you can get a tecware phantom elite tkl, and replace the stock switches and caps with what you want.

I think OEM hardly have MX Green already. The last board that i know maybe have greens, is iKBC.
You should just go ahead with the custom, which you can choose your own parts and build.

Hummm... coming from the thought of getting the base mech board and custom it to the spec i need or even custom build the keyboard .... what would be the recommended source for getting those parts?

Fantastic reading. Thanks.

Alas it is just a curiosity for now. I was entertaining the thought of starting of cheap with a custom cospad....added up the cost and it exceeded my ikbc, before I found keycaps for it. I don't think I want to open the floodgates to spending almost 2k for a custom board.

I'll try to be happy with modding the switches on my ikbc.

but the feeling of typing on a custom built according to ur needs is diff to an OEM board.

nothing good comes cheap, and vice versa.

Yes I'm not unfamiliar with the concept. I guess you could liken prebuilt MKBs to ready to wear leather shoes. You could spend thousands on a pair but for the best quality, be prepared to pay 5 figures for bespoke(custom).

And just like shoes, at some point you get diminishing returns.

This post has been edited by niakulah: Dec 19 2019, 07:38 PM

yeap, same old same old. just like any other hobby.

took me about 2 months to realise that odd feeling of keys "rebound-and-sticking" to my fingers whenever I type (regardless of keycaps), is caused by spring force being to strong.

Outemu spring force (65g) is just way too strong for me. dayum. need to splurge for new set of kb ....

anyone got any recommendation for me?

1. TKL
2. floating keys design
3. Cherry/Gaterons tactile switches (brown or close to brown)
4. solid (preferably got some metal in the construction)
5. below RM350

Massdrop CTRL kb fits all of the above and beyond, except the price overshot way too much, so yeah... need some guidance here.

This post has been edited by nders: Dec 20 2019, 12:11 AM

the reason is pretty obvious, options with that switch are very limited. you can continue to look for them, or you can build/modify one.

it's all good. it's better to have first-hand experience on different builds at your own pace. appreciation of good builds usually, but not necessarily, come after that.

high price points of parts are usually related to commercial, e.g., rarity, limited production runs, materials, manufacturing processes, quality controls, etc. however there are also affordable alternatives available at places like taobao.

.. and many people are happy just by tuning their commercial boards to cope with their needs too hehe

you can try out tecware phantom elite tkl.

i have both phantom elite tkl and ctrl. both can be much better after tuning.

yeah, just realised some sellers selling the elites with gateron and kailh switches, both are my absolute fav when it comes to mainstream switches. and price is as reasonable as ever. thanks mate

Just checkout on the Tecwave TKL keyboard..... now i have dilemma of choices .... Phantom L or Elite ..... Gosh ... hahaha.... anyone can advice what the difference beside Phantom L is Low profile with detachable usb-c and the other one is just Wired non-detachable .....

yeah it should be able to take any 3-pin switches. it will be very nice if it supports 5-pin switches also.

the main difference is elite tkl supports most if not all cherry mx style switches, and phantom l is meant for outemu low profile switches only. (whether or not the pcb can support low profile switches from other brands are unknown)

it's up to you to decide.

Anyone here know if you can directly plugin a USB C keyboard directly to an Android phone's USB C port without a USB OTG converter?

Just had an intriguing idea for a macropad and was wondering if it was possible.

Tecware Phantom 96

any reviews from users here yet?

Hey guys, may I know is there any shop in KL is selling IKBC mechanical keyboard?
Planning to buy one for normal use and sometimes rhythm gaming.
Any recommended switch?

just get this keyboard on 12.12 on lazada
just need some time to get use and can change between tkl and numpad mode.
is very nice keyboard to get with tkl size but 2 in 1 feature.
mine is outemu red switch.

since last year there is a positive trend in custom kits: there are kits that offer more than the base set. they have extended options to at least the following:

1. modular and solderable pcbs;
2. fully-compatible plates for the pcbs (with different materials and cutouts);
3. pre-cut foams for use between plate and pcb, and between pcb and bottom case.

this is a good thing. my observations with kbd67 variants showed that with recent structural improvements on the modular counterparts, both modular and solderable options now have identical typing feels and sound, compared to options that we had few years ago. (this might be due to keyboard constructions adopted in these kits also)

with these kits, the typical custom building process can be streamlined as follows:

1. start with a base kit with modular pcb, plus whatever extended options that you want. use it to test combinations that you wish to have, and tune them if necessary (without soldering and desoldering processes, this is relatively time saving, and you don't need to worry about potential pcb issues caused by soldering and desoldering);
2. get solderable pcbs and plates to make the combinations permanent (basically i just migrate everything from modular pcb to solderable pcb).

technically, you just need a case, and a set of key cap set that covers most keyboard layouts (both are essentially why budget for a build is bloated, besides switches), and replace only barebone builds when you want to. i really hope there will be more kits with similar choices in near future, and they can cover more options, e.g. form factors, plate types, etc.

Just in case anyone wants to know, you will need to short CC to GND using a 5-10k ohm resistor. Similar to micro-USB OTG, where you short ID to GND.

Note that I haven't tried it yet. Still in research phase.

If I ever go down that route, I will probably go down the 75% + cospad route. The 75% I can carry around with me, the cospad I'll leave in the office.

But so far I haven't seen any hotswap 75% PCBs. I guess I could put in hot swap sockets myself, but that is a lot of work to put them in and remove later when you want to make it permanent.