BL Keyboard discussion thread

martix · 2017-07-05 07:04:39

Sector11 wrote:

Letter ' f '
No cap locks:
letter = f
[Alt Gr] + f = đ
[Alt Gr] + [Shift] = ª
CAP LOCKS ON
LETTER = F
[Alt Gr] + f = Đ
[Alt Gr] + [Shift] = ð
Notice the difference ... there is more? Not many but they are there.
You're talking remapping the keys directly. Yea, that could be fun. ]:D

Hmm, there is no need for CapsLock: 8o
f = f
AltGr+f = ð
AltGr+Shift+f = ª
Shift + f = F
AltGr+Shift+d = Ð
AltGr+d = ð

Is there a typo (two actually)? Looks almost like CapsLock is the typo-key Btw I read about remapping, it's not that difficult to do it, I just have to find out how.

martix · 2017-07-05 07:14:51

^Haha, it's interesting: Those letters are changing after you post them! Actually I get the second character from S11 (from the top on the right) by typing AltGr+d but in the post it shows differently!

AltGr+Shift+f shows correctly, although for me it makes no difference whether it's with CapsLock on or off - same character ª. AltGr+d and AltGr+Shift+d are correct too.

So apologies S11, no typo, the forum software makes us look foolish! ]:D

Last edited by martix (2017-07-05 07:17:11)

becker_11 · 2017-07-05 14:45:08

For me when I bought my Macbook I immediately disabled the CAPSLOCK key so it literally had no purpose at all. Previously I had switched it to ESC bringing a very useful key for Vi/m closer to the home row.

martix · 2017-08-01 00:44:10

Did anyone notice above that we my have found a bug in the forum software? 8) Anyway, I guess I found the right keyboard for all the developers here:

Sector11 · 2017-08-01 00:59:47

01010100 01101000 01100001 01110100 00100111 01110011 00100000 01100001 01110111 01100101 01110011 01101111 01101101 01100101 00101110 00100000 01001001 00100111 01101101 00100000 01100001 00100000 01110100 01110111 01101111 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01100001 00100000 01101000 01100001 01101100 01100110 00100000 01100110 01101001 01101110 01100111 01100101 01110010 00100000 01110100 01111001 01110000 01101001 01110011 01110100 00100000 01110011 01101111 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100011 01101111 01110101 01101100 01100100 00100000 01110010 01100101 01100001 01101100 01101100 01111001 00100000 01100111 01101111 00100000 01100110 01100001 01110011 01110100 00100000 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100001 01110100 00101110

BTW: My keyboard is set to "latam" - Latin America

Sector11 · 2017-08-01 01:46:43

This is my keyboard layout and key presses to get the various outputs.

And i just realized, I'm missing all of the normal accents, well define normal!

ä ë ï ö ü ÿ
á é í ó ú ý
à è ì ò ù ỳ

ŵ ĝ ĥ ĉ ẁ ǹ ẃ ŕ ṕ ś ǵ ḱ ĺ ź ć ǘ ń ḿ

shown are: â ê î ô û ŷ

ohnonot · 2017-08-01 05:07:29

@martix: i think the third button is bloat. also, tickling transistors would be way more leet (obligatory xkcd... too lazy to find it).

@S11: is that a conky? does it query your actual keyboard layout?

Sector11 · 2017-08-01 05:20:18

ohnonot wrote:

@S11: is that a conky? does it query your actual keyboard layout?

No, not conky, I GIMPed it.

I thought about conky but the goto's are a nightmare for something that is just static.

The ${goto xxx} was fun figuring out for this little project so I didn't want that again. This keyboard is slow going but I'll get there. It's an on again off again project as other things get done.

ohnonot · 2018-04-02 06:25:19

I'm sure I could trawl this thread to find me a nice mechanical keyboard that fits my needs (no eye candy, good value for low price), but here's one question:

How is it with the cleaning of mechanical keyboards?
do some models stand out to be more easily cleaned? or not catch as much dirt to begin with?

to explain, my current standard oldish rubber dome PC keyboard really requires taking it apart to clean it properly. to my dismay i found out that only months after doing that, i'd need to do it again. so yearly isn't enough (yes i do eat at the computer and that's not going to change anytime soon), and i fear for its durability.

this person basically recommends the same technique for mechanical keyboards.
btw, how do you stand on the suggestion of completely submerging the switches in distilled water? or the foil containing the circuitry for rubber dome keyboards?

i also found this but could not find any new information in it...

so, are there any keyboards that are better with this? maybe designed with easy cleaning in mind?

