Plum Nano75 Electrastatic Capacitive Bluetooth RGB Keyboard

[zslane]

Where can the 45g non-backlit wired version be purchased from?

[t!ng]

Another question:
There are two sliders/switches on the bottom of the Nano75.
One is for switching between MEDIA, OFFICE and CUSTOM mode.
What is the other one for? I cant find any description.

[Menuhin]

Where can the 45g non-backlit wired version be purchased from?

I can only find it here: 45g and confirmed BT 4.0
https://www.amazon.de/NiZ-Elektrostatis ... B01N03LVRH

But pretty experience here in Amazon DE - I try not to buy things from Amazon.

With this amount of money, I would definitely get a nice used HHKB Pro 2, and perhaps 20€ back.

[zslane]

So no wired version anywhere?

[t!ng]

Why? You can just plug in any micro usb cable.

[Menuhin]

So no wired version anywhere?

I think it is supposed to work dual USB-wired (micro? mini?) and BT mode with lithium battery inside.

But wait..! This ad is a bit tricky, it is written that

... NiZ 45gf Electrostatic Capacitive Key Switches ... 35 gram sensitivity ( +10g optional ...

i.e. The dome sheet is probably the 35g version?
If it is the case, I really dislike this kind of misleading description to boost sales.

For me the 35g dome sheet perhaps felt even lighter than MX red. I think most people are looking for 45g or heavier which is probably still lighter than the real Topre 45g because I had a PLUM/NIZ 84 swapped in the Korean 55g dome sheet (of similar make with PLUM/NIZ sheet I believe) and it felt still obviously a dab lighter than my stock HHKB Pro 2 with its 45g dome sheet.

There should be a few 45g version in the market, I believe.

[gogusrl]

I'm really curios how the 35g feel. It's weird because I love the weight of mx blacks (I think I would enjoy even heavier switches) and I've been using them for years but recently I got a Novatouch and I find it heavy and fatiguing.

[Menuhin]

To me, it is effortless to type on these 35g Topre-clones. It's similar to type on something like MX red and probably a bit lighter and with cushioned bottoming out and much dampened sound.

It's definitely good for light typists but not good for heavy-handed people.

[Menuhin]

A while back, there were some nice Korean 55g Topre-clone, probably similar to Royal Kludge but the review said it's better. These Korean Topre-clone boards are still available on eBay.

[zslane]

I have the Noppoo EC108Pro with the "40 (+/- 5)g" domes, and they feel like 35g to me. They are way too light for me; I am constantly making typing errors on them. I would want 45g domes like real Topre domes.

[zslane]

Where can the 45g non-backlit wired version be purchased from?

I can only find it here: 45g and confirmed BT 4.0
https://www.amazon.de/NiZ-Elektrostatis ... B01N03LVRH

Well, aside from the absurd price, that German Amazon listing also says this:

This item can not be delivered to the United States .

Maybe the 45g Plum Nano-75 is a nice keyboard. Hardly anyone will ever know.

[shreebles]

The keycaps are Cherry Dyesubbed PBT and I cant appreciate the typing experience in combination with those fake Topres enough!

All in all I really enjoy this little friend.

Ting, that looks so nice, exactly what I would do to it thanks to Wodan's HADapters.
Good to see it's remappable as well, I need my AltGr to be happy.
Looks like a perfect work board, small, quiet, wireless...
Is there a wired mode BTW? For computers that don't have bluetooth? nevermind it says so right on the first page duh
Found this sound sample on YT from the bigger board, hope it's accurate.
This is apparently the one from this thread, sounds sexy

[Dan]

A better sounding sample here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K6uDgWyRpA
Already posted, my bad.

[shreebles]

Thanks Dan, I already linked that one though

So it seems this board is not available on Aliexpress anymore, at least not from EZ MANDARIN SHOPPERS.
All other options are either sold out or ludicrously overpriced:

185$ Ali

219€ what the fuck?


@ mech greenhand, when is new stock coming in? I'm sold on this board, just make it available

[t!ng]

The videos represent the typing sound quite well.

I bought it from mechgreenhand over Aliexpress. There were absolutely no problems and it arrived quickly on my desk.

[Menuhin]

I actually like the typing sound of this keyboard better than the typing sound of my HHKB.

This is perhaps the stems come with this one are already with a silent design. So you don't hear the upstroke clacks so much but mostly the downstroke thocks.

