This is one more way for him to say, “Fuck off. We’re not doing a sequel or reboot.” Maybe with a little dash of, “but if you still wanted to throw some money at me…”

Also, pretty much everyone I’ve known into model railroads is into HO scale, so who is even going to buy this?

Sounds like some of them nerds need to go big or fuckin’ go home!

Looks like it’s built to model railroading “O” scale.

EDIT: Oh, duh. It says so right in your picture. I guess if you want the sweet authenticity that only product placement can buy, this is your set.

Just FYI, this is what I did. Maybe I’ll change it later, but it fit the vibe for a big dumb button on a computer keyboard perfectly.

If that $200 is for the barebones kit, then the QK100 would be right up your alley. It’s an1800/96% style but leaves a full-size numpad zero. It also has a ton of options, including a wired hotswap PCB and choice of FR4 or PC plates, among others.

Budget and preferred layout will play into this a lot, but generally these days it’s not too hard to find wired-only and hot-swap. Anything else you can tell us?

You don’t?!?!?

As long as you know what it is, consensus as to okay-ness or better, then it’s still a decent metric. Still, “universally okay” is not always what I’m after, nor is it quite the achievement the studios will proclaim.

If you’re inclined to take reviews seriously (and it’s a whole other discussion, but I very much believe criticism and analysis are worthwhile when done well in their own right) , still better to find a few sources whose takes tend to line up with your own.

No current keyboards with a knob (next one, though…). That said, my goofy little Class D amp has a wide flat volume knob mounted on the top instead of the front, so yes, OP, I know the feeling.

Good thinking. I dual boot. Maybe just to be safe I should also have it run an elevated privilege command prompt and run del C:\Windows as well.

Yes. I’ll set up the Fn key and right Alt key to be spacebars as well, unless I’m holding them down. It ends up working well, I get extra keys, and I don’t have to deal with fiddly stabilizer assemblies for long keys. A few other keys are also shortened or split into two.

Menu just does what menu always has, pulls up the equivalent of the right-click menu with a single press. I guess I could repurpose it for Copilot, LOL.

I like to make these boards with short keys both to pack more buttons in, and so none of them need stabilizer assemblies, which add complexity and have to be “just so” to work without negatively affecting sound or feel. I’ve also discovered “Hold-Tap” functionality, which I’m using on the bottom row. The two mini-space bars, plus Function and Right Alt are all spacebars if you tap them, but the Fn and RAlt do their labeled job if I hold them down. Even just making them all a touch bigger than normal (i.e. “1.25 units”) is good enough to keep me from hitting more than one at a time.

This is the kind of low hanging fruit I’m after. Why do two Enter keys when THREE Enter keys is 50% more?!?!!

The yellow part is actually stacked on top of an identical laser-cut plate that’s painted black. I need two for the right height, and I could change without too much work, but the yellow one felt more fun for this board, which is entirely unnecessary and verging on meme territory.

Was legitimately thinking Win+L to lock Windows or Kubuntu.

I do still have the 3D printed flywheel assembly I made last year…

I don’t know yet. I just know I wanted a big dumb button.

There’s so many normal dumb buttons on this one that I’m running out of ideas. You got any?

Approximately $90 in 2024.

They do whatever you program them to do, but the point is just the retro vibes.