Gumpyyy wrote:

You can also just us a standard mechanical keyboard which has way more value.

Narrill wrote:

CM makes mech keyboards with reds.

Clyine wrote:

you buy it from the china version of amazon. it cost around 75rmb before shipping i think. but i don't think there's any stock left for now.

i bought it and it actually quite sturdy.

it comes in parts and the case is made up of 5 layers of acrylic plates each about 5mm in thickness.
a guide on how to assemble is provided but its all in chinese. so if you cant read you might have to figure things out yourself using the pictures in the guide.

so the pakage include,
5 acrylic plates
screws and stuff.
the curcuit board with switches mounted. (u can choose the type of switch u want)
2 keycaps, it looks like the alt key keycap
usb cable
adhesive rubber base
free candy.

Clyine wrote:

you buy it from the china version of amazon. it cost around 75rmb before shipping i think. but i don't think there's any stock left for now.

i bought it and it actually quite sturdy.

it comes in parts and the case is made up of 5 layers of acrylic plates each about 5mm in thickness.
a guide on how to assemble is provided but its all in chinese. so if you cant read you might have to figure things out yourself using the pictures in the guide.

so the pakage include,
5 acrylic plates
screws and stuff.
the curcuit board with switches mounted. (u can choose the type of switch u want)
2 keycaps, it looks like the alt key keycap
usb cable
adhesive rubber base
free candy.

cheezstik wrote:

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.1.eWCybR&id=39169902248&ns=1#detail
^This one is out of stock and currently selling for the equivalent of like ~$180, but apparently sells for $20 when it is in stock.

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.62.yIqdm7&id=39802215278&ns=1#detail
^This is the noodlefighter one, currently selling for the equivalent of ~$50.

I wouldn't buy it for more than $30, as you can buy a full keyboard for $60. Also, I don't think that site ships out of China.

Sorun wrote:

cheezstik wrote:

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.1.eWCybR&id=39169902248&ns=1#detail
^This one is out of stock and currently selling for the equivalent of like ~$180, but apparently sells for $20 when it is in stock.

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.62.yIqdm7&id=39802215278&ns=1#detail
^This is the noodlefighter one, currently selling for the equivalent of ~$50.

I wouldn't buy it for more than $30, as you can buy a full keyboard for $60. Also, I don't think that site ships out of China.

'

Ah thanks for the tip about the first one selling for less then what I saw earlier, i'll keep a eye for the new batch. Noodlefighters seems a bit too pricey for me. It's more of a novelty item for me.

Well unless you are in or going to China, I don't think you can buy either, as I'm pretty sure they only ship to China. You'd have to get a service to buy it and ship it to you, but that would most likely make it not worth it.

InnocentEyes wrote:

Well unless you are in or going to China, I don't think you can buy either, as I'm pretty sure they only ship to China. You'd have to get a service to buy it and ship it to you, but that would most likely make it not worth it.

I hear it is also on Chinese Amazon? Would they ship to here?

cheezstik wrote:

I don't think it is actually on Chinese amazon, I think the guy meant the site that I linked when he said the Chinese version of amazon. Searching on amazon comes up with nothing, and I'm pretty sure Chinese amazon only ships to China anyway.

Basically, I think the only cost efficient way of getting something like this is buying one of these:

From here: http://techkeys.us/products/techkeys-keyboard-business-card

You have to buy cherry mx or whatever switches you want separately, solder them on, attach keycaps, and make a base for it all etc. Not really worth the effort, as spending just a little more money could get you a mechanical numpad, or even a keyboard.

I actually did just this, thought it would be a fun little project. Came out to $17 with switches including shipping and $7 for a 60 pack of leds. As for casing i'm going to see if I can rig something up in cad. Hopefully my high school lessons haven't been forgotten.

InnocentEyes wrote:

I actually did just this, thought it would be a fun little project. Came out to $17 with switches including shipping and $7 for a 60 pack of leds. As for casing i'm going to see if I can rig something up in cad. Hopefully my high school lessons haven't been forgotten.

I was just about to try this, too. I thought it would be cool if I put on some ying-yang keycaps for Z and X. I also got a little running icon saved for the button I will use for "Esc".

What I'm not entirely sure of is how to make the switches use Z and X instead of entering a URL, which is why I am hesitant on my purchase.
^ Has obviously never done something like this before

I'm still going it give it a go, though. How did you make the switches use different keys, does it come with user interface that allows you to do that?

This is why there is the programmable board for $30 which comes with everything. Don't worry though you can reprogram this board as well, just a tad bit more complicated. You have have to short 2 pins on the board to get it in to a dev mode then do a bit of editing to program the keys you want.

Follow this guide
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=53378.0

Easy mode
If that's still out of your grasp then you could try this keymapper which supposedly supports the techkeys card.
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=512 ... msg1127412

InnocentEyes wrote:

This is why there is the programmable board for $30 which comes with everything. Don't worry though you can reprogram this board as well, just a tad bit more complicated. You have have to short 2 pins on the board to get it in to a dev mode then do a bit of editing to program the keys you want.