Spoiler:

It has almost nothing original - NovaTouch style MX compatible modified POM stems, Type-S silent rings, and 70%/75% form factor. It doesn't have the original ugly Chinese-gaming-keyboard fonts, or the innovative use of Comic Sans on key caps, just some copycat legend (is the use of classic fonts such as Helvetica patented?) on PBT caps. RGB backlighting, full keyboard re-programmability and Bluetooth-USB dual mode are also not new. But a combination of all these into one product is quite unique, and pricing at around $100-120 is quite competitive.

I know there won't be dye-sub PBT or doubleshot caps, but if there is a version with POM caps (black?) with a 75% form factor and 45g even better 55g dome sheet, I will probably buy again.
But it seems that PLUM/Noppoo have given up the production with black POM keys - I really like them.

[mech greenhand]

Seems I have missed a lot posts these days... Sometimes hard to open DT link in China...

Currently plum nano 75 keyboard is sold out from Plum plant. New production is going and believe I will get them in my shop in March.. Still there will be 35g and 45g models. If lucky, we may get the non-backlit models this time...

As regarding the POM keycap keyboard, Plum has just released a new model for black 87 TKL with 30g capacitive switch and black side print POM keycaps. The keyboard is non backlit and has a new design for water resistant feature. So you can literally play it while washing it...

For this TKL keyboard with POM side print keycap, it is currently out of stock as well. Restock is about in 1 more week !

If there is other questions that I can answer, PM me freely..

Here is a photo..

[Menuhin]

These new POM key caps seem to be all in 'OEM' profile instead of in Cherry profile.

I hope they can have top-print or blank/non-print. After getting a tiny bit more into key caps, my feeling towards side-print changed. In the past, I thought they were cool, but now I think they're more of a gimmick though still practical of being anti-wear as the legends are on the side.

[zslane]

Currently plum nano 75 keyboard is sold out from Plum plant. New production is going and believe I will get them in my shop in March.. Still there will be 35g and 45g models. If lucky, we may get the non-backlit models this time...

I would definitely be interested in a 45cN, non-backlit version in white.

[Laser]

POM keycaps feel great ...

@mech greenhand, I got your PM answer to my request/question. Meanwhile, I bought a 2nd hand Noppoo Choc Mini with POM keycaps, so I'm covered for now in that respect. A fully programmable (I assume) Plum Topre-clone with POM keycaps would have been otherwise pretty tempting.

[zslane]

Currently plum nano 75 keyboard is sold out from Plum plant. New production is going and believe I will get them in my shop in March.. Still there will be 35g and 45g models. If lucky, we may get the non-backlit models this time...

While we wait for new stock to arrive, I have some questions that hopefully you can answer:

1. Can it be programmed so that I can make any keys be the FN keys? (I like FN in the position of Caps Lock and R.Win)

2. Can it be programmed so that arrow key navigation is done with FN+IJKL? (In the main/default layer)

3. In the event that their 45cN domes are too weak, is there any chance they'll release a 55cN version?

I have a Noppoo that is rated at 40cN +/- 5cN and it feels like 35 to me; it is so light that there is no tactility to it. I hate it. I don't want the 45cN Plum to feel so light and mushy that it lacks nice, solid tactility. The 45cN Topre dome is perfect for me, but I sometimes wonder if it takes a thicker dome from these clone makers to get the same degree of tactility as from a genuine Topre switch.

[t!ng]

Read my long post regarding programming on the previous page. That's exactly what I did.

[Menuhin]

@zslane

About the rubber dome sheet in these Topre clones, I have the same experience: the genuine Topre domes deliver a heavier and more tactile key press feel. I swapped in a Korean dome sheet rated at 55g I got from an eBay seller, that has been a major improvement but the key feel is still obviously a bit lighter than my stock HHKB at 45g. I think the Korean dome sheet and the PLUM /NiZ dome sheet are made of the same material. I opened a Tektonix dome-with-slider keyboard some weeks ago, I would rate the key be definitely heavier than 55g Topre I tried, perhaps even 65g+ and very tactile - even more than Topre. The dome sheet is not the transparent rubber sheets that we can see in modern rubber dome keyboards (which is what Korean and PLUM Topre clones use), but a thick solid grayish white color rubber dome sheet. Topre uses some grey rubber dome sheet AFAIK. I think tactility depends on the rubber sheet material, and also the form of the rubber domes.
Other than that, perhaps Topre and PLUM measure the key weight differently so PLUM Topre clones are always a bit lighter.

[zslane]

Read my long post regarding programming on the previous page. That's exactly what I did.

Ah, yes, thank you for that info!

@zslane
Other than that, perhaps Topre and PLUM measure the key weight differently so PLUM Topre clones are always a bit lighter.

Perhaps.

