Machined aluminum prototype case with the 4.75mm brass plate. Final version will be in stainless steel.
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Looking forward to seeing that heavy board.
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It very well might be. I popped the key caps off around it, and it looks like it’s just clipped into the plate. But, when I tried to move it it wouldn’t budge. So it might be worth a tear down to figure out what is actually going on with it.
Well, I have had most of the ones I’m aware of, except in the cases of some that have feature variations (ie, I have the drevo Calibur V2 TE, but I don’t have the Bluetooth or 2.4Ghz wireless versions of it).
Strangely enough, I found out Ganss has more than just this model. They also had an earlier wired only 71-Key, and a modular model that had the 71-key at it’s core with a clip function row and a numpad that could clip on either left or right of the main keyboard. Not a new idea, but something I hadn’t seen with this form factor. (But honestly, the clip on function row makes a lot of sense… It makes this keyboard almost identical to an IBM Model M4.)
I could definitely write something up that would be pretty detailed… I’d probably want to wait until I get the Redragon in my hands (which should be a few weeks to a month if the shipping does mess it up).
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Oh, that modular ALT71 is quite interesting! The removable F-row is an interesting take on the modular approach.
Probably good to wait for the Red Dragon to arrive, more data points doesn’t hurt.
Yeah, it is very interesting. Personally, every time I see a modular keyboard I think it’s a really good idea. Unfortunately, everytime I read reviews of them they seem to come up short. In the case of the Ganss, I found a GB out there from a bit over a year ago, but it appears to have failed.
Anyway, here’s a picture from the Ganss website:
Yeah, in the mean time I can do some tear downs and take some pictures and write up something more formal from my notes.
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zFrontier carried these like 3-4 years ago. I almost got one just for the novelty of it.
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Yeah, that might be where I saw the failed GB. I just did some Google-fu and couldn’t find any western stores carrying this particular keyboard. (Newegg carries tons of Ganss keyboards though.) I’m going to start digging around on AlieExpress and Banggood and see if I can find it. If for no other reason than to say I have it in what has become (somewhat strangely) a collection of these keyboards.
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[quote=“UnattributedCC, post:3684, topic:2238, full:true”]
And now I have something else to wait for… The Dareu EK871:
This is apparently an Indonesian company that’s been around for 10+ years at this point. This is a new keyboard, came out within the last year, and doesn’t appear to be based on the others I’ve been looking at. (The case is different, key caps are different, battery size for BT is different, etc.)
Of course, it’s on order (should be here next week).
I also found out that Velocifire has a 71-key keyboard as well and ordered it. But, I think from looking at it it’s probably the same thing as the RK or Drevo keyboard with different key caps and branding.
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These guys are kind of interesting to me. Their first few (in-house rather than rebranded) products were on the ultra-budget end and felt like it (TKL-01) - but from what I can tell now, they’re diving head-first into developing customs and switches (Sun68, Light Wave V2s).
How it started:
How it’s going:
It’s like watching a fry cook walk straight into a five-star kitchen and start busting out artfully composed plates; ya don’t expect it, but ya love to see it.
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Nice… The more I look at this one, the more I think they bought the PCB from Havit’s manufacturer and customized it… The secondary functions appear to be arranged different, and it’s only an LED backlight (no RGB), and they didn’t try to put the media keys on the num row with the function keys… That’s a big hint this might be slightly different: I saw on one of the Chinese B2B sites a listing for a 71Key PCB with just LED backlingthing…
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Smith and Rune Iron 180, brass bottom
Switches: Cherry black bottom, Gat Ink top and slider, 63g SPRiT springs, lubed
2-shot espresso (of course)
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How do you like the felt Keebmat?
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classy!
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I really like purple and all of its neighbors on the color-wheel.
First impression of the Lilac Tactiles is positive. I must admit I got them for the color, but they’re billed as a T1 variant that’s a bit more smooth from the bag, and that seems to hold up so far.
Edit: these make me want to put heavier springs and films in my Koalas, another T1 variant - my examples of which have kinda loose top housings and cardboard-feeling bump. That is; dry, scratchy, kinda mushy, kinda inconsistent. Comparing the two again brings to mind for me just how much a spring (and a little tuning) can change things. Hm… bringing those back to life might be a fun video project.
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I so dig this. Leveling up a build with such attention to detail gives me the warm and fuzzies.
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I love the weighting of the Lilacs and feel overall. The only complaint that I have with the bunch that I have (first run even) is how noisy the leaves are. I know this is common in tactiles, especially JWK ones, but it gets a bit grating over a few hours use. Hopefully they’ve corrected that a bit by now.
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They’re not bad at all, at least not in my Portico with its FR4 plate, silicone dampening, and polycarb case. If I really listen for it I can hear it from hard strikes to stabilized keys, otherwise it’s all clacks, baby. Close to the ear there’s clear (if clean) ringing; not sure if it’s just the leaf or if it’s the bump force resonating through the spring - either way I bet some metallic noise from the switch would indeed be audible while typing in a metal board before tuning.
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That keyset!