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Comment by SpicyUme | Hacker News Reader

Once you get the presoldered board it is ~$300. I'm not into keyboards, is it common to price them without key caps and switches? I noticed that.

I'm not sure I see the e-ink screen as useful, but that touchpad caught my eye. What do people use that screen for?

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I've been using the UHK with a trackball thumb module[1]. I haven't touched a mouse since I got it. It's not as eye catching and futuristic, nor wireless, but a sturdy keyboard and it paid for itself by not having to go to physiotherapy for the past five years (for RSI).

[1] https://uhk.io/product/trackball

Interesting, that looks too spendy for my taste honestly but I can see a way to justify it. I use a trackball for some of my CAD work but on another PC I sometimes have to check things in CAD, rather than real work, and a ball like that could be a good way to do it.

Yes very common. Most places sell without caps and switches.

Mode feedback is the only thing I can think of, especially when you're getting used to the keyboard and/or have mode toggles set up. I don't have much use for my keyboard screens personally. Cool place to put a logo I guess.

Yes, unfortunately it is.

Probably has to do with a decade of hobbyist keyboard culture centered around separate small-batch group buys where specialized switches, keycaps, and boards and maybe even stabilizers.

> is it common to price them without key caps and switches?

Yes, it is for the enthusiast mechanical keyboard community. Everybody has their own preferences for switches and keycaps and there are hundreds of varieties of both.

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