I did notice the bag of +10cN springs that are supplied with the keyboard. However, the more I think about it, the more I realize that adding resistance (say, in the form of a stiffer spring underneath the dome) isn't a solution to weak tactility. It is critical that the rubber dome itself follow the proper tactile force curve so that it yields the "pop" at the right moment during key travel. A stiffer spring only makes it harder to reach the tactile bump on the force curve; it won't make the bump more pronounced.

[fruitalgorithm]

I bought the Plum Nano75 from the overpriced vendor on amazon.de. No regrets so far.

[zslane]

I bought the Plum Nano75 from the overpriced vendor on amazon.de. No regrets so far.

Which dome weight did you get?

Do you have a genuine Topre board to compare it to?

[fruitalgorithm]

Which dome weight did you get?
Do you have a genuine Topre board to compare it to?

I got it with 45g domes. Though I don't have a Topre board myself to compare it to, I'd say it's close enough from how I remember it. The stems are slightly scratchy but you only notice if you pay very close attention. Typing on it is a joy. It's also quiet.

What's annoying is connecting several Bluetooth devices. The board can only connect to a new device if no other device is currently connected. So in order to pair a third device, you have to turn off Bluetooth on the other two devices if they are in range. Once the devices are paired, switching between them works just fine. I have not noticed any input lag while typing.
The vendor sent me a manual in Chinese and badly translated English. I took me a while to figure out how to connect my second device. The manual has some other minor errors as well.

The keycaps are nice. You can make out production marks from the injection molds on some of them. There were even extra keycaps included: option and cmd for use with a Mac or iOS. Switching super and alt is easy with Fn+F9. This means the board is ready for Windows and macOS right out of the box, which is very nice.

On the bottom of the case you can switch between 3 layouts: Media, Office, and Pro(grammed). Media turns the keys in the bottom right (shift, alt, application, ctrl) into quite large arrow keys and Fn+ alt, application, ctrl into volume control keys. Together with the programmable layout this gives you lots of options. There is a bug with this though. The shift key is not only the up arrow, but stays a shift key too. So if you hit it accidentally while typing you end up with an uppercase letter in the row above where you are typing. The office layout doesn't have volume control at all.
I think I would have preferred the layout of the Plum 84 (same as Noppoo Choc), which is only 1 key wider and offers separate arrow keys. The giant right shift key certainly seems like a waste of space. I guess Plum also wanted to make standard key sets fit. It also seems to be an oversight to not have play, pause, next media keys at least on the media layout. What the keyboard lacks in arrow keys, it makes up for in a full row of function keys. The layout feels like it's lost a bit in between the 84 key layout and a 65/60%. It's a compromise, and I'm not sure it makes the best trade offs.

Construction is very solid. No creaking or twisting of the case. One of the fold out feet doesn't firmly snap back. It clatters a bit if I shake the board. It think the case is made out of POM, but I'm no expert at identifying plastics. The little on/off switch and the layout switch on the bottom are tiny and no fun to operate. The rubber pads on the bottom are very grippy. The board does not move on a desk while using it.

I haven't seen a more attractive mech board with bluetooth so far. It has lots of features, which tick so many boxes: Topre switches, PBT keycaps, programmable, MX compatible stems, RGB backlight, bluetooth, compact layout, multiple hot switchable layouts.
Cramming so many features (mouse control!) into a keyboard of that size seems to have compromised the design somewhat. A great design is also about leaving out things and making hard decisions. So we end up with two layouts with the cited obvious issues. Plum seems to expect the user to fix their inability to provide a great layout by giving them the option of programmability.

The Plum Nano 75 is not perfect, but definitely a great keyboard. I don't regret spending that much money on it. Typing on it is very enjoyable.
I use it with an iPad, a MacBook Pro, and an Apple TV at home.

[zslane]

Given the experiences folks (including myself) have had with Noppoo EC boards, I am justifiably skeptical of any Topre clone. Now, I don't expect a clone to have the same build quality as a genuine Topre board. However, it is important to me that the switches feel the same as 45cN Topre switches in terms of the tactility. The scratchiness is another issue, of course, and I wonder if that can be solved with lubing the sliders.

[fruitalgorithm]

5. Aluminium sustain panel without Electrochemistry Technology -- durable and environmental. The keys' cross column and base is made of POM meterial( made by DuPont ), Which is a self lubrication design, as using the keyborad longer, the keys can be more and more smooth!

From the description of the board. So the scratchniness might just go away after a while and is most pronounced when the switches are new.

[t!ng]

I find the scratchyness kind of nice. The only thing I dislike about them is that sometimes I hear the spring while typing. But that is far away from a Cherry Ping, which is the most annoying sound in the world