J2

I missed your requirements about needing to fit into Keychron's QMK boards. That's the "terrible software..." bit. :( Yeh, I'm familiar with Sunder, not only is it super expensive, but it's also out of stock as is normal for limited run custom kit. There was someone in OLKB who was working on open s

I tried out the Glorious tactile magnetics at Microcenter and they were kind of only nominally tactile, which makes sense - a proper poppy tactile would make the whole variable actuation capability meaningless. I've been looking at the XVX Whisper rubber dome tactiles, but they're north-pole down an

Keychron is the only one with QMK firmware. Also consider the J2 HE if you want a knob or exploded layout. https://www.amazon.com/Keychron-Keyboard-Hot-Swappable-Ultra-Fast-Non-Shine-Through/dp/B0GD7FLJFF

They both have QMK firmware, which is a huge advantage over most magnetic boards, and means you don't need to go through any shenanigans other than possibly tweaking UDEV permissions on Linux. They said the J2 source code would be online in their Github soon. The K2 HE code is already there: https:/

Get a keyboard with QMK firmware so you have full control over the layout without any proprietary drivers. Aula is proprietary firmware and drivers only. Many boards have no prebuilt mac key-caps but there are plenty of sets with mac-specific legends or novelties that can be swapped out. As a mac us

Okay first of all magnetic keyboards can have HE or TMR sensors. These allow very precise control over actuation but they also limit you in the kinds of switches that you can use, basically all magnetic boards are linear, which if you do a lot of typing means you don't get good tactile feedback. You

Seriously, I would open the case and examine the row for physical damage to the sockets and traces. A detached or semi-detached socket or diode or pull-up/down resistor can screw up a whole row like this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mYfXfj-nJQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMat-5V5J10 https:/

That looks like what they have been selling as the Jamesdonkey J2 for as little as $30 on Amazon, but they seem to have emptied their Amazon warehouses at that price. Only the soldered (non-hotswap) board is available from Amazon now, and a soldered board is kind of awful these days. It is rather a

The J2/J8 HE aren't even ZMK, they're completely proprietary. :( This seems to be the case with the HE 8K boards, too. It's a massive bummer. It's also baffling, because Keychron is stacking up a bunch of tech debt by not just sticking to one system. ZMK is cool, because it lets you store layouts on

Keychron/Jamesdonkey J2 is a relatively inexpensive plastic exploded 75% with a full layout and a knob, QMK firmware with working source code, and north facing sockets so the RGB is actually useful with shine-through caps. I like it enough I got extras, one for each of my laptops and a couple to exp