Follow this guide
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=53378.0

Easy mode
If that's still out of your grasp then you could try this keymapper which supposedly supports the techkeys card.
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=512 ... msg1127412

I would much rather do it the challenging way (First method mentioned), so thank you for sharing! I have enough to buy the business card now, and I will make the purchase ASAP. I will let you know how this turns out

Mine should be here in a few days. Looking into finding a way to program the leds ill be adding. Want to see if I can add multiple lighting modes.

Sorun wrote:

Here's the techkeys card. I botched the soldering job, but it works except for the middle key. I'm not sure if its the switch or the fact I burned the bajeezies out of the board. Single tapping works perfectly on the left switch and the right switch for escape. I would use the 2 ends for streaming, but its too much of a stretch for my fingers to be comfortable. My LEDs were sent to my business address, so I gotta wait till tomorrow to pick them up. First things first I must figure out if its the switch or not.

http://i.imgur.com/Hb91mw0.jpg

InnocentEyes wrote:

Sorun wrote:

Here's the techkeys card. I botched the soldering job, but it works except for the middle key. I'm not sure if its the switch or the fact I burned the bajeezies out of the board. Single tapping works perfectly on the left switch and the right switch for escape. I would use the 2 ends for streaming, but its too much of a stretch for my fingers to be comfortable. My LEDs were sent to my business address, so I gotta wait till tomorrow to pick them up. First things first I must figure out if its the switch or not.

http://i.imgur.com/Hb91mw0.jpg

You can remove things you soldered? I never knew that. Also, are you sure those are genuine Cherry keys? They don't look branded.

(Also how do you make LEDs work, do you solder them too? I've never tried it and I don't want to screw up)

Sorun wrote:

They're actually chinese switches. It says that in the middle of the description which I regretfully skimmed over. They seem to function like reds, but my left switch triple clicks at times and the right switch gives out on sliders sometimes. As for leds you'll see 2 holes below the switch holes. Just plunk right in there and solder. Simple as that. I'm giving up on the board because the middle key doesn't work and the switches are basically poop. Techkeys hasn't really shown any support besides trouble shooting tips and it basically ended in a "oh well", so i'll no longer support techkeys with my money. I'm more interested in getting a custom PCB like noodlefighters did, but i'm a bit confused and it'll take some time... and more potentially wasted money.

Hopefully all works out for you and if you need help reprogramming the firmware just let me know. It may be a bit confusing.

Sorun wrote:

You want 3MM

InnocentEyes wrote:

Sorun wrote:

You want 3MM

Good to know I didn't mess up.

Sorun wrote:

Haha did you buy a variety pack? I bought one with 7 or something colors. It's still at my other address... To lazy to pick them up. Gotta love a little vacation time

InnocentEyes wrote:

I will be using brown switches because they are tactile and sound like a better match (for me at least). But that's for typing. Would red be better for Osu accuracy?

InnocentEyes wrote:

Sorun wrote:

Haha did you buy a variety pack? I bought one with 7 or something colors. It's still at my other address... To lazy to pick them up. Gotta love a little vacation time

What I'm getting is a pack of 10 blue LED diodes for 99 cents. I don't want to overspend. This is already totaling $36.98 without casing. With casing it will be $45.84. I'm only using finest grade materials for the switches and keycaps (Everything else is budget), and I'm going to have to learn and practice soldering. This should be interesting. I have to buy a soldering gun and everything that comes with that too, ugh.

Sorun wrote:

$37 sound a bit high. Did you buy the programmable board or the business card? Sounds like you got the more expensive board with the extra switch. Mine came out to $17 for the board plus shipping.

InnocentEyes wrote:

Sorun wrote:

$37 sound a bit high. Did you buy the programmable board or the business card? Sounds like you got the more expensive board with the extra switch. Mine came out to $17 for the board plus shipping.

Getting the business card.
What I did is decided to acquire LEDs, spare keycaps (because I don't have any), o-rings, red switches, black plexiglass (acrylic plastic), gel padding for my hand, etc.

I don't have many supplies like this lying around, so I have to get them all. Most of what brought up the price were genuine Cherry MX keys and keycaps. Keycaps are unnecessarily expensive. I probably don't have to spend the whole $37, I haven't made the purchase yet, but shipping is definitely something that will bring it up too.

I will be making the purchases tonight.

Sorun wrote:

Sounds like you got a fun project coming your way and I hope you got a good soldering iron to complete it. Also post pictures when you get everything!

Sorun wrote:

It shouldn't matter. Did you buy the board yet?

InnocentEyes wrote:

Sorun wrote:

It shouldn't matter. Did you buy the board yet?

I bought it but it's not here yet.

Sorun wrote:

Oh okay. I was going to to tell you to use the coupon code I was given since a few of the switches I bought were defective.

InnocentEyes wrote:

Oh okay. I was going to to tell you to use the coupon code I was given since a few of the switches I bought were defective.

Sorun wrote:

InnocentEyes wrote:

Oh okay. I was going to to tell you to use the coupon code I was given since a few of the switches I bought were defective.

You're going to replace them?