C#Coder4ever · 2018-04-02 20:34:30

ohnonot wrote:

I'm sure I could trawl this thread to find me a nice mechanical keyboard that fits my needs (no eye candy, good value for low price), but here's one question:
How is it with the cleaning of mechanical keyboards?
do some models stand out to be more easily cleaned? or not catch as much dirt to begin with?
to explain, my current standard oldish rubber dome PC keyboard really requires taking it apart to clean it properly. to my dismay i found out that only months after doing that, i'd need to do it again. so yearly isn't enough (yes i do eat at the computer and that's not going to change anytime soon), and i fear for its durability.
this person basically recommends the same technique for mechanical keyboards.
btw, how do you stand on the suggestion of completely submerging the switches in distilled water? or the foil containing the circuitry for rubber dome keyboards?
i also found this but could not find any new information in it...
so, are there any keyboards that are better with this? maybe designed with easy cleaning in mind?

Depends on what your desired form factor is, if you can get away with it and not need a numpad, get a magicforce 68. There is alternatively the magicforce 108 if you want a full size keyboard.

I eat with my magicforce and it turns out that the exposed switch design does make cleaning a tad more easier in my opinion. At the same time though, you'll see how gross it gets pretty quick, and will want to clean it up pretty quick.

I haven't really submerged my keyboards to say, but what I can vouch for: Air compressors are really useful, can use this to de-dust your computer as well as force crap out from between the switches, on top of being able to fill up tires in a quick manner.

Just some of my suggestions, I'll give some feedback later this week on how effective air-compressing is to clean out between the magicforce 68 (since it is my dd atm).

ohnonot · 2018-04-03 17:33:58

C#Coder4ever wrote:

Depends on what your desired form factor is, if you can get away with it and not need a numpad, get a magicforce 68. There is alternatively the magicforce 108 if you want a full size keyboard.

is this the one? that's a really good price!
and no, i never use my numpad, but i don't like the other peripheral keyes to be crowded - esp. arrow keys. but that one doesn't look too bad in that respect.

I eat with my magicforce and it turns out that the exposed switch design does make cleaning a tad more easier in my opinion.

that's exactly the sort of info i need.
how is it with the switches themselves, do they get dirty? how to clean them besides canned air?

At the same time though, you'll see how gross it gets pretty quick, and will want to clean it up pretty quick.

i consider that a plus, assuming that cleaning is a tad easier than with mine: either canned air, or a damp cloth, or a dishwashing brush to get a little deeper, but still one can see the cruft collecting half a centimeter deeper, and the only thing that really helps is opening it up... :-(

C#Coder4ever · 2018-04-03 22:38:17

ohnonot wrote:

is this the one? that's a really good price!
and no, i never use my numpad, but i don't like the other peripheral keyes to be crowded - esp. arrow keys. but that one doesn't look too bad in that respect.

Forgive me for not linking to one prior, but yes, bingo. Good introduction to the rabbit hole that is keyboards lol.
Pok3r would also meet your criteria, but that one costs lots of $$$ in comparison.

ohnonot wrote:

that's exactly the sort of info i need.
how is it with the switches themselves, do they get dirty? how to clean them besides canned air?

Well hair, food crumbs, and other gunk will reside between each individual switch. Also air compressor! ]:D
To be serious though, could also use qtips to clean between them, but depending on how dense, you'll be at it a while lol.
And of course this assumes you remove the keycaps before doing any of this, makes it a million times easier

ohnonot wrote:

i consider that a plus, assuming that cleaning is a tad easier than with mine: either canned air, or a damp cloth, or a dishwashing brush to get a little deeper, but still one can see the cruft collecting half a centimeter deeper, and the only thing that really helps is opening it up... :-(

Yeah... this one doesn't need to be opened up... unless you're super into modding lol.

Last edited by C#Coder4ever (2018-04-03 22:39:24)

ohnonot · 2018-04-20 15:45:37

i'm about to make a hit on that keyboard soon.
a few more questions, if i may.

firstly, that 68 key layout is a little too tight for me.
i never use my numberpad, but i like the other special keys to be slightly apart form the core keys.
i think a so-called tenkeyless will be just right for me (but i'm not opposed to a numpad).

secondly, i want to restrict myself to ebay because they offer guest ordering, and i'm not ready to open an account with amazon (which does NOT offer guest ordering afaics).

so, the questions:

there's no mention of international keybord layouts, even when i click through to checkout.
are they all available only in US layout???

is there a particular reason (other than that's the one you use) for recommending magicforce?
the open design (re cleaning) seems quite common.
also there's quite a few budget mechanical keyboards, and at least for one i read a positive review on a separate site.

should i stick to cherry-compatible switches?

