|
So there are a lot of people here with way more knowledge than I have about keyboards! Does anyone here have any experience with ortholinear keyboards? The layout appeals to me, and it looks like there are some non-soldering diy options from China available on aliexpress. I'm basically looking for a compact keyboard that has iso nordic with arrow keys, and I think an ortholinear would be easy to fenagle into something optimal. I'm on the fence about ordering a vortex race 3 or looking into some sort of ortholinear setup. Interested to hear about any insight into how awesome and/or dumb ortholinear keyboards are! My primary usage would be home for video games but the keyboard would see quite a lot of usage to type word documents as well. Edit: this is the diy kit I am talking about btw forkbucket fucked around with this message at 02:11 on Oct 23, 2017 |
#
¿
Oct 23, 2017 02:07
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 11:18 |
|
|
Nondescript Van posted:ortho is cool don't let anybody tell you different. That's a fairly popular kit from china. The other option in a similar form factor but a bit smaller is the preonic from olkb.com. No idea when it would ship though as they may still be working on their massdrop orders. Thanks for the input! I ended up choosing the vortex since I could find it with ISO nordic. Looked all over for nordic keycaps to put on the xd75re, but the only solutions that wouldn't look like a hodge podge Franken-board were a bit out of my comfort zone price-wise. Maybe some day in the future when/if the vortex breaks I'll recycle the base nordic keycaps onto an ortholinear keyboard, so I'd only have to get 1u modifiers to make it look purdy!
|
|
#
¿
Oct 24, 2017 03:49
|
|
|
The keys are definitely out there, but the add-on or international bundles were 35-55$ in addition to the base alphas and modifiers. Even the cheapest option combing stuff from aliexpress and stores like pimp my keyboard I found would have ended up being approx 80-90 bucks not including import duties. Buying stuff like this in Norway blows. Anyway I'm more than happy going for the vortex race 3, it looks like a fantastic keyboard that checks all the boxes I was looking for! And hey like I said, soon I'll have a nordic alpha set I can recycle if I ever feel like it! The DSA profile is definitely my favorite, so that's what I would want to use in the future for any ortholinear keyboard. I am planning on splurging on some cool colored WASD to match the blue and/or green of.the extra keycaps that come with the vortex! Maybe a space bar or something too  This is how it starts isn't it 
|
|
#
¿
Oct 24, 2017 05:25
|
|
|
I got super indecisive and cancelled my vortex race 3 order. I think I'm going to order the vortex keycaps and scavenge all the nordic alphas and 1u modifiers and supplement with an ortholinear mod set from pimp my keyboard. That should total about the same as the vortex but end up costing less total, and I'll end up with an iso nordic ortholinear. Edit: I took the plunge and ordered the xd75re off aliexpress and ordered keycaps. Going all in on ortholinear! forkbucket fucked around with this message at 03:07 on Oct 25, 2017 |
|
#
¿
Oct 25, 2017 01:44
|
|
|
This is probably a super dumb suggestion, but did you try fn + caps (instead of control)?
|
|
#
¿
Nov 1, 2017 18:08
|
|
|
The Pok3r also comes in ISO, but speaking from experience it's an absolute pain in the rear end to find aftermarket ISO nordic keycaps at a reasonable price!
|
|
#
¿
Nov 11, 2017 00:11
|
|
|
 Trip report time! My Vortex Race 3 came last Friday! My first impressions are great, the keycaps feel nice and "meaty" if that makes sense. They clunk down nicely and the board doesn't rattle. I'm very happy with the compressed form factor. I'm also insanely happy with the flat profile of the keyboard combined with the DSA keycaps. Feels incredibly smooth over a whole day of typing. They included little nubs you can screw onto the bottom to raise it up slightly, but I'm leaving mine off. My previous keyboard had Cherry MX browns on it, I ordered the Race 3 with Cherry MX reds. Initially it felt a little weird typing on the linear switches, but after an hour or two it really grew on me. As the layout gets more ingrained in my muscle memory I'm loving the reds more and more. Vortex includes some RGBY keycaps that I tossed on immediately because colors are fun! I also ordered a matching set of the WASD keys in the same blue from pimpmykeyboard so I had those ready to go. One of the cons people list about the keyboard is that the 1.5u Esc/Del keys make finding compatible keycap sets a bit harder. However, I like the look of the off-set function row and it's extremely unlikely I'll get any keycap sets, so for me it's a non-issue. Vortex makes this one in lots of different ISO variants. All in all I'm in love with this keyboard and I'm super happy with it! Picture time (sorry the first one ended up so blurry): Arrows and modifiers were included with the keyboard. The blue WASD came from PMK.  Close up of the WASD, because I felt like it.   I forgot to take a picture of it with before I put all the colorful keycaps on it, unfortunately.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 15, 2017 14:01
|
|
|
Heavy Metal posted:By the way, what do you folks dig for wrist rests, if you use them? I still have an old leather imak beads one from over a decade ago, apparently more recent ones by them are smaller and stiffer, less good. I got a glorious gaming race wrist rest, specifically the slim and compact version, a few weeks ago and it has been phenomenal. I float my hands a bit while I'm typing quickly, but my palms rest lightly on the wrist pad often. I find it super comfy, but ymmv. It's also really nice for long gaming sessions. Used to get a bit of discomfort from having my palm on the wooden desk for long stretches, especially for games heavy on the WASD, but having the squishy wrist rest makes a world of difference. So much so that I'd forgotten that I used to get said discomfort until I read your post! The one I have is the slim one so it's only 13 mm thick, quite a bit less tall than the average I think. Doesn't get in the way at all, and I'm glad I went with the thin version.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 30, 2017 00:53
|
|
|
Yea the branding is pretty eye rolling. It's not too flagrant on the compact one though, so it's easy to ignore. But it gets the job done, and the edges are rounded and sewn down so it seems durable v v
|
|
#
¿
Dec 30, 2017 08:21
|
|
|
Anyone know of a smaller keyboard ala the vortex core, but with an iso set up? Preferably not something I'd have to solder and program myself mind you. Anything like that exist, or is the form factor too niche?
