Why I Love Prototype Runs and Helping Keyboard Designers
The Migra TKL Prototype by Thebloodyez “This is my keyboard. There are many like it, but this one is mine.” - William H. Rupertus. In another life, if Major General William H. Rupertus, the Marine who coined the United States Marine Creed, had been a keyboard enthusiast, we might've gotten this line instead. All joking aside, this has been an article that I’ve wanted to write for quite some time. There are many reasons why we love the keyboard hobby, and today, I wanted to introduce you to one of mine—prototype keyboards and helping keyboard designers by joining prototype runs. Now, it’s not risk-free, and one should weigh the pros and cons of joining a prototype run, so I encourage you to pay attention to the disclaimer portion of this article. I know that there are prototype runs for keycaps, switches, and other cool things in our keyboard hobby, but for this article, I’ll be focusing only on keyboards. Also, please know that not every prototype run will be handled...
Dec 31, 2024
- Ergonomics: for me personally, I need a keyboard with big enough incline to feel comfortable while typing. I'm the guy who always uses the max height on the little unfoldable feet that almost every keyboard has. The highest part of top row of keys is about 41mm from the desk plane in this keyboard, and that is not enough for me. Apparently the high profile version of this keyboard has a little more of an incline, so if you need it, you should look at that model. SA profile keycaps could also be and option.
- (EDIT: This has been fixed in the new Drop Alt version, also with the new colored cases) The magnetic feet. I HATE them. They look great on pictures and social media, but on every day use, they detach almost DAILY with a little side movement. I never realized how many a times a day I make little adjustments to the position of my keyboard, but this product made me VERY aware of how many times I do it. It is very annoying. I honestly would be cool if they kept the same design, but they changed the magnets to screws so they would never detach. Also, I have several mechanical keyboards, and I like to rotate them every now and then, so these feet are also problem if you store your keyboard a lot, since they detach super easily and could be lost.
Now, these are my nitpicks, I just mention them in detail so people can be more informed of them, but I think this could be a perfect keyboard for a lot of people, but just not for me. I think the high profile version of this keyboard solves these 2 issues, so I'm willing to give that keyboard a try, because this keyboard has been a super fun platform to try new switches without buying a new keyboard or desolder every time.