[ if someone feels like it, a little advice on switch colors, though i've seen this video and am aware that it's mostly personal preference ]

tabs i have open atm:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I1N6N3U/re … ub_0?psc=1 - without backlight, but couldn't find that one on ebay
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Corlorful-Back … SwbdpWaotp - same as above, but with hideous rainbow-backlight
https://www.ebay.com/itm/104-Keys-USB-W … 0005.m1851 - too cheap to be good, no name, no reviews???
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Magicforce-Cry … 0005.m1851 - not so cheap but affordable shipping to EU

C#Coder4ever · 2018-04-20 18:56:32

Alright, answering the questions for you in order:

Yeah the cheaper ones tend to have an ANSI layout, I'm pretty sure you can customize the layout to use something else on linux, you'll just want to get some after-market keycaps, and luckily for the MechanicalEagle z-77 board at least, shouldn't be hard to find them.

Well I use it, but even if I didn't, I tend to recommend those because for those who want to go into the smaller-keyboard world but aren't sure if it's right for them. I also guess that the reason I didn't find the open design to be common is because I'm used to the custom keyboards, which tend to not be so.

Yes, you'll want to stick with a cherry comatible switch, and luckily most common mechanical keyboards are. For sure the ones you listed also.

so.. yeah. lol

ohnonot · 2018-04-20 19:32:29

thanks.

the keyboard layout is a problem for me. sh*t. will have to hunt down those sets of caps and see what it puts on the price and which models are out etc.

ohnonot · 2018-05-12 16:46:03

Since I really wanted a keyboard with a local layout, I decided to go to a shop and buy it there.
They had a budget model on offer.
No-frills, no stoopid RGB LEDs or programmable macros.
Even so, it can be made to some silly stuff, besides normal steady backlighting.
The red LED is not my favorite color, but one can dim or completely switch it off.
It has really good reviews (surely the low price also helps people to feel happy about it).

First test, it feels much better now. Less typos also

not cherry mx, but I saw earlier that the outemu (there's a typo on the web page, it says otemu) switches can be purchased separately, so that surely is a good sign.
now, only time can tell...

PS:
it doesn't show so well in the image, but it also has the open architecture that will hopefully make cleaning much easier.

Last edited by ohnonot (2021-06-07 16:47:24)

C#Coder4ever · 2018-05-12 20:18:28

That's a nice keeb you got there, Glad you found something that works out!

I'm afraid you've gone too far into the rabbit hole however ]:D

ohnonot · 2018-05-13 05:08:44

C#Coder4ever wrote:

I'm afraid you've gone too far into the rabbit hole however ]:D

i don't see that.
one needs to differentiate between wanting sturdiness & better usability, and hardware madness.
everybody who types a lot and has used a rubber-dome keyboard that is older than a year, knows that i'm not "far gone" to want something better.

S7.L · 2019-02-13 11:42:04

I had to buy a new keyboard a week ago for my other pc and i went the cheap route and now i regret it. The original keyboard i had was a microsoft keyboard from back in 2012 i think, i tried cleaning it to make the keys work better but i think the problem of sticky keys is due to plastic expansion,malformation due to heat, long term use and such, wear and tear of course but the keyboard still works ok albeit a few keys being sticky, especially the U key, you know how hard it is to type in gnu/linux without proper use of the U key!.

So this new $15 (gecko) keyboard being brand new is even worse than my old one. You have to press harder than normal and im forever getting typos and conjoined words when typing.

Any recommendations? Budget would be about 50 US $

Last edited by S7.L (2019-02-13 11:42:58)

damo · 2019-02-13 11:56:59

What I tend to do is visit PC stores and go hands-on with as many keyboards as possible. At the least you might find you can exclude manufacturers that don't suit your needs.

#81 2017-07-05 07:04:39

Re: BL Keyboard discussion thread

#82 2017-07-05 07:14:51

Re: BL Keyboard discussion thread

#83 2017-07-05 14:45:08

Re: BL Keyboard discussion thread

#84 2017-08-01 00:44:10

Re: BL Keyboard discussion thread

#85 2017-08-01 00:59:47

Re: BL Keyboard discussion thread

#86 2017-08-01 01:46:43

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#87 2017-08-01 05:07:29

Re: BL Keyboard discussion thread

#88 2017-08-01 05:20:18

Re: BL Keyboard discussion thread

#89 2018-04-02 06:25:19

Re: BL Keyboard discussion thread

#90 2018-04-02 20:34:30

Re: BL Keyboard discussion thread

#91 2018-04-03 17:33:58

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#92 2018-04-03 22:38:17

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#93 2018-04-20 15:45:37

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#94 2018-04-20 18:56:32

Re: BL Keyboard discussion thread

#95 2018-04-20 19:32:29

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#96 2018-05-12 16:46:03

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#97 2018-05-12 20:18:28

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#98 2018-05-13 05:08:44

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#99 2019-02-13 11:42:04

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#100 2019-02-13 11:56:59

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