly understood (and required) components for operation.

LOL that's the most 'murican thing anyone ever used as an argument on DT.

Nice try but unless a potato can be nominated as "Best main course" I will not let that count. Come up with a keyboard or a company ... *hint hint*

[kbdfr]

For the record, the AR-15 'lower' is what's defined as a rifle, even without the other commonly understood (and required) components for operation.

LOL that's the most 'murican thing anyone ever used as an argument on DT.

Nice try but unless a potato can be nominated as "Best main course" I will not let that count. […]

[ohaimark]

I warned webwit and the DTA team that America was coming to the awards, but no one listened.

[seebart]

You could add more categories like...

Spoiler:

Best semi-automatic

[chuckdee]

For the record, the AR-15 'lower' is what's defined as a rifle, even without the other commonly understood (and required) components for operation.

LOL that's the most 'murican thing anyone ever used as an argument on DT.

Nice try but unless a potato can be nominated as "Best main course" I will not let that count. Come up with a keyboard or a company ... *hint hint*

I'll take up the hint, since he didn't...

ZealPC. From Zealios to Zealencios to PCBs, he has been aggressively innovating in the Keyboard space, instead of just using what has gone before.

[davkol]

Dunno, purple zealios are mostly just "ergo clears", "zealencios" came after Uniqey QMX Clips,… I'm not saying, that those are just mindlessly cloned, lots of tuning certainly went into them, but calling that innovative sounds like something an Apple fanboy would claim about their adored corporation.

[Wodan]

I'll take up the hint, since he didn't...

ZealPC. From Zealios to Zealencios to PCBs, he has been aggressively innovating in the Keyboard space, instead of just using what has gone before.

Now _that's_ a nomination!

Dunno, purple zealios are mostly just "ergo clears", "zealencios" came after Uniqey QMX Clips,… I'm not saying, that those are just mindlessly cloned, lots of tuning certainly went into them, but calling that innovative sounds like something an Apple fanboy would claim about their adored corporation.

Kinda believe you should adjust your screen to properly display brown font.

[tentator]

MiniVan!!!!!

[Orpheo]

I want to nominate Falbatech company, i got a wooden ergodox and it's been great service all around!

[Hydra04]

Leopold has a really high standard and their collaboration with Archiss (JP) to produce a KB with doubleshot keycaps at 100€ (more or less) is one of the best moves made by a "big" company in this field (IMO).

[kokokoy]

I nominate Varmillo as a comp. They've release quite a few lately as far as I know - the alu 68, numpad, caps, and dyesub spacebars. Started to be visible mid this year on GH where you can directly purchase from their representative w/ personal customization. Only saw positive things with their first representative on GH for those who ordered direct. Also, they are always seems to draw big nos. on MD.

Don't have anything to say though about their boards since I don't own one. Always tempted to but only if they do the bluetooth 66 again.