I wonder how the hotswap works. You mean to tell me that not a single hotswap arm touches the bottom supports on the case?
I guess that’s just good engineering. Color me impressed. I’m going to go with the gray version. If it comes all gray that’s good. Two tone is fine as well. Can’t decide between hotswap and solder. I do like the idea of hotswap though.
Mine just arrived in the mail. Gray R1 soldered version.
Personally, I like the R1 Gray. But the R2 colours are okay, agree that two-tone look on the silver may not be ideal.
R3 could be interesting. TKL layouts, not just WKL, maybe they will offer all 3 colours. [Maybe you could mix-and-match top and bottom housings, but I dream…]
Still trying to figure out which switch would be ideal for the ‘plateless’ soldered NCR-80 here. I want to go the light tactile route. I think L + F SP Star Meteor Orange could be ideal, even though I was saving them for the HMKB.
I also have medium-weight Ergo Clears available [but would prefer light-weight on an NCR-80], and Zealio V1 on the way.
very nice pairing! Still wish I owned a CRP set, but I’m not willing to pay reddit prices. ha. Surely another round on Drop one day.
Yes, R3 or R4 is being delivered around the end of the year. Too bad the non-GB orders will be aftermarket…
But I know they are itching to start a new GB ASAP.
CRP in general goes well with the NCR-80, and I’ve seen all sorts of CRP on these boards. I think Honeywell [with green or cyan accents] would work well, 9009 does, and likely Solarized Dark.
Botanical might work, but I’m not a huge fan of that set.
When the next round goes, I’d go with Syrup Labs (CA) if they’re offering it again. R4 was the same price from syrup shipped to US, and none of the Drop shenanigans.
I’d also keep your eyes open for they upcoming RGB mods gb they’re offering.
Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind
OK, so the R2 GB is all sold-out on ZFrontier now.
I was seriously, seriously tempted to buy a second NCR-80 because of the $80 price, possibly free-shipping over $100, and the silvery case colour.
But I’m happy to wait until R3 to get a WinKey version. Especially as I hear there may be full-size variants on offer. That could replace my current keyboard.
I would have considered an additional shell / color for my R1, but it wasn’t worth the shipping cost.
You can still get in on the next production run through YMDK
Looking at the PCB, there seems to be sockets for the Print Screen/Num Lock/Pause cluster. Is it possible to pop out the lock light shield and solder in switches?
Does anyone know if there are any updates on this? I ordered through zFrontier, but haven’t heard anything about shipping estimates.
Ordered from YMDK and I just got a shipping notification. Estimated to arrive (Canada) by next week.
So tempting. Hoping for a cool gray / light gray TKL version in R3.
For those who have purchased this kit - any regrets in what you ordered?
For example, do you regret getting a plate? Do you regret getting Hotswap version?
I regret not getting a hotswap PCB. I think the NCR80 should be built plateless (true to the G80) for both the sound and feel, so I opted for the soldered PCB since I’ve seen comments on hotswap sockets causing switches to wobble during typing on plateless/half-plate builds. However it seems like this is not an issue with the NCR80 hotswap PCB according to this build
I’m planning on filling my NCR80 with Clickiez, so I’ll have to wait until late March or April before I can use my board even though I currently have keycaps and other switches available.
My board is great, I just wish there was a WKL version and also a full-size.
I went plateless, soldered which is a great option for Cherry tactiles.
Still no word from zFrontier. Has anyone heard anything?
Direct quote from zFrontier for those that have ordered R2 Cool Grey:
NCR80 R2 Cool Gray Unit Update
Sorry for the long wait on the NCR80 R2 Cool Gray units. They have arrived late due to holidays but they are here finally.
However, upon inspecting the units, we found that the final product does not match the color shown in the promotional pictures provided by the supplier - the “cool gray” units are much warmer while the beige units are fine (see picture below).
We immediately reported this issue back to the supplier and pushed them to remake the cool gray units. However, so far there is no solid progress and even if they agreed on remaking the units, it will likely take an extra 2 to 3 months. Therefore, we are notifying you and will be offering the following options:
- Cancel and refund the whole order
- Get a 10USD partial refund per unit, and ship the “cool gray” unit out as is
- Switch to a beige unit
Again, we apologize for the inconvenience, please submit your response with the button below and let us know how to proceed. We will accept responses until Mar.16, 2022.
)“Cool gray” we received and the beige unit side by side
Beige and Cool gray from promotion pictures
Ha. I had a big suspicion that would be the case. I was judging color based on the keycaps used in those pictures.
In reality, the “cool gray” case was very probably very close to the GMK U9 color used on the ePBT modifiers. So… dark beige. It’s the same color as my CA66 that is “cement gray”
It’s a very nice color, I just wouldn’t call it gray. I’m happy to see that they’re trying to address the issue with good customer service. Good for them. 
