Plum Nano75 Electrastatic Capacitive Bluetooth RGB Keyboard

[drakche]

Damn. That's a lot of waiting time. Have the initial feelings subsided? How do you feel about the board now?

Sent from my Redmi Pro using Tapatalk

[zslane]

Honestly, I haven't spent enough time typing on it to form a solid opinion yet. It's for my iPad, and I don't do as much typing on my iPad as I used to.

(The six month thing was an exaggeration; I wasn't being literal, just voicing my frustration with how hard it is to get one of these things--the 45g one in particular--outside of a very narrow window of availability that seems to come along very infrequently.)

[Laser]

Maybe use this? (I know it was discussed in some thread)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Electrostatic-C ... 2137004390

[zslane]

If I became desperate enough, yeah, that would be a solution for sure. But I don't want to have to disassemble the whole keyboard like that. Re-aligning the springs and domes is a nightmare, from what I've read.

I mean, really, how hard is it to keep this keyboard in stock? Someone isn't doing a very good job of forecasting demand and managing inventory, if you ask me.

[zslane]

One thing I am trying to get a handle on is its Bluetooth functionality. I've successfully paired it with my iPad, but I don't understand its wake-from-sleep behavior. If I press a key while it's in its dormant state, the keyboard seems to spend several seconds waking up (or something) before reconnecting to my iPad, but I have no way of knowing when it's ready except to just spam keystrokes until the iPad screen comes to life and typed characters show up, which is sort of lame.

Contrast with the Brydge bluetooth keyboard "case" which, when I press a key, immediately wakes the iPad, which then allows me to see the iPad's Bluetooth icon blinking into "active" status, at which point I know that keystrokes will be received by the iPad.

(And no, I don't have both keyboards active at the same time; I usually leave the Brydge keyboard completely powered off.)

[Laser]

If I became desperate enough, yeah, that would be a solution for sure. But I don't want to have to disassemble the whole keyboard like that. Re-aligning the springs and domes is a nightmare, from what I've read.

It shouldn't be too hard (famous last words). If the Plum is anything like its older cousins (Noppoo Choc), its case should easily snap open (no screws, just 4 plastic snap points). And there is a way of aligning the springs and domes, by keeping the top plate (with the sliders) upside down, then placing the membrane, and then the springs inside each dome, with the whole assembly still upside down, before closing the keyboard. You would get the desired dome weight faster, cheaper - and even in the rarer 55g variant.

[shreebles]

Thanks for the link and tips, Laser.
I will probably give it a go with 55g when my 35g variant gets here. At that price, it's almost a no-brainer.
The 45g Plum, while likeable, wasn't a perfect experience for me, but I find testing other weights intriguing.
And there isn't much of a warranty to lose with this keyboard from China.

[Laser]

I have 2 Novatouchs and a HHKB, but I'm also interested in a POM Plum 84 (very good format, and keycaps) ... Maybe i'll sell the ISO Novatouch ... although if I'd find a solution to keep the genuine Topre membrane (or find another one), that would be best ...

[hexpyws]

My Plum 75 45g arrived today!

Good lord is it great - Different that legit Topre (I've which I've had most), but for $125 shipped it simply can't be beat!
You will not be disappointed if you get one and have that in mind.

I had a Plum 84 35g before but wanted to go narrower and this thing is perfect. I am not sure I can recall enough to comment on 35g vs 45g - I suspect I'd be fine with either. Other than buying both, I'm not sure how I'd decide.

So - May I ask if anyone has created or found English instructions?
I'm sort of hacking my way through and figuring some stuff out, but I'd love to have a copy of all the instructions in English!

Also - where do we look/check to see about the latest firmware?

So far the one issue I've noticed is that even though I'm paired to my Mac as a bluetooth keyboard, the OS isn't seeing it as a keyboard in terms of the Keyboard PrefPane where you'd go and swap around the modifier keys, etc.

The one change I like to make in MacOS is making the Caps Lock be a 2nd Control key (I don't use Caps Lock for anything)


Thanks much for any links guys.

[hexpyws]

Also wanted to add, that the Bluetooth is working flawlessly for me to my MacBook. No lag at all - Works just as perfectly as the Magic Keyboard next to it (also w/ BT).

That must have been fixed at some point as I recall reading complaints about lag on this unit.

[zslane]

So I've been typing on my Plum today and taking note of its sound and feel.

The 45g version feels pretty much exactly like I had hoped, at least in terms of tactility. It is day-and-night superior to the feel of my 35g Noppoo. It is not much different from a Hypersphere-silenced 45g Topre, which is what I was hoping for.

The sound is a different matter. As mentioned several pages back by others, the sliders are unlubed and you can hear the shuff shuff friction they produce, but in all honesty it's not that distracting. However, the bottom out noise is a very loud thock, particularly for the keys on the right side of the board. I'm going to see if a sheet of sorbothane acoustic dampening rubber inside the case will help change that noise to a pleasantly soft thop instead (like my other Topre-based boards).

[drakche]

So I've been typing on my Plum today and taking note of its sound and feel.

The 45g version feels pretty much exactly like I had hoped, at least in terms of tactility. It is day-and-night superior to the feel of my 35g Noppoo. It is not much different from a Hypersphere-silenced 45g Topre, which is what I was hoping for.

