Generally speaking aftermarket breakout PCBs like this are designed to have the same footprint as the original breakout PCBs, so they usually work. I haven’t tested bluetooth reception through the housing, however. Folks have told me that they were able to get bluetooth to work in my Heavy-6 cases, though I haven’t personally verified, so it’s worth a try but YMMV. If I had to guess, you’d likely have better luck with the aluminum over the steel housing.
That is definitely my aim, but the injection molding company promised me the samples by “mid-July” and at present I have not yet received them. I’ll be nagging them later today for an update.
I always do my best to get people what they want if they participate in a pre-order, so when my group buys are running I try to let everyone in who wants one. I also sometimes order a few extras for people who don’t find out about the offering until it’s too late, but carrying inventory for items that have such a high unit-cost gets risky and expensive, so the numbers are always fairly small. This is why I tend to sell out of my planned extras in many cases before the group buy even ships. But, in short, if you get an order in within the GB window, you should definitely be fine. Beyond that, I can’t really make any promises, and in the event of any shortfalls of course (which happens), it’s the extras that have to get cancelled first rather than the people who ordered earlier in the GB.
I should’ve been clearer sorry, the issue with those mods is not so much the PCB fitting as much as the battery. Will there be any room in the housing for a battery or will it be as tight as possible to prevent echoing inside?
I understand covering the breakout USB ports for cleanliness and uniformity for all, but I would have loved to see a version with slots for the 2 breakout usb 2.0’s. just too messy?
Yes, and it transmits too much sound, which is more of a concern on a metal housing than on the stock. I also did a bit of an informal survey of all my die-hard HHKB fan friends, and I couldn’t find anyone who would own to actually using those ports, so it seemed the right trade-off.
Well, I just got a call from the mold maker and it looks like another month or so before I can start the GB. There is some kind of delay (possible COVID-related) at the vendor that supplies their mold bases, causing that vendor to run 3-4 weeks behind their normal lead times, so while our mold cavity is already milled and ready, they can’t actually rig it up into the machine to make samples for me until the base arrives.
Oh well, I’ll spend the time working on packaging and some other details. This probably also means Heavy-9 comes first.
I think the terminology might be confusing you (understandingly so, and I myself may be mixed up). But I believe there are three generations of HHKB: Pro 1 through Pro 3, and within the Pro 3 line there are Classic (USB) and Hybrid models (USB/Bluetooth). This is the main context in which I have encountered the “Classic” term. Can you clarify which you meant?
At present in the EU you can purchase the HHKB Pro 2, HHKB Pro 3 Classic and the HHKB Pro 3 Hybrid models.
I have the HHKB Pro 3 Hybrid and would be looking to keep this as a lightweight portable model. Therefore I was wondering if there was any reason to buy the cheaper HHKB Pro 2 rather than the HHKB Pro 3 Classic. I guess I’m really asking if there is any significant expected Heavy Grail price difference.
Thank you for clarifying that, Ryan! I just ordered the Black Type-S version (only available as a Hybrid/Bluetooth at the moment). And I’m ready for the Veracity Steel. I prefer to have one dream board (this is the one), rather than a few great ones.
This may just well be the first Norbauer case I’ll actually have a keyboard for! I’m going to definitely try to save some pennies up so I can buy it when it’s available.
This may be a silly question, but will it work with the aftermarket controllers, such as Hasu’s (non-bluetooth) controller?
If I had to guess, you’d likely have better luck with the aluminum over the steel housing.
I prefer to have one dream board (this is the one), rather than a few great ones.