I was supposed to start with a simple XD84 level build and ease into this hobby…BUT THAT CAME.
THAT BOARD…I never thought I would be left with my jaw hitting the floor, BY AN ORTHOLINEAR NONETHELESS.
What do I do? I type a lot and game as well…I am also looking for SA key-caps preferably (though for that beauty I would make exceptions).
Would this suit me?
Should I pull the plug? Walk the plank? Shoot in the dark?
It’s just a 60% in a compact form factor, so if you can live without ‘dedicated’ f-keys and navigation cluster then go for it. Can’t speak to this particular board but going from a regular staggered 60% to ortho with number row is not that bad.
Absolutely. You also get more easily accessible thumb keys, depending on what layout you roll with. I like going full grid with backspace next to space, flanked by lower and raise. You can have a look at Preonic layouts for some inspiration.
I am a super happy Ortho user for typing and gaming! I play mostly MMO’s and FPS and find the hand positioning with a 5x12 Ortho really comfortable. It took me a few weeks to get used to it, but I have been solely Ortho for 3 years now!
I think you should jump in! Cannon Keys is awesome, and this looks like one of the highest quality Ortho 60 kits ever (I bought in :)).
With the weight and top mount on this board, high profile keys like SA (or MT3) will be really nice. There are some pretty readily available SA Ortho kits out there on pimpmykeyboard.com (SA Ice Cap, SA Snow Cap, SA-P Industrial) and some great recent group buys with Ortho kits for SA as well, sculpted (SA Godspeed, SA Leviathan, SA Vilebloom) or flat (SA Bliss, SA 1976).
+1 for do it! I’m considering this one as well, I had a hard time adjusting to ortho, but i feel like I never gave it a fair chance as I went straight to the planck when I also had a hard time adjusting to 40%s.
Thank you so much for the encouragement guys!
I got in touch with CanonKeys and am now getting stuff in order for a hopeful purchase!
The shipping might be the breaking factor for me since it’s over $100 for me to get it shipped and everything… But fingers crossed!
OK one thing I do have a question about is Hot-swap.
It is my first board so not soldering is a big plus in my book and I probably won’t be changing switches regularly, maybe even never unless any failure occurs or for trouble shooting.
Still, should I get the solder-able PCB as well?
Unless I’m missing something it doesn’t seem that there’s a non-hotswap pcb available. If you’re referring to the ‘extra pcb’ option, that’s also a hotswap pcb (which might or might not come with the hotswap sockets installed already - the render shows it without sockets).
In any case, and especially because shipping is astronomical, I wouldn’t shell out the extra money for another pcb.
I don’t mind (de)soldering, but that quickly turns into another rabbit hole of desirable equipment (at least for me it did). Hotswap is awesome. It makes this entire hobby so much more approachable.
But, honestly, USD 500+ is an obscene amount of money. That doesn’t include switches (between USD 25 and 60 in this board’s case), and keycaps (easily USD 100 if you want to do the expected quality of the board justice).
I reckon it’s the design that attracted you in the first place, but there’s cheaper ways to check out a 5x12 ortholinear. Be on the lookout on /r/mechmarket for a Preonic, they can be had for under USD 200. There’s a pre-order running for a board called PAN, which Jake from P3Dstore is designing a case for.
Edit: I forgot, if you just want to dip your toes in the mech world (and I know this is nothing like Atlas), there’s NovelKeys NK65v2 coming up. The sub-USD100 Entry Version is an excellent value proposition (and doesn’t look like every other board).
It’s not just the keyboard layout @ggggggg
I generally thought ortho look ugly.
It’s the overall aesthetic of the board.
You see, the major color theme of my entire room is black with gold accents. And I am planning on a PC / Study setup of industrial greys and black with gold accents. Somehow, this board just…fits. It just clicks right into that mental image I would like a keyboard to be.
Though I agree…the price seemed very good but it’s getting a bit out of hand now.
I have a beginner’s kit incoming for a 75%.
A friend got a Chinese DIY kit for cheap and wanted me to help him put it together. Cherry red switches and laser dyed (or something) keycaps. He said he didn’t want to solder anything so he would let me try. So I got lucky there.