The sound is a different matter. As mentioned several pages back by others, the sliders are unlubed and you can hear the shuff shuff friction they produce, but in all honesty it's not that distracting. However, the bottom out noise is a very loud thock, particularly for the keys on the right side of the board. I'm going to see if a sheet of sorbothane acoustic dampening rubber inside the case will help change that noise to a pleasantly soft thop instead (like my other Topre-based boards).

Nice man. Glad you like the feel.
The scratching sound is fixable with some lube. And it feels amazing then.

I used to thin lube last time. But next time I'm going to use a bit thicker lube and probably remove the dental bands just to try how it feels.

I feel that the tactility will be superb then.

Sent from my Redmi Pro using Tapatalk

[zslane]

BTW, if anyone is unhappy with their 45g Nano and wants to get rid of it, I am looking to buy a second one.

[hexpyws]

Can you guys talk more about the lube process for this?
I've never done anything like that before - Big challenge?

Thx

[drakche]

Not much. But you need to disassemble they keyboard.

You can dip a bit of lube on the guides in stem housings, but for best effect you would need to remove the stems and then lube a bit of the base and the guides.

Sent from my Redmi Pro using Tapatalk

[hexpyws]

And what type of lube? Where does one get that?

Edit: Nevermind - Not sure I'm going to go down the lube route.

This Nano 45g is way way way less scratchy than my 35g Plum 84 was.
Super smooth for some reason.

I have to say - I think RealForce is really missing a market by not providing more of these interesting sizes and connectivity options. They probably don't care - too bad. It'd be pretty amazing to have some more modern size/shape legit Topre's out there, especially for the higher build quality.

That said - These Plum's are *awesome*

[zslane]

Be very careful when you disassemble the board. Be sure not to disturb the rubber dome sheet in any way. And when you reassemble it, be sure to screw the screws in such a way that the board is resealed with evenly distributed pressure across the entire board, every step of the way, otherwise you could end up with keys that stop registering keystrokes.

Read this GH thread and be forewarned:
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=89140.0

[hexpyws]

@zslane: Thanks - I'm definitely out on the lube thing.
Need to stay in my skill lane - haha

[zslane]

I have to say - I think RealForce is really missing a market by not providing more of these interesting sizes and connectivity options.

I agree.

A 60% version of the RealForce RGB would be awesome. A 60% version of the NovaTouch would have been great too, but that became a discontinued product, so I'm not sure there is much faith in the smaller formats beyond that which is already covered by HHKBs and Leopolds.

[drakche]

Actually Plums are plain simple to dissasemble. And the sheet is one piece and it has guides to align everything straight.

You can dissasemble and assemble the whole board in 15ish minutes.

Some posts back someone posted my guide for dome swapping. You could use that for a reference

Sent from my Redmi Pro using Tapatalk

[zslane]

So somehow I broke the Bluetooth in this thing. I upgraded its firmware and now it won't go into pairing mode. I press FN+F10 for 5s and it never blinks fast, it just blinks slowly. I even tried resetting it and that didn't help. It still won't go into pairing mode. The Plum appears to work in all other respects when wired to my PC by USB.

Now, I know that the iPad's Bluetooth is working because I was able to re-pair a different Bluetooth keyboard that I have, and that went just fine. With the Plum, the Bluetooth settings on the iPad shows that it has detected the Plum because an entry appears under Other Devices labeled "Bluetooth Keyboard". However, the Plum never goes into pairing mode and so I can't pair them again. I've tried resetting the Plum several times; I've tried rebooting the iPad. I've tried pairing while the Plum is plugged into power via USB, and also while running on its batteries. No matter what I try, I can't get the Plum to enter pairing mode.

How do I fix this?

[zslane]

Where does a non-Chinese speaking user turn for technical support?

[hexpyws]

Where does a non-Chinese speaking user turn for technical support?

Where'd you buy it?
AliExpress?

EZ Mandarin on there is where I got mine and Steven Dong is very responsive and could likely assist.

[zslane]

I bought it through mech greenhand's Aliexpress page.

How do I contact Steven Dong? Will he help me if I bought it from someone else?

[hexpyws]

I bought it through mech greenhand's Aliexpress page.

How do I contact Steven Dong? Will he help me if I bought it from someone else?

I think that's who MechGreenhand is, no?

Not sure if he would or not, but he's always been super helpful in answering my questions. Maybe, if nothing else, he could direct you to someone who could?

Never hurts to ask

His shop is here:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Noppoo- ... 20314.html


Edit: Yep, that's Mech Greenhand. Definitely send him a message.

[mech greenhand]

I bought it through mech greenhand's Aliexpress page.

How do I contact Steven Dong? Will he help me if I bought it from someone else?

I think that's who MechGreenhand is, no?

Not sure if he would or not, but he's always been super helpful in answering my questions. Maybe, if nothing else, he could direct you to someone who could?

Never hurts to ask

His shop is here:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Noppoo- ... 20314.html


Edit: Yep, that's Mech Greenhand. Definitely send him a message.

Hi, have already replied your message...

[zslane]

My Plum Nano 75 is working again thanks to Mech Greenhand (Steven Dong)!

[hexpyws]

MechGreenhand was nice enough to provide me with a copy of the Plum Nano 75 English Instruction Manual.

So others can easily get a copy, I thought I'd upload a PDF copy of it here (attached to this post).

Cheers all

[hexpyws]

Does anyone know how to turn the white led on the ESC off when in USB mode?

Additionally - Any way to tell the battery level?

[zslane]

That light will go off when the battery is fully charged.

The only indicator of battery level that I know of is when the battery gets low the light under the ESC key will blink.