|
|
#
¿
Mar 30, 2018 18:32
|
|
|
Hmm most of what I found was concepts and idea discussions rather than anything concrete. I'm strongly considering just picking up a vortex core and programming the weird nordic characters I need as a key combo or macro. I want a small compact keyboard to bring back and forth between work, and I like the look and concept of the 40%. Doesn't look like there is much else that is mass produced in that size.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 31, 2018 14:55
|
|
|
I'm sure this stick has beaten the dead horse quite thoroughly earlier in the thread, but I'm really struggling so I figured I'd ask. I'm having a really hard time deciding whether or not to go for clear or browns in my next keyboard. I know goons and people in general rave about clears. Thing is I've only ever used browns and reds, so I don't know if the clears will be too heavy? The keyboard will be a smaller form factor and will primarily be used at work and when I travel. I know it's super subjective and not really possible to answer with a post. I dunno, just looking for some general input to help me make up my mind I guess?
|
|
#
¿
Apr 9, 2018 18:21
|
|
|
Sacred Cow posted:Mostly just curious about the quality of the keycaps. The stock Poker keycaps are pretty solid but this will be my first DSA profile. Has the odd size of the right hand keys thrown you off at all? I have a race 3 that I love. The right hand keys felt super natural after a short while. The keycaps are very nice too, solid quality. I fell in love with the DSA profile instantly, but I prefer my keyboard flat so YMMV. Does anyone here have any experience with the box royals or burnt orange? I'm considering giving em a whirl in an upcoming keyboard project.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 8, 2018 13:53
|
|
|
Malefitz posted:Ok, thanks. I think now I have a better idea of what I want and what is possible. For what it's worth I've recently switched from a full size ISO Nordic layout to a tiny 40% keyboard with everything on layers and the transition away from a big enter key was hardly noticable. Of course YMMV, we're all different, etc etc... Mine was programmable though, so I got to keep all my funky Norwegian characters and tweak it to my liking! The firmware and programming/flashing process involved is pretty straightforward and since you're a software engineer you may already have some experience with the steps involved. Being able to fully customize your keyboard is pretty awesome, so add that to your list of cool mechanical keyboard things to consider! 
|
|
#
¿
Sep 14, 2018 06:43
|
|
|
I like it very very much so far! For my setup I kept most of the shifted characters in roughly the same spot, I wasn't too keen on relearning all those! Here's an overview of the layers if you're interested. The keyboard is a UT47, which is somewhat based on the Planck AFAIK but with a bit of a stagger instead of a pure ortholinear layout. Initially got it to bring back and forth with me to work or when traveling, but it was so much fun to use that it's become my daily driver and preferred keyboard.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 15, 2018 05:29
|
|
|
netcat posted:Anyone know of any Europe based store that sells good keyboards with non-US layouts (specifically Swedish layout)? https://www.maxgaming.se/ these guys carry a pretty decent selection of mechanical keyboards too, based out of Sweden too and as far as I know they do Nordic layouts on everything except a couple specific keyboards.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 1, 2018 06:33
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 11:18 |
|
|
MJP posted:Is there a place where I can get single custom keycaps that match Tai-Hao colors? I'd like to have an oldschool Windows logo key on the pink Miami colorway. I'd definitely check out https://pimpmykeyboard.com/ Dunno how they stack up price wise but they do custom stuff, and a have a pretty good selection of plastics and colors. They rotate some of them so if the color you want isn't there you can email them and ask if it'll be in stock soon or get help to color match. It can get expensive if you're shipping abroad but I think they do free shipping over a certain amount in USA. forkbucket fucked around with this message at 11:14 on Jun 7, 2019 |
|
#
¿
Jun 7, 2019 11:12
|
|