Week in keyboards #18

Ultimate Hacking Keyboard Campaign on CrowdSupply

This is an eagerly anticipated keyboard with a unique offering. The UHK is a split 60% with an emphasis on not having to leave the homerow. It is both a split keyboard, but also joins together whenever you need it to be whole.

The current early bird price is $200 with free shipping (in the US) this is the cheapest option with 197 units left as I’m writing this.

The goal is $200,000 and they are currently at $82,000. This is a great keyboard and I really hope this is successful and I see more of these in the wild.

WASD Introduces Wrist Rest

This is not a revolutionary development as many people now seem to be producing wrist rests. The current options are for tenkeyless and a full sized wooden wrist rest. Priced at $58 and $60.

Massdrop

Massdrop has done a couple of surprising things in the past week.

Realforce Hi-Pro and Fountain Pen Bundle

For all the people who were thinking about buying a Hi-Pro and were also in the market for a fountain pen. Massdrop now has you covered with this bundle. It seems like a strange choice for a bundle and I really can’t see the reason behind it.

Barebones Novatouch

For those who missed out on the first drop you now have a second chance. This of course is the Novatouch without the fairly useless stock keycaps. The lowest has yet to be achieved which is in fact the only option. Check your local sources to ensure that this is worth buying, as this does not always equate to being cheaper.

HHKB Aluminium Case

This has been an extremely long awaited product ever since the small glimpse at the official aluminium version. The bad news is that they went with the extremely boxy look. This is a shame as it is so close to the thing that was wanted. Already this has spurred another effort to community design and produce one through geekhack.

QMX Clips

These are GMK’s own sound dampening contraptions. They work by sitting on top of the switch and minimising the downstroke sound. The main downside is the fact they can only be used on PCB mounted switches. This rules out a huge amount of keyboards. I have a review of these coming soon.

Twinned with this buy is the GMK switch tester featuring the QMX clips. This is a nice novelty item by itself as you do get 5 nice GMK Q’s.

blahlicus Arbites Software

Blahlicus continues to be a constant driving force in the custom keyboard scene. This release of the Arbites software allows you to reprogram the Diverge, the Diverge II and the Terminus Mini, all through a graphical interface.

AMA With Haata the Founder of Input Club

This happened on Monday but for those who missed it there is interesitng information on the K-type and of course Haata himself.