deskthority

PayPal approves my case!

Good news - I just called PayPal again today and they said they approved my case and will release the funds shortly.

So it is looking like the PayPal issue has been resolved and will not pose any potential problems for this project going forward!

The orders continue coming in and we still have 3 weeks left in the early bird round!

One note that the early bird is not an inferior or "beta" version - it is the full version with the same specifications as the regular round. The "beta" versions were the two prototypes which came out great and fully functional (as shown in the YouTube video posted earlier) and are just getting some small adjustments to make them perfect (all of these adjustments will go into the early bird production units and the regular round units).

Here's the current approximate order breakdown:
64 United States
7 United Kingdom
6 Australia
3 Japan
3 Sweden
2 Canada
2 Netherlands
2 Korea, Republic of
1 Poland
1 Spain
1 Germany
1 New Zealand
1 Viet Nam
1 France
1 Austria
1 Hong Kong
1 South Africa
1 Indonesia
1 Ireland

Great news! Our hope our emails to PayPal helped. Now to wait for the smaller F62 case...

Very good news. Then currently there seems to be no worries.

When is the second round ?

andrewjoy wrote: When is the second round ?

Ellipse wrote: Key dates:
Now through 2/29/2016: Early bird round. Ships in April/May. No extra cost to you versus the regular round.
3/1/2016 through 6/30/2016: Regular round - last chance! Ships in August/September.

I have to go with the regular round, ordering - or especially paying - in June. Unfortunately I can't afford it now, being at home with the kid with €640 per month. Also I am interested in the smaller or alternative case!

I was planning on this round , i have an invoice ready to go but i dunno if i will have the money now. I will have it by round 2. Hmm will have a think.

I'm going to wait around for peoples' impressions before ordering, so I'll be taking the later round too.

That's been my plan all along. On the off chance I can afford it then, either.

Round 1 guineapigs: we need your reviews!

There's 7 in UK already (including me), so maybe we can try to do a meet-up in May or something.

@Ellipse: Thanks for the update on PayPal.

This is a bad time for me financially, but I hope to place an order for the F62 before the end of this month. I am also interested in the compact version of the F62, but I would like to see pics and preferably a video with sound before committing to that purchase.

flabbergast wrote: There's 7 in UK already (including me), so maybe we can try to do a meet-up in May or something.

8 if I can justify the $60 shipping to myself...


another funny thing (that I mentioned to Ellipse already) - one of those buying (from America I guess?) is Notch.

bubblebobbler wrote: another funny thing (that I mentioned to Ellipse already) - one of those buying is Notch.

WHAAAAAAAAAAT. Link! Citation needed!

scottc wrote:

bubblebobbler wrote: another funny thing (that I mentioned to Ellipse already) - one of those buying is Notch.

WHAAAAAAAAAAT. Link! Citation needed!

Ellipse could probably verify, I spoke to him about it directly though so I don't have any real citation, but I know he doesn't care about me posting about it here

Watch out for the customs fees! They'll be another 60+* quid, unless Ellipse obliges with a fraudulent declaration for you.

*The plus being the fun part…

Muirium wrote: Watch out for the customs fees! They'll be a lot more than 60 quid, unless Ellipse obliges with a fraudulent declaration for you.

yeah, that's 100% the thing stopping me more than the shipping cost, the hidden extra costs that are out of ellipse's hands for the most part.

I ordered something from America in January for $200, and the custom fees for that were £25. I've also ordered something from Signature Plastics for ~$20, and the post office charged an £11 (!) Handling fee.

They whacked us hard for Tinnie's Kishsavers a few years ago. Weight seems to increase their spite.

Yes, I'm afraid of that as well. I think we'd have a better chance if Ellipse would send them "deconstructed", i.e. as parts. Then the customs officers might even believe a lower value declaration. Ah well. {Also note that for <£135 value they "only" charge 20% VAT plus a random (but fixed) fee; whereas for >£135 they also charge actual customs (a random percentage fee).}

A random (but fixed) fee, indeed! I've had my share of them. Still no effing idea what the formula is. But it surely gets worse over the second threshold.

You can tell by the TARIC number for the imported goods.
https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff/commodities/8471606090

At least I think that is the one which would apply here. For a more definite answer you might want to check with the local customs office.


//e also I still cannot decide between 62/77 and beige/back :?

bubblebobbler wrote:

scottc wrote:

bubblebobbler wrote: another funny thing (that I mentioned to Ellipse already) - one of those buying is Notch.

WHAAAAAAAAAAT. Link! Citation needed!

Ellipse could probably verify, I spoke to him about it directly though so I don't have any real citation, but I know he doesn't care about me posting about it here

Ha, that is super cool. Good taste in keyboards

atlas3686 wrote: Ha, that is super cool. Good taste in keyboards

Yes, he mentioned before that his favorite keyboard was a Model M.

On topic, can I order only flippers in the first round, despite never having signed up early?

shreebles you can order anything listed on the site including flippers and barrels, in both the early bird and the regular rounds.

flabbergast I can send one deconstructed and without the styrofoam packaging if anyone would prefer it that way. If anyone wants this please PM me once you make your decision.

Yes I am glad that Notch is a supporter of this project with his F77! Thanks again to bubblebobbler for making it happen!

Now we just need Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and other tech legends to join in too! Anyone who can help feel free to make it happen!

bubblebobbler do you have a story you'd be able to share with us on how you accomplished this great feat?

I would get that notch story out there ( with his consent ofc) that will get your orders up quite a bit i think.

Ellipse wrote: bubblebobbler do you have a story you'd be able to share with us on how you accomplished this great feat?

I mean, all I did was tell him about the project because I'd heard he used a unicomp classic I was mostly venting that I was lamenting getting one because of the customs fees, good way to make me feel better

Muirium wrote: Watch out for the customs fees! They'll be another 60+* quid, unless Ellipse obliges with a fraudulent declaration for you.

*The plus being the fun part…

Thank god Hong Kong customs does not charge any duties/taxes.
Shipping is already expensive enough.

I am curious - who is waiting until the final round to place an order? I'll make a note of it so I won't send you a reminder email the last week of the early bird round.

We have crossed $47,000 in orders (including shipping) after the first ~2 weeks!

Cool bubblebobbler!

andrew-I messaged notch but he did not reply - he must be super busy

I am waiting for the final round! I can't should not spend much money the next two months.

Hi there, I have a question, what will be the most flexible layout and will I be able to modify it ?
If I get a F77 with full size backspace and shift - will I be able to later modify it to split backspace and/or split shift ? - assuming I buy the additional flippers/barrels/keys.
Basically, I can't decide which option to choose and would like a way to change my keyboard later if possible...

kubatyszko, the only major layout difference is the right shift. If you choose HHKB-style split right shift, you can't ever use a normal shift on it. If you go for normal shift, you can split it but the 1u will be on the left. The other keys have universal compatibility either way so you can switch ISO/ANSI, split bs, whatever you feel like.