i get my sets from various places:
1. drop, e.g., gmk wob might be the cheapest base set that you can get; stock will be refreshed from time to time iinm;
2. zfrontier, there are some gmk, jtk key cap sets;
3. taobao, e.g., kbdfans (epbt, pbtfans; their international site offers gmk sets, and they have a shopee store), domikey, shenpo;
4. mymm, i.e., mech market fb group of mymkb.

i usually stick to gmk, jtk, domikey, epbt, pbtfans, for relatively better qc. shenpo sometimes have issues as well, athough it's relatively rare. there are many other brands that are 'praised' for good qualities, but i never try them before.

based on your budget, you can try search for 'shenpo' at shopee. they make dye-sub sets with thick pbt blanks. as long as the shop is selling genuine sets from shenpo, it's ok to get them.

Thanks very much for your input, I saw shenpo previously in your previous post. I will start with that.

GMK kinda good. I think Darling The Franx on my M1 from GMK.
i think drop(previously known as massdrop right?) kinda painful to get, as it come from oversea


How about the Aifei?

right. in terms of wall thickness, shenpo's thick enough. printing quality wise, it's acceptable to me.

in general, key cap profiles, materials (e.g., abs, pbt; purity of materials) and thickness affect feels and sound. however the final outcomes still depend on other parts/mods in your board.

er no yours is a clone. the true gmk darling is this one, https://gmkdarling.com/

yes, drop is massdrop.

i have no idea about aifei caps.

lmao, my friend literally giving me select and there got that legit GMK darling and i picked clone
But the quality actually high enough to certain degree, as it better than Night Sakura clone and my other stock keycap

Then my next keycap target should aim for real GMK or Akko keycap. to feel whats their different compare to clone/cheap

right, the qualities of key caps depend on many areas. to understand the differences, it's better to join meetups or get some, then experience/observe/compare them personally.

aifei is known maker of clone gmk sets

my surrounding have no people 'play' keyboard. hence higher chance i will get something i interesting then straight play with it.
Most likely test tons of switches. like get 10 of certain switches, change all the number row and use it for weeks. see how it feel compare to previous one.


ooof. not intentionally asking that. really dont know before this lol.

Not gonna buy yet, but kind of thinking between Keychron Q1 vs Monsgeek M1 international version. Which one do you think is better?

seen 2 youtube vids on comparison between these 2, still undecided.

This post has been edited by hirano: Apr 27 2023, 03:13 AM

right, just follow your own interests.

everyone learns differently. with hotswap boards, it's convenient to do that, and spend less.

Wait for 1 more month for the Monsgeek M1 Wireless.
The direct comparison is the Keychron Q1 Pro, but that will be >50% the price.

Regardless of the model you select, you will need to mod it a bit.
Force break mod is necessary due to how pingy both boards are.

Assembled my Alice Keyboard.

For the kit, I've gotten probably the most budget Alice keyboard kit available in the market today.
The Feker Alice 80
Comes with trimode connection, gasket mounted, pretty bright RGB, a lot of silicone and some VIA/QMK support.
Minimal mod needed, just more lube on the stablizers and 2 layers tape mod.

KTT Peach - Lubed with K205G0
GMK Dark (clone) keycaps. Happy that this set came with split space bar and an additional "B" key


Will likely spray paint the case on a later date. Perhaps to darker grey or some other colour.

nice

this is a modified alice-like layout. the og tgr alice doesn't have arrow keys.

Yeah, I can't live without the arrow keys.
I've even seen some Alice similar layout with numpads, but that just way too long for me.

same here haha arrow keys are the ones that i would like to access directly too.

edit: hohoho new stock of vertex v1 is finally here. for now it's unlubed variant, https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=711028850661

This post has been edited by horns: Apr 27 2023, 09:57 PM

tbh, i really miss the days where users actively shared and discussed own experience, tips, techniques, findings, etc. in a user group. i'm glad that there are still few who do these here. i don't join many so-called 'enthusiast' user groups, because there is a growing rate of 'ajaran sesat', and users who mainly look at superficial stuff, and contents and comments are boring.

this hobby is supposed to be a syok-sendiri type (a.k.a., based on personal preferences). it exists because mechanical keyboards offer rooms for improvements to its users, so there are potentials for them to be improved for the best-possible typing experience. it's really up to users to define what they want, and make things work for them.

first-hand experience is crucial. however, this doesn't mean literal 'buy buy buy'. the whole process can be as cheap as you getting a prebuilt, tune stabs and other parts, then swap key caps and switches in the alpha area to try out different combinations. it's a process that everyone can do, especially nowadays.

just don't get misled by marketing and hypes. those are just words thrown out by irresponsible individuals. the board is infront of you. just let the facts speak.

This post has been edited by horns: Apr 28 2023, 02:18 PM

these are different tx spring types. they are labelled accordingly.



this round is mainly about their 18mm xl long springs. later i will try out some and see.

I'm currently daily driving a Akko PC75B Plus 75% KB. It is quite a nice one and being tinkering with it slowly over the pass few months whenever I have the time for it, like testing some other tactiles switches, lubing those Akko Jelly purples, tape mode, case foam...etc... Recently I made the time to rectify the ticking sound of the stabs. I solved the issue with the holee mod using those cloth plaster.

I have also a Fuhlen TKL blue clicky switch that is annoying to my family member whenever I'm using it. lolx.

In the office I'm just using a full size tecware phantom keyboard that I lubed and film those Outemu brown during MCO. This can be thought of as my first real experience of "modding" a mechanical keyboard. Ever since this experience, I have been reading and watching material regrading this mechanical keyboard hobby.

I have tried using a couple of KB sizes like 60%, 75%, TKL and the full size for my daily routine and have come to like the size and layout of the TKL.
Currently I'm trying to get a good metal case TKL keyboard to play around with as I have never used a metal case before.

I was thinking if it is good to start at a lower tier KB like the Monsgeek M3 or dircetly buying a more expensive KB something like the Geon Frog TKL/Glacier80. Totally no idea here as I do not know if the difference in price does translate to a noticeable difference in the quality, sound, typing feel etc that would justify it. I don't really care for the aesthetic if it does not contribute to the sound/feel/functionality of the keyboard.

Anyone has any thoughts on this? Would really appreciate any help here.

Sorry for the long post above.

yes, it's time

i suggest you go for m3 first, then frog tkl or something like that at later stages. however, it's really up to you to choose, based on what you plan to do with them.

first, you should check out their specifications, options and price, e.g., from the specs, m3 is 2kg. eventhough it doesn't have additional weight options, it gives you enough mass to have better typing feels for starter. it's a gasket-mount-only. in terms of plate types, you have fr4 and pom for now. with the bundle of various foams, you can experiment more combinations also.

again, i believe you can do the same with frog tkl, plus multiple plate-mounting options, and brass weights (which might help in making nice sound)