Around this time last year I finally treated myself and ordered a Rama M65B.
I also got a couple of Heavy Metal (HMHB) on order from that GB.
I’ve just got the shipping notification for the Rama but… in the intervening months I have been using a ErgoDox EZ a lot and also made the move to Colemak.
I tried using a standard, staggered, KB layout for the first time in months yesterday and I’m worried I won’t, or maybe don’t want to go back!
Which leaves me in the weird position of having at least one very expensive keyboard on the way, which I have been looking forward to for months, but might not actually want!
Anyone else had something similar happen while waiting for a GB product to turn up?
Sure. Group buys, while useful in some cases, have this twisted logic. Once you hold the stuff in your hand, you can’t even remember what did you want to do with it a year ago.
yep, definitely had my tastes change during group buys early in my journey. Play with it for a few days and then sell it. I’ve got a m0lly unopened sitting in my office behind me for over a month now because in the time it took to get it I designed a board that filled the need of the 60%. I need to sell it, but I’ve been lazy.
That is exactly the reason why i refuse to go ortho. I like conventional keyboard design too much and refuse to give myself a chance to get to the point where i would be torn between using a layout and wanting to buy the really cool designs that I appreciate.
It’s a poisoned chalice for sure. My typing accuracy has always been abysmal. I lost a finger in an accident last year so wanted to ensure typing got better, not worse going forward. Changing to ortho and Colemak DHm has forced me to relearn and accuracy has improved. I’m still slow (not because of finger loss, just because I’m still slow!) though.
But yes, my other boards are seeming a little redundant at the moment and the Rama may end up on eBay
Yes… this…
I ordered a RAMA M60 Olivia edition as my first foray into customs and here I sit. I have GMK olivia, some holy trash pandas I assembled and lubed myself, olivia c3 stabs… I figured because it was an existing design, it wouldn’t take over a year. Now I’m a bit lost in the hobby. I’ve considered buying some cheaper custom like NK65 or something just to use my parts in the interim but I also don’t want to add to the world’s e-waste and I don’t really want a huge collection.
I’m so curious about their numbers. Like how many units do they sell in these unlimited group buys.
Yes, your taste will definitely change in this hobby and it seems to happen more over long GB lead times LOL. I switched to Colemak/ortholinear a few years ago and even though I love topre switches, I put those boards aside (sold 2 of them) and haven’t picked them up since.
I find it easy to switch to staggered boards with little to no adjustment, I just don’t like to LOL.
hmm, I wonder when there will be enough demand for a topre ortholinear? I did see a group buy for one not long ago, but it was a bit rich for my blood. Maybe more coming? Or is this where I’ll end up digging in and eventually designing my own
I’m early in my journey and exploring different board layouts. I didn’t get in to any long-term keyboard GBs but my tastes right now are fluid. I currently hop between a Preonic and a 60-key HHKB-style (newest Tokyo60) with standard row stagger. This helps my brain adjust and stay adaptable, I’m finding. A few months back, after using the Preonic for a bit, I was in a similar boat, totally scared that I would not be able to adjust back if I needed to, but switching back and forth often has solved that for me. YMMV, and I’m all QWERTY, but it’s amazing what the human brain can adapt and adjust to.
That’s funny — when I read your post about making the Rama ortho I thought it was ridiculous. Then I clicked the link and I was thinking “that’s actually really decent looking!”
Sadly I don’t have the chops for that level of customsation. Soldering switches is as far as I get currently.
Yes. I joined GBs for a 65%, 75% a couple of keycap set with NorDe last spring/summer and in the beginning of December I got a Planck and after a couple of weeks the decision to go that path was pretty easy.
Pretty sad that I will only keep one keycap set off it all, but that’s OK, I just bought a Nintendo Switch for the first sales.
Totally understand your predicament. Hell, I won’t even buy anything that forces me to use split backspace – not that I hate it, but I am afraid that I’ll get to used to it and be stuck not being able to convert the rest of my boards to that layout.
IMO split backspace is not too bad, I have probably half and half of my board with/without and it just takes a couple min to adjust back and forth for me, usually just a few mistypes. I have a hard time swapping between much more than that, ortho back and forth or any 40s with a lot of keys on layers were hard for me.
I keep my non split backspace keyboards programmed with the backspace lower where the pipe key is, as it is on all boards and hhkb’s. The big backspace is programmed as pipe.
I have a FN toggle that switches to default layer regular backspace if someone else uses my board.
Not a bad idea. I’m also a caps/ctrl swapper too (well, control when held, capslock when tapped). I couldn’t go back to the uncomfortable pinky destroying original position of control – not to mention how much more comfortable it is for gaming.
