ooh nice! I haven’t tried Knight stabs, Maiz/Pagu/Wuque stupid stabs, or these. I feel like I’m missing a whole new generation of stabs.
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A few Vector units for an enormous discount off of the listed extras price. If they had a WLK Silver, I would have bought it immediately.
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If only this had a hotswap option…
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I ordered a custom keycap set yesterday.
The communication with them has been very good, they even included my request as an option in the customizer.
I’ll keep you updated on how the caps turn out, and how fast I’ll get them.
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I need a Geon trimmer for these Owlstabs…
Unfortunately, I needed it before I installed a full complement in a QK100.
D’oh!
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I don’t think I posted this year. I’m not in for one personally but think it looks great from nice people.
Will link to post in Arisu/Alice thread as well.
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The Micro Journal Rev.6 is kind of weird and interesting and technically a mechanical keyboard. I may be getting too old for a screen this tiny. Found via this blurb on the Verge.
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I’ve been thinking about building almost this exact device for years, and eventually learned a bunch of folks were of similar mind when I heard about the /writingdeck subreddit. Stoked to see an option like this that’s a bit less overdone than the chonker being sold by Freewrite and the Hemingway estate.
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That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen and now I lowkey want one. What in the ever loving heck?
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You can save a few bills by skipping the Hemingway edition. Looks like the “smart typewriter” models use Kailh Brown. Then there’s a smaller newer one that uses a choc of some sort, but the real sin here is $500 for the one that uses a laptop scissor switch keyboard. Jesus, at that point why not get an $80 Chromebook and turn off WiFi?
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Heh - right? I’d be pretty about something from their catalogue if not for the bonkers prices.
I settled for a BOOX Palma + Bluetooth keeb of my choice for a writing deck setup and I’ve been loving it.
The Palma is basically a standard Android device minus the phone and with an e-ink screen; more or less exactly what I needed. It seems like the modern e-ink “writing deck” thing is just starting to take off. I’m seeing more and more ads for different iterations of the idea for various purposes (some writing, some totally different non e-reader stuff like digital desk calendars) - so I wouldn’t be too surprised if there are more and better options in the near future. 
Edit; just remembered the name of another one - kind of between the Freewriter and the Palma being a standalone device but mainly for the desk - portable but won’t fit in your pocket. That one is called the BYOK, or Bring Your Own Keyboard.
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interesting keycaps
They seem to be an XDA clone (maybe this one?) of Melgeek’s “Plastic” set.
Along these lines, I thoroughly enjoy whenever one of these oddities makes its way into more mainstream tech publications because the comment section is generally filled with people just having a really difficult time grasping why anyone would want a keyboard layout like this. Because, if we’re being honest, we’ve all been there at some point early on in this hobby.
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Not sure if this has been shared elsewhere on KeebTalk, but voting for KeyCon 2025 venue locations is open through June 26:
Geekhack thread: Keycon 2025 Planning - Location Vote and Survey
Survey link: https://bit.ly/keycon2025-location-survey
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Or get yourself an old netbook and install Debian without a desktop to use Vim.
On the other hand, if it were to use a low power microcontroller instead of a fully fledged CPU, you should be able to get way more battery autonomy out of such a thing.
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a low power microcontroller
Good point. Could also be a perfect use case to split the difference and go for a Pi Zero (or similar). I actually just finished up a crude “Pokedex” toy for my daughter that uses an old Pi 3B+, and the process for mapping a handful of keys to general Purpose I/O pins couldn’t be easier. I don’t know if it handles a diode matrix as well, but if not, microcontrollers are cheap.
In any event, I do not understand the point of paying a premium for a writing tool that then uses low-end components for the actual writing part. I’m no great fan of average brown switches, but at least it’s in the right category.
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Those caps on the Hemingwrite appear to be custom for it; more or less “OEM” profile but with a Dell-style chunky space bar and large centered legends - definitely not a common combination. I do love the style of the whole device, and those dark green caps look great on it.
Maybe I’ll find a used one at an estate sale someday, ha
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Interesting that the 3D printed device seems to just use a Planck layout PCB, though he’s done some interesting things to that layout to avoid relying on layers. Not a bad solution overall, though, and assuming it doesn’t require significant assembly, $200 for a functioning device is not insane, if still a bit pricy. I wonder how much an e-ink screen with an adequate refresh rate for typing would add to the BoM.
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There’s this whole world of niche devices out there I never knew existed. Fascinating.
I’ve never considered myself much of a writer, but I wonder if I had something really portable like this if I wouldn’t be more inclined to take note of my thoughts.
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Finally some HMX switches getting attention in the US market. I’ve been buying HMX from Unikeys for a while now. Glad to have a US vendor to save a bit of money and a lot of shipping time.
I get that people love Cherry for nostalgia, but I really think they’re still bottom of the barrel when it comes to stock condition. HMX switches are the polar opposite. Maybe it’s just that I’ve gotten lazy in the past few years, but I’m all about buying good sounding, stable switches, that I can use off the shelf. HMX is that switch manufacturer for me. If you are looking for something close to full travel, the purple dawn are quite nice.
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