UPDATE: I think this thread can be valuable for sharing the reasoning behind purchase decisions, informally comparing and rating available options, while the memory is fresh given delivery could take many months. A bit more chatty than other two threads.
UPDATE2: Felt more details are called for. I got black bc it’s the safest badass color. WK bc Tsangan is my main layout and Brutal 60 ships with ANSI layout plate. As to why Tsangan, it’s nearly symmetrical and I need backtick for writing code. Hot-swap bc I don’t have a desolder gun. FR4 bc it I love how good it sounds with almost any switch.
So it’s time to start building the Baldr60 and I wanted to put something together that would match the inherent blueness of the case. I hit up the usual switch repositories and shops looking for something I’m not sure I’ll even end up doing, when in a totally different tab, I see an Amazon recommendation for the blue WS Aurora Series switch.
Why are these on Amazon?
How did Amazon know I was looking for a particular blue switch?
Does Amazon know I just picked up an Ikki68 during the R2 drop?
Here’s the most spooky part, which I totally interpret as a cosmic chest bump – there’s an Amazon review from someone who bought these switches for what, yup you guessed it, a Baldr60. Wtf.
I mean, what are the odds of that? I just bought 70 and said a quite thank you.
I’ve got the clear ones - super impressed so far. Very stable; I think you’ll like them.
Today I ordered almost all of Switch Oddities’ new arrivals; I mainly collect sets of switches, but being able to get one-offs of some of the more obscure (or at least longer-to-ship) switches has been great, and I’ve definitely found some new favorites that way.
@ajoflo - they have quite a few produced by HaiMu, who I’m 99% sure make those WS Aurora switches; just look for ones with the (exact) same shaped dust shroud. (They also make Candy’s switches, and it looks like they’re the producer Volocifire has been using the last couple times they threw out an unknown MFR name like “KingKeyboard”.)
so called out by this thread rn bc topre skips go and collects $200 ever tim from my wallet. so after the weekend’s usual round of buyee trawling, i decided to “order” i.e. pay my dmv registration fee this afternoon.
Dude, that’s awesome. Thanks for the heads-up. Did you see those Momoka Shark’s are in-stock? I’m not a tactile guy, but that upstroke clack ThereminGoat mentioned is definitely interesting.
I think this thread may turn out to be a goldmine for vendors by offering insights into how purchase decisions are made. Reporting defects is more tailend w/customer service after shipping where these insights are more frontend matter, impacting product and website design as well as marketing.
Unfortunately, the aspects of this hobby that make it so compelling are the same aspects that feed compulsive spending. Frequent but limited (either by time or quantity) group buys reinforce FOMO and there is a constant churn of new products that are often better than what you have at home or have the potential to offer some new experience.
Complicating matters, everyone in this hobby has bought into the hobby hook, line, and sinker. So we’re a support group of functional addicts, normalizing our purchasing decisions. Whenever I see or hear of someone’s large collection of keyboards, I’ll think to myself “that’s crazy; nobody needs that many keyboards!” and follow that thought with “… but it would be super fun to have all those keyboards!” This is by no means a judgment on anyone for spending money on something harmlesss that brings them joy, just my own recognition of the pull to pick up one more board/switch/keycap set.
Anyway, this is my long-winded and absolute buzzkill method of saying that I don’t think vendors need to market to us very much, when we’re already hooked, but it could drive new business by snagging some fresh fish.
This hobby is an expensive way to weed out compulsive buying habit. Pacing works. Having several items on the way is not good and, without pacing, you’ll end up build one board after another without much time to enjoy each of them.
Picked up GMK Serika for the Novelkeys sale. 99$ for that GMK set seems like a pretty sweet deal. There were a couple different sets that I was interested in, but Serika appears to the have a lot of viability on a lot of different board colors.
Assign each keyset a number from 1 to 3 then roll a D20. Ask the nearest person to slap you hard each time you miss. More you miss, more you’ll appreciate the prize.
I ordered spring-swapped L+F broken-in MX Browns today, because (a) I’m not keen on lubing switches at the moment, (b) broken-in Cherry switches are all the rage, and (c) Browns seemed like a fun detour from the linear path I usually take.
I got them today, and I do agree they are very impressive. There’s the tinniness bit of N/S wobble, but not enough for even me to worry and it’s totally stable when the key is fully pressed. I immediately ordered the clears and fogs.
